Erik Comas’ brief Formula 1 career is marked by two significant encounters with Ayrton Senna. In 1992, the Brazilian saved his life, and two years later, he stood helplessly beside Senna’s crashed Williams in Imola. “You feel so useless at that moment. It completely devastated me,” Comas recalls.
In 1992, Erik Comas had a severe accident in Belgium. During training at Spa-Francorchamps, he had a massive crash in Blanchimont and lost consciousness. Other drivers sped past the wreckage in the middle of the track, but one stopped, jumped out of his car, and ran to Comas. It was Ayrton Senna. The engine of the Ligier was still running at full speed, and the Brazilian managed to shut it off. He also held up the unconscious driver’s head to keep his airway clear until medical personnel arrived.
“I don’t remember anything about the accident because my front wheel hit my helmet, knocking me out,” Comas shares. “My foot got stuck on the accelerator, keeping the engine revving high. I was in the middle of the track, and it was extremely dangerous, but Senna decided to help. The car could have caught fire or even exploded, as fluids were leaking from it. Ayrton saved my life there.”
Tragic Weekend at Imola
We fast forward to May 1, 1994, when Comas found himself sitting next to Senna during the drivers’ briefing. The mood was somber as Roland Ratzenberger had died the day before in a crash at Imola. “Ayrton asked if I would come to London that week for a meeting to discuss safety. I said I would certainly be there. In all those years, this was the only time we sat next to each other during a briefing. That was a few hours before we lost him.”
That afternoon, as the lights dimmed for the GP San Marino, a major start crash occurred and the safety car was called out. As the drivers swerved behind the Opel Vectra, Comas was hit from behind and had to go in for a new rear wing. As soon as the field was released, with Comas still in the pit lane, Senna quickly shot off in the Tamburello corner. The race was halted, but at that moment there was confusion in the pits causing Comas to re-enter the track to drive to the grid.
Roles Reversed
Comas had no idea what had happened on the circuit and was driving at full speed towards Tamburello. “I suddenly had to brake hard because there was a helicopter and ambulance on the asphalt,” he recalls. “I looked to the side and there I saw Senna lying in the grass, surrounded by medics. I wanted to go to him, but they stopped me. A worse scenario was unimaginable. I was the last driver to have seen Ayrton alive. He was my hero and the person who had saved my life two years before. You can’t do anything and you feel so useless at that moment. I was completely devastated. I have not been the same man since that day.”
