“He was pushing for 1994” - When former Ferrari boss rejected Ayrton Senna’s proposal to join the team

Former Ferrari boss and ex-FIA president Jean Todt revealed that legendary F1 driver Ayrton Senna's proposal to join the F1 team for the 1994 season was rejected. He continued that he offered the deal for 1995, but the Brazilian pushed for 1994.

“We already had two drivers under contract, Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger, so we couldn’t satisfy his request, and when Ayrton asked why, I explained the situation to him.”

Ayrton then took the deal to join the Williams Racing team in 1994 where he tragically lost his life in an accident at the Imola track. He is considered one of the best to have ever raced in an F1 car — with 41 wins, 80 podiums, and 3 World Championships.

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Ferrari job deemed an "impossible mission"

Jean Todt also described how most people thought the Ferrari job, and the championship challenge, was an 'impossible mission'.

Jean Todt with Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari garage

“It wasn’t easy, I joined Ferrari on 1 July 1993 and we won our first Constructors’ World Championship in 1999. It was quite a while after I arrived, and the following season we won our first Drivers’ World Championship with Michael.”

Todt was hired in 1994 as General Manager and Team Principal to lead the Scuderia. The Frenchman was then known for his successful campaign for Peugeot in rallying, with successive Paris-Dakar victories between 1987 and 1990.

Along with legendary F1 talents such as Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, and Michael Schumacher, Todt rebuilt Ferrari into a dominant force after the death of founder Enzo Ferrari.

Between 1999 and 2004, Ferrari went on to dominate F1. The team won a then record-breaking six successive constructors' championships, along with five successive drivers' championships with Schumacher.

The Maranello-based giant of F1 is on the comeback to the championship track. Team principal Matia Binotto commented that the engine for the 2022 package is 'a lot advanced' :

“2022 is progressing and that’s the time when you are normally freezing the chassis geometries and the entire concept of the car, suspension layout, cooling layout so let’s say the concept is certainly a lot advanced.”