On this day 28 years ago, the Brazilian legend Ayrton Senna died, who for many remained the greatest Formula 1 driver in history, and that sad weekend in Imola could have been different.
He was a three-time world champion and died at the age of 34 while leading the San Marino Grand Prix at the Imola track.
“God has kept his hand on Formula One for a long time. This weekend, he removed it “, the legendary Niki Lauda commented on Senna’s death at the time.
Only a day earlier, the young Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger died in the same race, and Senna had a hard time with that.
“Ayrton has gone crazy. He had not seen death on the tracks before. “A lot of incidents have happened in the last 12 years, a lot of injuries, but no one was lost forever,” Watkins said.
“There are certain things we can’t control. I must not give up, I must continue. “
Senna started the race at the pole position, not far from Michael Schumacher in Benetton.
Already during the second lap after the restart of the race, Senna hit a wall at a speed of 307 kilometers per hour, from which there was no escape.
The driver of Williams died in front of the public, thus shocking everyone in Italy and beyond.
The Brazilian was transported to the hospital, and the race continued after the 37th minute of the collision and was won by Schumacher.
After two and a half hours, it was announced that Senna had succumbed to his injuries.
It was only Sena’s third race in Williams after he left McLaren.
After his death, many things changed in Formula 1.
Many more rigorous security checks have been introduced and the history of the sport has changed.
