The life of Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna de Silva was all too brief; he was killed in an on-track accident at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994, when he was only 34. But he packed a lot in that time, rising quickly through the ranks of racing to become one of the main circuit’s most decorated drivers. A new biographical drama about Senna sheds light on his short life, including his dedication to racing.
SENNA: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: We see a shot of Ayrton Senna de Silva (Gabriel Leone) in his Formula 1 car, on the track in the San Marino Grand Prix in Italy. The date is May 1, 1994.
The Gist: Senna is racing in Italy as one of the top racers in F1, breaking records and showing that South American drivers can compete on the top open-wheel racing circuit on the planet. We see people in his hometown of São Paulo, Brazil, stopping what they’re doing to watch Senna race. They’re all horrified when, early in the race, Senna hits a retaining wall at about 145 mph, gravely injuring him.
We flash back, showing Senna as a child, when his father makes him a go-cart. We then flash forward to when Senna is a teenager, on the professional go-cart racing circuit, winning one race after another. He gets an offer to go to England to race on a team in the Formula Ford circuit, a stepping-stone to Formula 1; he gets the funds to buy in from his father. After negotiating his place on a team, he moves to England, and marries his girlfriend Lilian (Alice Wegmann).
During his first few races on the circuit, he does well but is determined to win; he even forms a fierce rivalry with his teammate, an Argentinian racer, mainly because they drive the same car under the same conditions. After one tense race results in a public fight, reporter Laura Harrison (Kaya Scodelario) files a story about the aggressiveness of South American drivers. Senna asks the photographer who shot for that story, Keith Sutton (Joe Hurst), if there is a way to show the photos that show him in the victor’s circle.
Eventually, though, he does win, and he wins a lot. He’s got offers to race for higher-level circuits. But he promised his father and Lilian he’d go back to Brazil and retire from racing. But a call from Sutton changes his mind.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Senna reminds us a bit of Mike, Hulu’s scripted series about Mike Tyson. (If you want to see this story in a more compact documentary form, we highly encourage you to check out Senna, the 2010 documentary.)
Our Take: If you want to watch six episodes’ worth of pretty well-done racing scenes, then Senna is going to be your jam. As a dramatic series, though, it suffers a bit by the fact that, while short, Ayrton Senna de Silva’s life was mostly filled with success.
He did have a bit of a tabloid-worthy social life, having divorced Lillian when he decided to go back to England to pursue racing. He dated singers and other superstars; he even dated supermodel Carol Alt. We may see some of that in the series, but what we suspect is that it’s going to be mostly about Senna’s quick ascension through the Formula ranks to his record-breaking F1 run.
That’s fine, albeit not exactly a plot that’s rife with conflict, tension and drama. It’s great that the show’s creator, Vicente Amorim, who directs the episodes along with Julia Rezende, can put together thrilling, coherent racing scenes. That’s an accomplishment, because we’ve seen other sports-related scripted shows that do a poor job of showing the actual sport the characters are playing. The racing scenes in Senna are the only place where there’s any real tension.
Of course, Senna’s untimely death will likely be a big topic, but that won’t be until the last episode. We get the feeling that, without extended race scenes, Senna would have ended up being a two, maybe two-and-a-half-hour biopic, and even that is a generous assessment.
Sex and Skin: Not a lot in the first episode, but given Senna’s personal life, we’re sure we’ll see more in subsequent episodes.
Parting Shot: We see Senna in his car in F2000, as “More Than A Feeling” plays in the background.
Sleeper Star: We liked Kaya Scodelario as Laura, who is an empathetic reporter but also knows that he has the drive to win, which will keep him in England. She warns Lilian about that after she tells Laura that she’s not fitting in well.
Most Pilot-y Line: The show puts up graphics to indicate who most of the characters are, but they sometimes feel intrusive.
Our Call: STREAM IT, but only for the fantastic racing scenes. If you’re looking for a show that’s got any drama that happens off the track, Senna will probably disappoint.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
