Ayrton Senna movie in works

This says as much about the man as anything he achieved on the racetrack.

Senna's motorsport achievements were massive, from a record number of pole positions to three world titles, but his life had a far greater impact than just a big string of victories at the top of world motorsport.

He changed the way many people looked at Formula One through his intelligence, skill, commitment and humility - and, it must be said, his poisonous rivalry with Alain Prost during their time together in the McLaren team.

Now a new generation is about to learn about Senna, and older fans will get a refresher, through a documentary movie about the great man. 'Senna' is a remarkable film about a remarkable man and is already winning awards and giant kudos around the world for the crew who put it together.

It's not a second-rate piece of Hollywood smaltz - like too many other motorsport movies - but a moving tribute put together with fantastic footage including behind-the-scenes F1 stuff and home movies provided by the Senna family. There is no voice-over and most of the story is told in Senna's own - sometimes funny, sometimes profane, sometimes worrying - words.

It's a documentary with pace and a message, although anyone who knows the Senna story knows it cannot finish well. The story still ends the same way, with Senna's death while leading the San Marino Grand Prix in Italy in 1994, but that does not detract at all from the story and the message.

There will be tears in theatres, but the movie is also a celebration and that's what won so much support from the Senna family and grand prix ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone. What emerges is a tribute to the life of a genuinely inspiring man who crammed a lot into too few years, dominating in Formula One - not always in a nice way - but also doing all he could for the people of his home country.

Senna the movie is a must this year and opens nationally on July 11.