How Senna's death changed motorsport forever
Abstract
The loss of Ayrton Senna, the 1st
of May 1994, was one of saddest and most crucial moment in the history of Motorsport. Let understand what happened and why this event changed so
drastically motor racing.
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The
Imola Grand Prix 1994, a sad weekend that changed everything
The Imola Grand Prix 1994 was undoubtly one of
the most dramatic, either one of the most ground changing, weekend in all the
history of Motorsport. There were twelve years since a driver loss his life on
a circuit, and that was at least an astonishing result due to the poor safety
standards used in formula 1, but that weekend erased that record and made
motorsport to rethink about everything they’ve done so far.
It all started with the crash of Rubens
Barichello on Friday, when the driver, jumping on a curb, went directly in a
fence and his car was flipped over. The brazilian driver though, suffered
different injuries but fortunately he didn’t get any several consequences.
Different was the faith of Roland Ratzenberger. During the qualifying, due to a
damage on his front wing, he lost the control of his car and hit the wall at
over 300 kmph. The horrible crash caused his death and created an aura of
sadness in all the motorsport world. Despite these two events, the F1
management and the FIA decided to continue the racing weekend, a decision that
caused one of the saddest, even if crucial, moment in all motorsport.
At the start of the race on Sunday 1st
of May, another incident in the start phase caused the wounding of several
spectators and the entering of the safety car. Just a lap after the ending of
the safety car phase, Ayton Senna, that was leading the race, lost the control
of his car at the Tamburello curve, a flat out turn that had no gravel at the
side and a concrete wall sideways. The impact was huge and despite the prompt
intervention of medics, Senna died in the Bologna’s Ospedale Maggiore that day.
How and
what Senna’s death changed in Motorsport
This dramatic event made clear how the safety in
racing was so poor linked to the high performance of the vehicle of that time.
The first conclusion after what happened was that the twelve years without any
loss were only a lucky coincidence.
After the weekend, one of the first changes, was
the recreation the GPDA, an acronym that stands for “Grand Prix Driver
Association”. Born in the ’61, this organization, created with the aim of being
a driver syndicate to improve safety e assure driver rights, was left off in
the 1976. The reborn of what now is a Ltd. society was fundamental step towards
the improvement that will be listed below.
Than Max Mosley, that at the time was the FIA
president, commissioned to Sir. Sid Watkins, FIA's former medical delegate, to
chair the Expert Advisory Safety Committee. This group, made by some of the
most relevant figure in Motorsport, amongst all there was Sir. Charlie Whiting,
that at the time was the race director and safety delegate for FIA. This
commission had the aim to improve safety and to prevent that something like
Imola could happen again.
After a lot of researches and studies, this
directive proposed a lot of different solution that now are key factors in
safety. The most important, amongst the ideas that have come to fruition are:
the collapsible steering column; protective foam around the top of the cockpit;
crash tests for front, rear and side impacts; the Head and Neck Support (HANS)
device which has become mandatory for every driver and wheel tethers[1].
System like the HANS could definitely save
Roland’s life meanwhile wheel tethers could be effective to prevent the lost of
the most famous Brazilian driver ever.
The other important measure was the redesign of
a lot of circuit to make them compliant to new and more strictly safety
standards. This decision changed a lot also the calendar of the Formula 1 World
Championship due to enormous investment that a lot of circuit could not afford
to follow the new guidelines.
The role
of Senna in Motorsport history and a brief balance after 28 years
After 28 years from Imola’s 94 weekend the huge
change to safety standards and all the new safety measures, that are
continuously developing, saved many lives. One of the most remarkable examples
of this was showed by the horrible crash happened to Romain Grosjean during the
2021 Barhain Gp. Thanks to the HALO system, and a bit of luck, the driver
survived to a tremendous explosion of his car and to the fire that
consequentially wrapped his single seater.
It’s important to remember that, even if FIA is
always trying to improve safety in motor racing due to the fact that this is
one of the main goals of this International Sport Federation, Motorsport will have
a ineradicable percentage of risk, that is and will be, inherent to the sport considering
its nature. For this reason, in the recent years, Formula 1 felt again what
means to lose a driver in a racing incident.
In the end, speaking on Ayrton, it’s undoubted
his enormous contribution to the sport. From his extraordinary talent, his
determination and also his attention to safety and other drivers. An example of
this could be found in what happened in the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix with Eric
Comas. He also was an extraordinary man that done a lot for his country with
his foundation. A country, Brazil, that saw in him a symbol of social
redemption for all the poor classes. His loss is definitely one of the saddest
moments in all sports history, but his death, despite all, will always be seen
as the moment that changed everything and made Motorsports safer than ever.
[1] I. Parkes, Ayrton Senna: The one
positive from Senna's death has seen safety improvements prevent any further
deaths in F1 20 years on, Indipendent, 2014.
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