Seventh lap. The intractable Brazilian puts on an incomparable spectacle, with amazing accelerations, on an unbeatable route in his obstacles even for the most daring who trod that snake. But something smells really bad “in Denmark” with Ayrton Senna.
It was May 1, 1994 (GP San Marino, Italy), the carioca would start a duel to the death against the German Michael Schumacher, under a lying clear sky, which hid what would happen as soon as the competition began. Senna was in precarious but sustained advantage, with her insurmountable talent and hitting the gas.
The Brazilian had shown great disgust for a car that, although it had excellent development, was very uncomfortable in its interior. What the team gained in power spoiled it with the little reliability it provided. And Senna had his cabin modified to make him feel comfortable.
However, the São Paulo driver took the car to the maximum, in a curve that did not bode well, after the death of Roland Ratzenberger in another brittle track in the classification of that Grand Prix, a period that ended up being called “cursed weekend” ; which, even, produced the protest of Senna himself, who did not want to go out to run the great test out of posthumous solidarity with his counterpart.
However, the legendary pilot only had to accept “his glorious ordeal.” At the Sunday event there was also an accident as soon as the racing cars left between two pilots. In the journey caused by the crash of six laps under the “Safety Car”, there was another event that would mark the imminent disgrace.
Senna pressured the float to speed up a pace he considered very slow, in his quest to gain distance against his great executioner, Schumacher. He knew that the German would never give his reins control, which led him to seek the greatest possible power from his elusive car and maintain initial control.
The gravity-demand tension manifested itself in the fateful seventh section: the Brazilian put the throttle to the limit and instead of responding reliably on the Tamburello curve, the car continued straight, while Senna was left with the guide in his hands , when detaching from its rod.
The revered ecumenical man was leaving this world at 280 k / h (he was going at 305 k / h just before on the track), at the exit of the curve, at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit, in Imola city. The deadliest parts impacted the helmet, one of which crossed to remove parts of the brain.
Senna died instantly after being pierced by a shot from the right front tire, when his Williams FW16 was apparently unable to withstand the shock the car was subjected to, or rather the daring driver was unable to carry out the maneuver with the ultrasonic speed.
Although the context of the accident created many suspicions, an investigation by the FIA (International Automobile Federation) “found no evidence” that it was human error or conspiracy.
The prodigious midfielder reached the World Cup ¨94 as a favorite –as always, above the performance of the car-, but in the first two appointments he had to leave due to accidents and with the “pole position” in all three appointments. Such fatality placed him in the highest demand to win in Italy to discount 20 points that Schumacher had earned, who won both races.
QUALITY
Charisma
The talent with which he maneuvered was such that even with low-profile racing cars in most of his campaigns, he was always highly competitive.
Tribute
The most feared achieved three titles (1988, 1990, 1991) and runners-up in 1989, 1993; all while running for McLaren. He won 41 GPs, 80 podiums, 65 starting positions.
Tribute
In 2016, the Top Gear program was attended by a large number of riders, including Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Mikka Hakkinen and David Coulthard claimed that the Brazilian is the greatest.
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