Senna (miniseries)

Senna is a Brazilian biographical drama television miniseries created by Vicente Amorim [pt] and directed by Amorim and Júlia Rezende [pt], based on the life of racing driver Ayrton Senna, and starring Gabriel Leone as Senna. The series was produced by Brazilian studio Gullane Entretenimento [pt] with funding from American studio Netflix, in collaboration with the Senna family. Budgeted at $170 million, it is the most expensive Brazilian television series in history.
The series was released on Netflix on 29 November 2024. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Leone's performance, the production design, and the racing scenes, but criticised the character development, historical inaccuracies and perceived bias. It received a nomination for Best Foreign Language Series at the 30th Critics' Choice Awards.
The series follows Senna's life from the beginning of his racing career in karting to his untimely death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Particular emphasis is paid to Senna's relationship with his parents and girlfriend Xuxa Meneghel, rivalry with Alain Prost, feud with Jean-Marie Balestre, and complex relationship with the sensationalist racing media.
In September 2020, Netflix announced that it was funding "the first fictional drama" about Ayrton Senna's life, and that the series would be produced by Brazilian studio Gullane Entretenimento [pt] in collaboration with the Senna family. Caio Gullane [pt] served as producer and Fabiano Gullane served as executive producer. Viviane Senna said that "the Senna family is committed in making this project something totally unique and unprecedented."
Although the series was initially scheduled to debut in 2022, production was put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In August 2022, Netflix hired Vicente Amorim [pt] (previously Good and Yakuza Princess) as the showrunner. As a Brazilian and longtime motorsport fan, Amorim was already familiar with Senna's career. He said that while Formula One had many "idols" throughout its history, Senna was its only true "hero," as he not only was talented but also "perceived time ... in a completely different way from all the rest of us." He added that he wanted to tell a story about how Senna conquered Formula One, which "had always been rigged to favor European drivers" before Senna arrived. Amorim interviewed Senna's family members to "learn more about Ayrton as a man," and was given "unprecedented access to Senna's personal archives," including recordings of phone calls and letters from Senna's junior career in England.
According to the Associated Press, Netflix spent more than $170 million to produce the series. Variety reported that Senna is the most expensive Brazilian television series in history. Gabriel Leone was cast as Senna in March 2023; he had previously worked with Amorim in the Brazilian film industry. In October 2023, Netflix announced that Amorim had finished hiring the main cast. When the cast list was released, Motor Sport remarked that it included "almost every on-track rival, partner, friend and team boss," as well as numerous individuals from Senna's personal life.
Filming began in late 2023. The series was shot in São Paulo and Angra dos Reis, with additional filming taking place in Argentina, Uruguay, and Northern Ireland. To create period-accurate cars, Gullane hired Argentine manufacturer Crespi Automotive to build 22 replica cars for the series, including copies of every car Senna raced in his career. Additional background cars were created with CGI, when necessary. To prepare for their driving scenes, the actors trained in go-karts several times a week.
The series was initially set for eight episodes, but ultimately only six episodes were released.
On 1 February 2024, Netflix debuted a clip from the series as part of its 2024 Series and Film Preview. It released a teaser trailer on 30 April 2024 and a full trailer on 29 October 2024. The series was released on Netflix's streaming platform on 29 November 2024.
Following the release, Gullane contracted to produce a feature-length documentary about Senna's early career, to be directed by Pedro Rodrigues. Gullane and children's TV channel Gloob also agreed to make a season of an animated Senninha series.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 36% of 11 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.0/10. At Metacritic, the series received a weighted average score of 50 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.
Critics praised Leone's performance. The Daily Telegraph noted that "not only is [Leone] a dead ringer for Senna, but he has also plainly done his research, with mannerisms and cadences all present and correct." The series' visuals and cinematography were also praised, especially the historically accurate production design and the racing scenes. RaceFans noted that Senna was the rare television series (in contrast to feature films) to genuinely attempt to recreate races, and Radio Times called the racing "propulsive, nail-biting and beautifully realised, with a real sense of the danger involved."
However, critics generally felt that the characters (including Senna himself) lacked depth, with the possible exception of Xuxa. Several outlets argued that the series verged on the hagiographic, opining that it "reveal[ed] little [about Senna] beyond his relentless will to win" and lacked "interest in Senna's flaws, his genius, his childhood [] or his psychology," as well as his real-life reputation for dangerous driving. Decider suggested that the series lacked narrative tension because "while short," the real Senna's "life was mostly filled with success." Several critics negatively compared the series to the award-winning 2010 Senna documentary, although Time noted that the series was able to "fill[] in some of the off-track gaps that [the documentary] leaves out," particularly with respect to Senna's early life and career.
The series' treatment of the Senna-Prost rivalry received mixed reviews. The Associated Press praised the miniseries' coverage of the rivalry, noting that it covered Prost and Senna's friendship at the end of Prost's career. However, The Times described the Senna-Prost scenes as "rather surface," and Motor Sport argued that the narrative was one-sided in Senna's favor. RaceFans added that the series downplayed Prost's raw talent to focus on the fact that Prost often had better cars than Senna. Adam Sweeting quipped that "Maybe Prost should get somebody to make a series about him, to show the flipside of the story."
Gergely Herpai "BadSector" gave it a rather favorable 7.2, "GOOD" score on theGeek.games, stating "With its six one-hour episodes, Senna gets off to a flying start but falls deeper and deeper into the trap of sports history clichés as it progresses. Still, the series could be an ideal choice for a family holiday evening, with the ripping sounds of Formula 1 engines in the background while everyone else is busy doing something else."
The series was criticized on Brazilian social media for giving Senna's final girlfriend Adriane Galisteu three minutes of screen time, as opposed to Xuxa, whose romance with Senna dominated the fourth episode. According to Metrópoles, Galisteu's limited screentime was a compromise between the producers, who felt Galisteu should be in the series, and the Senna family, which disagreed. Following the release of the series, Galisteu issued a statement on social media: "My relationship with him was the last year and a half of his life. However, it was by my side, and this story also belongs to me. And it was also a story lived intensely, full of love, full of fun. A completely different Ayrton from what you've seen before."