The first time I saw Ayrton Senna drive was at the 1986 F1 Austrian Grand Prix, the 12th round of the season, at what is now called the Red Bull Ring, then known as the Osterreichring.

The 1986 season was the biggest power race since the F1 Grand Prix world championship was established, where 1.5-liter turbocharged engines were at their peak. Until 1986, turbocharging pressure was unlimited and there were no rules on fuel composition, so it was rumored that for qualifying, cars would be tuned up to 1,500-horsepower. In fact, I witnessed a car’s engine suddenly explode on track, scattering parts and causing a fire, and was amazed at the sheer ferocity of this power race.

The Honda F1 team was at the forefront of the turbo F1 era, seemingly enjoying the thrilling 1 horsepower per 1 cc power struggle. After three difficult and painful years since Honda entered its second era of F1 racing in 1983, it began winning races with the Williams Honda RA166E V6 turbo, and had set its sight on claiming the constructors’ championship.

Honda has an absolute moral obligation to win if it is going to race at all, but at this time, the motivation was much greater. The company was determined to bring the F1 title to Japan, dedicating it to the company founder Soichiro Honda, who was about to turn 80 years old, while he was still alive. Soichiro had declared, “My dream since childhood has been to become the champion of all the world’s automobile races with a car that I made,” but it was understood that his days were numbered due to serious illnesses accompanying his advanced age. In its 38th year of business, all of Honda’s employees had an unwavering respect for their founder, Soichiro Honda.

In the 1986 season, Senna drove a Lotus 98T Renault V6 turbo. He regularly claimed pole position, but was able to win only two grands prix due to the lack of the car’s performance.

In contrast to his lack of results, Senna’s driving style was as exciting as synthesizer music, with a clarity and sense of the future unseen. F1 drivers at the time were generally seen as bull fighters, old-school and macho, but Senna was different.

Senna's courage and speed had a new-age sophistication. It was the intelligence of the digital age, a boy-soprano cry, a genderless appeal in today’s terms, a “postmodern newcomer” in the language of the time.

“Honda should have a new-age driver like this,” I thought. As of 1986, Honda’s F1 team was preoccupied with the championship, but its larger goal was to establish an era in the history of F1 grand prix racing, just as it had dominated the world of motorcycle grand prix racing in the 1960s.

This, however, was not a matter of the number of victories it accumulated. Without the philosophy behind the humanity and technology that creates a dominating engine, people would not accept the arrival of the Honda era. Honda needed to tell a story, that it was a group of people who developed through challenging races, pursuing technology and philosophy. To do so, it needs a human face, the F1 driver, to play the leading role. The main character of a modern story is always a person, and the story of a champion without the philosophy cannot become a legend.

It was not just the delusion of one fan that Senna should be the protagonist. Honda already knew this as well.

In May 1986 at the Monaco Grand Prix, the Honda F1 team manager had met Senna behind closed doors, and they had already developed a rapport. It was Senna who had called for the meeting, and Honda was eager to accept. For both sides, it was the only choice.

Senna talked honestly of his dream of becoming world champion, and his sincerity impressed the Honda F1 team’s leader. Both men agreed on a plan for the near future. In secret, Senna and Honda began to pioneer their new era.

From spring to summer 1986, Senna, Honda, and the McLaren team joined forces to develop a multi-year plan that would see Honda supply engines to Senna’s Team Lotus in 1987, and Honda partner McLaren in 1988, following Senna’s move to McLaren. This Senna-Honda-McLaren package continued until 1992, when Honda suspended its second era of F1 activities. This was the first of a six-year partnership with Honda, with Senna at the center.

Senna became world champion in 1988, 1990, and 1991, all won driving a McLaren Honda.

It was truly the era of Senna and Honda, but what needs to be remembered is that Senna was gifted with many skilled rivals. This story becomes richly human only when Senna and the competition engage in heated battles and the races are hard fought. These rivals were Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, and Alain Prost. Some call it the “four legends” including Senna. All four had used, and three of them became champions with, Honda F1 engines, demonstrating the depth and breadth of the Honda era and the drivers involved.

One analysis of the rapport between Senna and Honda was that Senna, a Brazilian, and Honda, a Japanese company, felt a closeness regarding their view of F1, a typical modern European sport, because they were both in the position of “foreigners.” This analysis, based on the geopolitics of today’s Global South, is by no means the entire story, but cannot be completely discounted. It is true that Senna, who grew up in Brazil at a time when Japanese manufacturers of motorcycles, automobiles, televisions, cameras, and other industrial products were entering the global market, respected Honda.

Ultimately though, the reason Senna and Honda formed a comradely relationship was because Honda fell in love with Senna’s way of life, which was to hone his driving talent with intensity.

Nobuhiko Kawamoto, who was in charge of the second era of Honda’s F1 project and later became the fourth president of Honda, recalled of Senna:

“Staff who were at the F1 scene said Ayrton was really special. Drivers [at that time] were not generally interested in engine data graphs, but he wanted us to show them to him, to explain them to him, and he worked hard to understand the data. He is very intelligent. Then he would have in-depth discussions with our engineers, as an equal. Driver’s usually say, ‘This engine is no good,’ but Ayrton would enthusiastically point out which areas could be improved. Engine development accelerated, Ayrton won, and our engineers were happy because of the results. In other words, he was like a development driver for us.”

Kawamoto said, “We were both very busy, so every once in a while, when we had time, he would call me to have dinner or something,” and that talking with Ayrton deepened Kawamoto’s trust in him. When Senna was in a difficult situation, Kawamoto would call him and give him advice, once saying, “He's like my oldest son, but he’s a bit spoiled.” These recollections tell the story of a relationship beyond that of Honda and its contract driver, but rather a story of friendship.

At the dinner table, Senna was a gentleman who would quietly listen to others with a smile, and when the subject was complete, he would start an interesting topic of his own. He was humble, and his behavior was naturally attentive to others. When he experienced Japanese-style karaoke for the first time, instead of showing any discomfort, he sang “Yesterday.” When his own brother, who was present, was hesitant to sing, Senna stood up and sang “Can’t help falling in love.” He was a good brother. It was refreshing to see him singing as well as he could, despite being a novice to the karaoke culture.

Senna’s style was to do his best in any situation, even in the pits of an F1 grand prix, where he never left as soon as he could. Instead, when Honda engineers began changing an engine, he would watch them work as long as he could. Senna would greet each and every staff member as equals, at every job site.

Honda people at the time would have considered Senna as one of them. He was special, indeed a F1 superstar, but never flaunted. He reminded me of Soichiro Honda, who wore the same white uniform as his employees, in the same cafeteria, in the same rows and at the same tables.

I once walked with Senna to his hotel room on a Thursday night during a grand prix week. As I watched his back, I noticed that he was about to enter his “thinking time.” He told me that many times when he is alone he predicts the race over and over. He would imagine the circuit, from the shape of the turns to track conditions, and run through them repeatedly in his mind. He would also think about the differences between driving in rain, cloudy or sunny conditions. From the start of the race, to the first turn, to the battles during the race, to the changes in the tires and cars, to the finish, Senna would race in his mind repeatedly in numerous scenarios. He even said that these endless hours were fun. While some drivers may excel at impromptu racing, this was one of Senna’s weapons in what he called brain simulation or meditation.

After Senna won his third championship in 1991, Honda had decided to suspend its second F1 era at the end of 1992.

The time had come to redirect the enormous energy and resources that had marked Honda’s second era in the history of F1 to the next phase of its corporate growth.

What was the discussion at the time with Senna? Nobuhiko Kawamoto recalled:

“I met Senna as soon as we decided to withdraw from F1, because I had to apologize to him. Until then, whenever I saw him, I told him that it was our dream to beat Fangio's record of five championship titles. So I had to apologize. There was no point in avoiding it. I thought it was better to speak frankly and apologize. At that time I was Honda’s president, so I had responsibilities. So I told him, ‘I’m sorry. Considering the company’s situation, I have no choice. We couldn’t achieve the dream we discussed, and we will live in different worlds from now on, but let’s do our best,’ and Ayrton understood.”

Honda’s founder, Soichiro Honda, said of the essence of Senna’s personality and superstar appeal:

“There is no other driver in F1 who I enjoy more than Senna. He is at the limit, close to the edge, but he calculates all the risks.”

Ayrton Senna da Silva was 34 years old when he died in the third round of the 1994 F1 Grand Prix at San Marino, while driving a Williams FW16B Renault RS6B.

Upon learning of the tragedy, Honda displayed a McLaren MP4/6 and Honda RA121E in the ground floor of the Welcome Plaza Aoyama within Honda’s Aoyama building, as a memorial to Senna. The red and white McLaren Honda was completely covered in bouquets laid by fans.