Kriti Mehrotra
With Netflix’s ‘Senna’ giving us an insight into every aspect of the life and career of legendary Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna da Silva, we get a biographical drama unlike any other. This Júlia Rezende and Vicente Amorim directorial revisits not just the early days of this cultural icon and his later success but also how the people backing him made him who he was. Amongst them in this six-part original is actually a young fan from his hometown of São Paulo named Marcelo Silva, making us wonder whether he indeed was a long-term follower or not.
Marcelo Silva is a Representation of All of Aryton Senna’s Young Fans
Although Aryton got into driving at the age of four thanks to his father after he built him his first go-kart, he gradually broadened his horizons upon watching actual races on television. That’s how he became determined to one day be a part of Formula One, unaware it would end up being much more than a sport — for some, it was business; for others, it was a safe haven. The truth is that when he finally made it to this level with an unwavering hunger to be the best of the best, only to prove his mettle too, his homeland was in quite a bit of political disarray.
Therefore, Ayrton’s every pole position as well as win felt personal to the people of Brazil, especially since he always waved their flag loudly and proudly no matter where the race was. This, in turn, gave every single viewer from his country immense joy, only for him to end up becoming an idol to many of the young ones’ owing to the simple fact he was building up their name. The driver himself didn’t have a hero or someone he looked up to; he just respected hard work, dedication, competence, and advancement, but he ended up becoming one for millions.
Marcelo Silva in this miniseries represents the most loyal of these millions — those who woke up at odd hours to watch Ayrton’s every race and even made karts in the hopes of being like him. Many of these fans also wrote him letters expressing just how much he and his success meant to them, unaware that those written by the kids were often his source of inspiration later on. This young boy, the son of a small bar owner in the streets of São Paulo, is the perfect example to showcase how Ayrton’s career transcended the sport of race driving in itself and how his fans did the same for him.
Young Fans Like Marcelo Silva Likely Inadvertently Gave Ayrton Senna a New Purpose
While ‘Senna’ indicates that Ayrton got the inspiration to establish an educational institution for Brazil’s children on his way to meet Marcelo to thank him for his support, it’s not entirely false. The driver expresses how seeing kids playing made him realize that those from lower classes might not get the same opportunities as others simply because they do not have the means for it, and he couldn’t bear the thought. Therefore, he spoke to his elder sister, then-professional Psychologist Viviane Senna Lalli, about it, but he sadly passed away before anything could become of his incredible philanthropic idea.
It turns out Ayrton did actually speak to his sister about this a mere two months before his fatal crash during the May 1, 1994, San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, Italy — we can’t be certain what precisely inspired it, but it happened. Therefore, to keep his legacy alive, his family did indeed establish this organization under the name the Institute of Ayrton Senna (or Instituto Ayrton Senna) and launched it on November 20, 1994. Viviane has been serving as this charitable structure’s President since its launch, and since then, it has grown to such an extent that it now benefits over 3.3 million kids in 900 cities across all of Brazil every year.
Read More: Neyde Senna and Milton da Silva: Where Are Ayrton Senna’s Parents Now?
