IndyCar star Tony Kanaan has revealed that Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna once told his old team owner that he was an even better driver than the three-time world champion.
Ayrton Senna’s legacy within Formula 1 after driving for Lotus, McLaren and Williams will never be forgotten.
One driver who never made it to F1 but has had a stellar racing career regardless is Tony Kanaan and he spoke to the Track Limits Podcast.
The link between the pinnacle of motorsport and Brazil has existed for decades.
Chico Landi was a private entry at the 1951 Italian Grand Prix and became the first Brazilian to take to the track for the South American country.
He failed to complete a single lap but led the way for dozens of incredibly fast Brazilians to follow in his footsteps.
Arguably the best racer ever to come out of the country is Ayrton Senna.
He won the championship with McLaren in 1988, 1990 and 1991.
Tony Kanaan was a teenager trying to make his way when he first met Ayrton Senna a teenager in a karting race.
Their paths crossed again soon afterwards and with Kanaan career’s hanging by a thread for financial reasons, Senna made sure that he wouldn’t miss out.
It was an important intervention and now at 49, Kanaan has just finished his IndyCar career after nearly 300 races but is still racing in his native land.
Ayrton Senna claimed Kanaan was ‘better than’ him
Kanaan raced as a 16-year-old against Senna in a karting race, beating the legendary Brazilian from the back of the grid.
Recalling the event Kanaan said: “During the podium, one of the nicest photos I have and I show my kids, it’s me on the podium popping the champagne and actually he came behind me and poured champagne on my back.
“And he actually said at that time, you can clearly see on the video, ‘You’re very talented, if you ever need anything apart from money, you let me know.’”
Kanaan then started racing in Europe and at Hockenheim when his junior series matched up with the F1 calendar they encountered each other again.
The Brazilian went on to say: “I remember going into the motorhome and we would chat for five minutes, it was a lot.
“And he says, ‘I see you’re starting on pole tomorrow’, and I said yeah but it’s a shame as this is my last race, I’ve run out of money, we’ll see what happens.
“He said, ‘All you’ve got to do is keep winning, then eventually something is going to happen’.
“A couple of hours later we’re back in our truck and somebody knocks on the door, we open the door and it’s him.
“I turned white, he introduced himself and asked who is the team owner, I said him, and he said, ‘I just came to say hi and I came to talk to you to tell you that this kid is better than me. You should hire him.’
“I got the job for the rest of the year in 1993, he became close friends, more of a mentor actually because of the age difference.”
Senna’s legacy in Formula 1 still exists today
Tony Kanaan is one of many drivers who probably owe their careers in some way to Ayrton Senna.
He inspired a generation of Brazilian drivers, with the likes of Felipe Massa growing up watching him.
Aspiring Brazilian driver Felipe Drugovich has compared his adulation in Brazil to that of Max Verstappen in Brazil.
The Dutchman has now surpassed his record for number of wins in F1 but has benefitted from the additional number of races each season.
Brazil has struggled to produce a top driver recently though, with Pietro Fittipaldi, Felipe Nasr and Bruno Senna all failing to impress.
McLaren youngster Gabriel Bortoleto might be the next real hopeful alongside Drugovich and to reach F1 with Senna’s team would be a dream come true.