Born in São Paulo, he was first taught the skills of motor racing by his grandfather Milton da Silva at the age of five. Bruno raced go-karts against Ayrton on the family farm, and Ayrton regarded his nephew's potential very highly. When leaving McLaren at the end of , Ayrton said: "If you think I'm fast, just wait until you see my nephew Bruno". Ayrton's death while driving a Williams at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, however, brought Bruno's own racing career to an abrupt halt. Despite these setbacks including the death of his father in a motorbike accident in 1996, Senna's mother and his uncle Ayrton's sister Viviane had reluctantly backed her son's interest in motor racing.