Formula One

30 years since one of the most deadly weekends in F1, and a turning point in motorsport safety

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_San_Marino_Grand_Prix



On Friday 29th April 1994, Rubens Barrichello, driving for the Jordan team, clipped a curb and crashed heavily at 225 km/h (140 mph) at the Variante Bassa chicane. Senna got out of his Williams car and went to the scene of the collision. Barrichello's tongue blocked his airway and emergency work performed by FIA doctor Sid Watkins saved his life. Barrichello regained consciousness and found Senna looking over him. After learning Barrichello had survived, Senna returned to his car and continued his practice session.

On the afternoon of 30th April, 18 minutes into the second qualifying session, Simtek driver Roland Ratzenberger struck the concrete wall on the outside of the Villeneuve curve at 314 km/h (195 mph), as a result of a suspected front wing failure. After the impact with a concrete barrier, the car bounced off and rested in the middle of that section of the track. Senna saw the replays of the collision and rushed into the pitlane to get inside a course car. When he arrived, with Ratzenberger taken into an ambulance, Senna inspected the damaged Simtek. He then attended the circuit's Medical Centre where he learnt from neurosurgeon Sid Watkins that Ratzenberger had died from injuries sustained in the accident. When the two left the centre together, Watkins told Senna that he did not have to race ever again and suggested that he withdraw from the race and go fishing with him. Senna responded by telling Watkins he could not stop racing and then went back to the Williams garage, where he summoned Patrick Head and Frank Williams, telling them of the situation and deciding to withdraw for the remainder of the qualifying session.

The following day (1st May) At the start of the race, Pedro Lamy and JJ Lehto were involved in a serious collision, spraying debris into the crowd and injuring bystanders. Track officials deployed the safety car, an Opel Vectra to slow down the field and allow the removal of debris. The Vectra was based on a family sedan so not particularly fast; Senna pulled alongside the Vectra to gesture to its driver to speed up. A subsequent investigation showed that the Vectra was inadequate for the role of safety car, because its brakes overheated and it therefore had to be driven slowly, lest it cause another crash itself.

On lap 6, the race resumed and Senna immediately set a quick pace with the third-quickest lap of the race, followed by Schumacher. At the flat-out left-hander Tamburello corner, Schumacher noticed that Senna took a tight line through the curve and his car jiggled on the bumps. On lap 7, the second lap at racing speed, Senna's car left the racing line at Tamburello, ran in a straight line off the track and struck an unprotected concrete barrier. Telemetry data recovered from the wreckage shows he entered the corner at 309 km/h (192 mph) and then braked hard, downshifting twice to slow down before impacting the wall at 211 km/h (131 mph). The car hit the wall at a shallow angle, tearing off the right front wheel and nose cone before spinning to a halt.

After the crash, it was immediately evident that Senna had suffered some form of injury, because his helmet was seen to be motionless and leaning slightly to the right. An emergency tracheotomy was conducted alongside the track to establish a secure airway through which the medical personnel could artificially maintain his breathing.

At 15:00, around 43 minutes after the crash, a helicopter landed in front of the Maggiore Hospital after transporting him from the track. Doctors rushed Senna into intensive care. At 15:10, Senna's heart stopped beating, doctors restarted his heart, and he was placed on a life-support machine. Senna's brother Leonardo arranged for a priest to perform the last rites which occurred at 18:15. Senna's heart stopped beating again at 18:37, and it was decided not to restart it.

In Senna's car after the crash it was found that in preparation for the race, he'd placed a furled Austrian flag in the cockpit. It was later inferred that Senna intended to raise the flag in memory of Ratzenberger (who was Austrian), if Senna won the race.

Ratzenberger and Senna's crashes were the first fatal accidents to occur during a Formula One race meeting since that of Riccardo Paletti at the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix, and were also the last until that of Jules Bianchi at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.