It was labelled 'Formula One's darkest weekend' and shook the sport to its very core, emotionally and politically, causing many to question its purpose and motivation.
The San Marino Grand Prix 1994 took place at the notorious (even before that time) Imola racing circuit, just outside the principality in northern Italy, between Friday 29 April and Sunday 1 May. It was overshadowed by three horrible incidents that have, since that time, cast a permanent shadow over the sport of the risks that drivers face race after race, albeit now to a reduced degree, thankfully.
In practice on the Friday, Rubens Barrichello suffered a terrifying high speed accident in his Jordan. He smacked into the wall and was catapulted over the tyre wall, coming to a halt upside down and unconscious. Were it not for the quick thinking and expert work of the medics, Barrichello would not have enjoyed a career that lasted until 2011, thankfully he did and achieved a distinguished career at Ferrari, involving a number of race wins. In qualifying on the Saturday, Roland Ratzenberger crashed, hitting a concrete wall head-on at a speed of 190 mph. He suffered a fracture to the skull and was pronounced dead, shortly afterwards, at the nearby hospital, his marking the first death that Formula One had seen at a race-meeting in 12 years. It would be just 24 hours until the next.
On Sunday, Ayrton Senna started from pole and retained first place as the Safety Car, deployed following a first lap incident, returned to the pits at the start of lap 5. Just a lap later, leading into the Tamburello Corner - at the beginning of the Imola circuit - Senna left the circuit and hit the concrete wall at a speed in excess of 130 mph. The race was stopped and Senna was attended to at the trackside before being airlifted to the hospital. He was pronounced dead a short time later, as a result of head injuries suffered during the accident. It marked the end of a tragic weekend that devastated the world of Formula One - I remember it vividly.
Following the deaths, changes were introduced to improve the sport and to investigate possible answers and, it is fair to say, it is a safer place and environment as a result. But it did not change the fact that Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna were gone.
Senna was and is, to this day, regarded as the 'greatest of all time'. He may not have won as many championships as Fangio or Vettel; achieved as many pole positions as Schumacher or race wins as Prost but ask virtually any driver or fan and most will agree that Senna was head and shoulders above the rest. It was his dedication to the sport, his devotion to winning and the way he committed to every drive - it was as if it was so much more than a job or even a passion, it was - to him - what he had been put on this planet to do. Of course, inevitably, it got him into a few sticky situations - championships in 1989 and 1990 were both decided by incidents involving Prost. But the talent is unmistakable - he had a gift like no other, seen particularly at Donnington Park in 1993 where he gained 5 places during the first lap, to take the lead; eventually taking the victory a staggering 1min 23secs ahead of the nearest rival. Senna could drive like no one else and had immense car control. He was particularly famous for blistering pole laps, often setting times totally unmatchable, even by equal machinery.
I saw Senna once, at qualifying for the 1993 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. He neither qualified on pole nor won the race, but I remember being in the presence of a legend and seeing the flash of his yellow helmet as he shot passed at Copse corner.
Senna is also often remembered for his records at the Monaco Grand Prix - an event he won 6 times in a decades, including 5 times in row from 1989 - 1993. Indeed, my earliest memory of Formula One is the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix where Senna managed to keep Mansell - on fresher tyres - behind for the final part of the race. Next week I go, for the first time, to Monte-Carlo and to watch the Historic Monaco Grand Prix (involving historic F1 cars). Wary of the significance of the place to Senna and the timing of the visit, I shall be sure to raise a glass in Gerhard's - a bar owned by Gerhard Berger, Senna's team-mate at McLaren for 3 years - to the great man.
Twitter will, this week, be awash with tributes and thoughts of #Senna and rightly so - gone, but not forgotten and forever respected. Here's mine.
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