What Was Ayrton Senna’s Last Point Scoring Grand Prix?

The sport has seen many great drivers and fast racers who created magic and are, as a matter of fact, still doing so. The sport saw ecstatic champion drivers in the likes of Phil Hill, Juan Manuel Fangio, Jack Brabham, Sir Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda and the great, Michael Schumacher.

F1 was rather fortunate to have had the likes of John Surtees and the inimitable Bruce McLaren. It found awe in a certain Gilles Villeneuve.

Moreover, it also saw rockstars in the form of Mika Hakkinen, James Hunt and Kimi Raikkonen, drivers who were as fast on the tarmac as they were icy cool off it.

It is still seeing geniuses of the might of Sir Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, nine world titles between them, lifting it to new peaks of glory.

But truth be told, Formula 1 scored a bonanza hit when it actually saw Ayrton Senna embrace its tenacious surface. That’s how it was. That is how big a moment it was when Senna came along, not only the greatest South American racing supremo but the greatest of them all, by some measure, provided if that measure is pure talent and doubtless speed.

We’ve seen the daring at Donington Park in 1993. We’ve seen Ayrton Senna’s magic at Monaco. The ‘lap of gods’ is still one of the most widely watched F1 videos of all-time. Then, there was that amazing first home win for him at Brazil, the land he came from, the country that birthed the fiery comet of endless energy.

But where did Ayrton Senna score his last ever F1 point before the dark day of 1994 claimed a man of infinite genius and limitless potential?

At which destination did the inimitable Ayrton Senna score his final ever F1 point?

It ought to be reminded that before the cataclysmic and ultimately, irreparable events of Imola took place, Ayrton Senna had failed to score a point in the two previous races that were held before the race at Italy.

He had sadly registered a DNF each at the 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix as well as the Pacific Grand Prix that was held not long after the season opener at São Paulo.

But the last race of the season before, i.e., the 1993 F1 world championship, which was held at Adelaide saw Senna sparkle in usual fashion. It was the season-ending 1993 Australian Grand Prix where Ayrton Senna had scored his final ever F1 points. Little did he know back then that his life would only have three further races and that’s about it.

In what turned out to be his last-ever race for McLaren, powered by Ford, Ayrton Senna not only captured pole ahead of the rest of the grid at Adelaide but later went on to dominate the 79-lap contest.

He was at his best, fast and focused. He didn’t allow anyone else on the grid to dominate. And that’s when, there were the likes of Damon Hill, Alain Prost and the rising hero Michael Schumacher on that very grid.

But Senna was in full control at a venue where he had captured his first pole since the 1992 Canadian Grand Prix.

As a matter of fact, some of his closest rivals that year in 1993 were stacked not too far off from the pole sitter of the Australian Grand Prix in 1993. Schumacher was placed in fourth with Prost, a long time Senna rival, attacking the racing great in second.

But on race day, i.e., 7 November, 1993, Ayrton Senna was on the limit and his excellent tyre and pace management saw him earn his 41st and thus, final F1 victory. It was a time to celebrate. None knew that in a few months’ time, one would be mourning the winner of the 1993 Australian Grand Prix. Such is the sport, akin to life: unpredictable as ever.