I'm probably going to get shot down for start this thread

What do you think Senna would make of Hamilton and the impact he's made/had on F1?

Do you think he would join the Planet F1 forum and slate him to death fanboy style, or do you think he would be impressed by him, especially his wet weather skillz?

I think he would like him

He'd probably have had the respect for Hamilton all champions seem to have for each other.

I imagine he would have the same opinion as Hakkinen, Schumacher and any other old drivers who are no longer in F1. I don't see why he would have any special opinion either way. Lots of people admired Senna. You don't see Schumacher giving Vettel special attention just because he was Vettels idol as he grew up. Same for Button, he had Schumacher posters on his bedroom wall.

He would kick his ass for trying to be like him

We had a thread like this a while ago didn't we. It all depends on whether we're imagining Senna driving or not. If not, he'd have liked him I think. As a competitor, it would have been fingers wagged under Lewis' nose, like it was with Schumi. But only once

I suppose he might take issue with Hamilton wearing his helmet, maybe he'd be flattered though. Who knows.

I don't believe it.

Senna's sister is a big fan, isn't she?

The colour yellow isn't something that Senna owns.

That's true.

Sure, but I think he'd find that colour along with the blue and green stripes fairly familiar.

Nah, it's pure coincidence... in fact the Hamiltons didn't have a color TV until 2007, so Lewis didn't even know Senna's helmet colors.

Although you could say that Hamilton's colours are just those of Grenada, with a bit of blue added.

I think that Senna had real respect for the top level drivers in F1 and that he was slightly (well, more than slightly) dismissive of those he considered poseurs.

Respect doesn't mean fear or deference - but awareness and appreciation of their talent and the threat they posed.

I think that a retired Senna would have respected Hamilton and been honored to have been such an impact on his aspirations.

I think that a racing Senna would have respected Hamilton for his talent, for his close family ties, and for his (somewhat less obvious) spirituality.

Oh absolutely. The first time I saw Lewis drive, and heard him speak, he reminded me of Ayrton Senna. Ayrton would have liked Lewis, (for sure).

Well one could also say MS helmet colours were those of China with a bit of black and white added.

In fact, one could say lots of things....

Some just don't do their research. He didn't steal his design.

http://www.jlfdesigns.com/page24a.html

Just wondering howlong its going to take before this threat is going to be full with bashing, as always.

Nothing to add to this one ...

Depends doesn't it?

Theoretically speaking, lets say Hamilton entered F1 aged 22 in 1991.

Senna was 31 and at the height of his powers.

In that scenario I think Senna would feel very threatened by Hamilton, just as he had with Schumacher.

And you'll remember he didn't take very kindly to the quick young Schumacher, attacking him physically during testing at Hockenheim in 1992, and publically giving him a dressing down at the French Grand Prix that year.

But if Senna had lived and was now a 49-year-old, I think he'd have huge respect for Hamilton.

He'd see much of his young self, in terms of Hamilton's awesome car control, drive with rear-end moving style.

I think Senna would also appreciate Hamilton's human side and family values.

So I reckon they would have got on great if Senna was retired, but not so much if they'd competed against each other.

But as far as I know, Schumacher didn't have a Chinese family

He would have probably got tired of British journalists asking him about Hamilton all the time (and I mean almost every question in every single interview).

The earlier Senna would have gotten into a fist fight with Hamilton.
The later Senna would have been indulgent of Hamilton, having become more statesman-like.

I am not sure, though, if Hamilton would have become his "protege" in the way he has become to Viviane Senna. That's a bit far-fetched and gives me a strange feeling. Looking at the eyes of Hamilton, unlike Viviane, I see nothing of her brother in his eyes.

He would get a court injunction against him for stalking.

He would bitch and moan about everything Hamilton did and then do it himself, then Hamilton would give interviews with puppy dog eyes so the British press and public would crusade against Senna.

Yes.

I don't think he'd really care one way or the other. His view of F1 would be quite disdainful and dimissive of anyone in the current form.

That being said he could be running a very successful team now or living in luxury off the coast of Brazil. Who knows.

And Lewis's internet connection was malfunctioning at that time too...

Not sure about that:
Hamilton 94
Senna 94

Over the years, the design has been tweaked around, but you can clearly see Hamilton took inspiration from Senna's helmet style.

Nothing wrong with doing that, just don't pretend their helmets ended up very similar by coincidence..

"you can clearly see Hamilton took inspiration from Senna's helmet style" ... Lewis was 9 freaking years old back then, when i was 9 i had stuff in my room from people i adored, had buttons all over my jacked from musicgroups i liked. Its called adoring someone, its called real love for someone, but its always like, when people show their most vonurable site (respect / loving / admire) people will use it against you. Mostly be those trying to pull your legs from under you.

Well, how about not making it an issue?

he would have a huge amount of respect for lewis and would have viewed him as a absolute threat, not sure how they would have got on if they were team mates though, so here's a worthless, no value thought, would Senna have behaved in a similar way to FA in 2007 or would it have been a lot more dirtier? don't forget Alonso never played the media game and remained silent throughout, dignity, see, alonso has it in spades.

And he could only afford old, used magazines that all the colour was worn off.

... a hole in the road? You lucky bastard...and you tell the young folk today and they wont believe ya!

Well Put and I agree.

So what is Hamilton used the colour yellow?

No disrespect to Senna, but he didn't licence the colour yellow.

Luca Badoer uses yellow too, and he's not criticised for it.

The Hamiltons probably did tip their hats to Senna when choosing yellow, but big deal.

Jean Alesi copied Elio de Angelis' helmet, and Michele Alboreto took his design from Ronnie Petersson.

Hi.
First I read the topic I thought it was pathetic, but my second thought was, yes, it would be interesting to know the thoughts of anybody of the calibre of Senna. My third thought was was that Hamilton has made no impact on F1 yet, though he may in the future as anybody else. Fourth was that Senna, as I remember, was never keen to share his thoughts on others whoever may that be, so there is a strong possibility that if Senna would be a retired living person now (I wish), you would not get too much info on his feelings about Hamilton from him.

Ron Dennis was always convinced Ayrton would return to McLaren one day and I suspect he would have ended his career there whilst in his early 40's. As a result Lewis would meet and get to know Ayrton very well and I suspect Lewis would glean as much know-how as possible from Ayrton. IMO Ayrton would have been impressed by the drive and determination of the Young Brit and I think he could well have ended up his mentor but I suspect Ayrton would have become disillusioned with F1 eventually especially with the Stewards and the FIA and now he'd probably be doing everything to get his nephew a drive whilst living the rest of his days out in Brazil with Xuxa and his kids.

I think he'd spend about four seconds complimenting Lewis and then spend the next thirty minutes complaining about all the things that were wrong with F1

Go and watch a Cadet kart race and have to spot one specific driver. It's very very difficult. the most noticeable colour from a distance is yellow and this is a perfectly reasonable decision to make.

Also the ribbon look has been around motorsport for year and years and years. it's the most simple and natural design.

This is one instance where Hamilton didn't try to imitate Senna. i

Cleaned up, please keep the thread civil and on topic.

he would tell him to get his own distinct helmet colors

you know what, he probably would! But with a smile.

If someone admired me to the point that they ripped off my helmet design (intentionally or otherwise) I would feel quite complimented

In order to avoid the public glare ...

I don't recall anyone saying there's something wrong with it. He could buy one of Senna's old helmets on ebay and wear it, for all I care

The fun only starts when people claim that a yellow helmet with blue and green horizontal stripes has got nothing whatsoever to do with Senna, especially if worn by a driver who is an admitted Senna fanboy (by this boards standards anyway).

It's fascinating that Hamiltons Senna admiration seems to be a bigger problem for those of his followers who despised Senna than it is for Senna fans like me who aren't particulary fond of Hamilton...

jeezzz.. some people really don't actually listen to what Hamilton said.

Watch this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eck8QpTRFY0 - With so many different designs and colours to be seen from a distance you need a bright helmet, hence the yellow.

I have my subjective reasons for not listening (as in blindly believing) to what Hamilton says, but of course that doesn't need to concern anyone but me.

Still I would be interested to hear what role the blue and green stripes played in the all-important goal "to be seen from a distance".

Finally a little hint to other racing dads with spotting-my-boy troubles: neon green will work even better than yellow and be truly unique on top of it!