Formula 1 returns this weekend to Imola for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, on a circuit where thirty years ago the tragic fatal accidents of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna. The Brazilian, who lost his life on May 1, 1994, will be remembered again with other initiatives after those held two weeks ago both on the Santerno circuit and in the rest of the world, but while waiting for this weekend the McLaren has in the meantime published on its official social pages an exceptional historical document dating back to 36 years ago.
The career of Senna, who became world champion three times with the Woking team, reached one of its highest points ever in qualifying Monaco GP 1988, when he edged out almost a second and a half behind his teammate Alain Prost, 2nd in the standings. On that occasion the Brazilian then remembered that he “entered another dimension”, something that was not repeated for the rest of his adventure in F1, starting from May 15, 1988i.e. the day following the memorable qualifications.
Less than 15 laps from the end of the race, despite being in the lead, Senna had to retire due to one of his own Goalkeeper’s mistake. Having stormed out of his car, ‘Magic’ didn’t even return to the McLaren pits, instead heading directly towards his apartment in the Principality. Almost forty years after that impact against the barriers that gave victory to Prost, McLaren has published the time sheet of the Brazilian’s match handwritten at the end of the GP, which documents other very detailed technical data. A long list that ends at the entry on lap 67 with a simple note: “Crashed at Portier”.
