吸蓝

Senna always took the best for himself, whether in motorsport or in his private life, in both the big things and the small ones. When he called me from Brazil, it was usually two o'clock in the morning for me and early evening for him. He simply wasn't in the habit of thinking about other people in situations like that, and those who knew him could live with it.

......

When I returned to Europe, we talked on the phone about his personal life. 

so Ayrton would actually call someone regardless of the time zone, so Ayrton treated Gerhard that way maybe Alain got the same treatment too?

Like, yes, every driver gets boiled down to two or three key traits like they're a Sim but most of the time if people care enough to have an opinion on them, they can appreciate there's some nuance there. Whereas in mainstream F1 fandom (and among some parts of the actual F1 community) saying you don't particularly like Senna is the equivalent of saying you don't like cats on early 2010s social media. How dare you?! He is gods gift to mankind. He died for the sins of racing drivers everywhere or something.

I think a large part of it is down to timing. He lived at a time where we learned enough about a driver to get a personality, and where the media is more likely to survive to the modern day (none of that BBC taping over stuff here), but he also didn't live long enough for us to get too much.

Like, I think it would be oh so easy for Niki Lauda to have been reduced down to this gruff, sarcastic asshole who knew what he wanted and wasn't afraid to get it. Like, he was that, but he was also cheeky, funny, became F1's grandpa who said some stuff he probably shouldn't have but was generally well loved. You couldn't reduce Niki down to three traits because he was constantly showing you the side that conflicted with that image of him.

And maybe we would have gotten this same process with Jim Clark if he'd lived 25 years later, but he didn't.

But the more I think about it the more I think it has to have been down to the branding efforts by the official Senna team and possibly the guilt F1 collectively felt about this death to not go against what was being put out at the time, and now it's so hard to see the truth through the mythology.

Like, Ayrton Senna and then after him Viviane and whoever she hired made such good choices when they picked the traits they wanted that brand to represent. Senna could have modelled his brand as some playboy daredevil. He could have gone down a more "whatever it takes to win" route that I think the Schumacher brand more gives off.

I'm not saying Senna wasn't a "whatever it takes to win" kind of person, but that's not what he was putting as the tag line of his CV, you know?

It's very much this "integrity, honour, determination, hard work" thing that the core is built on so that, even things that don't really support that (if you no longer go for the gap blah blah blah) become associated with those key aspects because they're associated with Senna.

And obviously picking those things is like an easy thing to do. Integrity and hard work are basic traits that most sports people would say they have. But paired with the close association with Brazil, and countering a cultural anxiety that existed in Brazil at the time, you create an icon brand that Senna didn't exactly luck into but was lucky to be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of.

(Once again thank you to Nelson Piquet for proving that you can't just be in the right place at the right time, you have to actually take advantage of that opportunity)

This started pre-death but doing an analysis of the Senna "brand" now (not necessarily the literal Senna brand but also kind of) you can see those core character traits are the ones that they keep trying to tie everything back to. Those are the quotes being actively shared by people with ties to the brand, the videos of him talking about how hard work is everything and kids need to have honour or whatever are the ones being posted.

So basically what I'm saying is while Official F1 people go along with it and modern drivers and fans lap it up, this is definitely a decision that has been made, keeps being made, and keeps being pushed by the people managing Senna's image today.

Random thought that happened while I wrote this: I think there are a couple of other times where flanderization happened or came close to happening:

Villeneuve Snr - I think if he had died like five years later (and was business savvy) he could have done this. As it is we're like halfway there. He's been reduced to three traits but isn't invoked as much as A. Senna (at least not in the English speaking world)

James Hunt - I think he is definitely reduced to this playboy rich kid sexaholic by the F1 community as a whole, but he just has traits that aren't as marketable these days. But you'll still see his name come up whenever a driver is accused of being a playboy or unmasculine ("James Hunt would never wear that!" James Hunt was wearing denim hot pants and a crop top while he fed his budgies (no euphemism intended), get over yourself).

Nelson Piquet - Piquet has the character traits of "bigot" and "asshole" and I don't think he cares that much. I don't know if it counts as flanderization, but I do think there's more nuance to Piquet than he'd want you to think. Not to the extent it undoes the asshole bigot part, but I do think there's more to him than what his name has become shorthand for.

commission🏎

What's better than three average laurels for three drivers? One massive laurel to share!

doodles

basically all about nikson(?)

I was reading one of the most popular Chinese science fiction novels currently, titled The Three-Body Problem (2006). While reading the third book, I unexpectedly discovered a character named James Hunt – bearing the same name as the F1 racing driver, James Hunt. Driven by the excitement of seeing two things I love cleverly overlap, I've decided to make a rough record of it.

(*English not my first language so i use chatgpt to translate)

According to my friend, who is a fan of the book, the author Liu Cixin is indeed an F1 enthusiast and had related posts on forums in his early years, although I haven't found definitive proof yet. However, I believe that in China, mentioning James Hunt would invariably bring to mind the blond racing star from F1. Furthermore, even though I believe the characters in the book are absolutely independent of the real-life racing driver, here are some of the plot points and settings I found interesting.

*Spoiler Warning*

1.His apparent identity is a cook on the starship Gravity , formerly an intelligence analysis officer for PIA stationed on starship Newton, with the rank of Colonel. He is genial and approachable, the most popular person on the ship, but his hidden identity is that of a sleeper agent. His mission is to monitor the gravitational wave transmitter and destroy the transmitter controller if the warship's high-level command system faces uncontrollable danger. Hunt possesses extremely high authority, being the only person besides the captain authorized to destroy the entire ship. He is prepared to dedicate his life to this mission.

2.The ‘James Hunt’ in The Three-Body Problem is also a playboy. However, he ultimately deeply loves a woman many years his junior, on a starship millions of astronomical units away. This unrequited love is the faith that supports him in persisting with his sleeper mission.

3.During an attack, his heart was inexplicably ripped out from a distance. According to the attacker, he might have been saved if he had undergone immediate surgery. His fate was not mentioned again.

4.Later, one of the male protagonists names a starship after him, in his honor – the Hunt.

Overall, the character in the book is essentially a guy who borrowed James Hunt's name. Nevertheless, the idea that a ship named ‘Hunt’ will forever navigate the universe strikes me as romantic.

A pointless handshake forced by the Italian press in 1990, Monza.

Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost avoid each other on the podium and then at the press conference, leaving Gerhard Berger to sit between them. (poor Gerhard)However, the Austrian leaves the meeting before it ends because he has to catch a plane to Monte Carlo. Prost and Senna find themselves alone, side by side, heads bowed, afraid to meet each other's eyes.

An Italian journalist throws at them bluntly: "We are here at the oldest and most glorious of circuits. Isn't this the moment for you to shake hands?"

A pause. The two men are taken aback.

Prost breaks the ice: "I agree if Ayrton does too."

The Brazilian is at once more talkative and more ambiguous: "We do the same job, we have the same passion. Those are our only two points in common. I will never forget what happened last year(89 Suzuka). If I refused Alain's hand in Phoenix, it was because I did not believe in his sincerity. Today, I am willing to respond to his gesture. Provided that he publicly declares his sincere desire for that to be so, here, in front of you."

Then Prost's answer is in the vid

They shake hands. A few moments later, Senna adds: "Our situation is complicated, I admit. We have made peace. But it is the future that will shed light on the solidity of our intentions. After the kind words, I will see what happens during the next races in question."

Senna remains cautious, and this mistrust almost erases the symbolic significance of this unexpected epilogue. For his part, Prost revealed that the day before he had a calm discussion with Senna during a FISA technical meeting. He wishes the quarrels to belong to the past. But he too remains wary.

All things considered, this handshake of convenience, almost forced, hardly means anything...

The refused handshake Senna mentioned in Phoenix