MPH: Mark Hughes on...

In the beautiful new film, 'Senna' - out in UK cinemas in June - Ayrton ponders, after being denied the chance of winning at Monaco in 1984, that when you're a small guy you will be the victim of the politics of the establishment. On that occasion he meekly accepted it and, among the unearthed treasures of footage, there is some of him walking with his second-place trophy, giving a shy smile then a fist of delight. It had, after all, been a sensational performance.

It's just one of many revealing snippets in what is a wonderful piece of work. The typical reaction of those in the media who saw it was 'what about this incident, what about that one?' and it's true that we could all probably happily watch five hours or more of this subject matter. But to confine the many wonders of his career within the 100 minutes required for cinema, many reluctant calls had to be made about what to cut, and, as the film's creators explained at the screening in Senna's home town of Morumbi, these decisions were often dictated by the need to maintain a narrative to carry the film.