To this day, Ayrton Senna remains the last Brazilian Formula 1 driver to have won the world championship. But as a new generation of Auriverde racers finally emerges, they’re not the ones drawing comparisons to the country’s legend.
Kimi Antonelli‘s spectacular drives this season – and, more superficially, his curly brown hair – have earned him such plaudits, especially after he won five grands prix in a row early on; that’s something only nine other drivers have ever achieved, and Senna actually isn’t one of them.
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Antonelli’s fifth consecutive victory occurred with a commanding grand chelem at the Monaco Grand Prix, the scene of Senna’s utmost dominance, hence further comparisons. The three-time world champion remains the record holder for pole positions and wins in the principality, where he is known for mesmeric qualifying laps.
“We are trying to shield [Kimi] from media and marketing activities in the way that they protect him and to the best of our ability,” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said the following week at Barcelona.
“We keep emphasising to our friends from the Italian press also, please don’t draw any comparison with Ayrton Senna or ‘Il Fenomeno’, I think Gazzetta [dello Sport] titled that he’s won five races in a row, which is unbelievable for a young man, but we haven’t won a championship, and he’s 19.”
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Antonelli eventually clinched the world title at the Mexican Grand Prix. A few days later, ahead of the Sao Paulo round, he paid a visit to the Senna family; he raced at Interlagos with a yellow helmet, evocative of the Paulista’s.
“Comparing Kimi to Senna, I mean… I was always not very keen in having this comparison because, like Frank [Williams] and Ron [Dennis], Senna is a giant of the sport – who he was as a person, who he was as a racing driver,” Wolff added following the Brazilian GP.
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“I feel that setting these standards for a 20-year-old driver is a lot of pressure, and that’s why I want to not compare him at that stage. He’s Kimi, Senna was Senna.
“But it’s sweet to see how the Senna family embraces him. They say that it’s the first time that it looks like there is a second Senninha. That is the first time that you can say, ‘OK, he’s a little bit like him’. But maybe at that stage he’s a Senninha and not a Senna yet. So let the Senninha develop, let him become a Senna.”
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Wolff mentioned Frank Williams and Ron Dennis because Mercedes‘ ninth constructors’ title meant he equalled Williams’ tally as a team principal. Combining both drivers’ and constructors’ crowns, the Austrian has now collected 17, as many as Dennis with McLaren, while Williams is on 16.
“When I think about it, these two are giants of the sport,” Wolff said. “I’m not even operating in the same galaxy as Frank, who, after his accident, has been able to achieve great things.
“And in the same way, Ron is a person that always looks up to who has been the benchmark in the sport, who has set new standards, probably a little bit also the attention-to-detail syndrome, to always spot what’s bad. So I will never see myself in that league.”
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