1994 SAN MARINO GRAND PRIX

Background

Heading into the third round of the season, Benetton driver Michael Schumacher was leading the World Drivers' Championship with 20 points; Jordan driver Rubens Barrichello was second on seven points, 13 points behind Schumacher. Behind Schumacher and Barrichello was Damon Hill in third place on six points, tied on points with Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger . Berger's teammate Jean Alesi was fifth on four points. In the World Constructors' Championship , Benetton were leading on 20 points an...

Qualifying

Ratzenberger, in his first season as a Formula One driver, had run over a kerb at the Acque Minerali chicane on his previous lap, the impact of which is believed to have damaged his front wing. Rather than return to the pit lane, he continued on another fast lap. As Ratzenberger's Simtek racer accelerated past 300 km/h for the first time since he had begun the previous lap, the front wing gave way to the air pressure, most likely due to failure of two bolts attaching the wing to the nose's under... As a result, Ratzenberger could neither steer the car nor brake more than superficially with the rear wheels. Thrown out of control, the car continued straight ahead in the Villeneuve corner at a speed of 314 km/h (195 mph). There were no tyre barriers or any other impact-absorbing installations in place at the Villeneuve curva , and the Simtek hit the bare concrete wall with a resulting force measured to be 500 g , the highest ever registered in F1. After the crash, the session was immediately stopped. Doctors were on the spot within a minute, and chief doctor Sid Watkins quickly joined them. After initially being taken by ambulance to the on-circuit medical centre, Ratzenberger was airlifted to the anaesthesia and resuscitation unit of Maggiore Hospital at 14:07 local time, the second driver to be admitted there during the weekend. He was found to have suffered three separate injuries, all fatal, due to the enormity of the impact: a basila... The session was restarted 48 minutes later, but several teams—including Williams and Benetton—took no further part. Ratzenberger was confirmed dead as a result of his multiple injuries at 14:15 local time. His death marked the first Formula One race weekend fatality since the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix when Riccardo Paletti was killed. It had been eight years since Elio de Angelis died testing a Brabham car at the Circuit Paul Ricard . Professor Sid Watkins , then head ...

Aftermath

Ratzenberger's death had one lasting legacy. On 1 May 1994, during the customary drivers' briefing, the remaining drivers agreed to the reformation of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association , with Senna, Gerhard Berger and Michael Schumacher as its first directors. The association subsequently pressed for improvements to car and circuit safety in the wake of Imola and other serious crashes during the 1994 season; for 2003 , the FIA mandated the use of the HANS device , designed to prevent the type ...

Race

On the seventh lap, the second lap at racing speeds after the stoppage, Senna was leading Michael Schumacher. Going at a speed of 305 km/h (190 mph), Senna's car could not take the turn at the Tamburello left corner, and, continuing in a straight line, struck the unprotected concrete barrier at a speed of 211 km/h (131 mph), reduced as a result of the driver's effort to brake. As was subsequently ascertained, Senna was killed instantly. When track officials examined the wreckage of... Approximately ten minutes after Senna's crash, the Larrousse team, which had been "concentrating on fixing [Comas's] car and didn't realise Senna had crashed", sent Comas to the end of the pit lane for release despite the circuit being closed under red flags. Comas described "a big confusion about whether (he) could rejoin", and that eventually the pit lane marshal allowed him onto the race course. Marshals frantically waved him down as he approached the scene of the accident ... The pictures shown on the world feed, supplied by host broadcaster RAI , of Senna being treated were considered by the BBC , the corporation responsible for broadcasting the San Marino Grand Prix live to viewers in the United Kingdom, to be too upsetting for general viewing at the time (around 13:20 BST ), and the BBC abandoned RAI's feed to focus on their own camera in the pit lane. Other broadcasters including ESPN and Nine Network took the BBC feed from the pit lane. BBC commentator Mu... Waiting on pit lane, Martin Brundle reported that shortly after Senna's crash, televisions in garages were being switched off, but that reports were that Senna was okay. Senna was lifted from the wrecked Williams, and after approximately fifteen minutes of on-site medical attention, was airlifted directly to Maggiore Hospital, becoming the third and final driver to be admitted there during the weekend. Commentating for the Australian telecast, 1980 world champion Alan Jones remarked "that ... On the second formation lap, Heinz-Harald Frentzen stalled the engine fitted to his Sauber whilst attempting to leave the grid and was forced to start from the pit lane. The other cars started from the grid in the order they were at the point the race was stopped. Michael Schumacher had a poor start because of wheelspin and Gerhard Berger took the lead on track — Schumacher still led the race overall due to the amount of time he was ahead of Berger before the race was stopped. Hill, from ... On 3 May, the FIA called a meeting at the request of the Italian Automobile Club to review the events of the weekend. Later on, the governing body announced new safety measures for the next round in Monaco which included the entry and exit of the pit lane to be controlled by a curve to force cars to run at a reduced speed, no team mechanic would be allowed onto the pit lane surface except for pit stops and a draw would be arranged to determine the order in which cars make pit stops and be... Senna was given a state funeral in São Paulo, Brazil on 5 May 1994. Approximately 500,000 people lined the streets to watch the coffin pass. Senna's arch-rival Alain Prost was among the pallbearers. The majority of the Formula One community attended Senna's funeral; however the president of the sport's governing body, the FIA, Max Mosley attended the funeral of Ratzenberger instead which took place on 7 May 1994 in Salzburg , Austria. Drivers Gerhard Berger and Johnny Herber... The 1994 Imola layout, which had been in place since 1981, was never again used for a Formula One race. The circuit was heavily modified following the race, including a change at Tamburello—also the scene of major accidents for Gerhard Berger ( 1989 ) and Nelson Piquet ( 1987 )—from a high speed corner to a much slower chicane . The FIA also changed the regulations governing Formula One car design, to the extent that the 1995 regulations required all teams to create completely new designs... Severe injuries to F1 drivers in May 1994 did not end with the San Marino Grand Prix. Two weeks after Imola, Karl Wendlinger suffered a shunt in practice at Monaco that left him comatose for several weeks with brain injuries and ended his 1994 season. Pedro Lamy suffered season ending broken bone injuries in a crash during a testing session at Silverstone on 24 May. On 28 May, during the second qualifying session for the Spanish Grand Prix, Ratzenberger's replacement Andrea Montermini cra... In October 1996 the FIA set about researching a driver restraint system for head-on impacts, in conjunction with McLaren and Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes contacted HANS Performance Products , owned by sportscar racer Jim Downing and his brother-in-law, Michigan State University College of Engineering professor Robert Hubbard, with a view to adapting their device for Formula One. Developed by the family pair after the death Renault's United States motorsport sporting director in a Renault R5 during th...

Launch control controversy

Liverpool Data Research Associates (LDRA) were called in to investigate allegations of cheating using banned driving aids, such as traction control and launch control , both of which had been prohibited at the start of the year. The top three cars of Schumacher, Larini and Häkkinen were investigated and their teams were asked to surrender their systems' source code to the company. Larini's team, Ferrari, complied in light of allegations that they were cheating, but Sc... Benetton sent an alternative suggestion to the company on 10 May 1994, which was accepted by LDRA five days later. Tests on the Benetton car were to be carried out on 28 June 1994, but were cancelled. The tests eventually took place on 6 July 1994. LDRA found the tests unsatisfactory. Benetton therefore complied with the original request to supply the source code, on 18 July 1994. Analysis of the software found that it included launch control . Benetton stated that "it can o...

Trial

Italian prosecutors brought legal proceedings against six people in connection with Senna's death . They were Frank Williams , Patrick Head and Adrian Newey of Williams ; Fedrico Bendinelli representing the owners of the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari; Giorgio Poggi as the circuit director and Roland Bruynseraede who was race director and sanctioned the circuit. The trial verdict was given on 16 December 1997, clearing all six defendants of manslaughter charges. The cause of Senna's... Following the court's decision, an appeal was lodged by the state prosecutor against Patrick Head and Adrian Newey. On 22 November 1999, the appeal absolved Head and Newey of all charges, stating that no new evidence had come to light (there was missing data from the black box recorder on Senna's car due to damage, and 1.6 seconds of video from the onboard camera of Senna's car was unavailable because the broadcaster switched to another car's camera just before the accident), and so under Articl...