Netflix Senna review

Does the story of Ayrton Senna need to be mythologised any more? Apparently, according to a newly released Netflix biopic bearing his name, it does. Following the immense success of Drive to Survive and preceding 2025’s Brad Pitt F1 movie comes Senna – a fictionalised portrayal of Senna’s life from his early karting days right up until his death.

The project has been driven by the late star’s family and the Brazilian studio Gullane. This has resulted in Senna having large passages in English, but even more in Portuguese, adding texture to the series.

Beginning with what’s good about the production, the show is pretty immersive. At six episodes long, a huge amount of detail is covered, including his early Formula Ford and F3 days when he lived in Norfolk (the UK’s flattest region looking strangely mountainous in this portrayal).

As Senna progresses through his career, team boss heavyweights such as Ron Dennis and Frank Williams are given in-depth portrayals, while motor sport enthusiasts will spot depictions of Gordon Murray, Neil Oatley and others in the background.

The F1 cars running on track are also satisfying to experience in home-cinematic form too, ranging from Senna’s very first Toleman TG183B to the Williams FW16.

Some of the casting is spot on, while elsewhere it’s a bit wayward. Keke Rosberg isn’t exactly the king of cool in his portrayal here, but James Hunt is the charismatic Senna supporter behind the commentator’s mic – cigarette in mouth, glass of red in hand.

It’s hard to ignore some historical inconsistencies though. “This series gives the opportunity to get to know the man behind the myth,” says director Julia Rezende in a behind-the-scenes extras feature. Really? We’re not so sure. What it actually does is emphasise the bits the family seem to want us to believe, and shy away from the parts of his personality that were either more difficult to fathom or were simply more unsavoury.

Senna was an extremely complex individual, and the series seeks to gloss over that. In conversations with the fictionalised version of his karting rival Terry Fullerton, the latter glorifies Senna’s willingness to go for a gap in any scenario.

This often led to dangerous situations playing out, letting his rivals choose whether to crash or concede the position. This used to particularly rankle with Alain Prost, who commented in real life, “Ayrton has a small problem: he thinks he can’t kill himself, because he believes in God.” Such ambiguity is ignored in this show.

As the series reaches its tragic climax, the Benetton traction control rumour narrative is pushed heavily too. Of course this is Senna the character talking about the subject in a dramatic portrayal, but you get the feeling it’s almost the family’s apparent fixation using the series as a mouthpiece.

The Imola ’94 finale is heart-wrenching on one level, but at the same time an emotional ending is so inevitable it’s almost trivialised. This is Ayrton Senna Disney-fied, and will leave some uncomfortable.

Senna
Netflix
Available to view now