Senna

(Image credit: Photographer: Norio Koike)

You don't have to be a Formula 1 nut to enjoy this enthralling documentary about legendary racing driver Ayrton Senna

You don't have to be a Formula 1 nut to enjoy this enthralling documentary about legendary racing driver Ayrton Senna.

British director Asif Kapadia's film is so skillfully put together that its portrayal of a complex, charismatic and fascinating figure will grip even those with no interest in the sport. Reckoned by many aficionados to be Formula 1's greatest ever driver, Senna was ferociously competitive on the track, humble and dignified off it.

Using archive footage overlaid with fresh voice-over interviews, Kapadia traces the Brazilian's career from his days as a teenage go-kart racer to his tragic death, aged 34, following a freak accident at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994.

Along the way, the film explores Senna's bitter rivalry with fellow driver Alain Prost and his run-ins with the F1 establishment, as well as his faith in God and the personal qualities that made him a national hero to the people of Brazil.

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