“I Don’t Think You Should Do It”: Ayrton Senna Was Urged to Retire Day Before Fatal Crash by F1 Doctor

The 1994 San Marino GP will always remain a race weekend to forget for all motorsport fans worldwide because of the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna. Even though Ratzenberger’s death was very unexpected in the most unfortunate way, Senna got a cautionary warning. The late Brazilian driver was asked to avoid the race by Sid Watkins, but Senna revealed his helplessness and in the end, met his ultimate fate.

Tom Rubython, in his The Life of Senna: The Biography of Ayrton Senna book, revealed how Watkins, who was the FIA’s medical director back then asked Senna, “Ayrton, why don’t you withdraw from racing tomorrow? I don’t think you should do it. In fact, why don’t you give it up altogether? What else do you need to do? You have been a world champion three times, you are obviously the quickest driver. Give it up, let’s go fishing.”

Senna was incredibly upset after he came to know about Ratzenberger’s death. The Brazilian former driver began to cry Watkins, who had been a dear friend to Senna and regarded the driver as his family, told him about Ratzenberger’s death.

The three-time world champion was left devastated upon hearing the news of the death, amid the already turbulent time that weekend. Earlier, Rubens Barrichello had a massive crash, which also took a huge toll on the then-Williams driver and resulted in him crying to his then-girlfriend Adriane.

How did Roland Ratzenberger crash?

Roland Ratzenberger’s crash marked the second crash of that weekend after Rubens Barrichello witnessed a heavy crash earlier. As for Ratzenberger, it was the second race weekend of his career, and it ended for him in a fatal crash where he hit the wall at a speed of 314.9 kilometers per hour and slumped his head off the cockpit.

Damon Hill, as explained in Tom Rubython’s book, said when he drove past the crash, “As I went by, I had a strong sense of foreboding about his condition because there was so much destruction. With Barrichello, we had been lucky. This time it was clear that poor Roland was not going to be let off so easily.”

The qualifying session for the 1994 San Marino GP came to a halt temporarily to clear up the debris and take Ratzenberger to hospital. As the FOM urged to restart the session, Senna defied the call even after being told by Williams.

In the end, Williams withdrew from the qualification that day. Unfortunately, Ayrton Senna did not say no to race the next day, unlike his qualification call, and as a result, suffered the tragic and fatal crash at the Tamburello corner and lost his life.