Jean Todt recalls a conversation he had with the three-time Brazilian champion at the end of 1993, which ended up resulting in him going to Williams
Many imagine what Ayrton Senna’s career would have been like if he hadn’t died at that Imola Grand Prix in 1994. If it were up to the driver, he wouldn’t even be driving a Williams car, but Ferrari.
The 1993 season was not good for Senna. The end of Honda engines at McLaren has hampered the car’s performance, even with advances in the chassis. Even so, he managed to win six races, but at the end of the championship he fell behind rival Alain Prost.
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Frenchman Jean Todt, who started as Ferrari boss in 1993, recalled on The High Performance Podcast a conversation he had with Ayrton Senna in September of this year. The Brazilian has asked for a place at Ferrari for next season.
Jean Todt refused, as he had already signed a contract with Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger for next season. Senna insisted, saying that contracts are not important in Formula 1, but the Frenchman countered by saying that for him it is important.
With Alain Prost’s retirement, Ayrton Senna went to Williams. The Brazilian had refused to join the team before because his rival ran for it.
The timing couldn’t be worse. Williams’ car for 1993 was developed with many technologies, such as traction control, active suspension and CVT transmission. The FIA banned these features, the 1994 FW16 was derived from this chassis that was dependent on electronics.
Without active suspension and other features, the car was difficult to drive. Even designer Adrian Newey recognized this. Senna even commented on whether he felt uncomfortable with the car during testing. He has never completed a race with the Williams car.
Ayrton Senna spoke with Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, president of Ferrari, on the weekend of the fateful Imola Grand Prix. The subject was the possibility of going to Ferrari.
Ferrari signed the young Michael Schumacher, who was champion in 1994 and 1995 for Benetton. The Italian scuderia began a restructuring, which together with the German’s talent culminated in a series of victories. Maybe Senna could have been the protagonist of this, but that’s only in the imagination of the fans.
