Imola, Thursday 28 April 1994, lunchtime. It’s a splendid day, the sun beats down on the Formula 1 circuit. It’s so hot it feels like summer. The car mechanics work tirelessly. They sweat even wearing light t-shirts.
The paddock is still sleeping, we are on the eve of free practice and there are few people. Silence. Ayrton Senna (34 years old in March) is busy attending interviews. He lends himself to television and fans, ready to exchange a few words with anyone who approaches him. He is wearing light pants, a blue shirt with rolled up sleeves, and he is not wearing the almost always present cap with the inscription “National.”
He seems serene. He has arrived in Italy without his girlfriend Adriane Galisteu (whom they call “Senna’s best curves”) – he is accompanied by his brother Leonardo – and has an immense desire to redeem himself. In the first two Grands Prix of the season he has always achieved the pole positionbut has not finished his careers (retirement in Brazil and Japan), while a certain Michael Schumacher In his Benetton he has accumulated good points for the championship.
This is how the last weekend of the Brazilian driver, three-time world champion, begins. The last chapter of a story that Netflix tells in the series Senna, available from November 29.
Imola, Friday 29 April 1994, lunchtime. The noise of the cars echoes throughout the city. The circuit is bustling with fans from all over the world and the day is extremely hot. Senna complains about both the temperature and the wind: he has the fastest car (the Williams that in 1993 crowned Alain Prost as world champion) but he can’t control it. The cabin is too narrow. He’s uncomfortable. The aerodynamics present problems: the active suspensions that were decisive the previous year and that are now prohibited by the FIA are missing.
He is in the box when he sees on the monitors the crash of a car against a pile of tires: the Brazilian Rubens Barrichellohis protégé, disintegrates the Jordan when it crashes at 200 kilometers per hour against the barriers of the Bassa Variation. A horrible accident. Barrichello survives by a miracle: he is lucky and emerges with a fractured nasal septum, a cracked rib, a bruised arm and amnesia.
Senna is no longer so calm. He talks to reporters about “strange conditions,” not just the abnormal heat. He has stopped smiling. Someone spreads a rumor that I would prefer not to run. True or false?
Imola, Saturday April 30, 1994, lunchtime. Qualifying tests according to the scheduled time. Senna knows that In the fastest lap he has few rivalsalthough his Williams is not as exceptional as the 1993 one, orphan of the “magic” active suspensions.
Everything goes smoothly, the pilot from São Paulo conquers the pole position. However, there is nothing to celebrate. The Austrian Roland Ratzenberger It crashes at 300 kilometers per hour against the wall of the Villeneuve curve. Die. Senna goes into crisis. He cries behind the box, inconsolable. He thinks he is alone, away from prying eyes, free to vent, but someone is watching him. He is desperate and furious. Run away from paddock. Disappears. There are no interviews. Brazilian journalists are the only ones waiting patiently for a statement. But he doesn’t want to see anyone. “It has never happened that he ignored us, Brazilian journalists,” they say disappointed. bad omen.
It gets dark. After 6:00 p.m., the Williams box is already closed. David BrownSenna’s blonde track engineer, says: “The car is fine, it doesn’t need any modifications, we’re done working for the day.” Strange. Because at Ferrari they are still waiting for the new engine that arrives from Maranello, to assemble it overnight, while at Sir Frank’s team the team disperses before dinner. Has this happened before? Who knows.
Imola, Sunday 1 May 1994, lunchtime. The drivers prepare for the Grand Prix, despite Ratzenberger’s death. It is not customary to cancel races due to mourning. He show must continue. The exit is given. Senna is in the lead, followed by Schumacher. In the seventh round, At 2:17 p.m., Ayrton crashes at 200 kilometers per hour into the Tamburello wall.. You can’t avoid the impact because the steering column has broken. The collision with the concrete is not so devastating, but fate intervenes: an arm of the suspension flies through the air and, like a pointed arrow, enters the pilot’s helmet (between the shell and the rubber gasket), penetrating the skull of the genius. There’s not much to do.
The helicopter descends onto the runway. Although he did not have permission to perform this maneuver, he picks up Senna and takes him to the Bologna hospital, where he dies. Someone is already desperate in the stands: they know that the helicopter cannot land on the circuit and, if it has violated the protocol, something has gone very wrong. However, the GP does not stop, it wins Schumi. The rest is history.