Senna in Ferrari, a marriage that never happened
Ayrton Senna always declared that one of his dreams was to drive for Ferrari. A dream extinguished first by sudden changes in the market direction and then by fate. The Brazilian champion should have worn red in 1991 (strongly wanted by Cesare Fiorio, he even signed a pre-contract) but at least one other time he was very close to moving to the Scuderia: in 1993, in fact, he met Jean Todt – just chosen by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo as Ferrari general manager – to agree on the transfer.
Read more Aston Martin: despite the problems, the updates show interesting ideas
Senna would have liked to drive for Ferrari as early as 1994, but Todt wanted to respect the contracts of Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger, aiming for the Brazilian ace for 1995. The three-time world champion therefore went to Williams: on the FW16, an unstable car with a very narrow cockpit (to the point of stating “If I eat a sandwich I won’t fit in this car anymore“), Senna unfortunately met his death during the tragic weekend at Imola. Ferrari remained only a dream.
Todt’s words
“Ferrari was not achieving success and was desperately looking for leadership. Between the time my name was proposed and the time I met them, a lot of time passed. Everyone told me ‘Don’t go there. You won’t last more than two years’. And for them, taking a foreigner who had no experience in Formula 1 was a big change. I think the discussion started in August 1992 and ended in March 1993. The first dream I talked about was Ayrton“, Todt admitted to the High Performance podcast. “On the occasion of the 1993 Monza Grand Prix, I remember he came to my room at Villa d’Este. We were staying in the same hotel, and we spent part of the night together talking about his move to Ferrari. He wanted to come, but in 1994. However, for 1994 we had a contract with Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi. And I told him it wouldn’t be possible, first of all because we wouldn’t be ready in terms of competitiveness and then because we already had Jean and Gerhard. He replied that in Formula 1 contracts are not important, and I told him that for me a contract is important. I would have wanted him for 1995“.
“I heard that there had been contacts before my arrival, but I can’t talk about it, I don’t know anything about it“, he added. “As far as I’m concerned, in September 1993 his arrival for 1995 was discussed, but he wanted to arrive as early as 1994, which is why he went to Williams. So in 1994 and 1995 we rebuilt the team and we knew that 1996 would be the right year to focus on“.
Read more Monza, Spa, but not Baku: which will be the worst tracks for energy
