Stallone: Senna asked me to play him in film (Update)

UPDATE Correction: article says all of Senna’s wins and poles were with McLaren. This is incorrect. Senna scored pole positions (3) in every race he had with Williams. It wasn’t until after his death that Schumacher was finally able to score his first F1 pole position (1994 Monaco – the next race after the tragic San Marino race).

01/23/16

Stallone (L) and Senna

US actor Sylvester Stallone has claimed that three-time Formula 1 World Champion Ayrton Senna asked if he would play him in a movie before the Brazilian's fatal accident.

Stallone, best known for his roles as Rocky Balboa and John Rambo, made the comments at a recent Heritage Auctions event, where he offered up a Senna helmet gifted to him.

Senna, who took 65 pole positions, 41 wins and the aforementioned three titles – all with McLaren – during his Formula 1 career, was killed in a crash at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Stallone, who also played a Champ Car champion in the 2001 movie 'Driven', has attended multiple Formula 1 races, and says he often spoke to Senna about a potential film.

"Ayrton Senna was one of the great drivers of all time and he wanted me to do his life story," said Stallone, as he held one of Senna's classic yellow and green helmets.

"We were speaking many years ago on the phone and he goes to me, 'I think it [a film] would be really good… I liked your films'. I thought, 'thank you very much'.

"I started to study up on him and we spoke a lot by phone.

"He said, 'let me show you the [helmet] colors, the yellow colors, they're very much like Rocky colors'. So he sent it to me and of course I'd never seen a helmet like this.

"And then unfortunately he died in this horrible crash, and after that I decided I couldn't do the film."

In 2010, Senna was the subject of a self-titled, Asif Kapadia-directed documentary film, which received critical acclaim and won multiple awards, including two BAFTAs.