The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix will always be remembered for the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger. The race has often been described as the darkest moment in F1’s history.
Senna was killed in a fatal collision during the main race. But incidents early on in the weekend had already affected the three-time world champion, especially his compatriot Rubens Barrichello’s collision during the Friday Qualifying session. The Brazilian driver launched off a kerb at the Variante Bassa corner at 225 km/h hitting a tire barrier.
The 95G impact knocked the Jordan driver unconscious, miraculously surviving the horrific accident. He was airlifted to a nearby hospital and only suffered a broken wrist and nose and a few bruised ribs.
Senna was the first face Rubens Barrichello saw after gaining consciousness
When Ayrton Senna learned about Rubens Barrichello’s crash, he rushed to the Medical center. According to Tom Rubython, author of the biography “Life of Senna,” the Brazilian was not allowed entry into the medical center. So he climbed over a fence and made his way through the back undetected.
When Barrichello regained consciousness, he found a teary-eyed Ayrton looking at him. The former McLaren driver even told the youngster to “stay calm. It will be all right.”
1994 San Marino GP Friday qualifying. April 29, 1994. Ayrton Senna takes his 65th, and last, pole position. 1,651 faster than his teammate! He would not effectively participate in Saturday’s qualifying out of respect for Roland’s passing.#AyrtonSenna #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/S6jr9ypEZ1
— Petrolhead 🏁 (@NuvolariTazio1) April 29, 2022
Barrichello reflected upon the moment, “The first face I saw was Ayrton’s. He had tears in his eyes. I had never seen that with Ayrton before. I just had the impression he felt as if my accident was like one of his own.”
The F1 champion was one of the only drivers who visited the injured Jordan driver. Upon leaving the medical center, he was rushed by media personnel who asked about Barrichello’s status. To which the 41 GP winner assured, “He’s alright! He is in shock but he’s fine.”
Only after knowing if his friend was fine would Senna hit the track again and set the fastest time of the session. With a time of 1:21.548, he secured the pole position.
Ayrton Senna got flashbacks of another difficult moment
Rubython wrote that Barrichello’s accident reminded Senna of another difficult moment in his career. He had a flashback of what happened at the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix when Martin Donnelly crashed.
Donnelly’s Lotus crashed at Turn 14 at Jerez due to a suspension failure. The car hit the barriers and disintegrated. Donnelly was thrown from the wreckage and suffered career-ending injuries, including severe leg fractures, which necessitated the amputation of his right leg.
Ayrton Senna interview after the horrific near-death accident suffered by Martin Donnelly during Friday practice at the Jerez circuit, September 28th 1990. pic.twitter.com/vrLCBluDMQ
— Petrolhead 🏁 (@NuvolariTazio1) September 17, 2021
Senna was the only driver to stop at the scene. He was deeply affected by the horrific accident. But right after the session resumed, the Brazilian would go on to secure pole position. He said after the session, “As a racing driver, there are some things you have to go through, to cope with.”
He added, “Sometimes they are not human, yet you go through it. Some of the things are not pleasant but in order to have some of the nice things you have to face them. You leave a lot of things behind when you follow a passion.”
Following Barrichello’s accident and Ratzenverger’s death on the same weekend in Imola, Senna spearheaded the re-establishment of the Grand Prix Drivers Association.
The Brazilian wanted to take the role of GDPA Chairman starting from the Monaco Grand Prix. Sadly, on Sunday during the same race weekend, the three-time World Champion lost his life after a high-speed collision.
