One of the greatest drivers in Formula One history was Ayrton Senna. He was born Ayrton Senna da Silva on March 21, 1960 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He was the son of Neyde Senna whose family is of Italian lineage and Milton Theodoro Silva who is a wealthy Brazilian landowner and factory owner. He had an older sister Viviane and younger brother Leonardo. He was married to Lillian de Vasconcellos Sousa in Februay 1981 and was divorced on October of the same year. He was the boyfriend of Brazilian TV presenter Xuxa Meneghel from 1988-1990. His last girlfriend was Adriane Galisteu.

Senna attended Colegio Rio Branco and graduated in 1977 with a grade 5 in physics along with other grades in Mathematics, Chemistry and English. He then enrolled in a college that specialized in Business Administration but he dropped out after three months.

At the age of four, his father bought him a go-kart and by age eight, Ayrton Senna was regularly competing in karting events. He has faced rivals who were years older than him. He was soon managed by Lucio Pascal Gascon and won the South American Kart Championship in 1977. He competed in the Karting World Championship from 1978 to 1982 where he finished runner-up in 1979 and 1980. He was the teammate of Terry Fullerton in 1978 whom he felt was the rival he got the most satisfaction from in racing.

His career progressed quickly. In 1982, Senna moved to England to pursue his professional racing career. It was in 1984 that he got the attention of the racing world in Formula One. In the next ten years, he would win the World Championship three times – 1988, 1990 and 1991. He has also engaged in some controversial racing with Alain Prost of France and Nigel Mansell of England. He raced for the teams of Toleman (1984), Lotus (1985-1987), McLaren (1988-1993) and Williams (1994). His Formula One teammates were Johnny Cecotto, Stefan Johansson, Elio De Angelis, Johnny Dumfries, Satoru Nakajima, Prost, Gerhard Berger, Michael Andretti, Mika Häkkinen and Damon Hill.

Ayrton Senna died on May 1, 1994 in a race at the San Marino Grand Prix when his car that was beset with problems the entire season inexplicably left the track and crashed into the concrete barrier. His death was the last that happened in Formula One due to major safety reforms imposed after that tragic weekend at Imola. He has 65 Pole Positions, one position short of twice as many as Prost and the other second placer holder Jim Clark has 33 each. It took 12 years for Michael Schumacher to beat his record with 66 Pole Positions that ironically took place at the San Marino Grand Prix in 2006. He was voted as the best driver of all time in a 2010 poll by his fellow Formula One drivers.

Ayrton Senna had an estimated net worth of $400 million which he accumulated through his racing talent. He has sold accessories that include T-shirts, replica cars, Montegrappa pens, TAG Heuer wrist watches, Cavaro bicycles, and Bell Helmets and Ducati motorcycles. He had a bright and yellow helmet that resembled the Brazilian Flag. The original one sold anywhere between $40,000 to $50,00. A large part of his personal fortune was donated to build the Instituto Ayrton Senna in Brazil. He owned a  $25 million private air plane and a Raytheon Hawker 800 which had the tail number: N125AS. The "AS" stood for Ayrton Senna.

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