1994 San Marino Grand Prix

The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the 14º Gran Premio di San Marino) was a Formula One motor race held on 1 May 1994 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, located in Imola, Italy. It was the third race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship. Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger and three-time world champion Ayrton Senna were killed in separate accidents during the event. Michael Schumacher, driving for Benetton won the race. Nicola Larini, driving for Ferrari, scored the first points of his career when he finished in second position. Mika Häkkinen finished third in a McLaren.

Fatalities and injuries at this Grand Prix proved to be a major turning point in both the 1994 season, and in the development of Formula One itself, particularly with regard to safety. In addition to the two fatalities, other incidents saw driver Rubens Barrichello injured and several mechanics and spectators injured. The deaths were the first fatalities in the Formula One World Championship since the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix, and the first with two driver deaths since the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix.

The race led to an increased emphasis on safety in the sport as well as the reforming of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association after a 12-year hiatus, and the changing of many track layouts and car designs. Since the race, numerous regulation changes have been made to slow Formula One cars down and new circuits incorporate large run-off areas to slow cars before they collide with a wall. Senna was given a state funeral in his home town of São Paulo, Brazil, where around 500,000 people lined the streets to watch the coffin pass. Italian prosecutors charged six people with manslaughter in connection with Senna's death, all of whom were later acquitted. The case took more than 11 years to conclude due to an appeal and a retrial following the original verdict of not guilty.

As a result of increased standards in safety following this race, there was a 20-year gap between the deaths of Ratzenberger and Senna, and the crash of Jules Bianchi at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix which led to his death the following year.

Background

Heading into the third round of the season, Benetton driver Michael Schumacher was leading the World Drivers' Championship with 20 points; Jordan driver Rubens Barrichello was second on seven points, 13 points behind Schumacher. Behind Schumacher and Barrichello was Damon Hill in third place on six points, tied on points with Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger. Berger's teammate Jean Alesi was fifth on four points. In the World Constructors' Championship, Benetton were leading on 20 points and Ferrari were second on ten points, with Jordan third on seven points.

There were two driver changes heading into the race. JJ Lehto replaced Jos Verstappen at Benetton, the latter having replaced Lehto for the opening two races of the season due to an injury sustained by Lehto in pre-season testing. Jordan's Eddie Irvine, still serving a three-race suspension, was replaced with Andrea de Cesaris for this race.

Launch control controversy

Liverpool Data Research Associates (LDRA) were called in to investigate allegations of cheating using banned driving aids, such as traction control and launch control, both prohibited at the start of the year. The top three cars of Michael Schumacher, Nicola Larini and Mika Häkkinen were investigated and their teams were asked to surrender their systems' source code to the company. Larini's team, Ferrari, complied in light of allegations that they were cheating, but Schumacher and Häkkinen's teams, Benetton and McLaren refused, claiming copyright reasons. After being fined $100,000 by the FIA, both teams complied eight days after the race. LDRA discovered that McLaren were running a programme that permitted automatic gearshifts but the car was declared legal.

Benetton sent an alternative suggestion to the company on 10 May 1994, accepted by LDRA five days later. Tests on the car were to be carried out on 28 June 1994, but were cancelled. The tests eventually took place on 6 July 1994. LDRA found the tests unsatisfactory. Benetton therefore complied with the original request, the source code, on 18 July 1994. Analysis of the software found that it included launch control, a banned aid. Benetton stated that "it can only be switched on by recompilation of the code." However LDRA found this to be untrue; launch control could be switched on by connecting a computer to the gearbox control unit. Benetton conceded that this was possible but this "came as a surprise to them". To switch the system on, the user is presented with a menu with 10 visible options. "Launch Control" was not visibly listed as an option, however, should the user scroll down to option 13, launch control could be enabled.

Qualifying

Friday

On Friday, 29 April, during the first qualifying session, Rubens Barrichello, a driver for Jordan, hit a kerb at the ''Variante Bassa'' corner at , launching him into the air. He hit the top of the tyre barrier, and was knocked unconscious by an impact measured at 95 g. Barrichello's car rolled several times after landing before coming to rest upside down. Medical teams treated him at the crash site, and he was taken to the circuit's medical centre before being transferred to Maggiore Hospital in Bologna by helicopter for routine tests and observation to be carried out, Barrichello suffered a sprained wrist and broken nose. Barrichello's tongue blocked his airway during the crash and emergency work done by FIA doctor Sid Watkins saved his life. Barrichello regained consciousness and found Senna looking over him at the medical centre. After learning Barrichello had survived, Senna returned to his car and continued his practice session. Barrichello returned to the race meeting the next day, although his broken nose and a plaster cast on his arm forced him to sit out the rest of the race weekend. Ten years after the incident, Damon Hill, who drove for the Williams-Renault team at the time, described the feeling after the crash: "We all brushed ourselves off and carried on qualifying, reassured that our cars were tough as tanks and we could be shaken but not hurt."

Despite a spin, Senna was the fastest driver at the end of Friday's session with a time of 1:21.548, almost five-tenths of a second faster than Schumacher and Berger. Senna's teammate Damon Hill was seventh, having spun himself, over 1.6 seconds behind Senna.

Saturday qualifying and death of Roland Ratzenberger

Eighteen minutes into the final qualifying session, Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger failed to negotiate the ''Villeneuve curva'' in his Simtek; he subsequently hit the opposing concrete retaining barrier wall almost head-on and was critically injured. Although the survival cell remained largely intact, the force of the impact inflicted a basal skull fracture. Ratzenberger, in his first season as a Formula One driver, had run over a kerb at the ''Acque Minerali'' chicane on his previous lap, the impact of which is believed to have damaged his front wing. Rather than return to the pit lane, he continued on another fast lap. Traveling at , his car suffered a front wing failure due to possible two bolt failures attaching the wing to the nose's underside after mounting the kerbing, leaving him unable to control it as a result of the loss of downforce.

The session was stopped while doctors and rescue workers attended to Ratzenberger. After initially being taken by ambulance to the on-circuit medical centre, he was airlifted to the anaesthesia and resuscitation unit of Maggiore Hospital at 2:07 pm local time, the second driver to be admitted there during the weekend. The session was restarted 48 minutes later, but several teams—including Williams and Benetton—took no further part. Ratzenberger was confirmed dead as a result of his multiple injuries at 2:15 pm local time. His death marked the first Formula One race weekend fatality since the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix when Riccardo Paletti was killed. It had been eight years since Elio de Angelis died testing a Brabham car at the Circuit Paul Ricard. Professor Sid Watkins, then head of the Formula One on-track medical team, recalled in his memoirs Ayrton Senna's reaction to the news, stating that "Ayrton broke down and cried on my shoulder." Watkins tried to persuade Senna not to race the following day, asking "What else do you need to do? You have been world champion three times, you are obviously the quickest driver. Give it up and let's go fishing." Senna replied, "Sid, there are certain things over which we have no control. I cannot quit, I have to go on."

Senna had qualified on pole position, having not set a lap time following Ratzenberger's death. He was joined on the front row by Schumacher and Berger qualified in 3rd. Damon Hill was able to improve on his disastrous Friday session before the red flag, improving his time by one second and qualifying fourth as a result. A time posted by Ratzenberger before his fatal crash would have been sufficient for entry into the race starting from the 26th and final position on the grid. Two drivers did not qualify: Pacific's Paul Belmondo, and the injured Barrichello, who was unable to race. ESPN SpeedWorld's race coverage on race day reported that Belmondo was offered the final position on the grid, but that he declined to take it out of respect for Ratzenberger, and on the grounds that he had not earned that race spot and Ratzenberger had.

Aftermath

Ratzenberger's death the previous day had one lasting legacy. On 1 May 1994, during the customary drivers' briefing, the remaining drivers agreed to the reformation of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, with Senna, Gerhard Berger and Michael Schumacher as its first directors. The association subsequently pressed for improvements to car and circuit safety in the wake of Imola and other serious crashes during the 1994 season; for , the FIA mandated the use of the HANS device, designed to prevent the type of injury suffered by Ratzenberger.

Qualifying classification

* — Roland Ratzenberger did not take the start on the grid after suffering a fatal accident during qualifying.

Race

First start crash

The race took place in the afternoon from 2:00 pm CEST ( UTC+2), in dry and sunny weather. Michele Alboreto was supposed to start 15th but started from the pit lane in the spare Minardi due to his race car developing a problem. At the start of the race, JJ Lehto stalled his Benetton on the grid. Pedro Lamy, starting from further back on the grid, had his view of the stationary Benetton blocked by other cars and his Lotus hit the back of Lehto's Benetton, causing bodywork and tyres to fly into the air. Parts of the car went over the safety fencing designed to protect spectators at the startline causing minor injuries to a police officer and eight spectators. Gachot narrowly avoided striking Lamy's car. Lamy was uninjured and quickly exited his car unaided. Further back, Martin Brundle overtook two cars as well as Lehto to move from thirteenth to tenth place.

No stoppage of the race was declared as a result of the accident between Lehto and Lamy, but the safety car driven by Max Angelelli was deployed, with all the remaining competitors holding position behind it while travelling at a reduced speed. During this period, as a result of travelling at slower speeds, tyre temperatures dropped. At the drivers' briefing before the race, Senna, along with Gerhard Berger, had expressed concern that the safety car (itself only reintroduced in Formula One in 1993 and only the third time used since then, the other occurrences being the 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix and the 1993 British Grand Prix) did not go fast enough to keep tyre temperatures high. Senna was also worried by a procedure introduced at the 1994 Pacific Grand Prix, whereby the safety car would lead the grid on the formation lap, rather than letting the race leader dictate the pace of the formation lap. The procedure was removed for this race. The safety car chosen for the event, an Opel Vectra, traveled very slowly on the track, even when the reduced speeds of a safety car period were factored in, and Senna pulled alongside it several times, urging the driver to increase his speed. It was later learned the car's brakes had been overwhelmed and started fading on the first lap, and thus the driver had to reduce his speed to avoid the possibility of the safety car itself causing an accident. During the safety car drive through, Érik Comas and Éric Bernard made contact such that Comas' car experienced a vibration. Comas made a pit stop to have the problem evaluated by his Larrousse pit crew.

Restart, Senna crash and red flag

Once the track was reported clear of debris, the safety car was withdrawn and the race restarted at the conclusion of lap five. Jonathan Palmer, commentating alongside Murray Walker for the BBC
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