Best Ayrton Senna Books
No matter which team or driver is your personal favorite, any F1 fan or collector should have at least one Ayrton Senna book in their personal library.
Over time I have managed to collect or read most different Senna books that have been published. There are some that are under-rated but quite a few are over-rated especially given their price tags. These are my list of recommended Senna books and most of them (except for ‘Principles of Race Driving‘) can be picked up at reasonable prices in bookstores or online. The majority of them were published around the early and mid 1990’s around the time of his passing.
There are a few basic categories of Senna books:
- paperback biography
- large hardcover mixed biography/photo book
- large hardcover pure photo book
The most prolific Senna biography writer was Christopher Hilton who pumped out over a dozen titles – many of them were simply previous books with minor updates but published under a new title, although his best book is probably “Memories of Ayrton“.
If you want a very detailed journalist researched biography, Tom Rubython’s “The Life of SENNA” is a highly recommended read.
The mixed biography photobooks are the type of books you might find in your local library. A good example would Alan Henry’s ‘Ayrton Senna – One Year On‘.
When it comes to pure photo books – lots have been published – for instance, famous F1 photographer Rainer Schlegelmilch has produced several limited edition slipcase titles like “The Great Challenge Vol 4 – The Senna Era” and “Driving to Perfection“. My favorites are the more accessible books by Paolo d’Alessio and Keith Sutton.
Rarest Senna book?
There are of course, many rare Senna books that I could include in my list but they are reasonably expensive even as second hand books and quite a few of them aren’t worth the astronomical price unless you are a diehard Senna collector. If you’re interested in those you can find them listed under my Rare F1 Books menu. Most collectors would generally consider the rarest Senna book to be “Monumental” which is a 1994 compilation of personal photos from several F1 photographers. At the time, many of these photos had never been previously published or seen. Only 500 copies of the book were made and this is reflected by its high resale price.
There are also a few Senna books that I consider slightly unique.
It’s unfortunate that no Senna autobiography was ever able to be written or published. However, Ayrton did write one book himself although not about his career: Principles of Race Driving – it’s a pure driver instructional book and while it’s harder to find now, is a highly recommended read. The other book is “My life with Ayrton” by Senna’s last girlfriend Adriane Galisteu which recounts her time with Ayrton. This book when it was published created quite a stir with Brazilians and traditional Senna fans. Still it offers a very different personal account of Senna from a non-F1 writer that distinguishes itself from other mainstream Senna books.
As I develop the F1-nut.com website, I will post reviews of the rarer Senna books in circulation (including Monumental) and also other published Senna books (see below) to give readers a more complete review list of the various Senna books available.
These days there a fewer new Senna books published although with 2014 being the 20th anniversary year, there looks to be some new books in the pipeline.
F1-nut.com recommended best Senna books:
1. Ayrton Senna’s Principles of Race Driving
by Ayrton Senna; Hazelton Publishing 1993 (reviewed 10 Feb 2013 here). Highly recommended – a must have for purist and hard core Senna fans (although hard to find a cheap copy these days). No politics, just Ayrton’s technical, mental and holistic approach to competition racing.
2. Memories of Ayrton
by Christopher Hilton; Haynes Publishing 2003 (reviewed 2 March 2013 here). Best compilation of interview quotes from those that worked and raced with Senna.
3. Ayrton Senna: A Personal Tribute
by Keith Sutton; Osprey 1994 (reviewed 27 Aug 2013 here). Good balance of photos (lots of excellent ones too) and narrative — old copies are still reasonably priced, so very accessible.
4. Ayrton Senna: The Team Lotus Years
by Johnny Tipler; Coterie Press 2005 (reviewed 7 Aug 2012 here). Johnny Tipler (ex-Team Lotus staffer) is a well known writer on JPS Lotus era cars and you can call this one a “Young Senna” book.
5. Ayrton Senna
by Paolo d’Allesio; Gribaudo 2009 (reviewed 24 Nov 2012 here). Compact small format photo book with a beautiful chronological compilation of photos.
6. The Life of SENNA
by Tom Rubython; BusinessF1 Books (2005) review (reviewed 1 May 2017 here). At 600 pages, the best researched Senna biography to date.
7. Adriane My Life with Ayrton
by Adriane Galisteu; APA Publishing (reviewed 4 Sep 2015 here). The first(?) F1 WAG book ever published – a very interesting and different read for Senna fans.
8. Ayrton Senna: Memories and Momentoes from a Life Lived at Full Speed
by Christopher Hilton; Haynes Publishing 2009 (reviewed 7 May 2019 here). One of Chris Hilton’s more visual books. Includes insert copies of replica document memorabilia for Senna fans. Nicely bound and presented.
9. Ayrton Senna – All his races
by Tony Dodgins; Evro Publishing 2014 (reviewed 17 April 2021 here). Lots of interviews with Senna’s team bosses from his pre-F1 career in junior formula feeder series.
10. Ayrton Senna Above and Beyond
by Pierre Menard and Jacques Vassal (reviewed 31 Dec 2016 here). Like other books in this F1 Legends series, this one is a nicely balanced hardcover photobook and narrative.
Other Ayrton Senna books (more to be listed & reviewed…)
Ayrton Senna – A Tribute by Ivan Rendall (reviewed 25 April 2013 here)
Ayrton Senna As Time Goes By by Christopher Hilton (reviewed 2 May 2018 here)
Ayrton Senna – Goodbye Champion, Farewell Friend by Karin Sturm (reviewed 8 December 2013 here)
Ayrton Senna – Portrait of a Racing Legend by Richard Hawkins & Hugh Gollner (reviewed 30 April 2014 here)
Ayrton Senna – Portrait of a Racing Legend by Bruce Jones (reviewed 3 July 2021 here)
Ayrton Senna – Prince of Formula One by Various (Ken Ryan) (reviewed 3 October 2014 here)
Ayrton Senna – The Last Night Skira Editore (reviewed 12 Dec 2019 here)
Ayrton Senna – The Legend Grows by Christopher Hilton ( reviewed 23 June 2017 here)
Ayrton Senna – Through My Eye by Paul-Henri Cahier (reviewed 9 September 2012 here)
Driving to Perfection – Ayrton Senna de Silva by Rainer Schlegelmilch & Ulrich Berberich-Martini (reviewed 2 May 2015 here)
Little People, Big Dreams: Ayrton Senna by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara (reviewed 28 Oct 2020 here). For junior readers.
Monumental Senna (reviewed 5 May 2022). Rare photo album – limited print run 500
Obrigado Ayrton by Paolo D’Alessio (reviewed 12 July 2013 here)
Senna by Fiona Beddall (reviewed 7 March 2021 here).
For youth readers.
Senna’s 50 Poles by Christopher Hilton (reviewed 7 October 2012 here)
The Death of Senna by Richard Williams (reviewed 12 May 2014 here)
The Power and the Glory by David Sedgwick (reviewed 8 Aug 2018 here). A recount of the Prost v Senna McLaren years.
They Died too Young – Ayrton Senna by A Noble (reviewed 26 Dec 2012 here)
And that’s not to forget that Ayrton Senna is mentioned in many other F1 driver personal autobiographies – I recommend that Senna fans also take a look at Adrian Newey’s “How to build a car” and Damon Hill’s “Watching the Wheels” for some additional Senna insights.
Check all the Senna book reviews posted on the site under Ayrton Senna from the “Find a Review” dropdown list on the right side of this page or check here: http://f1-nut.com/category/drivers/world-champions/ayrton-senna/
…and although not books, there are also a few great film documentaries like Senna and the Senna Official Tribute DVD with short documentaries.
