Ayrton Senna crashed out in only his third race for Williams in 1994. Even 30 years after his fatal crash in Imola, many wonder what could have been if Senna had somehow survived that crash. Adrian Newey, who was the technical honcho at Williams back then, reflected on the emotions he felt when the Brazilian crashed and also stated that it was an “unlucky” accident that made F1 lose a generational talent.
Speaking on the High-Performance podcast, Newey expressed that he felt responsible for Senna‘s death. The Briton stated that before that crash, he never wondered that someone could get badly hurt in a car he designed.
So, it was a huge tremor for him when he saw Senna — a former “nemesis” due to his prior McLaren association — crash out at the Tamburello chicane. About his first emotions, Newey said,
“What a waste, I mean that was the biggest, biggest, biggest single emotion: what a waste of what such an amazing person, such a stupid accident and such an unlucky accident as if hadn’t been for the wishbone leg then he would have been absolutely unhurt.”
Newey highlighted that he had been in charge of designing a car since the mid-80s in IndyCar as well as F1. Still, he hadn’t experienced that sort of incident that made him feel responsible for the loss of a really “amazing” person he knew.
While the British designer deemed Senna as a rival before the three-time champion came to Williams, he got to know the great personality the Brazilian had upon speaking with him. That is why, Newey felt even worse after Senna’s death as besides losing a supremely talented F1 world champion, they also lost a good individual.
Moreover, when the crash happened, the spectators, all the klaxons, and the noise made it even more difficult for Newey to get to terms with the on-track situation with Senna. He was desperately praying that the Brazilian was “okay” amid the chaos at Imola.
