The tragedy occurred over three decades ago, but the images are eternally etched in memory. Forever imprinted on the retina. On Sunday, May 1, 1994, Formula 1 was robbed of its most precious jewel. Ayrton Senna met his untimely death at the infamous Tamburello. There, in Imola, the soul was brutally ripped from the sport that afternoon. Requiem of a legend.
Ayrton Senna probably chuckled from the afterlife. A stone’s throw from where, 31 years ago, all of the Brazilian’s dreams literally shattered, Max Verstappen recently performed a masterstroke that Senna had patented. ‘Whoever doesn’t go for the smallest gap is not a real racer,’ was a seasoned quote from the three-time Formula 1 world champion. Verstappen exploited precisely that gap shortly after the start against Oscar Piastri on his way to a glorious victory. It was Verstappen, who as early as 2016, after his famous rain race at the Interlagos circuit, was called the ‘reincarnation of Senna’.
In a secluded corner of Parque Acqua Minerale, the rustic park inside the Imola circuit bordering Tamburello, stands a beautiful, understated bronze statue of Ayrton Senna. Even three decades later, this place remains a pilgrimage site for Formula 1 fans. Senna looks down humbly, lost in thought. If he were to look up, he could see, across the circuit, the concrete wall that proved fatal. But he doesn’t look up – never again – he crosses his legs, gazes into the distance, prompting the visitor to reflect.
Roland Ratzenberger
Senna also doesn’t look to the left, because there – a few hundred meters further – begins the most dramatic Grand Prix weekend in history on April 30, 1994. Roland Ratzenberger, an unknown Austrian Formula 1 debutant, loses a piece of his Simtek’s front wing in the Villeneuve bend, a full-throttle passage. Ratzenberger instantly becomes the passenger of an unguided missile and crashes into a wall at three hundred kilometers per hour. Senna sees the images in the pits, on a small monitor. His facial muscles tense, betraying impending doom, he sheds a tear, but manages to switch gears one last time. Even before Ratzenberger is officially declared dead, Senna squeezes out a flying lap that earns him pole position for the next day.Ayrton Senna in his Williams-Renault FW16 before the start of his last race (Getty Images)
However, Senna is not feeling well. He consults Formula 1 doctor Professor Sid Watkins, one of the few confidants of the Brazilian. Watkins advises him to say farewell to the sport immediately. In his biography ‘Life at the Limit’, the late Watkins later reveals regretting that he could not persuade Senna to retire. “He was mentally distressed, but in the end, Senna said: ‘Sid, I can’t stop.’ I wish I had insisted more.”
The nightmare begins on Friday. Rubens Barrichello crashes into the barriers at the fast – now disappeared – chicane before the start and finish like a jet fighter, flips several times, and ends up upside down on the grass. The young Brazilian, who adores his compatriot immensely, miraculously escapes almost unscathed. “The last time God spared Formula 1 from great misery,” good-old Niki Lauda would later say. Senna realizes that action must be taken. “There are too many accidents.” The severe accidents of JJ Lehto at Silverstone and Jean Alesi at Mugello earlier that year during test drives were a harbinger of impending disaster.
Junior Suite 200
Senna is affected by Ratzenberger’s death and does not want to race. He leaves for Castel San Pietro Terme, a cozy village a fifteen-minute drive from the circuit, where Senna usually stays overnight in the Castello hotel. A corner of the lobby still houses a display case with memorabilia. Newspaper clippings, VIP cards, miniature racing cars, T-shirts, postcards, a racing suit, and a pair of shoes evoke memories of the famous guest who stayed here every spring for several nights. “Always in Junior Suite 200,” reveals owner Anna Luisa Tosoni in 2014 during a visit for a report.Anna Luisa remembers Senna as ‘a reserved person without fuss’. “He was very quiet that evening too, so I couldn’t really tell if the death of Roland Ratzenberger was bothering him terribly.” It is certain that Senna called Adriane Galisteu from his room, his girlfriend who had just arrived from Brazil that day at Senna’s villa in the Algarve. The model later recounts in her memoirs: “Ayrton cried and said he didn’t feel like it anymore.”
Unusually, Senna decides not to have a massage the night before the race, but invites his regular caregiver Josef Leberer to dine at the local Trattoria Romagnola on Piazza Acquaderni. It is characteristic of Senna that this down-to-earth restaurant was his favourite spot during the days around the Grand Prix. The establishment, dating back to 1939, has hardly changed over the years. Old photos of village scenes hang on the walls. The wooden chairs are not very comfortable, but the food is excellent and the service is very friendly.
Dining Thirteen Times
Trattoria Romagnola is still run by the Liverani family. Senna is more or less a regular, as becomes clear when the guest book is opened in 2014. “Do you know how often he has been here? Thirteen times. Yes, indeed, the thirteenth time was that Saturday…”, the waiter on duty recalls.
The last supper; in a corner of the restaurant. “He had no special requests. He usually ate pasta.” The fact that the establishment barely holds any Senna memories is intentional. “We cherish the memories of Ayrton Senna, but we don’t need to share them with strangers.”
When Senna returns to the hotel, a wedding celebration is in full swing. The newlyweds, the Tinarellis, spot Senna in the lobby, unaware of the drama that unfolded at the circuit earlier that Saturday. Anna Luisa Tosoni recalls, “They asked him if they could take a photo together. He agreed. After that, Senna went to his room.”
What no one knows yet is that Senna finds a note under his door from Frank Williams, requesting a chat. The wheelchair-bound team boss notices that his driver is calmer than earlier in the day. At least, these are the words of Williams years later.
Deciding to Fly
Anna Luisa sees Senna briefly on Sunday morning as he hands over the key and steps into the waiting helicopter. For the first time in his life, Senna ignores his intuition. He decides to race in the San Marino Grand Prix.
At the same time, 45-year-old Lelio Benetti is on his way to the circuit. The track marshal, still shaken by Ratzenberger’s death, hopes for a good race. He takes up his post at the infamous Tamburello. “I had my spot there since 1969,” he says in 2014, twenty years after the tragedy. Tamburello was a full-throttle corner, with the right car setup. “I’ve seen a lot in that corner. Nelson Piquet and Gerhard Berger had severe crashes there, but everything turned out fine. Until then…..”
The image of Senna, moments before the start, is forever etched in memory. He sits in his car, his gaze fixed on the horizon, his impending fate reflected in the unfathomable depths of his eyes. Half an hour later, Senna is dead. Eighteen minutes past two: the Brazilian’s Williams veers off the asphalt, exploding against the concrete wall of Tamburello like a bomb. An eerie silence descends on the circuit.
“I heard a bang and saw nothing but dust. I ran towards the car, but I couldn’t do anything. Track marshals are not allowed to touch the car or the driver after an accident. You have to wait until the doctors arrive,” Lelio says in 2014. “My biggest frustration is that I couldn’t do anything for him.”
The Chilling Silence
At that moment, a chilling silence reigns over the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, as the circuit is officially known. Only the whirring of the rescue helicopter can be heard. “I walked away with Dr. Pezzi. We were crying, broken, devastated, because we knew Senna couldn’t be saved. We sat down, grabbed towels, and wiped away our tears.”
Officially, Senna died over four hours later, at 18:40 UTC, in the Maggiore Hospital in Bologna, due to a brain trauma caused by a wheel tethers penetrating his helmet and causing irreparable damage.
The race, which resumed after 45 minutes, is of course of marginal importance. Fear rides along on the circuit after the restart. Gerhard Berger leads until the 14th lap. Then the Austrian voluntarily stops. His Ferrari is extremely unstable. The risk of having an accident himself suddenly becomes too great. Michael Schumacher wins, ahead of Nicola Larini and Mika Häkkinen.
However, the series of accidents is not over yet. Two weeks later, Karl Wendlinger suffers serious head injuries in an accident in the chicane in Monte Carlo. Pedro Lamy breaks both legs during test runs at Silverstone and Andrea Montermini is pulled from his half-torn Simtek with a broken ankle after a crash in the finish curve in Barcelona.
Brazil Mourns
What follows is suffering, hysteria, horror, a massive legal aftermath, and panic. Brazil mourns for a week. Senna is given a state funeral. Half a million people join the kilometers-long funeral procession. A multitude stands along the route in Sao Paulo. The country, plagued by poverty, corruption, and violence, has lost its pride. Pain that is only slightly alleviated by the World Cup victory of the Brazilian footballers later that year.
The cause of Senna’s accident has never been definitively clarified. According to an investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the most likely reason is the breaking of the steering column. This had already been adjusted with a weld before the start of the season. The steering column almost certainly broke off right there.
In Europe and at the FIA, panic has set in. They fear that large multinationals will withdraw from the sport, fearing negative publicity. This leads to a series of measures to increase the safety of the sport. The cars are made sturdier. High cockpit edges are introduced to better protect the driver’s head. A measure that saves Jos Verstappen’s life in a blood-curdling crash in Francorchamps two years later.
But the circuits also have to change, including Tamburello. What was once a challenging corner, where real men could distinguish themselves from ordinary men, has been a relatively boring chicane since 1995. Tamburello is no longer Tamburello. Although… Max Verstappen proves in 2025 that real drivers can still provide spectacle there. Ayrton Senna would have watched approvingly from the afterlife.
