29 Years After Fatal Accident, Michael Schumacher Is Absolved by One of Ayrton Senna’s Closest Aids

29 Years After Fatal Accident, Michael Schumacher Is Absolved by One of Ayrton Senna’s Closest Aids

For the longest time, Michael Schumacher was being blamed for Senna’s untimely demise during the San Marino Grand Prix. Schumacher was the young charger who looked the most likely to dethrone Senna. After his troubled switch to Williams, Senna was eager to silence his doubters. And with Senna convinced that Benetton was still running the out-lawed ‘electronic aids‘ on Schumacher’s car, he was ready to risk life and limb to beat the young German.

After the Safety Car restart at Imola, Schumacher was hunting the Brazilian down at an insane rate until he crashed on lap 7. After Senna’s death, a Benetton insider even confessed that Schumacher blamed himself for “pushing Senna too hard.”

Now, after all these years, ex-McLaren team boss and the mastermind behind Senna’s three world championships, Ron Dennis has finally absolved Schumacher of his guilt. In a resurfaced video on Instagram, Dennis explained, “Ayrton’s accident was caused by problems with his own car. It certainly was connected in no way to the competitiveness of any of the cars around him.”

“People would claim at the time that his, let’s say pursuit of Michael in the Benetton was overly aggressive because of his necessity to compensate for the inadequacies of his own car. But I think that’s nonsense!”

The scars of Ayrton Senna’s death still haunt Adrian Newey

In the aftermath of Senna’s death, a manslaughter case was lodged against Frank Williams & Co. Though acquitted in 1997, Williams did face the wrath of many Brazilian fans who held him responsible for the death of their hero.

A faulty steering column weld is regarded as the most widely accepted conclusion that led to the crash. However, Williams’ legal team implied driver error on Senna’s end as a contributing factor, too.

But Senna’s demise hit Adrian Newey the hardest within the Williams camp, who was the brain behind the troubled FW16. In his critically acclaimed memoir ‘How to Build a Car‘, the British designer assumed responsibility, in part, for Senna’s fatal crash.

“I will always feel a degree of responsibility for Ayrton’s death but not culpability,” concluded Newey.

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Adrian Newey Ayrton Senna Frank Williams McLaren Michael Schumacher Ron Dennis Williams

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

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