Initially surprised at the timing of these stamp releases but digging in more seems to incline towards an occasion. Both these Formula One racing legends belong to the Americas - Gilles Villeneuve - Canada and Ayrton Senna - Brazil. Monaco with their racing tradition and the association with Formula One racing has always have something on their postal calendar related to Formula One. Being the first set of stamps on Formula One for 2014, I quickly grabbed it and added to my ever growing collection. These racing legends are so popular for their racing careers which makes me to cut short on their background.
Ayrton Senna : With reference to the famous maxim that years fly by, come May 1st it will be the 20th anniversary of one of the most successful and entertaining Formula One driver the world has ever seen. His career came to a tragic end when he died in a fatal accident during the 1994 San Marino Grand prix. Senna has won 3 world championships with McLaren and during his career he has set many records which are still unbeaten. He holds a special record of 5 consecutive wins at the Monaco Grand Prix from 1989 to 1983. Monaco released a set of 2 stamps one bearing the portrait of Senna and the other featuring a racing car. The stamp was so fitting that even his name on the stamps were colored in Brazilian, yet another fitting tribute to this great legend.
Gilles Villeneuve : May 8th marks the 32nd anniversary of this great Canadian racing driver. He was very popular for his competitive driving and the way he scaled up to the Formula One racing. He is one of the 2 Canadian drivers of the 13 to score points in Formula One racing, the other being his son Jacques Villeneuve who won the Driver's Championship in 1997. His life came to an end during an qualifying crash at the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix. Monaco released a set of 2 stamps as part of their Legendary F1 drivers series, one of them featuring the portrait of Villeneuve sitting in his racing car with his helmet on and the other featuring him in a racing car.
