47/28
The early races of Senna’s career in England are shown on a racetrack near a mountain range
Plot
Fictional miniseries based on the life of Ayrton Senna da Silva, the Brazilian racing legend who won the Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship three times. The writers of this series said they had some limitations due to the involvement of Senna’s family in the production.
Well, positives first
There are no mountains in England, especially in Norfolk, which is famous for its flat landscape. I call this series the FW16 of biopics because, like the car Senna died in, it was good, but, um…
I saw another reviewer say the story was one-sided
Overall, they got Senna’s uncompromising nature right, especially in illustrating the exasperation of his team principals. The attention to detail was brilliant; Watching the MP4/4s racing around sent shivers down my spine, but that scene of Senna alone in the meeting room at the end of Suzuka perfectly recreates the 1989 ITV scene.
I agree, but then so what?
Fans who followed the antics from 1989 to 1993 would be familiar with Operation French Connection if they didn’t openly believe in its absolute truth. Obviously, this is a show for Senna fans, not Balestre apologists.
e3) Donnington 1993: I can’t believe they completely ignored the greatest lap in F1 history
That said, there were a few things the writers could have paid attention to: 1) Including Senna’s personal relationships with people like Gerhard Berger and Josef Leberer would have gone a long way to humanizing him; 2) They could have put a lot more emphasis on the work Senna put into developing the car – he had a reputation for providing feedback to his mechanics until they were begging him to go home – and 3) They could have put a lot more emphasis on the work Senna put into developing the car – he had a reputation for giving feedback to his mechanics until they were begging him to go home – and 4) They could have put a lot more emphasis on the work Senna put into developing the car – he was reputed to be a great car driver.
