Little Senna

•CHAPTER ZERO•

~DANIELLE THAIS SENNA~

This story will tell you a lot about my life and everything about me. But what will not be written in the story is my childhood and the long and difficult journey to the goal of making my father proud and getting to F1. Therefore, I will now tell you something about my childhood.

Hi, I'm Danielle Thais Senna and yes I'm the only daughter of Ayrton Senna. My life began on March 9, 1993 in Saõ Paulo, Brazil. According to my birth certificate, I was born at exactly 9:34. From this moment was on my uncle Leonardo Senna, who raised me, to told me everything. After giving birth, my mother left us, and I fell to only my father.  Dad, of course, as a Formula 1 driver, was very busy with his time, but according to my uncle, he always had time for me and took me with him to every race. But he kept me a secret, he didn't want me to go through hell over the next few years about what happened to journalists and all the things surrounding it. My uncle took pictures of every possible moment I was with my dad, because he knew that anything could happen at any second.  And in 1994, on May 1st, I lost my dad, whom I never had the opportunity to perceive, I only knew his voice from the videos that Leonardo took or from the interview he did after the races, I only knew his laugh and smile from the videos. I never got the chance to talk to him or anything like that, but despite that I love him more than anyone on this planet. My uncle tried to do everything for me to know as much as possible about my dad, he told me everything about him, he showed me everything. I saw every race of my dad's and only good memories of it were formed in my head, and it hurt even more that I would never experience with him what a normal daughter of another father would. I won't go through my first race, my first heartbreak, or my first love with him. But even though dad is not here, I tell him everything, everything that happens in my life and I hope that he somehow hears me.

Ever since dad died it was just me and uncle Leonardo. Every day I heard sentences like

"I know that I will never be a father like Ayrton was, but believe me, I will always try to do everything to be able to give you what he would have given you". 

And I wanted to give him all this back by racing.
When it was my 4th year in this world, I told him that I wanted to race like my dad and make it as far as I could to make him proud. I already knew at this age that I wanted to race for him. I was 5 years old and I sat for the first time in an improvised formula on the circuit that my uncle created for me at home in the garden. It wasn't much, but still I was grateful to him for what he did, at this moment for the first time I felt like I knew what I wanted and I knew what I was going to pursue in life.

As the years went by and I grew, so did my talent and I progressed through the go-kart categories as fast as I could. The only thing that changed was that I did not ride under the last name Senna but under the last name Ferreira. The reason for this was simple, in formula 1 it works like that once you have a name everything falls at your feet, but this is exactly what I did not want. I wanted to fight my own way and get there on my own. I didn't want to reveal anywhere that I was Senna's daughter, because my dad kept me a secret and I wanted to keep it that way, that's why I came into karting under a different last name. I was winning races and making my uncle and best friend really proud and I knew deep down that my dad up there was proud of me too. I started to fight more and more because I knew that the possibility of being in Formula 3 was within reach.  After 3 more races won, they approached me.

In 2016, it was my first season in Formula 3. I was 24 years old when I sat in Formula 3 for the first time and drove my first Grand Prix. It was something surreal, because after 24 years of wanting to fight my way through, I was able to do it. Seeing the look on my uncle's face the first time I sat in the formula, that was the one look that gave me even more motivation to win this season.  Unfortunately, I did not succeed and I finished in 6th place in the championship. In 2018, it was my last season in Formula 3 and also my first world title. I won by only 5 points over the second. An unforgettable feeling, an unforgettable moment.

In 2019, I came to F2 as a rookie. Everything seemed harder than in F3 and my start to the season was very weak and I had problems and my mental health was not coping. I finished the first 8 races either under the points or I ended up in the barriers.  After the 9th race of the season, I started to catch up and finally I was able to win 2 races and stand on the podium 3 times. Unfortunately, it was not enough for anything more than 8th place. But throughout my journey through this season, I had Leonardo by my side. He was the biggest support for me, he trained with me and was able to get me back to fighting again. I was incredibly grateful for him. I spent the next two years in F2, the second season I finished 3rd and my third season I finished 4th. It was 2022 and I was driving my last season as an F2 driver and the last season before finally driving for Scuderia Ferrari in F1 after 29 years. I dominated this season in F2 and managed to defend another world title. This one was more emotional than the first one and I knew I did it for dad.

Now it's 2023 and my dream starts this year. Even before I stepped into this year, my uncle told me something.

"Dani, you are exactly like him, completely in everything, you did what he did and what no one else could do. You are his legacy. Everything that awaits you is what you have to overcome to be at the top, you have to go through everything. And I know you're going because you're just as stubborn as dad was. I believe in you that one day you will be the Champion and F1 will get Senna back as he was only in the form of his daughter"

I knew my dream, I knew my goal, and now it was up to me to fulfill it. However, my uncle was old and couldn't handle traveling after the races, so I was left with me in F1. It is now up to me to make my uncle more and more proud and be the best legacy my dad could have.