Senna Page #3

Why not?

Censored, but I just want happiness.

Tell me here.

Happy New Year.

Happy 1990.

Happy '91.

Happy '92.

Happy '93.

The 1989 season was somewhat

less harmonious than the year before.

Both drivers took on

different levels of aggression,

especially when racing each other.

That's when the gloves come off

within a team.

That's when engineers

stop sharing information.

That's where drivers start

looking over their shoulders to see

who is getting what from whom.

And Ayrton, with his love of truth,

wasn't as in tune as Alain Prost

with adding another dimension,

the politics of the sport.

Senna v Prost, Prost v Senna,

the order of the grid

is always one or the other.

It is war between them

because the French driver Alain Prost

thinks that his team-mate

has been disloyal towards him.

And it seems that this quarrel

could have consequences

for the rest of the season.

Race by race,

they were growing further apart.

He said, "This Frenchman...

This Frenchman is hard.

"He wants war."

Sometime after that

they split completely,

they didn't speak any more.

Of course, I think French FIA president

Jean-Marie Balestre at the time

was helpful for Alain

because they were close.

I'd like you all to welcome

the President of FISA, Mr. Balestre.

Please, gentlemen.

All the drivers in the world

are looking at you on TV

because they think, stupidly,

that you are an example.

It is a big mistake, but they think that.

I repeat.

No danger for the end

of the World Championship.

Very clear.

Now it depends on you.

The championship is neck-to-neck.

Senna has to win the Japanese Grand Prix

to keep the points battle going on

to the last race.

Prost knows that if Senna does not finish,

he will be the Formula One Champion.

Prost is first, Senna is second.

Pros jumped into the lead.

Prost makes a better start.

The opportunity that Senna's looking for,

and he's going through.

Oh, my goodness, this is fantastic.

They crash and it is better for Prost.

If this is the end, Prost wins the title.

Once again,

only a victory will do for Ayrton Senna.

Nannini goes by.

He goes by to take the lead.

Senna is still in the pit.

Senna rejoins far behind Nannini.

It's going to be almost impossible.

It is all or nothing, five laps to go.

A suicidal race for Senna

if he tries something.

Prost saw Ayrton rejoin the race

and went straight

to the Race Stewards' Office.

Nannini is first, Senna is second.

Senna forces it, blocks Nannini.

Senna overtakes!

Brazilian flags are waving.

Everyone is on their feet.

Ayrton Senna.

The chequered flag!

Senna celebrates inside his cockpit.

He pounds his helmet.

Ayrton Senna from Brazil!

Visibly emotional,

he flips open his visor

and wipes his tears.

It was a fantastic victory,

the like of which

I have never seen before.

It may be in 20 minutes.

F***ing hell.

Want a cup of tea?

It was unheard of

for the podium to be delayed.

Nigel, Nigel, he missed the chicane.

He went through the slip road.

The longer we waited, the more

we feared things were becoming political.

The decision taken by the Stewards,

by the Stewards at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Excludes car number one

and its driver Ayrton Senna

from the final result of this race.

Just after the race

this Giant Screen

repeatedly showed the accident

and Senna rejoining the race.

After reviewing these images,

the stewards concluded

that because Senna

did not drive through the chicane

to rejoin to the track,

he infringed Article 56 of FIA regulations.

You're the World Champion, Alain?

Apparently, yes.

I was not 100% sure, I know the regulation,

but you never know

how it's going to be interpreted.

But to be very honest,

I mean, I'm quite happy to leave,

because I think it becomes absolutely

impossible to work with Ayrton,

and that's a good end of championship.

What I'd like to do now

is show you some footage

which I think is quite relevant.

Because we're told that you can't use

escape roads to rejoin the race.

Escape roads are not for escaping through,

they're in fact for stopping in,

turning round and going out of.

Very important to remember, no exclusions,

no penalties, no disqualifications.

And for that he's excluded

from the Japanese Grand Prix?

Where's the consistency? It can't be right.

Alain, you said that

you took a normal racing line.

I would put it to you

that from the aerial pictures,

it looked as though

you had turned in quite early.

It wasn't a normal line at all.

I won 39 races

and now three championships,

do you think that I would

do something like this on purpose?

You know, you know,

I had already turned for the corner,

maybe a little bit earlier, if you want,

but that was my corner.

The Court of Appeal pronounces

a six month suspended ban

of Senna's license,

which is a warning

not only for Ayrton Senna,

but for all drivers,

and also a $100,000 fine.

Even if you are

one of the biggest drivers in the world,

you don't have the right

to cause a stupid accident.

The way the whole affair has been treated,

it's like I have total responsibility

for everything that took place there.

I was blamed for everything

and I was penalized for everything.

I was treated like a criminal.

And this is totally unacceptable.

That was a huge blow for Ayrton

because Balestre's attitude

was even worse than Prost's.

He almost gave up racing in Formula One.

Left him alone for a while.

I gently persuaded him

if you are true to your values,

if you believe that your values

are correct values,

then walking away from the dark forces

that you're faced with in life

just doesn't become an option.

The 1990 season he came back wiser,

the team is harmonious.

Prost has gone out of McLaren to Ferrari,

and Senna is in a perfect position

to compete for the title.

All drivers go on their limit.

My limit is different from Prost's,

that is the reality.

And instead of trying to improve

his own skills,

he found it easier to attack me.

Ayrton has a small problem.

He thinks that he can't kill himself

because he believes in God

and things like this.

And I think that's very dangerous

for the other drivers.

Because I believe in God

and have faith in God,

it doesn't mean I am immortal.

It doesn't mean I am immune,

as has been claimed.

I am as scared as anyone

of getting hurt,

especially driving a Formula One car.

It's a constant danger.

Is that him?

Who is it?

Martin Donnelly.

I was in the pits. Practice was stopped.

I hear by different people

there was an accident, was Donnelly.

Was bad, was too bad, was disaster.

And I decide to go to the place

to see myself.

Million things went through my mind.

In the end, I...

I realized I was not going to

give up my passion,

even just having seen what I had seen.

And I had to put myself together,

and walk out, go to the racing car,

and do it again.

And do it again,

and do it even better than before,

because that was the way to kind of cover

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