FIA Formula Mag™ commemorates the 24th anniversary of the fateful Imola Grand Prix 1994

At FIA Formula Mag™ we commemorate the 24th anniversary of the Formula 1 Imola Grand Prix. A GP that marked a before and after of the pinnacle of world motorsport; Chaos, tragedies, unforgettable teachings and a legacy that is still breathed in the F1 paddock and in world motorsport. 

Friday, April 29th: Terrible accident of Rubens Barrichello at the 1994 Imola Grand Prix

The young Brazilian motorsport star, Rubens Barrichello, got into trouble when his Jordan Hart crossed the limits of the track at the start of the Variante Bassa that leads to the main straight of the circuit that hosted the then third round of the F1 World Championship in San Marino, resulting in an impact at almost 220km/h against the tyre barrier that, together with a couple of dumps that ended with the upside-down car, gave the driver bruises and fractures to his nose and arm. It was the alert that brought to light the safety shortcomings of a very fast circuit, especially in the Tamburello and Villeneuve turns. 

Saturday, April 30th: Death returned to Formula 1 with the crash of Roland Ratzenberger

Simtek Ford's rookie driver, Roland Ratzenberger (34) lost control of his car during qualifying after losing part of his front wing, almost facing the Villeneuve tun at a speed of over 310km/h. The impact took the car to the next corner, Tosa, a few metres ahead, and despite being quickly treated by the doctors on the track, they could not save his life due to the serious injuries suffered. The Austrian driver's death ended with a record of 12 years free of fatal crashes on the track during an official race weekend, and although this was the second major accident of the weekend, and drivers like Ayrton Senna were pushing to improve safety at the circuit, the event continued without significant changes in that area. 

Sunday, May 1st: Senna's greatest fears came true

Although the atmosphere was not the best, the FIA and the event organisers let the show continue at the 1994 Imola GP. Thus, an accident occurred immediately at the start, where the Benetton Ford of the Finnish driver Jirki Jarvi Letho was completely stopped and the Portuguese driver of the Lotus team, Pedro Lamy, could not avoid hitting him, causing parts of the vehicles flying towards the stands, significantly injuring 9 spectators. Then, after the start of the safety car, which lasted 5 full laps in which the tyres cooled and the drivers like Senna were desperate, the competition was restarted. Then a leadership battle broke out between Michael Schumacher and the Brazilian driver that lasted only two laps. At about 310km/h in the Tamburello turn, Ayrton Senna lost control of his Williams Renault FW16, hitting the wall with the right front wheel. The crash was such that the tyre flew off the car and one of the suspension arms of the car hit the Brazilian driver's helmet, taking his life due to the head injuries suffered. Ayrton Senna's head movements were seen after the tremendous impact, but they were due to muscular reflexes.  The paramedics arrived at the scene of the accident as soon as they could to help him, and when they took him out of the car, they tried to revive him on the track, apparently without success. He was then transferred by helicopter to the Maggiore Hospital Center in Bologna, Italy. The doctors at the hospital, despite trying everything, could not save him and ultimately declared his death a few hours after the accident, giving the exact time of death as the time of the crash, so they recognized that it was an instantaneous death. 

A before and an after for the 1994 Imola GP

From that dark weekend onwards, world motorsport was not the same, and to this day important changes are still being made to safety levels with the aim of making this a safe sport, promoting road safety technologies applicable not only to motorsport itself, but also to the streets.