1994 San Marino Grand Prix

Liverpool Data Research Associates (LDRA) were called in to investigate allegations of cheating using banned driving aids, such as traction control and launch control, both prohibited at the start of the year. The top three cars of Michael Schumacher, Nicola Larini and Mika Häkkinen were investigated and their teams were asked to surrender their systems' source code to the company.[6] Larini's team, Ferrari, complied in light of allegations that they were cheating, but Schumacher and Häkkinen's teams, Benetton and McLaren refused, claiming copyright reasons.[6] After being fined $100,000 by the FIA, both teams complied eight days after the race.[6] LDRA discovered that McLaren were running a programme that permitted automatic gearshifts but the car was declared legal.[6]

Benetton sent an alternative suggestion to the company on 10 May 1994, accepted by LDRA five days later.[6] Tests on the car were to be carried out on 28 June 1994, but were cancelled.[6] The tests eventually took place on 6 July 1994. LDRA found the tests unsatisfactory.[6] Benetton therefore complied with the original request, the source code, on 18 July 1994.[6] Analysis of the software found that it included launch control,[6] a banned aid. Benetton stated that "it can only be switched on by recompilation of the code."[6] However LDRA found this to be untrue; launch control could be switched on by connecting a computer to the gearbox control unit.[6] Benetton conceded that this was possible but this "came as a surprise to them".[6] To switch the system on, the user is presented with a menu with 10 visible options. "Launch Control" was not visibly listed as an option, however, should the user scroll down to option 13, launch control could be enabled.[6]

Rubens Barrichello crashed heavily at Variante Bassa during the first qualifying session on Friday.

On Friday, 29 April, during the first qualifying session,[7] Rubens Barrichello, a driver for Jordan, hit a kerb at the Variante Bassa corner at 225 km/h (140 mph), launching him into the air.[8] He hit the top of the tyre barrier, and was knocked unconscious by an impact measured at 95 g.[9] Barrichello's car rolled several times after landing before coming to rest upside down. Medical teams treated him at the crash site, and he was taken to the circuit's medical centre before being transferred to Maggiore Hospital in Bologna by helicopter for routine tests and observation to be carried out, Barrichello suffered a sprained wrist and broken nose. Barrichello's tongue blocked his airway during the crash and emergency work done by FIA doctor Sid Watkins saved his life. Barrichello regained consciousness and found Senna looking over him at the medical centre. After learning Barrichello had survived, Senna returned to his car and continued his practice session.[10] Barrichello returned to the race meeting the next day, although his broken nose and a plaster cast on his arm forced him to sit out the rest of the race weekend.[11][12] Ten years after the incident, Damon Hill, who drove for the Williams-Renault team at the time, described the feeling after the crash: "We all brushed ourselves off and carried on qualifying, reassured that our cars were tough as tanks and we could be shaken but not hurt."[13]

Despite a spin,[14] Senna was the fastest driver at the end of Friday's session with a time of 1:21.548, almost five-tenths of a second faster than Schumacher and Berger.[15] Senna's teammate Damon Hill was seventh, having spun himself, over 1.6 seconds behind Senna.[16]

Roland Ratzenberger was fatally injured in qualifying after crashing due to a front-wing failure.

Eighteen minutes into the final qualifying session, Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger failed to negotiate the Villeneuve curva in his Simtek; he subsequently hit the opposing concrete retaining barrier wall almost head-on and was critically injured.[17] Although the survival cell remained largely intact, the force of the impact inflicted a basal skull fracture. Ratzenberger, in his first season as a Formula One driver, had run over a kerb at the Acque Minerali chicane on his previous lap, the impact of which is believed to have damaged his front wing. Rather than return to the pit lane, he continued on another fast lap. Traveling at 314 km/h (195 mph),[17] his car suffered a front wing failure due to possible two bolt failures attaching the wing to the nose's underside after mounting the kerbing,[18] leaving him unable to control it as a result of the loss of downforce.[19][20]

The aftermath of Roland Ratzenberger's fatal crash.

The session was stopped while doctors and rescue workers attended to Ratzenberger. After initially being taken by ambulance to the on-circuit medical centre, he was airlifted to the anaesthesia and resuscitation unit of Maggiore Hospital at 2:07 pm local time, the second driver to be admitted there during the weekend. The session was restarted 48 minutes later,[20] but several teams—including Williams and Benetton—took no further part.[21] Ratzenberger was confirmed dead as a result of his multiple injuries at 2:15 pm local time.[20] His death marked the first Formula One race weekend fatality since the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix when Riccardo Paletti was killed. It had been eight years since Elio de Angelis died testing a Brabham car at the Circuit Paul Ricard.[12] Professor Sid Watkins, then head of the Formula One on-track medical team, recalled in his memoirs Ayrton Senna's reaction to the news, stating that "Ayrton broke down and cried on my shoulder."[22] Watkins tried to persuade Senna not to race the following day, asking "What else do you need to do? You have been world champion three times, you are obviously the quickest driver. Give it up and let's go fishing." Senna replied, "Sid, there are certain things over which we have no control. I cannot quit, I have to go on."[22]

Senna had qualified on pole position, having not set a lap time following Ratzenberger's death.[23] He was joined on the front row by Schumacher and Berger qualified in 3rd. Damon Hill was able to improve on his disastrous Friday session before the red flag, improving his time by one second and qualifying fourth as a result. A time posted by Ratzenberger before his fatal crash would have been sufficient for entry into the race starting from the 26th and final position on the grid. Two drivers did not qualify: Pacific's Paul Belmondo, and the injured Barrichello, who was unable to race.[4] ESPN SpeedWorld's race coverage on race day reported that Belmondo was offered the final position on the grid, but that he declined to take it out of respect for Ratzenberger, and on the grounds that he had not earned that race spot and Ratzenberger had.[24]

The Villeneuve kink, location of Ratzenberger's fatal crash.

Ratzenberger's death the previous day had one lasting legacy. On 1 May 1994, during the customary drivers' briefing, the remaining drivers agreed to the reformation of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, with Senna, Gerhard Berger and Michael Schumacher as its first directors. The association subsequently pressed for improvements to car and circuit safety in the wake of Imola and other serious crashes during the 1994 season; for 2003, the FIA mandated the use of the HANS device, designed to prevent the type of injury suffered by Ratzenberger.[25]

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Q1 Time	Q2 Time	Gap	Grid
1	2	Ayrton Senna	Williams-Renault	1:21.548	no time		1
2	5	Michael Schumacher	Benetton-Ford	1:22.015	1:21.885	+0.337	2
3	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	1:22.113	1:22.226	+0.565	3
4	0	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	1:23.199	1:22.168	+0.620	4
5	6	JJ Lehto	Benetton-Ford	1:22.717	1:24.029	+1.169	5
6	27	Nicola Larini	Ferrari	1:22.841	1:23.006	+1.293	6
7	30	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber-Mercedes	1:23.119	no time	+1.571	7
8	7	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Peugeot	1:23.611	1:23.140	+1.592	8
9	3	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:24.000	1:23.322	+1.774	9
10	29	Karl Wendlinger	Sauber-Mercedes	1:23.788	1:23.347	+1.799	10
11	10	Gianni Morbidelli	Footwork-Ford	1:23.663	1:24.682	+2.115	11
12	4	Mark Blundell	Tyrrell-Yamaha	1:23.703	1:23.831	+2.155	12
13	8	Martin Brundle	McLaren-Peugeot	1:24.443	1:23.858	+2.310	13
14	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi-Ford	1:24.078	1:24.423	+2.530	14
15	24	Michele Alboreto	Minardi-Ford	1:24.276	1:24.780	+2.728	15
16	9	Christian Fittipaldi	Footwork-Ford	1:24.655	1:24.472	+2.924	16
17	25	Éric Bernard	Ligier-Renault	1:24.678	1:40.411	+3.130	17
18	20	Érik Comas	Larrousse-Ford	1:26.295	1:24.852	+3.304	18
19	26	Olivier Panis	Ligier-Renault	1:24.996	1:25.160	+3.448	19
20	12	Johnny Herbert	Lotus-Mugen-Honda	1:25.114	1:25.141	+3.566	20
21	15	Andrea de Cesaris	Jordan-Hart	1:25.234	1:25.872	+3.686	21
22	11	Pedro Lamy	Lotus-Mugen-Honda	1:26.453	1:25.295	+3.747	22
23	19	Olivier Beretta	Larrousse-Ford	1:27.179	1:25.991	+4.443	23
24	31	David Brabham	Simtek-Ford	1:27.607	1:26.817	+5.269	24
25	34	Bertrand Gachot	Pacific-Ilmor	1:27.732	1:27.143	+5.595	25
26	32	Roland Ratzenberger	Simtek-Ford	1:27.657	1:27.584	+6.036	DNS1
DNQ	33	Paul Belmondo	Pacific-Ilmor	1:28.361	1:27.881	+6.333	—
DNQ	14	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan-Hart	14:57.323	no time	+13:35.775	—
Source:[26][27]

• ^1 — Roland Ratzenberger did not take the start on the grid after suffering a fatal accident during qualifying.[4]

Pedro Lamy ramming his Lotus 107C in the back of JJ Lehto's Benetton B194.

Pedro Lamy leaving his wrecked Lotus 107C after hitting JJ Lehto's stalled Benetton B194, causing an early safety car.

The race took place in the afternoon from 2:00 pm CEST (UTC+2), in dry and sunny weather. Michele Alboreto was supposed to start 15th but started from the pit lane in the spare Minardi due to his race car developing a problem. At the start of the race, JJ Lehto stalled his Benetton on the grid. Pedro Lamy, starting from further back on the grid, had his view of the stationary Benetton blocked by other cars and his Lotus hit the back of Lehto's Benetton, causing bodywork and tyres to fly into the air. Parts of the car went over the safety fencing designed to protect spectators at the startline causing minor injuries to a police officer and eight spectators.[28] Gachot narrowly avoided striking Lamy's car. Lamy was uninjured and quickly exited his car unaided.[29] Further back, Martin Brundle overtook two cars as well as Lehto to move from thirteenth to tenth place.[30]

No stoppage of the race was declared as a result of the accident between Lehto and Lamy,[29] but the safety car driven by Max Angelelli was deployed, with all the remaining competitors holding position behind it while travelling at a reduced speed.[4] During this period, as a result of travelling at slower speeds, tyre temperatures dropped. At the drivers' briefing before the race, Senna, along with Gerhard Berger, had expressed concern that the safety car (itself only reintroduced in Formula One in 1993 and only the third time used since then, the other occurrences being the 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix and the 1993 British Grand Prix) did not go fast enough to keep tyre temperatures high.[28] Senna was also worried by a procedure introduced at the 1994 Pacific Grand Prix, whereby the safety car would lead the grid on the formation lap, rather than letting the race leader dictate the pace of the formation lap.[6] The procedure was removed for this race. The safety car chosen for the event, an Opel Vectra,[31] traveled very slowly on the track, even when the reduced speeds of a safety car period were factored in, and Senna pulled alongside it several times, urging the driver to increase his speed. It was later learned the car's brakes had been overwhelmed and started fading on the first lap, and thus the driver had to reduce his speed to avoid the possibility of the safety car itself causing an accident.[32] During the safety car drive through, Érik Comas and Éric Bernard made contact such that Comas' car experienced a vibration. Comas made a pit stop to have the problem evaluated by his Larrousse pit crew.[9]

Senna's fatal accident after the impact, with Michael Schumacher (right) having just passed Senna's stricken car to take the lead.

Tamburello corner, the location of Senna's crash.

Once the track was reported clear of debris, the safety car was withdrawn and the race restarted at the conclusion of lap five.[29] Jonathan Palmer, commentating alongside Murray Walker for the BBC, remarked how quick Schumacher was, as his time in the warm-up session on Sunday morning gave rise to speculation that he was going to make one pit stop and, therefore, race with a heavier car than Senna, who was planning to make two, as was conventional. Martin Brundle had told BBC Grandstand presenter Steve Rider that McLaren were going to make two pit stops.[30] Senna and Schumacher immediately pulled away from Berger, who in turn, was ahead of Hill after Hill made a poor restart.[29]

On the seventh lap, the second lap at racing speeds after the stoppage, Senna was leading Michael Schumacher. Going at a speed of 305 km/h (190 mph), Senna's car could not take the turn at the Tamburello left corner, and, continuing in a straight line, struck the unprotected concrete barrier at a speed of 211 km/h (131 mph), reduced as a result of the driver's effort to brake.[33] As was subsequently ascertained, Senna was killed instantly.[34] When track officials examined the wreckage of Senna's racing car, they found a furled Austrian flag. Senna had planned to raise it after the race, in honour of Ratzenberger.[35]

At 2:17 pm local time, a red flag was shown to indicate the race was stopped and FIA race doctor Sid Watkins arrived at the scene to treat Senna. When a race is stopped under a red flag, cars must slow down and make their way back to the pit lane or starting grid unless notified of a restart. This protects race marshals and medical staff at the crash scene, and allows easier access for medical cars to the incident. Approximately 10 minutes after Senna's crash, the Larrousse team, which had been "concentrating on fixing [Comas's] car and didn't realise Senna had crashed",[9] sent Comas to the end of the pit lane for release despite the circuit being closed under red flags.[36] Comas described "a big confusion about whether (he) could rejoin", and that eventually the pit lane marshal allowed him onto the race course.[9] Marshals frantically waved him down as he approached the scene of the accident travelling at close to full speed.[37] Comas was able to stop his Larrousse racer before reaching the emergency vehicles and marshals on the track. Commentators Allard Kalff and Eurosport commentator John Watson were both appalled. Kalff commented: "Now this is ridiculous! I mean, how can that Larrousse get out of the pits when there's a red flag?!", and Watson supplemented: "I'm gobsmacked! I think that's the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen at any time in my life!".[37] After seeing Senna's accident scene, Comas was so distressed that he withdrew from the race, and did not speak of what he witnessed for more than ten years.[9]

The pictures shown on the world feed, supplied by host broadcaster RAI, of Senna being treated were considered by the BBC, the corporation responsible for broadcasting the San Marino Grand Prix live to viewers in the United Kingdom, to be too upsetting for general viewing at the time (around 1:20 pm BST), and the BBC abandoned RAI's feed to focus on their own camera in the pit lane.[38] Other broadcasters including ESPN took the BBC feed from the pit lane. BBC commentator Murray Walker has frequently talked about how upsetting it was to have to talk to viewers whilst avoiding mentioning the images shown on RAI. Referring to the number of times the incident was replayed on the world feed, Ferrari team principal Jean Todt stated that "even if you didn't want to watch it, you could barely fail to".[39] Waiting on pit lane, Martin Brundle reported that shortly after Senna's crash, televisions in garages were being switched off, but that reports were that Senna was okay.[9] Senna was lifted from the wrecked Williams, and after approximately fifteen minutes of on-site medical attention, was airlifted directly to Maggiore Hospital, becoming the third and final driver to be admitted there during the weekend. Medical teams continued to treat him during the flight. Thirty-seven minutes after Senna's fatal crash, at 2:55 pm local time, the race was restarted.[40]

The race was restarted from the beginning of lap 6. The first five laps would be added to the second part of the race and the overall result would be decided on aggregate. The race ran to a total of 58 laps, five from the first section and 53 from the second section.[30]

On the second formation lap, Heinz-Harald Frentzen stalled the engine fitted to his Sauber whilst attempting to leave the grid and was forced to start from the pit lane. The other cars started from the grid in the order they were at the point the race was stopped. Michael Schumacher had a poor start because of wheelspin and Gerhard Berger took the lead on track — Schumacher still led the race overall due to the amount of time he was ahead of Berger before the race was stopped.[41] Hill, from third, made contact attempting to overtake Schumacher at the Tosa corner, dropping Hill to the back of the field and was forced to make a pit stop in order to fit a new nose cone. Hill battled back to finish in sixth position.[42]

Schumacher took the lead on track on lap 12 when Berger ran wide, before relinquishing the race lead overall to Berger when he made his first pit stop, confirming that his pace both before and after the red flag was down to his running a three-stop strategy, therefore racing with a lighter car. Berger made a pit stop at the end of lap 15 for his first of two scheduled stops, before retiring a lap later with handling problems. Häkkinen led his first ever laps of a Formula One World Championship race, before he made a pit stop at the conclusion of lap 18. Following the first series of pit stops, Schumacher resumed the race lead on aggregate, overtaking Nicola Larini on track at Tosa. Schumacher's extra pace as a result of his lighter fuel loads meant he was able to pull out enough of a gap to Häkkinen which enabled him to make an extra pit stop. Häkkinen's pace was very slow, allowing Larini to leapfrog him when drivers who planned to make two pit stops made their final pit stops.[30]

A further three retirements occurred during this stage of the race: Gachot abandoned his car in the gravel at Acque Minerale turn following a reduction of oil pressure on the 25th lap, Brabham retired due to steering failure four laps later and Gianni Morbidelli retired from seventh position when his overheating Ford engine cut out exiting Tosa corner on lap 41.[29][41] On lap 48, Michele Alboreto came in for a pit stop, but as he left, the rear-right wheel came loose from the Minardi as it left the pit lane, striking two Ferrari and two Lotus mechanics, who were left needing hospital treatment.[30] Although Berger, Bernie Ecclestone and Niki Lauda went to race control to make a request for the event to be stopped,[41] the request was rejected and the race was permitted to continue. Christian Fittipaldi, battling for fifth position with Ukyo Katayama's Tyrrell and Damon Hill's Williams, would eventually retire his Footwork due to an hardening brake pedal that saw him become beached in the gravel on lap 55.[29]

Towards the end of the race, Häkkinen's pace was so slow that Karl Wendlinger was catching him in the Sauber, aiming to give Sauber their first podium finish. However, Häkkinen was able to resist Wendlinger's challenge and finish in third place, with Wendlinger fourth, which proved to be Wendlinger's final points-scoring finish in his career. Ukyo Katayama finished fifth for Tyrrell and Hill was able to battle back to finish sixth, the last of the points-scorers. Michael Schumacher won the race ahead of Larini and Häkkinen, giving him a maximum 30 points after 3 rounds of the 1994 Formula One season. It was the only podium finish of Larini's career, and the first of just two occasions when he scored world championship points. Wendlinger rode back to the pits on Häkkinen's McLaren after Wendlinger's car broke down on the slowing-down lap. At the podium ceremony, out of respect for Roland Ratzenberger, who had died the day before, no champagne was sprayed.[9]