Unhappy with new rules on the Grand Prix circuit, Ayrton Senna made an eerie forecast of what to expect this year on the track.
"It's going to be a season with lots of accidents and I'll risk saying we'll be lucky if something really serious doesn't happen," Senna told a Brazilian newspaper earlier this season.On Sunday, the 34-year-old three-time world champion crashed into a concrete wall at 186 mph in the San Marino Grand Prix and died of severe head injuries. The accident occurred a day after Austrian rookie Roland Ratzemberger was killed in a similar incident during qualifying.
Senna was concerned about moves by the sport's governing body to take away many of the electronic drivers' aids that had become regular features on cars achieving speeds in excess of 200 mph. And he spoke his mind on the subject.
The International Auto Racing Federation said it wanted to give control of the cars back to the drivers. Senna was among the critics that said the changes, especially the elimination of electronic "active" suspensions, would make Formula One more dangerous.
"The cars are very fast and difficult to drive," Senna had said.
Visibly shaken after Saturday's death of Ratzemberger, Senna appeared tentative Sunday, according to Michael Schumacher, the German who won Sunday's race.
"He looked nervous from the very first lap," Schumacher, who was behind Senna when the accident occurred, said. "He took two or three bumps, but I can't say what happened exactly."
Senna was unconscious when rescue crews arrived two minutes after the crash. A pool of blood was on the tarmac as he was put on the helicopter for the trip to Bologna's Maggiore hospital. Doctors pronounced him dead of severe head injuries a few hours later, 10 minutes after a hospital chaplain administered last rites.
Senna was revered at home in Brazil and news of his death shocked the country.
"All Brazilians feel this death as if it were a relative," said a reporter as he announced the news on television in Brazil. "Ayrton Senna, after Pele, is the country's biggest hero."
Senna will be remembered as a driver who dared to push a car to the limits. He claimed more pole positions than any driver in Formula One history, took three world championships, and won more races than anybody except Alain Prost.
"Ayrton and I shared some of the most exciting races ever staged and it's impossible to put into words what a sad loss to motor racing this is," said Nigel Mansell, the 1992 Formula One champion.
Watching Senna on the track - and even off of it - it was sometimes easy to forget he was one of the leaders in the constant battle for more safety. His style was aggressive, sometimes abrasive.
His detractors point to the crash at the first turn of the Japanese Grand Prix in 1990. With arch-rival Prost needing points to stay in the championship race, Senna drove into the back of the Frenchman's car and took both drivers out of the race. Senna clinched his second world title as a result.
Then last year, while leading the Japanese Grand Prix, Senna became upset when Britain's Eddie Irvine failed to allow the Brazilian to pass. Senna punched the British driver after the race.
Such incidents, however, could not detract from Senna's mastery of the Grand Prix circuit. He won the world championship with Team McLaren in 1988, '90 and '91, and probably didn't win it more often only because other teams had produced far superior cars.
Born Ayrton Senna de Silva on March 21, 1960, Senna burst onto the Formula One scene in 1984 already touted as one of the most intense and talented youngsters ever to come out of Formula 3000 and the heir to the stardom of fellow Brazilian and three-time Formula One champion Nelson Piquet.
"All he really cares about is racing," said Ron Dennis, the managing director of McLaren. "He is totally focused on the car, the track and the competition. There is nothing else in his life when he is at the racetrack."
Throughout his career - during which he reportedly earned more than $100 million, including a reported one-year salary of $24 million at one point - Senna had been a skillful negotiator, playing off one team against another to get exactly the ride in exactly the car he wanted.
He was also not hesitant to play politics, often criticizing Formula One officials, arguing over rules and regulations.
But, first and foremost, Senna was usually the fastest driver at any circuit on any given day.
"Somehow, Ayrton always gets the most out of the car," Dennis said. "He can drive deeper into a corner than anybody, and he always knows where he is and where all the others are on the circuit."
Yet Senna was always aware of the dangers his sport presented.
"To survive in Grand Prix racing you need to be afraid," he once said. "Fear is a very important feeling to have. It helps you stay together. It helps you race longer ... and live longer."
Racing was in Senna's blood from early on. He got his first kart at age 4, and entered competitive kart racing when he was 13.
In 1981, he made his professional debut in the Formula Ford 1600. After winning the Formula 3 European title in 1983, he signed with the Toleman Formula One team for the 1984 season.
He won the first of his 41 Formula One victories in 1985 driving a Lotus. In 1987 he signed with McLaren, and this year he made the switch to Williams.
Senna was also a successful businessman. He had just launched his own comic book for kids and piloted his own helicopter in his hometown of Sao Paulo.
"As long as my passion for my profession is kept alive, my dream will be to survive," he once said. "The day when this passion starts weakening, my dream will end."