By Finley Nelson
The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix weekend was one of F1’s darkest moments in its 76-year history. The sport lost an icon in 3-time-world-champion Ayrton Senna and an upcoming rookie in Simtek’s Roland Ratzenberger, but what happened next changed the sport forever and made sure that a weekend like this would never happen again.
The 1994 Season
The beginning of the 1994 season saw major rule changes, but most importantly the FIA banned the use of any electronic driver aids. This included traction control, active suspension and automatic gearboxes which resulted in a major reset for teams and drivers such as Williams, who had used driver aids to dominate the previous campaign.
In the two races preceding Imola, Micheal Schumacher and Benetton had dominated the standings by winning both races. Whilst Ayrton Senna had moved to Williams for 1994 and although he took pole position at the Brazilian and Pacific Grands Prix, the three-time-champion failed to finish in each race.
The fateful weekend
The race weekend had started like any other until Friday’s qualifying session, when the event took its first turn for the worst. During the session, Jordan driver Rubens Barrichello hit a kerb while going through the Variante Bassa chicane at around 140mph. This launched his car into the barriers and caused it to roll over multiple times before coming to a stop. Barrichello was found unconscious in his cockpit due to taking an impact of 95g, whilst FIA doctor Sid Watkins saved the driver’s life as his tongue was found to be blocking his airway during the crash. Senna was the first-person Barrichello saw once he had regained consciousness before he returned to the session in which he finished fastest.
The weekend continued despite Barrichello’s crash with Senna and Schumacher continuing to top the timings before tragedy struck. During the final qualifying session on Saturday, rookie Roland Ratzenberger was attempting to qualify for his third Formula 1 race. The Austrian ran wide at Acque Minerali which caused damage to his front wing, but he opted to stay out for another lap. On the following lap, his front wing failed while driving through the flat-out Villeneuve corner which sent him into the barriers at 300km/h without being able to control the car. With the corner not having any tyre barriers, the Simtek hit the concrete with an impact of 500g. Ratzenberger was ruled to have passed away immediately upon impact due to three fatal injuries: a basilar skull fracture, blunt trauma and a ruptured aorta.
Senna took pole position ahead of Schumacher and Berger with a 1:21.548 with his time from Friday’s qualifying session while the paddock was filled with a sombre tone due to the weekend’s tragic events. In his memoirs, Professor Sid Watkins recalled Senna’s reaction to the news of Ratzenberger’s passing and tried to persuade Senna to not race the next day. However, Senna replied with “Sid, there are certain things over which we have no control. I cannot quit, I have to go on”.
The race began at 2pm on Sunday with JJ Lehto and Pedro Lamy colliding. Lehto had stalled his car and with Lamy unable to see him due to his view being blocked, he went straight into the back of the Benetton. The collision sent debris over the fencing and caused minor injuries to spectators. It also brought out the safety car, a standard road-car Opel Vectra driven by German Formula 3 driver Max Angelelli. During the safety car period, Senna pulled alongside the car multiple times to signal the driver to speed up as tyre and brake temperatures dropped massively, which put every driver on the backfoot ahead of the restart.
The race restarted on lap 6 with Senna in the lead. But on the following lap going through Tamburello, Senna’s car continued going straight on rather than turning for the corner. Which resulted in his car hitting a concrete wall at 211km/h following two downshifts. The Brazilian was attended to and transferred to Maggiore Hospital where he sadly passed away later that day.
It was Schumacher who ended up winning the race following a red flag for Senna’s crash followed by Ferrari’s Nicola Larini and McLaren’s Mika Hakkinen. However, what should have been an exciting weekend was clouded by the devastating events which took place.
What happened next?
Following the tragic weekend, the FIA were pressured to make safety changes to the cars and tracks.
In the immediate aftermath, the Grand Prix Drivers Association was reformed at the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix. Where after hours of discussions, Martin Brundle, Michael Schumacher and Gerhard Berger were chosen to lead the GPDA with a new office also opening in Monaco. In a 2019 video with Sky Sports, Brundle said that “we demanded to inspect circuits and play an active role in future safety decisions”.
Changes to parts of the cars were introduced by the FIA to make the cars safer at the Spanish and Canadian GPs.
The FIA also introduced pitlane speed limits at the Monaco GP. Initially, speed was limited to 80km/h in practice and qualifying sessions and then 120km/h for the races. Before this was introduced, pitlanes were much more dangerous as drivers didn’t want to risk going any slower than they needed to with positions being at risk if they had done.
Tracks such as Spa Francorchamps and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya began to implement temporary chicanes which forced the cars to slow down more than usual. These were introduced to stop further dangerous accidents from happening. Imola itself also made multiple safety changes, the circuit introduced sweeping chicanes to replace the flat-out Tamburello and Villeneuve corners alongside the development of full runoffs to make it easier for drivers to recover if they have gone off the track. Many other tracks around the world also began to implement runoffs following Imola 1994.
As long-term responses to that fateful weekend, Headrests were introduced in 1996 which helped to limit the strain drivers faced to their heads and necks during crashes. Then the HANS device was made compulsory from the 2003 season. This device helps to stop movement of the head and neck during crashes to prevent injury and according to Autosport, “it is thought to reduce neck tension in an accident by 72%”. The introduction of both safety features has continued to keep drivers safe during incidents and significantly reduced the number of injuries suffered in recent years.
Although safety in Formula 1 has continued to evolve over the years, the tragic events which took place over the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix weekend were the catalyst for many significant safety changes which needed to happen. The actions of the governing bodies, tracks, teams and drivers following Imola have saved the lives of many drivers over the last 30 years.
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