Ramirez remembers Senna
To coincide with the movie release of Senna, GPMCT trustee and former McLaren team manager Jo Ramirez recalls his time working with Ayrton Senna in Formula 1 between 1988 and 1993
Friday 3rd June 2011
“He always had this aura surrounding him. He was just so special, so electric and his personality was superb. If you were in the F1 paddock, you could see Michael Schumacher and Alain Prost or whoever walking around but when you saw Senna it was like ‘wow, it’s Ayrton Senna’. People just loved him because he had this charisma. He was so loved in Brazil. There’s no doubt that if he was alive now, he would have been president of Brazil or another similarly important role. He always wanted to help people and his country. Those who were close to him learnt a lot about him. He was a very special person.”
A SPECIAL MAN
“I was working for Emerson Fittipaldi and we were testing at Silverstone. We were both in the motorhome having a coffee when Ayrton, who was racing in Formula Ford which supported F1 at the time, came up and said hello to Emerson. He introduced Senna to me and when he left, Emerson said: ‘Watch this guy, he’s going to become one of the greatest ever in the sport.’ That was how much Emerson thought of him. He was brilliant from the moment he first started driving the car and I was really hoping that one say he would join us - and sure enough, he joined us in 1988.”
SPEED DEMON
“I will always remember the time when we were at Spa and Senna was about a second quicker than McLaren team-mate Prost in qualifying. Senna used to get really intense for qualifying and would almost be in a trance-like state. After the session, he had to sit in the corner of the truck to calm down before speaking to anymore. And at Spa, he was in the transporter when me and Alain. Alain was looking at the telemetry and say ‘he’s bloody quick’ and as he said that, Senna winked at me with the biggest smile on his face. For him, he was happy to beat Prost who was number one at the time. Prost realised how unbelievable Senna was. It was incredible how he could stretch out so much speed in just one qualifying lap.”
INSIDE THE MAN
“We had a close relationship but it wasn’t always easy working with him. He was a very demanding guy. He wanted things that were sometimes almost impossible. But everyone who worked with him were pleased to work 110 per cent for him because we would give everything in the car and he would always deliver. He was brilliant. He was always meticulous in everything he did - the tyres, the fuel and the set up. It was a privilege to be associated with the man.”
FONDEST MEMORY
“There were many but the one that always sticks in my mind was his last race for McLaren in Adelaide in 1993. It was a very important race for McLaren because at the time we were equal with Ferrari on 103 Grand Prix wins so if we won that, we would become the most successful grand prix team ever. Just before the start, he called me over because there was something he didn’t want to say over the radio. I went down into the cockpit and he said ‘I feel very strange to be doing this in a McLaren for the last time’. So I said to him, ‘If you feel strange, imagine how we feel now that you’re leaving. We don’t want you to leave. You know we tried hard to keep you. I don’t need to tell you how important this race is for us but if you win this race, I’ll love you for ever.’ As I said that, I saw his eyes watering because he was quite an emotional person.
“He went on to win the race and it was just the most fantastic thing. It was an emotional race for me because my other big friend Alain Prost was hanging his helmet for good and eventually he and Senna managed to shake hands in the podium - the one thing I tried for them to do for four years.
“Then later that evening, we had a farewell dinner party for him after the race. I gave him a steering wheel from the car of one of his wins and I said to him, ‘You have won 30 races with us so if you think you can do better with another team, go out and have a go, but I hope you come back in the future. It was a special, emotional moment.”