There are some hypotheses about what caused Ayrton Senna’s fatal accident at the 1994 San Marino GP. The most accepted considers the steering rod to be broken. Others also point out that a tire was damaged, and there are those who believe in human error.
There is no doubt that F1 was never the same after that weekend, in which Austrian Roland Ratzenberger also had a fatal accident.
Neglected for decades in favor of the spectacle, the safety of the drivers became a priority for the FIA (International Automobile Federation), pressured by the worldwide outcry following the loss of two talents, one of them a historic champion.
Drivers who have passed through the category and others who know the world of motorsport well say, almost unanimously, that Senna would be alive and would leave the car unharmed if his vehicle had the safety features currently available in the category.
The development of the chassis, especially the so-called survival cell, would be the fundamental piece in preserving the lives of Brazilians. Central part of the car where the driver sits seated, the cell was designed to be practically indestructible, made of carbon fiber, with a layer of Kevlar, a material highly resistant to heat and five times firmer than steel.
Luciano Burti, who competed in F1 for two seasons, considers himself living proof of this evolution. In 2001, he suffered a serious accident at the Belgian GP, when he lost control of the car and crashed heavily into the tire barrier. For him, Senna’s accident, sadly, was fundamental in saving him years later.
“I hit the wall at 270 km per hour. I had a brain concussion and cerebral hemorrhage, but I survived”, recalled the former pilot in an interview with Sheet. “But I am aware that I only survived, unfortunately, because Ayrton died there on May 1, 94.”
Now a commentator for TV Globo, Burti is also emphatic in stating that, “yes”, Senna would be alive if he drove a current F1 car. “I’m not even going to say 99% [de certeza]. Yes, he would be alive. He would have gotten out of the car without a scratch,” he said.
The second Brazilian driver who competed in the most races in F1, with 269 races from 2002 to 2017, Felipe Massa saw up close much of the development of the category’s safety technologies.
When comparing cars from the 1990s with those he drove and with current ones, he cites front and side impact tests, the halo (curved bar at the front of the car to protect the driver’s head) and the “hans” as advances. (device that protects the cervical spine).
In 2009, he was also the pivot of an evolution, after having survived an accident in training for the Hungarian GP, when a spring that came loose from Rubens Barrichello’s car hit his helmet.
“If my accident happened today, I would also get out of the car without any problem, mainly due to the evolution of helmets”, said the driver, who missed the rest of the 2009 season and only returned to the track in 2010, almost eight months after the accident. occurred, with a new mentality.
“After my accident, I was always in favor of improving safety even further,” said Massa.
Felipe Giaffone, a driver in Formula Indy for six seasons and a successful career in Formula Truck, sees the improvement in circuit conditions as another aspect that has seen an evolutionary leap.
The escape areas, for example, were expanded, and most of them were paved. When the driver applies the brakes, the car greatly reduces its impact speed on the guardrail. Much more than in the gravel boxes.
In many higher-risk curves there is a so-called “soft wall”, a retractable wall. And, in front of many “guardrails” or fixed walls, there are structures designed to absorb part of the shock energy.
“Today, with the same beats, I’m sure neither of them [Senna e Ratzenberger] he would have died,” said Giaffone, currently a commentator on Band. “Unfortunately, Senna had to pay with his life to help evolve the cars and the tracks.”
Senna’s death changed the way the FIA decided to work on safety, and this impacted all categories. Certainly, several other drivers did not die because of the legacy that Senna left
When contextualizing the months that preceded Senna’s accident, it is possible to notice that the current path goes in the opposite direction to that adopted by F1 until 1994.
That year, the FIA decided to ban electronic aids in cars such as traction control, active suspension, launch control and ABS brakes. There was also a change in the tires, which should be narrower, which left them with less grip.
The idea behind all of this was to make racing more exciting, but in practice, the cars became more difficult to drive.
Evolution of F1 cars
Williams driven by Ayrton Senna in 1994 and Mercedes driven by Lewis Hamilton currently in F1
Senna himself was surprised by the changes, saying that the season would be full of “many accidents”. Car safety had been a cause for concern for him since the previous year, when he decided to renew his friendship with British driver Jackie Stewart, with whom he had gotten upset over an interview.
The Brazilian’s idea was, with Stewart’s support, to have a more active voice in F1 on issues involving protection during races, as the three-time champion did in the 1970s. “Unfortunately, he was unable to benefit from this search for improvements safely”, lamented Jackie, years later.
On the eve of his fatal accident, Senna was distraught over Ratzenberger’s death. Shaken, he sought comfort from Professor Sid Watkins, head of the F1 track medical team. As Senna cried, they had an exchange that Watkins recorded in his book “Life at the Limit”.
“What else do you need to do? You’ve been world champion three times, you’re obviously the fastest driver. Get up and let’s go fishing”, said the teacher, seeing the Brazilian in tears.
Senna replied: “Sid, there are certain things we have no control over. I can’t give up, I have to keep going.”
It was the last dialogue between them before the Brazilian’s death the following day.
