Why Lewis Hamilton’s idol Ayrton Senna never joined Ferrari despite calling it a ‘dream’ move

Follow us on Google Discover

Formula 1 icon Ayrton Senna once said it would be a ‘dream’ to drive for Ferrari. But he never made the move to Maranello.

Lewis Hamilton has idolised Senna since he was a child, but this is one of the major differences in their careers. Hamilton realised a 20-year dream when joined Ferrari at the start of this year.

Senna began at the Toleman team in 1984 before a three-year stint at Lotus. He’s best known as a McLaren driver, though, having raced in their colours between 1988 and 1993.

The Brazilian won all three of his world championships as a McLaren driver and was involved in one of the sport’s greatest-ever rivalries with Alain Prost. After slipping to fourth in the 1992 championship and then finishing runner-up to Prost in ’93, he opted to join Williams.

Senna suffered his fatal accident at Imola, just the third race of the season, in ’94.

Ayrton Senna planned to join Ferrari after matching Juan Manuel Fangio at Williams

Senna won three titles in four seasons from 1988 to ’91, but by the time he moved to Williams, his run of dominance was over. Prost and Nigel Mansell had put the Grove outfit on top.

The Brazilian was determined to prove that he was still the best. Michael Schumacher had only just started out in F1 at that time, so Juan Manuel Fangio still held the record for most championships (five).

Speaking to Esporte, former Brazilian F1 commentator Galvao Bueno, who was a friend of Senna, shared his plan for the remainder of his career. He wanted to win two titles at Williams, matching Fangio, and then switch to Ferrari.

Bueno said: “I once asked Ayrton Senna to quickly translate for me, in few words, what a Ferrari is’, and he said ‘it’s a car, a colour, a roar, a dream’.

“‘So why don’t you go to Ferrari?’, and he said ‘because I haven’t won in two years, I need to win first with Williams, match Fangio, I can, then I’ll go to Ferrari’.”

Bueno feels that Hamilton is, in a sense, living his idol’s dream this season. Senna was 33 when he joined Williams, while his spiritual successor arrived at Ferrari as a 40-year-old.

“That’s what Hamilton is doing, he won everything he had to win and is fulfilling the dream of going to Ferrari,” Bueno said. “When I see Hamilton at Ferrari, I see a bit of Ayrton Senna there at Ferrari.

“It moves me. I think it must have moved a lot of people. Look, he may not be as fast as Leclerc at this moment, but there’s a bit of Ayrton Senna inside Ferrari.”

Lewis Hamilton did something paddock insiders had never seen before on Ferrari debut

Martin Brundle chose Senna over Hamilton in a recent game of ‘winner stays on’ for a social media video. Brundle raced against the Brazilian so saw his talents up close.

Senna’s move from McLaren to Williams was, when announced, one of the biggest driver transfers in F1 history. Hamilton to Ferrari has generated more publicity than any other move, but it’s an entirely different era.

Before his debut at the Australian Grand Prix, Hamilton did the ‘Melbourne walk’ twice to engage with fans. F1 press conference host Tom Clarkson called this ‘unheard of’.

The 105-time race-winner arrived at Albert Park imbued with fresh motivation and positivity. P10 was a disappointing result, but that alone won’t extinguish the excitement.