- Netflix’s Ayrton Senna mini-series will be called “Senna”
- “Senna” will debut on Netflix on Nov. 29, with six episodes
- The series marks the 30th anniversary of the famed racer’s tragic death
Racing fans have a new series coming to Netflix shortly.
In July, the popular streaming service announced that its “Senna” mini-series featuring the life of Brazilian Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna, both on and off the racetrack, will air on Nov. 29.
There will be six episodes in the series whose first teaser trailer was released on May 1, marking the 30th anniversary of Senna’s death in a crash behind the wheel of a Williams at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. The race is one of the most tragic in modern motorsports history as Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger, driving a Simtek, also died during the qualifying session.
In October the series full trailer was released giving racing fans and those interested in learning about some Formula 1 history a deeper look at what’s to come later in the month.
The semi-fictional series starts with the early days of the triple world champion’s international racing career, when he moved to the U.K. to compete in Formula Ford, and continues to the fateful race held at Italy’s Imola in 1994.
Netflix collaborated with the Brazilian production company Gullane to create the series. Brazilian actor Gabriel Leone stars in the lead role, with Brazilian directors Vicente Amorim and Julia Rezende at the helm.
The cast also includes Matt Mella as Alain Prost, who Senna had a turbulent rivalry with, plus Johannes Heinrichs as Niki Lauda, Patrick Kennedy as Ron Dennis, Leon Ockenden as James Hunt, Steven Mackintosh as Frank Williams, and Alice Wegmann as Lilian Vasconcelos, Senna’s first wife.
Senna was only 34 years old when he died. During his F1 career, which spanned a decade, he managed 41 wins out of 161 starts, as well as Drivers’ Championships in 1988, 1990, and 1991.
A fictional F1 movie starring Brad Pitt is also being developed by Apple ahead of a scheduled release in mid-2025, and F1 itself is rumored to be involved in the production of a “family drama series” starring Felicity Jones.