On the 25th anniversary of his death, Jean Todt has revealed Ayrton Senna’s attempt to join Ferrari for 1994.
The legendary Brazilian had won three world titles with McLaren but wanted a fresh challenge as the British team lost their dominant position at the front.
With his biggest rival Alain Prost leaving the Scuderia at the end of 1992, it meant the move that every driver craves was possible for Senna.
“I spent three hours in my room with him talking about him joining Ferrari,” the then-team boss and now FIA president told RaceFans.
“At that stage, in September in Monza in ’93, he was very interested to come but he wanted to come [in] ’94. And for ’94 we had two drivers with contracts, [Jean] Alesi and [Gerhard] Berger.
“I said ‘we have two drivers’, and Senna replied: ‘But in Formula 1, contracts are not important’. And I said to him ‘for me, contracts are important’.”
Eventually, the driver most still consider as the greatest of all time would join Williams for what would be the fateful season, with current deputy team boss Claire Williams revealing her father’s joy.
“Ayrton was a God in our house and had been for many years, decades even,” she told The Independent.
“Frank had a love affair with Ayrton. He got into his heart, got into his mind, and he always wanted to put him in his race car.
“Dad’s wish then came true, but it ended in the worst possible way.”
That day would come at Imola during the San Marino Grand Prix when Senna crashed into the wall at the then-high-speed Tamburello corner, later succumbing to his injuries.
“Frank never spoke to anyone about it,” Williams recalled. “That isn’t his personality. He isn’t one for therapy or having long conversations. He internalises and keeps it all in.
“That is how he has been brought up, but you can see the pain in his eyes every time he thinks about the accident.”
Now, 25 years on, the first generation of racers who were born after that day in 1994 is starting to come through.
But for the older drivers, Senna was an idol and none have made that more clear than five-time champion Lewis Hamilton.
“I remember sitting next to my Dad and watching you on the TV from the age 4 or 5,” he wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
“Ayrton, the way you raced captivated me from the beginning and drew me closer to this sport. You are a pure, out-and-out racer, a true master, a hero. You will live on for eternity.”
