Why was the death of Ayrton Senna so controversial? [Part 1]

At 2:17pm, on lap 7 of the San Marino Grand Prix on May 1^st 1994, three time Formula 1 world champion Ayrton Senna Da Silva sustained what would become fatal head injuries at the wheel of his Williams FW16.  

Born on March 21 1960, Senna, who held the record for the most Pole positions obtained by any driver in Formula 1 history up to his death , 65, and arguably the greatest ever F1 driver, crashed at Tamburello Corner 12.8 seconds after having crossed the Start/Finish line.  In the twentieth year after his passing, the event is still regarded as the most controversial ever to have befallen the Formula 1 scene. The lack of answers and varying theories over the cause of his death in conjunction with the absence of a prosecution ensure that the event remains just as contentious even today. The debate arises over the cause of incident, track design and mal-practice on the behalf of the entire of the racing community, from F1 tycoon Bernie Ecclestone to the race marshals. In truth, the only person who can fully clarify the cause of the crash and the actual events has taken that information with him to the grave. Therefore it is assumed that these controversies will never be resolved. This essay will bring to light the array of contentious areas and justify that the death of Ayrton Senna was so controversial due to the negligent decisions made by the sport’s race marshals, team engineers and the track designers.

The dispute caused by Senna foretelling his own death:

Before the race weekend even occurred, the lead up to Senna’s death was seemingly controversial. This is because he almost foretold his own demise by indirectly referring to the fatal circumstances of his crash. He gave the infamous premonition: "It's going to be a season with lots of accidents, and I'll risk saying that we'll be lucky if something really serious doesn't happen." (ESPN, 2010)This comment was on account of the regulation changes made by the sport’s governing body - the FIA. Prior to the 1994 rule changes Williams had engineered a car with active suspension, traction control and anti-lock brakes. This mean the car could brake later and harder for a corner, take it faster as the active suspension kept the car riding completely flat by stiffening the loaded wheels to eradicate body roll and then get on the throttle earlier on the exit without the risk of losing grip. However entering the 1994 season all these were banned under FIA regulations. This left the FW16 highly unstable in both low and high speed corners. Ayrton was quick to comment on this saying, "I have a very negative feeling about driving the car and driving it on the limit… Also, the car has its own characteristics which I'm not fully confident in yet.” (Autosport, Jan1994) As a result of these nervous characteristics, entering the weekend at Imola, Senna had not only claimed zero championship points but also spun out of a race due to the car’s instability. Therefore the FIA’s decision to change the sport’s regulations is viewed as controversial because some argue that they were blinded by the pursuit of exciting racing to televise at the expense of safety and development – hence the banning of the safety features such as traction control (Williams, 2010, p. 129).

The controversial practice of the race marshals (PART 1):

The controversies that surround the death of Ayrton Senna encompass the entire of the Imola Grand Prix weekend, therefore extending to the apparent lack of training given to the race marshals. This is seen by the Friday afternoon qualifying session where Brazilian driver Rubens Barichello suffered a hideous crash. His Jordan hit the curb exiting the final corner, Variante Bassa, and was jettisoned into the wall. The car rolled and Rubens was unconscious inside the car unable to breathe because his tongue was covering his airway. This marks the beginning of the controversies of the weekend. The video footage of the crash shows the race marshals pushing the car back on to its remaining wheels. It drops to the ground violently and the viewer sees Barichello’s head smash violently against the cockpit. This demonstrates a great deal of unawareness and a lack of due care and attention by the marshals. This action could have aggravated what the video perceives to be a serious injury. (Hallbery, 2011)This raises questions over the training of the marshals – an issue which reappears later in the weekend’s events. It suggests a worrying lack of basic knowledge to protect the spine. It brings into question the track design because of the way in which the car becomes airborne and leaps into the wall which is so close to the track that it allows for no reduction in speed. This was just the first in a series of events over that weekend which focused on the poor design of the circuit. As a result of these two factors, the debate that encircles Senna’s death began over 48 hours before his incident.