Madeleine Saaf-Welsh: What are your early memories of Senna and of watching him become a Brazilian icon?

Vicente Amorim: The memories go way, way back. I have known [about] Senna forever. I’ve always been a motorsport fan, and I remember being a teenager and staying awake until the wee hours to watch Senna race in Japan and win. It was amazing to watch somebody like him win in the conditions that he had, facing the odds he was facing, and with his prowess. What really captured me, I think, was that he wasn’t just a good driver — he was somebody that cared about being Brazilian, that cared about being Latin American. That wasn’t something that came in second after being a fabulous driver. It was always first.

What was it about Senna, as a person, that you hoped to convey with this project?

VA: No matter how many idols Formula 1 might’ve had, it only really had one hero ever, and that hero was Senna. I think the reason behind making Senna was to understand why and how he was that hero. It has to do with his raw talent and speed, of course, but also a sense of belonging, of determination, and the way he perceived time, which he did in a completely different way from all the rest of us. Senna is a very compelling character. He had grit; what makes him different from any other driver from that period, or even from today, is that he was so relatable. He wasn’t an aloof playboy like so many of them were. Racing was his life; it took precedence over anything else he did. He was fearless and he always raced to win. But even at his moments of greatest success, he never forgot where he came from.

What was your research process? 

VA: We had a lot of source material. I thought I knew a lot about him and I discovered I knew maybe only 50 percent. There was a lot more to find out and to discover, especially details of his personal life. We had a lot of help from people in the sport, other drivers, his friends, and his family. The family opened all of their most precious vaults to us and told us all the most dear secrets that he had about his life and about his relationships inside and outside of motorsports. They really helped us shape a three-dimensional character in Senna.

I watched the documentaries, all the races, read all the bios, as one would expect. But I also managed to get through to lots of people who were his contemporaries in the sport. And it’s funny because you read about what he did or what he said or how he acted, but to hear that directly from somebody who was there with him just makes it completely different. It makes it into a scene in your head. It helps you put it together with other scenes and find the strongest emotional turning points over the course of his life, not just his sporting career.

Was there anything that you learned about Senna in the process of making the series that surprised you?

VA: He was even more determined and had this resolve that was even stronger than what I imagined. It was like he never ever gave up his moral code, his ethical beliefs, any of that to advance himself in sport. Those things always came first. To see how much that was actually true and how much that was actually part of his life and not just an image he projected was pretty amazing.

You have such a wonderful lead in Gabriel Leone. How did you find him, and what was it like working together to really bring Senna to the screen?

VA: I made a movie with Gabriel five or six years ago; I saw in him a very special actor. He is like this empathy bomb. He is just so real. He’s so dedicated, and we promised each other that we would make something really big and really special together. We just didn’t know what it was, and we had no idea it would be this big and this special. I called him and said, “Listen, I think you’re the guy for this part; let’s do a screen test. Would you be up for that?” he said, “To play Senna? Yes, of course. What else do you need me to do?” From that day, I just knew it would be him. 

Do you have a favorite day or moment on set?

VA: On set, I had such a great time. It was such a huge challenge, and, at the same time, such an immense pleasure to shoot this that it’s hard to pinpoint one day. But when I finally saw him on set with the McLaren overalls inside the MP4/4, which is the car that Senna was champion in for the first time in 1988, I think that was the most special moment. It’s like, Okay, this is really happening, and Gabriel is Senna.

What do you feel Senna means to Brazilians, and what is his legacy? 

VA: He died on the track at the peak of his career, but at a difficult moment, when he was fighting a system that didn’t want him to win, that had changed the rules to make sure he wouldn’t — while he was fighting for himself and for the other drivers, even his fiercest rivals, in a sport that was becoming increasingly dangerous. He has, in Brazil, a place that is unparalleled. There is no one else in the country that is revered the way Senna is. His legacy is amazing. It’s not just inspirational, it’s also very much practical. It’s not just about the records and the barriers he broke on the track, but especially the ones he broke off the track: being Brazilian in a very European sport; beating a system that didn’t want him to win, like many Brazilians feel they have to do every day. Senna believed that motorsport should go beyond the money, the glamour, and the glitz. That it should be about, in his words, pure racing.

Senna, whose full name is Ayrton Senna da Silva and who was nicknamed Beco by his family, was born in São Paulo, Brazil in 1960. Young Senna grew up alongside his brother and sister and developed an early love for cars and motorsport. His father, Milton, built him his first go-kart, and he began racing them at the age of 13. In 1977, he won the South American Kart Championship, and twice he was runner-up of the Karting World Championship in 1979 and 1980, drawing international attention.

Senna made the move to single-seater open-wheel racing in 1981, leaving behind his home country to race in England. Between 1981 and 1983, Senna moved through the various levels of single-seater racing, from Formula Ford 1600 to Formula Ford 2000 to Formula 3, winning championships and building an early career under his shortened name, Ayrton Senna.

By 1984, Senna found himself in the cockpit of a Formula 1 car, racing for Toleman Motorsport and debuting for the first time at his home race in Brazil. The driver made a splash in the sport when he impressed fans and rivals with his first stellar performance, in the rain, at the iconic Monaco Grand Prix. Senna went on to drive for teams Lotus (where he scored his first Formula 1 victory in 1985), McLaren, and Williams, winning three world championships, breaking world records, and inspiring the next generation of drivers.