HOW DID AYRTON SENNA DIE? TODAY 30 YEARS SINCE THE IMOLA TRAGEDY
30 years have already passed since the death of Ayrton Senna: a tragedy that is still talked about today as if it had happened yesterday, due to the great significance of the Formula 1 champion and because that frightening accident in Imola, during the San Marino GP (which was the third of the season) it is still cloaked in mystery for the real dynamics that occurred. The story of the facts, in itself, is also simple: the Imola weekend was immediately marred by difficulties on the track. On Friday the accident occurred to Rubens Barrichello, fortunately without consequences, but on Saturday on the circuit Roland Ratzenberger died. Senna had already been very tired four years earlier, when in Spain Martin Donnelly had come close to death due to a very bad accident in qualifying (he would have survived, but without being able to compete anymore); at the time he had already asked himself some questions about the dangers of racing, but he told himself that it was something he loved and would not abandon.
So on May 1, 1994, Ayrton Senna got into his Williams for the San Marino GP: it would later be discovered that he had brought an Austrian flag into the cockpit, to be waved in the event of victory to honor Ratzenberger. It should be remembered that in the first two Grands Prix the Brazilian champion, in his first year with the new team, had been forced to retire twice and was less than satisfied with his Williams, which he found difficult to drive; in command of the Formula 1 World Championship, with two victories in as many races, was the rampant Michael Schumacher on Benetton. Also to try to improve things, on the night between Saturday and Sunday Senna would have requested to modify the steering columnlengthening it to improve visibility of the instruments and driving, since the knuckles touched the cockpit.
THE DEATH OF SENNA
It was this, it was later said and based on the measurements carried out, that caused the death of Ayrton Senna: the race saw the immediate entry of the Safety Car due to an accident at the start, restart on the seventh lap and two laps later Senna went off the road very high speed at Tamburello curve, impacting the wall. The infamous column came off because the welding couldn’t withstand the stresses of the Williams; someone said instead that the welding held but the column broke, but this only after the impact. In any case, Senna’s car, already very fast, did not slow down despite the Brazilian’s braking, also due to a step placed on the grass.
The most serious injury it was the head trauma caused by the column itself, which pierced the Brazilian’s helmet. When help arrived, Senna was breathing independently but was already in a coma; death was declared at 6.40pm on Sunday 1 May, even though in fact the champion was no longer there mentally. He thus left us a great driver, considered by many to be the strongest of all time; the tragedy would then also lead to an investigation into the organizers of the San Marino GP regarding safety, as well as the modification of at least 70% of the route, but that’s another story.
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