Piquet and Berger suffered accidents at the Tamburello curve before Senna’s death | formula 1

On May 1, 1994, exactly 30 years ago, Brazil lost Ayrton Senna. The Brazilian idol was leading the San Marino GP when the steering bar of the Williams FW14 broke, and the car stopped responding to the three-time champion’s commands. Senna went straight through the Tamburello curve, hit the barrier hard and couldn’t resist. He was not the first to suffer from that curve, which also caused very serious accidents for Nelson Piquet and Gerhard Berger years before.

The old layout of the Autódromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari offered speed and a lot of danger. The Tamburello curve was located just after a high-speed zone at the start, and only required a slight take by the cars on the left side that did not take away the drivers’ acceleration. To increase the existing danger, the escape area to the wall was very small. Behind the curve, the Santerno River was located, which prevented a change in the route.

“Senna by Ayrton” series shows the driver’s concern for safety

In 1987, Nelson Piquet was looking for his first victory of the year in Ímola. He had finished second in the Brazilian GP and achieved the best time in the first qualifying session in San Marino. Williams emerged as the car to beat on the grid, and the then two-time champion was the favorite for the race. In the second qualifying, on the Saturday before the race, came the biggest shock of Piquet’s career so far.

One of the rear tires of the Williams FW11 instantly lost pressure and the car rolled on the track until colliding with the wall at the Tamburello curve. Piquet was traveling at more than 250km/h and crashed very hard, suffering a head injury, chest and ankle injuries and also memory loss. The Brazilian wanted to race the following day, but was vetoed by F1’s chief doctor, Sid Watkins.

“What happened with the car is that it went completely out. After that, I tried to close my eyes. I don’t think I have any problems, just a little problem with my left ankle, but I think I can fix it for tomorrow’s race .”

On the day of Nelson Piquet’s crash, Ayrton Senna told the newspaper O Globo that an accident at Tamburello would only occur with a broken part in the car. Seven years later, he would lose his life on that same curve.

“Nelson would never make a mistake on a simple stretch like this. The exit from Tamburello to Villeneuve is very high speed. We walk there with our feet glued to the ground, which takes us at around 290km/h, but driving is very simple . There are only accidents when something breaks in the car.”

Two years later, in 1989, another impressive and frightening accident at Tamburello, this time with Gerhard Berger, then a Ferrari driver. Still on the fourth lap of the race, the red car went straight instead of turning to the left and went straight into the wall. A few seconds after the crash, the Ferrari was engulfed in fire.

The fuel fell on Berger’s body, which suffered many burns. Rescuers reached the Austrian’s car in just 15 seconds and managed to save him before a tragedy. Without poisoning or serious damage from the fire, the driver had cracks in some bones in his body that took him out of the next race, in Monaco.

– The car became uncontrollable. When I realized the car was out of control, I took my hands off the steering wheel. I lost my memory for a moment and, next thing I knew, the car was on fire – said the Austrian driver.

Nothing was done with Tamburello after Piquet and Berger’s serious accidents. In 1991 and 1992, Michele Alboreto and Riccardo Patrese also hit the corner and suffered injuries, but the situation remained the same. The Santerno River prevented any changes to the location, and the raids continued, without the death of a pilot.

In a weekend that already had two serious accidents and one death, the 1994 San Marino GP changed everything in Imola. Ayrton Senna had warned about the risk of a drop in tire temperature during a safety car entry during the race. A strong crash at the start forced the presence of the safety car, and it happened as the three-time champion had warned.

Shortly after the safety car left the track, Senna opened a gap of half a second to second place, Michael Schumacher. When he passed the start, Ayrton continued at high speed, but the steering bar of the Williams FW16 broke and the car stopped responding to the three-time champion’s commands, which went straight onto Tamburello and crashed hard in a fatal accident. Senna died at the age of 34.

Who was Ayrton Senna, the last Brazilian three-time F1 champion?

It was only after Ayrton Senna’s death that Tamburello underwent changes. The solution was to eliminate the curve of more than 250km/h and put a chicane in place. The exhaust area has finally been increased.