At Imola 30 years ago today, Grand Prix racing was shaken from its complacency about the dangers of the sport. Rubens Barrichello in his Jordan -out on his first flying lap – had got it badly wrong and been launched over a kerb. He flew, four feet off the ground, towards the wall. The only thing between him and the nearby grandstand was a wire cable debris fence. Luckily the bottom edge of the car clipped the top of the wall, which sent the car tumbling back towards the track. It came to rest upside-down. The marshals reached the car in seconds and, there being a risk of fire, turned it over quickly, albeit rather roughly. The F1 doctor Prof Sid Watkins was parked in the middle of the chicane where the accident happened. A quick U-turn got The Prof to the wreck within seconds – even before the red flags came out. This was fortunate because Barrichello needed help. His breathing passage was blocked by his tongue and blood from his damaged mouth and nose, the driver’s head having hit the side of the monocoque, smashing his helmet. Rubens was fitted with breathing tubes, a neck brace and a drip and then taken to the nearby circuit hospital. Slowly the feeling of dread began to lift. Rubens was conscious. Later he would be flown to Maggiore Hospital in Bologna for a thorough check-up. t started like many F1 Saturdays with an unexciting morning session. The two Simteks had a misunderstanding which resulted in David Brabham spinning into sand trap. The first 18 minutes of afternoon qualifying suggested that the track was a bit faster than Friday. Schumacher improved his lap time but not his second grid position and Hill jumped up to fourth place. But then everything went quiet. Red flags came out and TV cameras zoomed in on a horrible wreck at Tosa. The remains of Ratzenberger’s Simtek slid to a stop at Tosa Corner. It had hit the wall at the flat-out Villeneuve kink. The crash was so violent that experienced F1 watchers had little doubt that the driver was beyond help, but the medics did everything to save him. A dreadful feeling settled over the paddock as the doctors began heart massage. Later eye-witnesses, among them Jean Alesi, said that a front wing flap had fallen off and gone under the car, launching it off the ground at 200mph. It hit the wall at probably 160 and ran down to Tosa corner with the bloodied driver slumped in the cockpit and a hole in the side where a wheel had been slammed into the chassis. Given the extreme violence of the impact the Simtek had stood up very well, but there was no way Roland could be saved. It had been 12 years since there was an F1 fatality at a race and eight since Elio de Angelis died after a testing crash at Paul Ricard. Many in F1 had forgotten – or never known – the fine line that exists between life and death in a Grand Prix car. Roland was flown off by helicopter in a desperate dash to Bologna but he was certified dead a few minutes after arrival. From start to finish the 1994 San Marino GP was a nightmare. When the lights turned to green Senna and Schumacher were forgotten. Lehto has stalled and as the cars came up the Benetton, row after row, they were getting faster and faster. For a second it looked like everyone would get through but then Pedro Lamy arrived, unsighted as he swept from right to left across the track seeking a gap. He saw the stalled Benetton at the last second, swerved but couldn’t avoid a crash. The Lotus ran into the left rear of the Benetton, its entire right side being torn off and hurled high into the air. Having cleared the debris fencing, it rained down on the crowded grandstand. Ten people would be hit, one suffering serious injuries. There will always be debates about when a race should or should not be stopped. At Imola the race director decided on a safety car. This mean that the whole field went past the Lehto wreck at racing speed before they caught up with the safety car. The track was strewn with debris which the marshals hurriedly brushed away. For four laps the field ran behind the safety car. Engines getting hot, tyres getting cold. At the start of lap five the safety car pulled off and Senna and Schumacher were off again. As they thundered into Tamburello next time around Senna’s rear end sparked and jumped a little out of line. He caught it and kept ahead. Next time round the back jumped again. Williams telemetry would show that he lifted off the accelerator a fraction to settle the car. By doing so he may have caused a loss of downforce which caused the car to understeer straight off the track. There may have been debris, there may have been a puncture or a steering failure. We may never know. Senna had little time to do anything. He was trying to pull the car around before it hit the wall, but there was no escape. He hit the wall front right first at about 180mph. The car bounced back towards the track, throwing wreckage into the air, and slid to a halt beside the circuit – not far from the point of impact. Ayrton was slumped in the cockpit. For what seemed like an age no marshal approached the car – the whole field was thundering by. Senna seemed to move and there was a moment of hope but then the medics arrived and the awful truth began to dawn. The distance between the wreck and the point of impact was too short. That meant the car – and the driver – had taken the shock. There was a numbness in the paddock. A sense that lightning could not have struck twice, that Senna was invincible. But the TV screens showed a frantic battle going on to save Senna beside his car. The day before the cameras had zoomed in close, today they did not. When the medical helicopter landed on the track there was no doubt that Senna’s injuries were critical. Many hours later we would learn from Brazil that on Saturday night Ayrton had phoned his girlfriend Adriene Galisteu in Brazil and said he didn’t want to race, because he had had a premonition that something bad would happen to him in the race. But now all we knew was that Senna – perhaps the finest driver F1 has ever had – was fighting for his life. Rumours swirled around the paddock but no-one really knew. It seemed callous that the race would be restarted. Many people in the paddock just wanted to go home. But the show must go on and so it did. News finally came from the hospital saying that clinically Senna was dead. He hung on until 6:40 pm when the great champion’s heart finally stopped beating. As aside note, Ms.T and I had dinner with Ayrton on the Thursday night before the 1992 Australian G.P. because he didn't have a booking in the restaurant and the owners asked us if we minded having 2 strangers share our table, it was Ayrton and Prof.Sis Watkins.
It was indeed a very sad weekend, RIP Roland and Ayrton. A part of F1 died that weekend, it hasn't really been the same since.
Crikey. I’d sort of forgotten about this but reading it through has reminded me of how it was at the time. It just seemed to go from one catastrophe to another
I think this is when F1 really came into my focus. I was a teenager and I think I’d been aware of F1 during the Mansell era but the massive news coverage surrounding this kickstarted my interest. I must have been susceptible to idols dying at the time because Kurt Cobain had died a few weeks before which was a massive influence on the teenage me. From there though F1 became much more of a fixture through the Hill and Schumacher years and beyond. BBC have just put up an article on Sid Watkins which is worth a read if you have 10 mins to spare. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/c1ejpl7k2lqo
Just been reading some of the story about Dr Watkins and hs massive effect on F1 safety. Cant imagine the shock of him seeing someone who had become part of his family die like that...
Thanks for posting.. I remember hearing it on the radio driving back from a day out.. Just like 9-11 Or Dianas death
Started reading this on autoaction.com.au late last night (only got a few paragraphs in last night as it was late).
Yes - horrible - I was watching the race live (not the practice sessions though although after the accident the previous day many thought the race may be cancelled) - after Senna's car bounced back after the collision and stopped , I saw him jerk slightly . Then a marshall ran up to the car and looked at Senna and pulled back quickly - in that instant I knew Senna was dead and that jerk was his final movement ( a death throw?). But having Senna at your table for a meal - amazing - any photos?
It is still very chilling when you see any video of that crash. It was a very sad day that changed racing in so many ways. I suppose it was a pivotal moment in driver safety.
Awful weekend and a good reminder of some of the other crashes that were overshadowed by Senna’s, and of how dangerous F1 was at that time. Sid gave a very harrowing account of Senna’s final moments in the film, and as you say was responsible for making it much safer than it was.
