Tributes to Ayrton Senna’s 60th birthday all over the world

Date: 2020 March 23

Reading time: 5 min read

Born on March 21, 1960, Ayrton Senna was the subject of several homages last weekend, when he would be celebrating his 60^th birthday. An idol in motor sports and also away from the tracks, the Brazilian driver was honored by several media outlets and in thousands of social network posts all around the world.

A three-time F1 world champion, Senna won 41 races, climbed on the podium 80 times and secured 65 pole-positions throughout his career, and his most amazing stories were remembered in several ways. Partners for decades in F1 broadcasting in Brazil, sports commentator Galvão Bueno recorded a video next to a replica of Senna’s McLaren on Instagram, while commentator Reginaldo Leme placed several photos alongside Ayrton on his social networks.

Athletes, actors, fan clubs, companies, artists and several influencers also paid tribute to Ayrton – actor Caio Castro, for instance, uploaded a video on his social media channels in order to celebrate the 60^th birthday of his idol.

SporTV, the Globo Group sports channel, aired the 1991 Brazilian GP in full, remembering Senna’s historic win at Interlagos, when he finished the race even after his car lost all the gears but the sixth.

Several F1 former drivers made posts in honor of Ayrton Senna, such as Alain Prost, Rubens Barrichello, Felipe Nasr, Antonio Pizzonia, Felipe Massa, Martin Brundle and Lucas di Grassi – besides, of course, his nephew, Bruno Senna. Teams McLaren and Williams also paid tribute to Senna, and the official F1 profile did the same.

Visual artist Paul Oz took to his social media profiles to do a live painting session of an Ayrton Senna statue, picturing the way he used to drive his McLaren. The video – which can be watched on his Facebook page – has a running time of 7 hours and 40 minutes. Photographers who worked with Senna, like brothers Keith and Mark Sutton, published striking and rare pictures of the driver’s career on Instagram.

The Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) also published a video on Time Brasil’s social networks, with several athletes recalling Senna’s heroic moments and talking about the inspiration that the pilot brings to the Brazilians.