Interview with Adriane Yamin: reimagining Ayrton Senna romance

Separating a man from his legend is a notoriously difficult task. However, having spent a stretch of life together can shed new light on a myth. Such is the case of Adriane Yamin, who reconstructed the years alongside Ayrton Senna, without filters, letting herself be guided by her everlasting feelings for him. In our in-depth interview, she explains the challenges of her latest book about their love story: My Girl.

It is exciting for the reader to immerse themselves in the four years of your relationship. I would like to know what it meant for you to reopen certain ‘drawers’ of your memory.

It was a painful experience that required a lot of courage. As you can see in our biography, we spent incredible years together, we broke barriers of age and distance… It was a struggle, until one of us decided to enjoy life instead of married life. As I was still very young, because he was my first man, in a very intense, challenging, and emotional relationship, the breakup was immensely traumatic for me… This added to his subsequent choices, of being with such different women than myself in many aspects… which caused me confusion and embarrassment, they were from very different worlds, and it seemed like I no longer knew who Beco was… Because of all this, for me to start my life over again, I really needed to lock everything away. a drawer tightly closed for all these years.

But writing this book brought me painful moments, as well as very fun moments! It was a book written with laughter and tears! I felt the sweetness again, I also discovered a very brave, courageous and intelligent girl to lead that unlikely relationship! I would say that this experience led me to very interesting discoveries about myself and Senna… I had a vision of a mature and experienced woman, which ended up also bringing redemption for both of them. A painful journey… but very beautiful and rewarding…

The image you give of your relationship is unfiltered. Was it difficult to go over it in such detail?

I’m not a public person, and I never intended to be. There were many malicious rumors about Ayrton’s sexuality that began during our courtship. There are also rumors about pedophilia (which is clearly nonsense). This added to my stance towards life, of sincerity, loyalty and honesty, there would be no other way to tell our story… only then would Senna’s passionate fans feel what we experienced in a legitimate way and this has given me a feeling of a very good job done, the feedback from readers has been moving… I wouldn’t achieve this result if I used any filter or hypocrisy. With this conviction and the approval of my children, there was no difficulty in telling how everything happened between us. All this, added to the peace of mind that I have always had in believing in the beauty of the relationship we live in, I was not afraid of judgement, contrary to that! The facts that we lived with my heart and soul were reported… so that fans could draw their own conclusions. Who would I be to retouch such a beautiful love story?!

Among the pages, the iconographic material stands out. How did you go about choosing the images?

All this material was kept for all these years in that same drawer… Lol… It was organized with the help of the book’s co-author, Ana Maria Falcini Osta. We have much more material that is not in the book, we had to prioritize the most relevant and those that would validate our story. We used almost all the letters I received from Senna, thanks to this our biography has his voice and participation through these letters. But I have a lot more photos… I would need to create a new book just with photos to make it public, after all, it was 4 years of relationship and in moments of leisure and lots of fun.

What idea would you like the reader to draw of Ayrton as a man rather than a legendary racing driver, thanks to your book? And what is yours, so many years later?

As I said before, I was always sure of the beauty of our story, even though it didn’t have the desired ending, and my commitment was to the truth of the facts. If our story denigrates Ayrton’s honor or morals, I simply wouldn’t have written it. I am convinced that our story dignifies the idol… it shows a man, responsible, loving, affectionate, who overcame difficulties to also experience pure love. He was also playful, lively, electric, fun in a good boy way, but with a touch of mischief. I felt cared for, loved and admired even at my young age… we had an inexplicable affinity, an uplifting and zealous companionship.

Today, as a more experienced woman, I look at us in the past with the same charm of feeling like something rare and special. It was a growing relationship of gradual enchantment and nothing, in the media, let’s say. For all that, I would really like the fans to see him as he was! An incredible man! An unparalleled sporting idol to this day, but absolutely human. With weaknesses, doubts and the possibility of errors. I don’t like seeing him as a hero, perfect and unquestionable… That person doesn’t exist! I think it’s quite cruel to him that they put him on this pedestal… Seeing him as a normal human being only magnifies his achievements… The point is, what price did he pay for that? And therein lies the beauty of our story…

May I ask if you are already working on future projects?

Projects about my story with Senna, I just glimpse that picture book and who knows, one day, maybe, someone will believe in the potential of a beautiful audio visual work… but this is not a worthwhile project yet, but a dream! I think it would be a beautiful love story to be told and even a great example for new generations… Who knows the day that impossible and deeply romantic loves will be successful in cinemas again?! Have you thought ? The film with images of the idol himself dedicating his victories to his “Girl”? This was truly an exclusive privilege of mine! And thank you, my God, for that, otherwise no one would believe the beauty of our story… Other than that, I intend to live my absolutely normal life with my family in anonymity.