Tag: Ayrton Senna

Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro is in discussions to play Ayrton Senna in a Hollywood biopic. Santoro revealed the news in an interview with Collider.

At this stage the movie has not been signed off by the Senna family and until that happens Santoro says he won’t agree to be involved. However, you get the feeling he’s keen to play the part.

“If we get this done, if we really move forward with this project, it will be with the family, with his family, it will all be done in a very, very careful and respectful way. So yeah that might be possible in the future. Right now, we’re still in conversations, but it is moving,” Santoro revealed.

The 36-year-old added, “And it’s an honor. If this whole thing goes forward it will be amazing. Right now we have nothing official, nothing to… I cannot say much because there’s nothing really there yet. We’ll see. If it’s meant to happen, it will.”

If the movie does get the green light, let’s hope the script is sharp and honest, and the director and producer understand the sport of F1. An all out Hollywood blockbuster could end up being a total disaster.

You can watch Santoro’s interview in full after the break.

[Source: Collider]

Ayrton Senna made his F1 debut in 1984 at his home Grand Prix in Brazil. There was no fairytale. He lasted just eight laps, forced to retire with a dodgy turbo.

Senna was driving for the Toleman team in the unreliable TG184. Retiring from races that year was something he became quite used to, completing only six of the 16 races on the calendar.

Of course, Senna made the F1 world stop and take notice at the Monaco Grand Prix, where he put in a masterful performance to claim second place. It was also the first time we got a glimpse of Senna’s paranoia, believing the race, red-flagged due to poor weather, was stolen from him due to some French conspiracy or other. Anyway…

That ratty old Toleman TG184-2 is now up for sale and can be all yours if you have the desire and the cash. If the tyranny of distance is holding you back and you can’t be at the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit on 16 May you’ll need to make contact with Silverstone Auctions to arrange the bidding process.

Oh, going back to the 1984 Monaco GP for a moment. Another young driver made a name for himself that day too, albeit in a car that was later deemed illegal. That man was Stefan Bellof, still the fastest man around the Nürburgring and another brilliant driver lost too early on a famous racetrack.

After the break there’s the official press release for the sale of the Toleman and we’ve also found a delightfully deadpan review of the 1984 Monaco GP for you to enjoy, with Clive James at the microphone.