"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit'. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high."

"One particular thing that Formula-1 can provide you, is that you know you're always exposed to danger. Danger of getting hurt, danger of dying. This is part of your life, and you either face it in a professional, in a cool manner, or you just drop it, just leave it and don't do it anymore really. And I happen to like too much what I do to just drop it, I can't drop it."

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose."

"Racing, competing, it's in my blood. It's part of me, it's part of my life; I have been doing it all my life and it stands out above everything else."

"There are no small accidents on this circuit." - talking about the Imola circuit before the fatal 1994 race.

"It's going to be a season with lots of accidents, and I'll risk saying that we'll be lucky if something really serious doesn't happen." - pre-season 1994.

"I continuously go further and further learning about my own limitations, my body limitation, psychological limitations. It's a way of life for me."

"Of course there are moments that you wonder how long you should be doing it because there are other aspects which are not nice, of this lifestyle. But I just love winning."

"My car quit so I parked it." (after retiring from the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix)

"If you have a target in your life, a real target, doesn´t matter if you are very poor or rich people, if you work hard and believe in God, you can get the success, success in the life."

"I know that it is impossible to win always. I just hope that defeat doesn't come this weekend."

Frank Williams recalled in a tribute to Senna made in 2004 that "he was a greater man outside of the car than he was in it."

After Senna's death it was discovered that he had donated millions of dollars of his personal fortune (estimated at $400 million at the time of his death) to children's charities, a fact that during his life he had kept secret.

In 1992 at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium when during Friday free practice Érik Comas had crashed heavily on the back straight other drivers drove past the wreckage at high speed. Senna could be seen jumping out of his car and while endangering his own life, sprinting down the track to the wrecked car to reach inside and hit the electrics kill switch, to prevent a possible fire.

In 1993 again at Spa-Francorchamps when Alessandro Zanardi crashed his Lotus heavily at Eau Rouge corner, Senna could again be seen jumping out of his car to help the injured driver.

Among the several drivers escorting the coffin was Alain Prost.

Early in 1994 he spoke about his own future. "I want to live fully, very intensely. I would never want to live partially, suffering from illness or injury. If I ever happen to have an accident that eventually costs my life, I hope it happens in one instant."

Perhaps the unique duality of his character was most evident at the moment of his death. As track officials examined the wreckage of his racing car they found a furled, bloodsoaked Austrian flag. A victory flag that he was going to raise in honour of Austrian Roland Ratzenberger, who had died on that track the day before.

Max Mosley did not go to his funeral instead deciding to go to Roland Ratzenberger saying that everyone would be attending Ayrtons and he believed that someone should attend Ratzenbergers.

The weekend started off as badly as it was to finish. On the Friday, Rubens Barrichello was involved in a serious accident that prevented him from competing in the race. Senna was barred from visitation by the doctors but jumped over the back wall to see him.

On the Saturday, Roland Ratzenberger died which in practice reinforced Senna’s safety concerns and caused him to consider retiring. He spent the next morning meeting with the drivers to re-create a Driver’s Safety group to increase safety in Formula one, and as the most senior driver, he was offered the role of leader.

Pedro Lamy and J. J. Lehto were involved in a starting-line accident which ended up with a safety car being deployed. They followed the safety car for 6 laps and on the 7th Senna went of at Tamburello corner and strike an unprotected concrete barrier. He was able to slow the car down to 218 km/h (135 mph) in less then two seconds before hitting the wall.

He remained motionless in the cockpit, the accident didn’t look devastating but it was obvious that Senna had suffered some sort of injury because of the manner in which his helmet was seen to be motionless and leaning very slightly to the side.

TV coverage saw rescue workers giving him medical attention, close inspection of the area in which he was treated revealed a considerable amount of blood on the ground.

Professor Sidney Watkins, a world-renowned neurosurgeon and Formula One Safety Delegate and Medical Delegate, head of the Formula One on-track medical team, who performed an on site tracheotomy on Ayrton Senna, reported:

"He looked serene. I raised his eyelids and it was clear from his pupils that he had a massive brain injury. We lifted him from the cockpit and laid him on the ground. As we did, he sighed and, although I am totally agnostic, I felt his soul departed at that moment."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, numerous rumours abound that the remaining 1.5 seconds are not lost and reportedly show Senna's steering wheel clearly coming off in his hands as his car is leaving the track. Although allegations exist that this video has been seen by a number of people at the top level of motorsport, there is no evidence to support its existence.

The Williams team was entangled for many years in a court case with the Italian prosecutors over manslaughter charges, but they were found not guilty and no action was taken against Williams. In 2004, the case was re-opened, but closed again in 2005 when there was no new evidence.
Senna was only 34 years old. Senna's injuries were caused by the front right tire with attached suspension piece, which became loose on impact, hit Senna on the head and pierced his visor, and caused a fatal cranial trauma. Images of Senna's battered helmet show a puncture occurred at the top of the visor, just over his right eye. This led to the now most commonly accepted theory that one of the car's suspension bars had come loose and impacted with Senna's head.