Profound Ayrton Senna impact on 'divided Brazil' recalled on poignant anniversary

Lucas di Grassi has detailed the profound impact Ayrton Senna had on Brazil and recalled how his death "changed my perception" of motorsport.

Senna was killed on May 1st, 1994 whilst leading the San Marino Grand Prix, with his funeral in his native Brazil being accorded full military honours. 

At the time, di Grassi was nine years old and has explained how Senna's death "changed my perception" of motorsport and led him to pursue a career in racing.

Di Grassi himself would make F1 in 2010 with the Virgin team, the same year Ayrton's nephew Bruno made his debut with HRT. 

After his F1 career ended, di Grassi competed in the World Endurance Championship, and moved to Formula E, taking the win in the first-ever race in Beijing in 2014, also going onto win the 2016/17 title.

"It's one of those moments that you know exactly where you were," Di Grassi told RacingNews365 during an interview. "I was nine years old, and I was having a lesson flying my RC planes. 

"So I was not watching the race. I was in the countryside somewhere, having this lesson. When I came back home, my father told me, 'you know that driver, Ayrton Senna, he died'. And initially I was just a kid, I didn't really understand. 

"But then Brazil stopped, right, and I was just starting my career. So that thing really changed my perception of motorsport and how Ayrton Senna was important for Brazil, and it really changed my life, because I decided to take motorsports seriously. 

"You guys that are not Brazilian, what you don't understand is Brazil is a very poor country. You have very little things to be proud of. So we have our football, and then we had the Sunday races with Ayrton Senna. 

"So back then his national pride was more than just a sport idol. We were going through a very difficult phase in Brazilian politics, Brazilian society in general, very divided, probably worse than it is today. 

"We had inflation going nuts, 1,000% a month, people having no money to eat. It was a very, very bad time, but everybody woke up on the Sunday to watch Senna, so it was a moment of happiness. And that's why he meant so much the Brazilian people."