Senna entered F1 history
Photo: JEAN-LOUP GAUTREAU/AFP via Getty Images / Esporte News Mundo
On May 1, 1994, exactly 26 years ago, Formula 1 star Ayrton Senna passed away at the San Marino GP in Imola. On the seventh lap of the race, the Brazilian was unable to turn, lost control and hit the wall at a speed of over 200 km/h. Immediately, the paramedics were called, and the Brazilian did not show any reaction, which worried all sports lovers. So, he was taken to the hospital.
All the doctors did what they could to prevent it, but to no avail. The pilot’s vital functions and heartbeat stopped at 1:40 pm (Brasília time), at Maggiore Hospital, in Bologna. Senna died at the age of 34.
According to reports, Ayrton Senna I wasn’t comfortable running. This is because on the weekend of the GP, held at the Imola circuit, it was already loaded due to a serious accident by Rubens Barrichello, in training on Friday, and the death of Austrian Roland Ratzenberger on Saturday. On Sunday, May 1st, it was Senna’s turn.
Meanwhile in Brazil, the President of the Republic, Itamar Franco, had already said that he was following the development of the case “with sadness and desolation”. Senna’s body was sent to the Bologna Legal Medical Institute for an autopsy.
Ayrton Senna’s body was brought to Brazil in business class on a flight that departed from Paris to São Paulo. With the curtains closed, only the crew knew that the pilot’s coffin was on the aircraft and none of the passengers were informed so that there would be no commotion. Other aircraft that were in the air at the time and were notified that the pilot’s body was being transported passed by the plane flashing lights and some crews sent messages.
Between the procession of the coffin with the pilot’s body from Guarulhos Airport to the Legislative Assembly, the wake, which lasted approximately 24 hours, and the final procession from the Assembly to the Morumbi Cemetery, approximately two million people were present.
Shock when taking off helmet
Doctor Giovanni Gordini, who provided care at the race track and in the helicopter, was emotional and described what he had experienced in that last hour in his moment of anguish. The excerpts were taken from Senna’s special article, from “ge”.
– Before even removing the helmet, we were impressed by the amount of blood the pilot was losing. An artery had definitely been hit and my first concern was, once Senna’s head was exposed, trying to stop the bleeding – he said.
The person who guided the complex removal of the helmet was Dr. Sid Watkins, F1 doctor.
– But as soon as we had access to his head, without the helmet and balaclava, I understood that Senna would not survive. We saw that the cranial base was open and he was losing cephalic mass, the brain, due to the cut measuring more than a centimeter wide that ran behind his ears, from side to side of his head. For me, he had hit his head on the wall of the Tamburello curve, at high speed. This explained that generalized trauma to the braincase.
Guilty?
The Italian justice system last spoke out on the case on April 13, 2007, when the European country’s Supreme Court only confirmed a previous decision, keeping only one person to blame for the tragedy. His name is Patrick Head, former partner and co-founder of Williams, the team for which Senna drove in his last season in F1.
The 77-year-old British engineer was convicted of manslaughter, but did not serve time because the case had expired. Under Italian law, the statute of limitations for this type of crime is seven years and six months. But 13 years had already passed since the fatal accident. Experienced in F1, Head was held responsible for being Williams’ technical director at the time.
The case began to be tried in December 1997, three years after the accident. Six people were charged with manslaughter without intent to kill. In addition to Head, the list included Frank Williams himself, founder of the team; engineer Adrian Newey; Roland Bruynseraede, safety inspector at the International Automobile Federation (FIA); and Federico Bendinelli, partner in the company that managed the Ímola Circuit.
All were cleared. Dissatisfied with the decisions, the European country’s Public Prosecutor’s Office appealed to the Supreme Court and, in May 2005, the court blamed Head for negligence in changing the steering column of Senna’s Williams, which was uncomfortable. The British team appealed, but two years later the court upheld the decision, without acquitting Head.
The passion for F1
Photo: Pascal Rondeau/Allsport/Getty Images / Esporte News Mundo
Born in the capital of São Paulo, in the Santana neighborhood, Ayrton developed his passion for speed at the age of four, when he started racing karts. What was initially a joke became a serious dedication at the age of thirteen, when he entered official competitions in the sport.
At 21, Senna left for Europe. In 1981, he secured the UK Formula Ford 1600 championship title, winning 12 of 20 races. Then he won the English Formula 3 championship, which was considered the last step before Formula 1.
At just 24 years old, Senna began his journey in Formula 1. During a decade, he accumulated 41 victories and three world titles – in 1988, 1990 and 1991 -, all with the McLaren team, consolidating himself as one of the greatest drivers in Formula 1 .
Achievements
Senna also has some records that remain to this day: the three-time world champion is the leader of consecutive front rows in F1 (24 between 1988 and 1989). He also leads, alongside Hamilton, in the number of victories from start to finish (19 ) and pole positions on the same circuit (8 in San Marino).
The Brazilian still holds the record for consecutive victories on the same track – 5 in Monaco (between 1989 and 1993). The Brazilian is still considered the “King of Monaco” for having achieved 6 victories in the Principality, a record that remains to this day. Furthermore, he was the only Brazilian to win in Monte Carlo.
Tributes
Three-time Formula 1 world champion Ayrton Senna will be honored this Wednesday (1st), the day his death turns 30, in different parts of the world.
This week in Brazil and in various parts of the world, Senna will receive tributes. On Wednesday (1st), Interlagos receives around 10 thousand people for the Ayrton Senna Racing Day, a hiking event, in which other tributes will be paid. During the Miami GP, this weekend, artist Eduardo Kobra will unveil a mural of Senna in the city that hosts Formula 1. In Turin, Italy, there is an exhibition of the driver’s cars and equipment.
Furthermore, Netflix released the first trailer for the miniseries about the life of Ayrton Senna. “Senna” will be fictional and will tell the trajectory on the tracks, personality and personal relationships of the three-time Formula 1 world champion driver.
