Netflix, famous for its “Drive to Survive” hit, which brought Formula 1 to a wider audience with behind-the-scenes content, now uses its new “Senna” miniseries to introduce new fans to Ayrton Senna’s life and career.

BE AWARE THAT THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS.

The story begins with one of the most emotional moments in Formula 1 history: Ayrton Senna’s tragic crash at the Tamburello corner during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. 

While the show is visually impressive, it sometimes feels incomplete, and starting with this event, the focus is from the beginning set on celebrating Senna as a racing legend but misses the chance to fully explore the person behind the fame.  

The production team went all out to make the racing scenes realistic. An Argentine company built 22 cars matching those Senna raced, including the iconic Williams FW16. The sound team spent over a year capturing the true sounds of these cars. The race scenes are fast, exciting, and feel very real.  

Senna was more than just a driver, and his story went beyond racing. For him, racing was both a spiritual journey and a way to inspire people, but unfortunately, the series doesn’t fully capture the complexity of who he was.

His strong Catholic faith gets little attention in the show. His incredible charity work in Brazil—he donated about $400 million to help poor children—barely appears, only mentioned briefly through newspaper headlines.  

The rivalry with Alain Prost, one of the most exciting parts of Senna’s career, feels oversimplified. Instead of showing the real ups and downs of their relationship, the series makes it look like a simple fight between a hero and a villain, which isn’t fair to either of them.

Unlike the beloved movie “Rush”, which showed both James Hunt and Niki Lauda equally, “Senna” feels like it strongly favors Ayrton Senna, while making Alain Prost seem like the bad one, even though he was a skilled four-time world champion. By not giving both drivers fair attention, the series misses the chance to fully show how exciting and important their rivalry was.

On the other hand, Actor Gabriel Leone does a great job showing Senna’s determination and charm. The sets and costumes bring the flashy world of 1980s and 1990s Formula 1 to life. But by trying to make Senna look perfect, the series loses some of what made him unique.

The real Senna was a mix of many things: a fierce competitor, a generous humanitarian, a proud Brazilian, and a deeply religious man. His faith played a big role in how he raced, sometimes pushing him to take risks that others wouldn’t.

For example, he once said he felt he saw a divine light while racing at Monaco and a vision of Christ after winning in Suzuka. Alain Prost even commented that Senna’s faith made him believe he couldn’t die, which influenced his bold driving style.  

By leaving out these details or simplifying them, the series misses a chance to show Senna’s true complexity, which is really unfortunate, however, overall, it is a good way how to spend 6 hours of your free time.