What the internet say?(finally)- The Death of a Legend

Senna died aged 34 after succumbing to fatal injuries sustained during his final race at the San Marino Grand Prix, on 1 May 1994. And we all know the NATGEO’s ‘Theory’ was wrong and we all knew that there was something wrong other than the car. Let’s go through what the internet say.But first let’s give a moment of silence as we honor ayrton senna, a legend of every car guy.

The Racing crash

The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was held on the “Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari” circuit located in Imola, Italy, between 28 April, and 1 May 1994. Senna stayed in room no. 200 at the Hotel Castello in Castel San Pietro Terme.

The European leg of the F1 season, starting at Imola, was traditionally considered the beginning of the yearly competition. Senna, who did not finish the two opening races of the season, declared that this was where his season would start, with 14 races, as opposed to 16, in which to win the title.Williams brought modified FW16s to Imola in an attempt to improve the car’s handling.

On Friday, Senna placed the car on the pole for a then-record 65th and final time, but he was upset by events unfolding that race weekend. Senna complained about the FW16’s handling and reported that the car’s performance was generally worse after the engineers’ latest adjustments. During the afternoon qualifying session, Senna’s compatriot and protégé Rubens Barrichello was involved in a serious accident when his Jordan became airborne at the Variante Bassa chicane and hit the tyre-wall and fence. Barrichello suffered a broken nose and arm, and withdrew from the event. Barrichello reported that Senna was the first person he saw upon regaining consciousness.

During Saturday qualifying, Austrian rookie Roland Ratzenberger was killed after the front wing of his Simtek-Ford broke entering the 310 km/h (190 mph) Villeneuve corner, sending the car into a concrete wall. Senna immediately visited the accident scene and medical centre. There he was met by FIA Medical Chief Professor Sid Watkins, who suggested to a tearful Senna that he should retire from racing and go fishing (a hobby they both shared), to which Senna replied that he could not stop racing.Senna was later called in front of the stewards for commandeering an official car and climbing the medical centre fence, and a row ensued, although Senna was not punished.

Senna spent his final morning on the Sunday talking to former teammate and rival Alain Prost to discuss the re-establishment of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, with the aim of improving safety in Formula One. Prost had retired from the sport at the end of the 1993 season, and was now a media presenter. As the most senior driver in competition, Senna offered to take the role of leader, starting from the next race in Monaco. During the drivers’ briefing, concerns had been raised about the mainly promotional use of a Porsche 911 lead car for the warm-up lap, with organizers agreeing to abandon the practice. It is said that Williams Chief Engineer Patrick Head had pranked Senna on the grid by advising him that the lead car would not be excluded from the warm-up lap after all.

At the start of the Grand Prix, Senna retained the lead from Schumacher, but proceedings soon became interrupted by a startline accident. JJ Lehto’s Benetton-Ford had stalled and was hit by the Lotus-Mugen Honda of Pedro Lamy. A wheel and debris landed in the main grandstand, injuring eight fans and a police officer. The safety car, a sporty version of the Opel Vectra medium family saloon, was deployed for several laps. The Vectra’s slow pace was later questioned because of the consequential drop in tyre pressures on the Formula One cars. Senna had pulled alongside the Vectra and gestured to the driver, Max Angelelli, to increase his speed. On lap 6, the race resumed and Senna immediately set a quick pace with the third-quickest lap of the race, followed by Schumacher.

As Senna rounded the high-speed Tamburello corner on lap 7, his car left the racing line at around 307 km/h (191 mph), ran in a straight line off the track, and hit the concrete retaining wall at around 233 km/h (145 mph), after what telemetry showed to be an application of the brakes for around two seconds. The red flag was shown as a consequence of the accident.

Within two minutes of crashing, Senna was extracted from his race car by Watkins and his medical team, including intensive care anaesthetist Giovanni Gordini. Initial treatment took place by the side of the car, with Senna having a weak heartbeat and significant blood loss (around 4.5 liters). Because of Senna’s poor neurological condition, Watkins performed an on-site tracheotomy and requested the immediate airlifting of Senna to Bologna’s Maggiore Hospital under the supervision of Gordini.

At 18:40, the head of the hospital’s emergency department, Maria Teresa Fiandri made the announcement that Senna had died, but said the official time of death under Italian law was 14:17, which is when he impacted the wall and his brain stopped working. Watkins later said that as soon as he saw Senna’s fully dilated pupils, he knew that his brainstem was inactive and that he would not survive.

The right-front wheel and suspension are believed to have been sent back into the cockpit, striking Senna on the right side of his helmet, forcing his head back against the headrest. In addition, a piece of the upright assembly, most likely a tie rod, penetrated the helmet visor, which was a new, thinner version, above his right eye. Senna sustained fatal skull fractures, brain injuries and a ruptured temporal artery.

As later revealed, when the medical staff examined Senna, a furled Austrian flag was found in his car—a flag that he had intended to raise in honour of Ratzenberger after the race. Photographs of Senna being treated on the track by emergency medical personnel were taken by Senna’s friend and Autosprint picture editor, Angelo Orsi. Out of respect, those photographs have never been made public.

On 27 April 2014, as part of commemorating Senna on the 20th anniversary of his death, a three-journalist panel composed of Murray Walker, Maurice Hamilton, and David Tremayne interviewed by Sky Sports’ Simon Lazenby concurred that, at his final F1 Grand Prix race, Senna was under extreme pressure due to:

1.the serious crash of his young compatriot, Rubens Barrichello during Friday practice, whom Senna visited in hospital;
2.the death of F1 rookie Roland Ratzenberger during Saturday qualifying;
3.being 20 points behind in the Drivers’ Championship;
4.suspicion of the rival Benetton B194 car using an illegal traction control system;
5.the poor performance of his Williams FW16;
6.family disapproval of his then-girlfriend, Adriane Galisteu.

Thanks to wikipedia
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