Senna celebrations at Brazilian GP 25 years after his death

With little at stake at this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, the Formula One race is an opportunity for fans to remember and celebrate home favorite Ayrton Senna, 25 years after his death.

Lewis Hamilton — a huge fan of the Brazilian F1 great — and his Mercedes team have already secured this season’s driver and constructor titles, with second places also going to Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari, respectively.

A Brazilian TV helicopter painted in the yellow and green colors of Senna’s racing helmet has flown around Interlagos since Thursday. Banners at the track say “Obrigado, Senna” (Thank you, Senna) as part of a social media campaign to raise money for the children’s institute that carries his name.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, of Britain, steers his car during the second free practice at the Interlagos race track in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Friday, Nov. 15, 2019. The banner in Portuguese reads: ''#Thank you Senna'' in honor of the three-time FIA Formula One World Champion Ayrton Senna. (AP PhotoNelson Antoine)

Three-time F1 champion Senna died after a crash at the San Marino GP in May 1994. His title-winning McLaren car will take pride of place on the track before Sunday’s race. Bruno Senna will be driving it and is set to stop the car to take a Brazilian flag from a steward, as his uncle famously did after winning in Sao Paulo.

Many of the 60,000 fans expected for the race will wear shirts and flags bearing Senna’s face. With no Brazilian driver on the grid, local broadcasters are focusing on the charismatic driver who won the championship in 1988, 1990 and 1991.

Six-time F1 champion Hamilton is once more wearing a helmet paying tribute to his childhood hero. Hamilton has been asked about his relationship with Senna in every interview and news conference in Sao Paulo.

Driver Bruno Senna steers the McLaren used by the Brazilian F1 driver Ayrton Senna in 1988, at the Interlagos racetrack in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019. (AP PhotoNelson Antoine)

Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari is also paying his own tribute to Senna, with a wristband in yellow and green colors. He visited the Brazilian driver’s institute, which focuses on helping educational projects for poor children.

Hamilton has won the Brazilian GP twice, including last year, and Vettel three times.

Home fans at the track, like 37-year-old Elton Campos, said Saturday they will cheer for Hamilton because the British driver clearly adores Senna.

Former driver Martin Brundle steers the McLaren used by the Brazilian F1 driver Ayrton Senna in 1988, at the Interlagos racetrack in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019. (AP PhotoNelson Antoine)

“I didn’t like him much at first because Hamilton stopped (Brazilian) Felipe Massa from winning the title here in 2008,” Campos said, wearing a cap that read “Senna forever.”

“But Hamilton is very respectful to Ayrton, he genuinely loves him and now Brazilian fans feel like paying back a little.”

The commemorations started a week ago at a sponsor’s event when two-time F1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi drove Senna’s 1985 Lotus on the streets of Sao Paulo, causing some fans to cry.

In this Nov. 7, 2019 photo, people walk past a building decorated with mural art depicting legendary Brazilian F1 driver Ayrton Senna, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rio has the exuberance of samba and Carnival, plus dramatic postcard views of beaches and verdant mountains. Now, to Sao Paulo's chagrin, Rio is pushing for an F1 racetrack, too. (AP PhotoLeo Correa)

Senna drove that same car to win his first F1 race at the Portuguese GP.

“I am speechless, there’s too many emotions, too many memories,” Fittipaldi said in tears after hugging Senna’s sister Viviane.

Veteran Brazilian journalist Flávio Gomes, who covered Senna in F1, says the driver wouldn’t necessarily agree with all the attention.

“It is looking as if Senna was the only good thing that Brazil produced in F1,” said Gomes. “Six drivers have already won races. Two others, Fittipaldi and Nelson Piquet, have won titles. Reducing Brazilian history in F1 to Senna is very unfair, and I think he wouldn’t agree with that either.”

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LONDON (AP) — England captain Ben Stokes says any suggestion he and coach Brendon McCullum are not aligned “is a massive overstatement.”

Were there disagreements between them during their Ashes debacle in Australia? Yes.

Was it any different than normal? No.

Stokes and McCullum have been in lock step since 2022 and they crashed and burned when they lost to Australia 4-1 last winter. Both men supported the other after being humbled but the Ashes review threw up signs of tension.

Stokes wanted to play more conservatively while McCullum wanted to double down on all-out attack.

Since the Ashes, Stokes has kept a low profile. When he and McCullum kept their jobs last month following the Ashes review, he posted on social media that he was happy to continue working with McCullum and the post-Ashes period had been the hardest period of his captaincy.

The captain has used an in-house interview with the England and Wales Cricket Board to address his relationship with McCullum.

“Saying we weren't aligned, I think, is a massive overstatement,” Stokes said.

"When you're in a position of leadership along with someone else, if anyone thinks that you're always going to agree on everything then it's just impossible.

"To me, that isn't a healthy environment for sport, in particular. You need debate. You need discussions. Then you end up getting to the place you both want to end up getting to.

“As similar as me and Brendon are, we're also dissimilar in other areas as well. We agree 95% of the time on things, but those 5% things that we might have different views on, we talk about it between each other and then we end up getting to the place where we want to get to.”

Stokes hasn’t played in the County Championship since breaking his cheekbone in a freak accident in preseason training with Durham. But he's set to return in May before New Zealand arrive in June for a test series. Pakistan follow this summer, and Australia come to England in 2027.

As was recommended in the Ashes review, England's leadership will tweak what it does with the team and Stokes has welcomed it.

“I'm very confident in mine and Brendon's ability to be able to work together, because we've done it for such a long period of time now, but work together in a slightly different way,” he said.

"The main point of me and Brendon is our alignment towards winning things and making this team as good as they can be. That's always been the thing since we started. It might just look a little bit different now to how that operates — on the back of four years working together.

“Hopefully we'll still be together at the end of 2027, winning what we want to win.”

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FILE -England coach Brendon McCullum, left, talks with captain Ben Stokes ahead of play on day two of the second cricket test between New Zealand and England at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, New Zealand, Dec.7, 2024. (Kerry Marshall/Photosport via AP, File)