Ayrton Senna

Senna started at 13 in a go-kart his father built from a lawnmower engine, tore through European karting and Formula Ford, then took the 1983 British F3 title in a season-long duel with Martin Brundle. He reached Formula One in 1984 with Toleman, moved to Lotus a year later, and won his first race in the rain at Portugal - a preview of the wet-weather mastery that would define him. Joining McLaren in 1988 alongside Alain Prost, the two won 15 of 16 races in the Honda-powered MP4/4; Senna claimed eight victories and his first title by three points, igniting a rivalry that boiled over into collisions at Suzuka in '89 and '90. He added two more championships in 1990 and 1991, then spent two years chasing the dominant Williams-Renault before finally joining the team for 1994. On May 1, leading at Imola, his Williams left the track at Tamburello and he was gone - the last driver killed in a Formula One race for twenty years.