Three-time Formula 1 champion, Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna collided with the Williams team car, fatally, against a concrete barrier on the old Tamburello curve, at more than 300 km/h, on May 1, 1994. The episode inscribed the Italian circuit of San Marino, in Ímola, in the history of Brazilian motorsport.

Senna became a national sporting icon when he became world champion for the first time at the Adelaide Grand Prix, in Australia, in 1988.

Another famous GP in the driver's history is Monaco. He won this circuit for the first time in 1987. Senna started second, behind Niguel Mansell of the Williams team, who abandoned the race on the 29th lap due to engine problems. Senna would win another five times in the principality, which would give him the title of “King of Monaco”.

Senna's popularity went far beyond Brazil. A year before his death, American singer Tina Turner dedicated the song Best to Ayrton Senna.