Don't be put off by the opening text; this is a great tribute. The film opens with coverage of Ayrton in his car just before his last race, then spends some time on the crash itself, before flashing through highlights of his career. It's obvious from his demeanour and accomplishments that he was a great man, but the moment that encapsulates him best, I think, is when he pulls his car over in the middle of the race, gets out, runs to Eric Comas' car and presses the kill switch to put out the fire. The film ends with Senna's victory shouts at the 1991 Brazilian Grand Prix in which he overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles and won with only two gears, a task that left him so exhausted he had to be lifted out of the car.
Commenting on his last qualifying session for the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix Ayrton said,
I was already on pole, then by half a second and then one second and I just kept going. Suddenly I was nearly two seconds faster than anybody else, including my team mate with the same car. And suddenly I realised that I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was driving it by a kind of instinct, only I was in a different dimension. It was like I was in a tunnel. Not only the tunnel under the hotel but the whole circuit was a tunnel. I was just going and going, more and more and more and more. I was way over the limit but still able to find even more.
Then suddenly something just kicked me. I kind of woke up and realised that I was in a different atmosphere than you normally are. My immediate reaction was to back off, slow down. I drove slowly back to the pits and I didn't want to go out any more that day. It frightened me because I was well beyond my conscious understanding. It happens rarely but I keep these experiences very much alive inside me because it is something that is important for self-preservation.”
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