Why was the death of Ayrton Senna so controversial? [Part 2]

The race should have never commenced:

One reason for the controversy that surrounds Ayrton Senna’s death is that prior to his crash another driver was killed. Following the death of another driver hindsight asks why the race was allowed to occur at all? This is controversial because on the Saturday, Simtek’s Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger was killed after crashing at 195.7 mph. On the previous qualifying lap Ratzenberger damaged the front wing of his car. Then as he was driving at high speed, the down force created as the air flowed over the wing, pulled the weakened structure off and under the car. This ensured he failed to turn and viewers were left horrified as they saw the wreckage come to a rest with his head rolling around in the cockpit followed by images of trackside attempts at resuscitation. They failed. He died of a basilar skull fracture. No driver had been killed for 12 years, so when Ratzenberger died, why was this not an immediate wake up call for the sport’s officials?

This lead to a great contention that surrounds the death of Senna: why was the race allowed to commence at all? According to Italian law if the death of a driver occurs over a grand prix weekend then the following qualifying and race sessions should be cancelled. (Ayrton Senna - The Senna Files, 1996) However this procedure was not followed as the official announcement of Ratzenberger’s death was not made until he arrived at Maggiore Hospital. But the fact is that Ratzenberger died instantly. This is evident in the footage broadcast to millions of viewers in which they can see him being attempted to be resuscitated at the side of the track. This occurred on the Saturday, and therefore the race in which Senna died should never have got underway. However, due to Bernie Ecclestone’s globalisation of the sport, television rights were the sport’s biggest asset. So much so that should the 1994 Imola Grand Prix not have taken place then the sport stood to lose $6.5 million. (charrotest, 2009, pp. 2 - 5:36) (Ayrton Senna - The Senna Files, 1996) As such the FIA decided to continue with the race because of the vital television ratings for the race which was scheduled for a worldwide broadcast. Hence why Ayrton’s brother, Leonadro, in the wake of his death stated, “the motor sport authorities are only interested in money”. (Williams, 2010, p. 7) This comment is justifiable to those who maintain that Ratzenberger was deliberately only declared clinically dead at the Maggiore Hospital and not at the circuit so that the race weekend could continue. Therefore one is forced to conclude that one of the contributing factors to the controversy surrounding Ayrton’s death is the seemingly narrow minded and money centred ethics possessed by those that ran the sport.

Senna’s death is contentious because he died of a single injury:

Another reason for the death of Senna being so controversial was that ordinarily Senna would have walked away from the wreckage. However this was not the case. The autopsy revealed that Senna succumbed to basilar cranium fractures, a ruptured temporal artery, a brain haemorrhage and respiratory insufficiency. This was caused by a piece of the suspension arm puncturing Senna’s helmet above his right eye. This was the sole injury as the autopsy revealed that his body had no broken bones or bruises. (Senna, 2010, pp. [1:37 -John Bisignano]) As such many believe that Senna should still be alive today if it was not for a freak accident. This is why his death was so controversial and why the death of Senna is still a sore topic for many of the sport’s fans.