Pierre Gasly pays tribute to his idol Ayrton Senna during the Imola GP

Pierre Gasly has already experienced a historic moment. He drove the Toleman TG184, the first Formula 1 car driven in a Grand Prix by Ayrton Senna, at Silverstone. One week later, for the Italian weekend in Imola, the French driver will wear a special helmet, created especially for the occasion.

Interrogated at the pilots’ press conference this Thursday, he expressed how wonderful this driver was in his eyes: “I have always admired, I would say, his racing style, but also the person he was – the values, the way he cared about his community. And, you know, he is one of the greatest champions of our sport and I think it was important to pay tribute to him, especially this year, 30 years after the incident.”

The helmet will be auctioned after the Grand Prix. The funds raised will go to the Instituto Ayrton Senna, committed to improving the education of Brazilian children.

Pierre Galsy nostalgic of the Senna-Prost duel.

At that time, in France, another driver was attracting attention: Alain Prost. But if Pierre Gasly may have admired Senna more, he doesn’t pit them against each other: « Obviously, in France, I grew up hearing a lot about Alain Prost, who is the most successful French F1 driver of all time. And obviously, with Alain always came the name Ayrton. I watched a lot of documentaries and it’s probably for me the most emblematic battle in F1 history. »

Pierre Gasly will try to score his first points of the season this weekend. This special helmet may bring him luck…

Vettel also thinks about Ayrton Senna.

The Alpine driver is not the only one paying tribute to the late driver as Sebastian Vettel is organizing several events throughout the weekend. On Thursday evening, a run was held in his memory: the run for Senna. On Sunday, the four-time world champion will drive the McLaren used by Ayrton on that sad 1st of May 1993.