History
Published on April 29th, 2024 |
by Massimo Campi
Those who were there will never forget it. Let’s talk about that tragic weekend of 1994 in Imola, a weekend that suddenly turned the entire history of motorsport on its head. A scary weekend, with a very serious accident, that of Barrichello, and two deaths: Rolan Ratzemberger and Ayrton Senna.
Imola was always highly anticipated, the first Formula One race of the season in Europe, after the two grands prix held in Brazil and Japan.
In 1994 the great favorite to win the title was Ayrton Senna, who abandoned McLaren after several seasons and three world titles to move to Williams, the most competitive car in recent years. But the new car isn’t going well, since the winter tests the Brazilian has complained about various things: the driving position in the cockpit, the balance of the car, many small details that don’t allow him to get in tune with the car designed by Patric Head and Adrian Newey. Active suspensions have just been abolished and the Williams, like other cars, is a very hard single-seater that jumps like a runaway horse over every little bump in the asphalt. The cockpit is very narrow, too much for Ayrton. The steering wheel is small and low, the Brazilian likes big and tall steering wheels. He doesn’t go, he just can’t drive the car that he had wanted so much, leaving the trusty McLaren of world successes after years.
The class and desire for revenge is great and Ayrton manages to place himself in pole position in the first Grand Prix of the season in Brazil. Behind him Michael Schumacher and Jean Alesi. Senna leads the first part of the race followed by Schumacher, but at the pit stop the German takes the lead and never leaves it again. In an attempt to get back into the lead, the Brazilian pushed too hard, spun and was unable to get going again. Schumacher takes the first GP of the season followed by the second Williams driver Damon Hill and Alesi’s Ferrari. At the second event, in Japan, in the Pacific Grand Prix Senna still starts on pole, but at the start he is eliminated by Mika Häkkinen who sends him off the track, followed by Ferrari driver Nicola Larini who replaces Alesi who was injured in the tests. For Schumacher, leading the race, the second victory of the season arrives in complete tranquility.
We arrive at the San Marino Grand Prix with Schumacher alone at the top of the standings, while Senna is increasingly nervous and with zero points.
It’s sunny in Imola, everything seems to predict a nice weekend of sport and great entertainment, but the atmosphere darkens from Friday when Barrichello’s Jordan, jumping over a curb at the Variante Bassa, violently goes off the road at 230 At that time. The worst is feared, but fortunately the pilot does not suffer serious consequences, beyond bruises to his arm and nose; however, doctors forbade him as a precaution from taking part in the race and qualifying. Senna was very shaken by the affair, ran to the medical center to check on Rubens’ condition, then, having calmed down, got back into the car. The Brazilian enters as if in a particular condition, he seems to have lost his serenity, he is increasingly nervous, he makes the press wait over an hour before the usual conference after the tests, his car and his state of mind make him feel bad.
Saturday afternoon, second testing session, after 18 minutes Imola falls into drama: Roland Ratzberger’s Simtek flies out at Villeneuve. The single-seater has the front wing partially detached due to a slight exit from the previous track, it hits the wall at 314 mph, and there is nothing left for the Austrian driver to do. Senna runs, goes to the track with the commissioners, then back to the medical center; Sid Watkins, the neurosurgeon who follows F.1, tells him that there is nothing left that can be done for Ratzemberger. Shaken after having snatched the last pole position of his career, he prepares an Austrian flag to honor the deceased driver in case of victory, then, in the back garage, he bursts into tears and refuses to participate in the FIA meeting to decide what to do next this tragedy, so much so that the commissioners intend to fine him, but having understood his state of mind they decide not to take any action.
In the meantime, in the pits they carry out the changes requested by the Brazilian. In the cockpit of his single-seater it is still uncomfortable even though the steering column has just been modified to gain a few millimeters with the legs.
Sunday morning, May 1st, warm up. Senna surpasses all his opponents by traveling nine tenths of a second faster than the entire group. Then in an interview he unexpectedly bids his last farewell to his former enemy Alain Prost “bye Alain, we miss you so much!”
The start starts but immediately there is a terrible accident between Pedro Lamy’s Lotus on Lotus and JJ Lehto’s Benetton. The tires fly and a dozen typhoons are injured. The safety car driven by Angelelli slows down the entire group led by the Brazilian’s Williams for five laps, with Schumacher’s Benetton following closely behind.
Once the track is clear, Angelelli turns off the lights and returns to the pits, Senna immediately forces his hand, he wants to distance himself from that attacking young German, he has to prove that he is still the king!
On lap 7, at 2.17pm, Senna’s Williams enters the Tamburello curve. The car has a short gap, then goes out on a tangent towards the wall outside the track. Senna makes one last attempt, he sticks to the brakes, but there is very little he can do. Telemetry will show that the Williams was traveling at 310 per hour and the impact occurred at 218 per hour against the concrete wall without any protection. As Schumacher passes in disbelief, the car bounces in the center of the track. Senna is motionless in the cockpit, his head tilted to the left side. The cold invades the spectators, the rescue workers, and all the television people. In the collision the left front wheel ended up against the case, but above all a piece of the suspension pierced the Brazilian’s yellow helmet and the broken suspension arm pierced his skull.
Panic is about to invade the track, the race is stopped, the helicopter arrives, Senna is extracted and transported urgently to the medical centre. Sid Watkins understands that there is nothing left to do, the helicopter leaves towards the intensive care unit of the Maggiore Hospital in Bologna.
The race is restarted, it would have been dangerous to have the large crowd suddenly leave the circuit, but the festive air is only a distant memory as Michael Schumacher climbs to the top step of the podium, with Nicola Larini and Mika Hakkinen, in disbelief, at his flank.
The intensive care unit manages to do very little and at 6.20pm Senna is officially declared dead.
Months of investigations, misdirections, releases of responsibility, suppositions and various inferences follow, but in the end it will be understood that the going off the road was caused by the failure of the steering column that Senna had wanted to modify.
25 years have passed since that weekend, which represented the bitter and sad watershed of F.1. Dramatically, the era of the Brazilian from Sao Paulo ended and that of the German from Kerpen began, the man who rewrote all the rankings with his seven world titles.
But for many, “O’Rey” always remains him, with his yellow helmet, that slightly melancholy look and that foot as heavy as a boulder!
Tags: f1, F1 1994, GP San Marino 1994, Imola 1994, Ratzemberger
About the Author
Massimo Campi Mechanical expert, photographer, journalist, in the world of motorsport for over 40 years. Collaborations with various newspapers and journalistic sites in the sector.
