Ayrton Senna da Silva's journey began on March 21, 1960, in the city of São Paulo. From a very young age, Ayrton showed an interest in cars. A passion shared by his father Milton, who, even before marrying Neyde, already had plans to build a go-kart as a gift for his future son. At the age of 4, Ayrton received the gift that symbolized the call to the journey in search of his truth.

Ayrton Senna's childhood was filled with many adventures in the life of a boy of that time. He played in the street with his friends and was passionate about his yellow bicycle. However, whenever he could, he would drive his go-kart through the streets of the neighborhood, at the go-kart track or on the still under construction riverside road.

At the age of thirteen, after many scraped knees and learning experiences that only childhood can provide, Ayrton began to officially compete in kart racing in 1973. He did so for eight years, winning all the championships he competed in, with the exception of one.

Ayrton made arrangements with his parents to go to Europe to compete in a Formula Ford 1600 season before starting work for the family business and enrolling in business school. And at the end of 1981, despite his true passion for speed, he had to give up his career in Europe to fulfill his commitment to return and contribute to the family business.

Ayrton kept his word, prioritizing his family commitments, but he felt a very strong calling within him that would not leave him alone. Together with his family, they decided to listen to this calling, to his truth, and it was then that he returned to motor racing.

In 1982, he won the European championship title at just 22 years of age, finishing the year with overwhelming numbers: in 28 races, Senna had 22 victories, 18 pole positions, 22 fastest laps and 516 points.

In 1983, Ayrton chose to follow the natural path of the modalities and competed in that year's season in Formula 3, becoming champion of British and European Formula 3 and being invited to test with the best Formula 1 teams of the time.

Despite impressive test results and invitations to become a test driver for teams such as Williams and McLaren, Ayrton followed his heart and decided to take the path that seemed unlikely: he preferred to go as an official driver for the Toleman team, a third-tier team at the time.

In 1984, he began a decade-long journey in the most competitive category, which culminated in the most successful period of his career with the McLaren team.

Ayrton Senna's career was one of determination, persistence, overcoming, victories and above all humanity. Even though he was fearless, bold and competitive on the track, Ayrton was very empathetic and human off it.

The heroic acts on the track and the political struggles in Formula 1 made thousands of fans wait anxiously for Sunday mornings to watch their idol race, cheering for Ayrton to raise the Brazilian flag after yet another victory.

The legacy that Ayrton left behind goes far beyond all his achievements on the track. Throughout his career, Senna showed his concern for providing opportunities, like the one he had, for children and young people to develop their potential. And this desire became a reality: the Ayrton Senna Institute, led by Ayrton's family, was founded in 1994.

Viviane carried out projects that reflected everything he had always dreamed of for the future of Brazil, and the Institute has already impacted more than 35M students across the country.

Discover the first steps of the boy Ayrton, the fantastic achievements of the driver and the legacy of the Brazilian motorsport legend in Senna's historic journey.