30 years have passed since that tragic weekend in Imola which saw Ayrton Senna lose his life during the F1 GP. Today, to remember him, we look back at his last interview before arriving on the circuit.
1 May 1994, Imola F1 GP: the last day of a weekend that saw Ratzenberger’s life taken away, and which ended in the worst possible way with Senna’s fatal accident. A date that will forever be remembered, in which a driver obsessed with motorsport and from the pursuit of perfection he was killed by his own passion.
The day before heading to the circuit, Ayrton was in Paduawhere he announced the start of a partnership with Carraro, a bicycle manufacturing company. “It was always one of my favorite hobbies as a child.”
He then looked into the situation further after the first races of the championship. His passage in Williams had not delivered the desired results. The last victory for him (and also the last race completed given that he always retired in the first three stages of 1994) dates back to 7 November 1993 in Adelaide, Australia, when he was still at the wheel of a McLaren.
In this interview Ayrton was however optimistic. Aware that the season was still long he stated: “The real start of the championship is here in Imola. It’s still long, 14 runs. It’s all open“. Why these difficulties at the start of the championship for Williams? Senna mentions the topic. “The new regulations have changed all the measurements of the machines and the team that has been penalized the most in this sense is Williams“.
Ferrari: a dream that was in the air but never materialized
Ayrton Senna and Ferrari courted each other, desired each other, but in the end the union of these two names never came. There was also a pre-contract that brought them closer, but in the end it didn’t materialize. It was the Brazilian driver himself who told the truth, during the period of rumors about his move to Maranello in 1992. “I have had contact, we talked about the possibility of racing together, we have been very close especially this year but for different reasons we have decided to postpone for the moment“.
Returning to the last interview before arriving at Imola, Senna received yet another question in which his future in red was hypothesized. “Ferrari has always been a dream for everyone, not just for me. Then in the current situation there is no time, there is no date. As long as I’m racing in F1, if the right opportunity comes along one day, whether it’s today or in five years, we’ll see.” This is the thought of a Senna who has always been focused on obtaining the best possible result, and for this reason he had so desired that seat in Williams, which however had an outcome that was anything but joyful.
Here comes the last question, in which Ayrton is asked: “Who wins at Imola?”. And he answers: “We can be among the first“.
Read also: F1 | The official poster of the 2024 Imola GP with the tribute to Senna
A weekend you will never forget
Thus ends the interview in Padua, and the following day the activity on the track begins. Since Friday the spectators’ blood runs cold with the Barrichello accident to the low variant, from which he emerged injured. The activity in Imola continues on Saturday, with an event that puts another stain on that weekend: the death of Roland Ratzenberger due to a very powerful impact against the barriers at Villeneuve.
At that point, as told by Sid Watkins, FIA doctor, Ayrton was upset and cried. “So I told him: ‘Ayrton listen, you’ve already won three world titles, you’re the fastest man in the world. Why don’t you retire?’ And he replied, ‘Sid, there are certain things over which we have no control. I can’t leave. I must go on’“.
During Sunday’s warm-up, then, a touching moment marks a fundamental point in the rivalry with Prost. Senna knew that the former driver and enemy of a career was on TV to comment on the race, and grateful for the fact that Alain was also a point of reference for his growth, he opened the radio. “To begin greetings to my dear friend Prost. Alain, I miss you“.
The two, after that radio team, met in the paddock, and after his death Alain confirmed Watkins’ feelings. He added: “He talked to me a lot about safety, he asked me to take the presidency of the pilots’ association to help them form a common front”.
Then came the tragic moment of the race. The Brazilian driver restarts from a Safety Car he can’t steer to perform the Tamburello variant, causing a fatal impact for him. Thus Ayrton Senna passed away on 1 May 1994
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