Nelson Piquet, instead, didn’t go to the funeral because he hadn’t a good relationship with Ayrton. He didn’t want to seem like a friend who only cares about him after his loss, even if he was upset. When he was interviewed, he almost couldn’t talk from emotion:
"It is unfair".
Even Ecclestone didn’t go to the funerals because the Brazilian driver’s family wants to sue the Formula 1 directors, as said by the spokesman Charles Marzanasco, who added:
"Bernie Ecclestone is not welcome at the funeral".
So Ecclestone is in São Paulo for the obsequies, but he can’t attend the ceremony. After being denied permission to attend the funeral by Senna's family and trying to gain some sympathies, he declares:
"Why Senna’s family doesn’t want me? I would give all my money to have him back. I was treated unfairly. When I owned the Brabham I was the first to give Senna a chance, but Piquet refused it. Why is nobody blaming Piquet?"
However, the attempt fails because Piquet doesn’t confirm Ecclestone's rumour. At the end of the funeral, it is time to carry Ayrton to his final destination, Morumbi’s cemetery, which is fifteen kilometers away. It takes two hours to get there because there are half a million people waiting for Ayrton. In a respectful silence, the Brazilian guard carries the coffin on their shoulders, while twenty one gunfires are shoot to commemorate the driver: three days of mourning have just been announced in Brazil. Sixteen drivers are there: Emerson Fittipaldi, Wilson Fittipaldi, Christian Fittipaldi, Rubens Barrichello, Roberto Moreno, Raul Boesel, Mauricio Sandro Sala, Alain Prost, Jackie Stewart, Thierry Bousten, Johnny Herbert, Gerhard Berger, Michele Alboreto, Hans Stuck, Derek Warwick and Damon Hill. Meanwhile, Betise Assumpção, Ayrton’s press officer, was late for the funeral because she was helping friends, family members and international guests to reach Morumbi's cemetery to be in time for the procession. When she arrives, she is immediately reached by Berger, who says to her:
"Betise, you have to do something. Somebody told me that Alain and Jackie will be in front of the coffin. You have to change it, these are two of the people that Ayrton hated more in his life".
Betise, having heard that, talks with Geraldo Rodrigues, Rubens Barrichello’s manager and a dear friend of hers. She says to him:
"You will never believe it. They want to put Jackie Stewart and Alain Prost in front of the coffin. There’s no doubt that is Gerhard Berger who has to be there because he has always been with Ayrton in most of the good times both on and off the track".
After this exchange of information, Stewart and Prost are put backwards and their places in front row go to Berger and Emerson Fittipaldi. Ayrton Senna rests in a meadow in the middle of São Paulo, in a grave without crosses or candles, among many other Brazilians. On the marble is engraved a Bible passage which is dear to him:
"Nada pode me separar do amor de Deus". (Nothing can separate me from the love of God, N.d.T.)
At the end of the funeral, Leonardo Senna - Ayrton’s brother - said:
"Before leaving, Williams told me to have seen - from the recordings - the car touching the asphalt more than usual but they don’t know what happened. They observed that the turn - no matter how fast it is - has a light angulation. The only thing that would explain a running off the track as dangerous as that is a mechanical failure. But they added also that a definitive evaluation will be carried out when the mechanics will be allowed to examine the car, which now is sequestered from the Italian magistracy".
Then he added:
"Once it is certain that Ayrton didn’t make a mistake, the only thing I care about is to prove that the Imola circuit didn’t guarantee the safety conditions to run the Grand Prix".
This was happening on May 4, 1994, three days after the end of the tragic Imola weekend. Formula 1 has always been involved in legal proceedings, in Italy and in other European countries. Just remember that Colin Chapman was wanted for manslaughter after Jochen Rindt passed away. Moreover, when Peterson’s accident happened - and wasn’t tragic yet - , Chapman asked his mechanics to take the Swedish driver’s car and leave Italy because in 1970 the Austrian driver’s Lotus was sequestered. So, after Imola’s tragic events, it is no coincidence that cars and tracks are sequestered by the magistracy. However, the mass hysteria after Ayrton’s loss is peculiar. Political class and Italian press increase the already heavy situation. Sunday May 1 is a public holiday in Italy: employees are celebrated. In theory, the following day no newspaper can be sold in the newsstands. On the contrary, the Italian newspapers Corriere dello Sport, Tuttosport, Il Resto del Carlino, Il Tempo and La Nazione published a special edition the next Monday morning. In the afternoon two weekly in-depth magazines, Auto&Sport and Autosprint, are published in the newsstands of Bologna and the next morning all over Italy. Almost all the newspapers blame the track conditions, the International Automobile Federation and the possible mechanical failure. The news that come from France are pretty much the same as the Italian ones, but a bit less exasperated. The Equipe, which is the only sports newspaper of France, is quite balanced, even if there are some catchy titles (Stop it!) in it. From Brazil, however, the controversies involving FIA and FOCA are not calming down. According to the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper, citing statements from the forensic institute in Bologna, FIA and FOCA would have staged a theatrical performance to delay the announcement of Ratzenberger's clinical death and prevent Italian justice from canceling the Grand Prix that cost Senna's life the next day. According to the newspaper, the Austrian driver would have died clinically and legally on the track and not, as the official version would have it, eight minutes after hospitalization.
"If Italian justice had not been deceived, it could have prevented the race on Sunday, which killed Senna. The Brazilian died instantly from cardiac arrest and brain death caused by the explosion of the skull".
Senna's popularity was so great that in China, three days after the terrible incident in Imola, the press continues to publish reactions and comments. While the Youth Daily questions the safety of Formula 1, the China Daily dedicates three articles to Senna with comments from great champions including Fittipaldi and Andretti. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, May 4, 1994, at the Institute of Legal Medicine, the script of the previous day is sadly repeated: this time for Roland Ratzenberger, the Austrian driver almost forgotten after the tragic end that united him with Ayrton Senna. The Austrian had passed away on Saturday at the Maggiore Hospital in Bologna, after an incident similar to the one that happened to Senna the following day. On Wednesday, there is no crowd of onlookers, cameras, photographers, and law enforcement, but many young enthusiasts still try to pay their last respects to Ratzenberger. The funeral procession leaves in the morning for Salzburg, where his parents reside. The religious funeral will take place on Thursday morning. A curse seems to haunt the Ratzenberger family: Roland is the third child to die, after the disappearance of two sisters. Regarding the autopsy, finally, it highlights how cardiac arrest was a consequence of three serious traumas: cranial, thoracic, and abdominal.
"The attention of the Prosecutor's Office concerns the track and the cars".
With these words on Wednesday, May 4, 1994, Prosecutor Passarini, in charge of the investigation into the deaths of Senna and Ratzenberger, explains the scope of the investigations, which may also involve possible future suspects. This is because rumors were starting to circulate that the investigation might widen to include the designers and mechanics of Williams and Simtek. The only person reached so far by a notice of guarantee for manslaughter is lawyer Bendinelli, the CEO of the company that manages the racetrack. Other notices are expected from the Prosecutor's Office but always as necessary acts, as happened in Bendinelli's case. In the meantime, Cesare Romiti also comments briefly on the incident. According to the CEO of Fiat, the deaths of Senna and Ratzenberger should urge those responsible for the circus to increase safety.
"However, this should not mean that there should be an unjustified assault on Formula 1 because it is a world that contributes a lot to industry, research, and experimentation".
What happens, meanwhile, in Italy? On Monday, May 2, 1994, at 6:00 a.m., Brazilian journalist Livio Oricchio, not seeing anyone inside the Imola circuit, goes in with his car and goes at the Tamburello turn, on the crash site. He arrives there and tries to understand how the accident happened. At that moment, a police and a Sagis' - the company that runs the track - car come there. A very tall man gets out of the Sagis’ car and, without talking, comes close to the journalist and pushes him violently. Livio Oricchio, after falling on the ground, tries to react but fortunately the police stop a fight that, most likely, would have led to serious consequences for the journalist. However, the man who got out of the Sagis’ car, not satisfied with what he had just done, decides to insult Livio Oricchio. Oricchio replies:
"Do you fear some justice problems due to the lack of safety of your circuit? Two deaths in the same weekend could indeed cause some problems to many people".
Later, the situation calmed down and the police started to isolate the scene, delimiting the crash site. When Jayme Britto - Rete Globo’s director - goes there, the police ask the two journalists to get back to the paddock. If on the one hand there is someone who does its job seriously and is interrupted, on the other hand there is the Italian journalistic hysteria and that political class that, until then, was detached from the motorsport world. After the tragedy, Monday, May 2, 1994, is a day of anger and controversy. Formula 1, the safety of Grand Prix races, and Imola are under scrutiny: flawed technical regulations, cars that are too fast and unstable, inadequate circuits, and the decision to continue racing at any cost. The latter aspect is emphasized by the President of the Republic, who intervened on the dramatic Sunday in Imola.
"The President of the Republic, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, immediately contacted the Minister of Justice, Conso, to find out what initiatives the judiciary had taken regarding the events in Imola. This morning, with the Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council, Maccanico, the Head of State emphasized the unprecedented gravity, on a human level, that the race had continued in the face of such immense tragedy. Subsequently, Minister Conso informed him that the Bologna court had opened an investigation".
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro contacts immediately Giovanni Conso, the Ministry of Justice, to know what the magistracy of Bologna had done for what happened in Imola:
"I was really sad when I read the news of Ayrton’s death. I wanted to know the initiatives of the magistracy, which had already started an investigation. I really regretted the fact that, after all of this tragedy, the race wasn’t stopped".
All of this was said through a message that Scalfaro sent to Itamar Augusto Cautiero Franco, the Brazilian President, and then in a phone call with Rosario Alessi, ACI’s president. The same day, even Minister Antonio Maccanico, the Prime Minister’s undersecretary, talks with Alessi and says to him that all the Italian government was really sad about the race not being stopped. Many representatives of the Italian political class speak their mind on the tragedy, starting with a group of reformers who writes a urgent interpellation to the Prime Minister about Imola’s accidents: Paolo Vigevano, Emma Bonino, Elio Vito, Peppino Calderisi and Lorenzo Strik-Lievers are those who signed. A similar initiative was launched by a parliamentary group of the Verdi party, who aims to suspend the Formula 1 world championship. The Vatican’s position is also very harsh. The Vatican condemns the Formula 1’s world on the Osservatore Romano daily, which describes it as:
"A sparkly circus, maximum expression of the gigantism and the aberrations to which the sport-show has arrived. In Imola the true sportsmanship has experienced the last and definitive blow for the degradation of its value, deleted from the interests at stake and overwhelmed by inhumanity. If we hadn’t lost the best and the most famous driver, all the rest - the other victim, all the injured people and the tragedies that we almost lived - would have been minimized. It has happened before and it is sad to see that we realize how important a human life is just now".
The Vatican, which has always opposed to motor racing, has just reaffirmed a concept that has been saying for decades. However, other Italian personalities from the sport say harsh words towards the Formula 1 world. For example, Coni’s president, Mario Pescante, declares:
"Sports and athletes - including Formula 1’s drivers - are one thing, directors and organisers are another thing. When we see these cars flying, as has happened on Sunday, it is clear that they are working with an embarrassing superficiality. I don’t think that is all about business and that only money matters: maybe we’ve believed in fate, that a driver’s death is part of the game. It’s not honest, not like that. I will meet with the Csai’s president as soon as possible: I will tell him that the Italian racing, which has a glorious past, has nothing to do with the current one".
For these reasons, on May 2, 1994, after an initial hesitation, the Minister of Justice Giovanni Conso calls the Attorney general of Bologna Pellegrino Jannaccone, by the will of Oscar Luigi Scalfaro. This call opens the investigation on the accidents of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna. As a consequence, on May 2, 1994, a meeting takes place in the Public Prosecutor’s offices by the Court with prosecutors, the legal doctor and the Polstrada's director. Off the record, there was also the Chief Prosecutor of the Public Prosecutor’s Office by the Magistrate’s court, Pellegrino Jannaccone. For almost four hours, reporters weren’t able to get near magistrates, which were in contact with the Ministry of Justice, already pressed by Brazilian and Austrian embassies for the drivers’ repatriation procedures. At the end of this meeting, at 2:00 p.m., on May 2, 1994, the Chief Prosecutor of the Public Prosecutor’s Office by the Magistrate’s court, Francesco Pintor, gives to Prosecutor Maurizio Passarini a very short statement which summarizes the main stages of the investigation. In addition to some checks on the crashed cars, magistrates will have to see all the crash footages, which are already sequestered. They have to pay particular attention to the Imola circuit’s track surface, by some inspections on track, to see if some technical issue could have provoked the accidents. But that’s not all. It is also decided that at the Courthouse there will also be marshals, drivers and Formula 1’s technicians because their testimonies could be important to identify the causes of the two accidents and the Public ministry has to be joined by Formula 1’s experts. It is May 2, 1994, Monday afternoon. Public ministry Maurizio Passarini starts the investigations immediately sealing the Imola circuit and Ayrton’s helmet, going on the crash site and inviting the Sagis to appoint an expert that has to be present for the Senna and Ratzenberger’s autopsy. This would trigger the notification for the society that runs the circuit:
"A necessary act even if everything was held within the rules".
Specifies Advocate Roberto Landi who, with Francesco Colliva and Gianluigi Lebro, represents the Sagis, while Advocate Federico Bendinelli adds:
"An obvious and inevitable act: the sequestration of the circuit, the cars and the helmets had already called us into question. Probably the same thing will happen to others in the following days, since the Public ministry asked me the addresses of the helmet and team’s companies".
In the meantime, many drivers express their opinions. Niki Lauda says:
"After this weekend, we have to come to terms with the fact that Ratzenberger and Senna are no longer here. Their loss has deeply affected me".
With these words, Lauda, the former champion and now a consultant for Ferrari, aims to clarify his state of mind. Lauda, who in the emotional moment had previously seemed to question the sense of racing, returns to the topic, emphasizing that he meant to refer to the fact that each driver will react in their own way to the loss of the two racers, but an entirely different issue is how the events need to be analyzed.
"It is certain that something concrete needs to be done".
The Austrian highlights a fact: on the one hand, cars are becoming more and more robust, but on the other hand, the human body, especially the head and neck, is not capable of absorbing the most violent impacts. Lauda proposes a package of measures: reduce the speed in the pit lane; improve the cockpit and helmets; introduce airbags on board. Prost points the finger at the FIA and says:
"Last year, the regulations changed, but they did it only for the spectacle. Accidents can never be avoided, but for some years now, there has been no action for safety. The risks are enormous, which is why I retired, and the drivers have their responsibilities. I tried to recreate the drivers' association, but many of them, and not the least important, opposed it. So did team managers, authorities, and sponsors. There is no more dialogue. Aerodynamic factors need to be limited. Reducing the width of the tires has made the cars more dangerous: there are no more active suspensions and traction control. But those who make the rules have never sat in a Formula 1 car".
And Damon Hill, Ayrton Senna's teammate, adds:
"The speed in the corners today is beyond any limit. It's time to study something".
Michael Schumacher, the leader of the World Championship, stated:
"Before the next Monaco Grand Prix, we will meet among ourselves drivers to discuss the situation. But certainly, we cannot change things because you cannot do everything in one day. Last year we reached high levels of safety. Now, we should immediately impose a speed limit in the pit lane and, in some circuits, extend the starting zone. Before Imola, I had discussed it with Senna, Berger, Alboreto, and Letho, but positions and interests diverged. Now, we will agree".
Michele Alboreto, involved in the pit incident where he hit four mechanics, says:
"We need to go slower in this area and, above all, eliminate refueling stops, which are very dangerous. We count for nothing at the decision-making level. A plan to improve the safety of some circuits has remained hidden in a drawer".
Jackie Stewart, a three-time World Champion, lashes out against Imola:
"When a circuit is not suitable to host a Grand Prix because it lacks the right requirements, we must refuse to race. It was also seen on TV that this track was extremely dangerous. You go at 250-300 km/h, and if you go off, you hit a wall. It is unacceptable".
Imola trembles. It is afraid of being erased from the map of the world's most famous cities for motorsports. And above all, it fears going down in history as the killer of Senna. So, dismayed faces are seen when in the afternoon, at the gates of the circuit, magistrate Maurizio Passarmi appears, accompanied by police officers. And he utters a terrible word:
"Seizure".
Circuit closed for investigations. And, of course, under seizure are the cars of Senna and Ratzenberger, the helmets of the two drivers, the tires of the single-seaters involved in the accidents that flew around the circuit like crazed splinters. The death of Ayrton Senna moves the world. The Brazilian was a hero of the crowds, one of the greatest drivers of all time. The tragedy begins on Sunday morning in an already tense atmosphere. The Brazilian sets the best time in the warm-up, half an hour of practice. He says:
"The car is good. I am confident".
But it's strange, gray-faced, walking with his shoulders a bit bent, as if he carries an enormous weight. A malevolent fate awaits him. In the evening, Patrick Head, the designer of Williams, will confide:
"It was a mistake by Ayrton; he lifted off the accelerator, and the car lost aerodynamic load. We saw it from the telemetry, from the data that comes to us on the computer".
At least, the words of the doctors at Bellaria Hospital in Bologna bring hope to the family of Antonio Mauro Maino:
"He is in a pharmacological coma. We performed surgery for a frontal hematoma, and now the prognosis is favorable".
The young man from Courmayeur is the most serious of the eleven injured in the other three incidents that occurred on the tragic Sunday in Imola. Maino, a 28-year-old construction entrepreneur, was struck in the head by a wheel that flew into the stands following the collision that characterized the moments immediately after the start of the Grand Prix: Lehto's Benetton remains stationary, the cars immediately behind manage to avoid it, but not the one driven by the Portuguese Lamy. The impact is violent, fragments of the two cars fly into the stands and injure four people. In addition to Maino, two other spectators (Marco Roasio, 30, also from Courmayeur, and Stefano Tracchi) and police officer Paolo Ruggeri. Initially, the injuries do not seem worrying. But if subsequent tests confirm the diagnosis for Roasio, Tracchi, and Ruggeri (discharged on Monday morning from the hospital in Imola), Maino's condition worsens due to bleeding.
On Sunday evening, the young man is taken to Bellaria Hospital in Bologna and undergoes neurosurgery for a frontal hematoma. His family spends dramatic hours in Bologna, having arrived from Valle d'Aosta. Until Monday afternoon when doctors issue a statement that, while not hiding the seriousness of the injuries, hints at concrete hopes for recovery. No concerns, however, for the six people (three Ferrari technicians, one from Lotus, one from Benetton, and one from the rescue team) injured on lap 47 of the Grand Prix when Alboreto's Minardi lost a wheel at the exit of the pit lane. Of the three Ferrari technicians, one - Claudio Bisi, 28 - was admitted for precautionary measures but was discharged after a few hours; the other two - Maurizio Barbieri, 43, and Daniele Volpi, 33 - are still in the hospital, but the injuries and fractures they complain about are not serious. Barbieri recounts:
"I remember that tire coming at me perfectly. I fell, but I never lost consciousness".
Baltiry Naio, a 25-year-old Lotus mechanic, suffered a cervical trauma, while Mark Fluckingel of Benetton and Roberto Manoni, a member of the CEA rescue team, have minor injuries. On Sunday morning, however, the Imola circuit had already been marred by an accident during the Porsche Supercup, involving French driver Jacques Heuclin, 49, who went off track at Piratella curve. Heuclin's car crashed into the side wall, and the driver suffered non-serious injuries to one shoulder. On Monday afternoon, finally, another unfortunate incident. A truck leaving Imola carrying the Formula 1 cars of French drivers Bertrand Gachot and Paul Belmondo is destroyed by flames in Haute-Savoie, near Chamonix. The cars, from the British Pacific-Ilmor team, are saved from the flames that erupted for still unclear reasons. On May 3, 1994, at the Institute of Legal Medicine, at 9:30 a.m., the investigation goes on through the examination of Ayrton Senna’s remains first and then of Roland Ratzenberger’s ones, as said by the Chief Prosecutor Francesco Pintor. Meanwhile, whilst even the Italian Minister of Defence, Fabio Fabbri, hopes that the magistrates of Bologna punish the Imola’s crime, the Public Ministry Passarini convenes the leaders of the Formula 1’s world that Fabio Fabbri says that is worse than the Circo Massimo with gladiators. Responding to these statements, Cesare Romiti, Fiat’s CEO, invites the political class to not criminalise Formula 1:
"Senna’s accident was serious because of his fame and because it followed another fatal accident. Even in the past, when there were accidents that involved famous drivers, it has been said to change regulations and circuits. Now we have to increase safety, but Formula 1 gives a lot of money to the industry, we don’t have to rush into it".
From the first hours, the Imola Circuit seems to be the one to blame. Within a weekend, from a model circuit it has become a dangerous circuit to the public, with too many walls and only a few escape routes. This caused some delays in helping the drivers, Senna in particular. However, according to many leaders of the Formula 1 world, the Italian circuit isn’t the only one responsible for Ayrton and Ratzenberger’s loss. For example, during the weekend Clay Regazzoni defended the Imola circuit. Nelson Piquet, who had an accident at Tamburello in 1987, agreed with him:
"Imola is as dangerous as Monte Carlo, Adelaide and all the other circuits. The problem is that to make these tracks safe, we would have to surround them with an area of one hundred meters wide, all covered in sand. But that’s impossible".
He adds:
"Of course, given what happened, I suggest eliminating Tamburello and transforming it into a straight".
Federico Bendinelli, Sagis’ CEO - the society that runs the track - , states publicly that there will be some changes:
"We will do all the changes that they ask for, but that’s not the point. Tracks can’t continue to go after the performances of cars which are always more and more powerful. We have the same problems of all the other circuits: the high speed".
The following day, on May 4, 1994, while in São Paulo takes place Senna’s funeral, in Paris - the FIA’s headquarters - there is a meeting organized by Advocate Rosario Alessi, ACI’s president, and Marco Piccinini, Csai’s president, to examine Imola’s reports and trying to understand if there were some technical failures that caused the accidents. In this improvised meeting takes place the Italian representatives, Max Mosley, FIA’s president, the vice presidents, Formula 1’s commission and the central office members. However, this meeting doesn’t lead to a positive result because Ratzenberger and Senna’s cars are sequestered and can’t be examined in order to understand what happened. During the meeting, Advocate Roberto Causo, the FIA and Csai’s representative, went to the Public Ministry Passarini asking him to release the cars before the Monte Carlo Grand Prix on May 15, 1994, and hoping to give Williams and Simtek the time to see some failures or design flaws. The Italian magistrate denies its consent to the advocate saying that the procedural times will last longer than the ten days which separates them from the Monte Carlo Grand Prix. So, at the and of the meeting, Max Mosley comments:
"We’re waiting to receive some information from the teams involved because there are some on-board equipments which have to be decoded. Tomorrow we will know something more".
Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher says that the drivers agreed to meet and talk about what is happening around them. As they had already planned, the drivers will meet in Monte Carlo to talk about what is happening:
"Before the Monaco Grand Prix we will meet between us drivers to talk about the situation. Of course we could not change things because we cannot do it in one day. Last year we reached very high levels of safety. Now it is necessary to impose a speed limit in the pit lane and extend the starting area in some circuits. I had discussed it with Senna, Berger, Alboreto and Letho before Imola, but our opinions and interests were different. Now we will be all in agreement".
States Schumacher. Meanwhile, the Public Ministry Passarini is calling Benetton to know the address and where to find it in general. The science police processes the recordings and the pictures taken on track, which are now sequestered, and analyses what is left of Ratzenberger and Senna’s cars. Two days after, on May 6, 1994, there is another controversy concerning the Imola circuit. It is find out that on March 9, 1994, Alberto Castioni, a big fan of Formula 1 who follows all the tests in Imola, recorded with his camera a scene in which there is Ayrton. He is with the circuit director Poggi and with Sagis’s CEO Bendinelli and is trying to show them some irregularities of the asphalt at the beginning of Tamburello. Alberto Castioni states that Senna was looking really worried, so much that during free practices he clearly brake in that stretch:
"Practises were suspended for the lunch break, when Senna got out of a Mercedes with three people. I’ve recorded everything with my camera. Senna was worried and was pointing at some patches of asphalt at the point where his car flew on Sunday. His car was the only car that touched the asphalt. From the few things that I heard, Senna was saying that the track surface was dangerous, that they risked losing control".
Actually, after this testimony, it is find out that Senna had already complained about the roughness of Tamburello turn with the journalists, to whom he had said:
"At Tamburello there are three or four steps that make the car touch the ground and go straight. I hope they do something".
But Advocate Bendinelli, becoming aware of these proofs, immediately precises that in this talk of May 9, 1994:
"Senna said that the asphalt had some roughness that made the cars bump. We asked for some suggestions and Ayrton said to reduce the roughness".
The Italian driver Andrea de Cesaris adds:
"Senna and I went together to see some dangerous spots, such as Tamburello, Piratella and Variante Bassa. They told us that we were right, that the asphalt was wrong, that it had to be redone but there wasn’t enough time. The thing is that when there were active suspensions the car adapted to these roughness, now we’re feeling them as hammer blows".
So, without enough time to make the necessary changes on the asphalt of the circuit, between Wednesday March 9 and Thursday March 10, 1994, the roughness was leveled, as Advocate Bendinelli has admit:
"It was done with a particular machine, the day after Ayrton’s notification. Ayrton said to Poggi that he was satisfied. He didn’t feel all the roughness that he felt before. This was proven by the fact that he did a lap record later on".
In fact, on Thursday, March 10, 1994, the FIA’s representative in Imola homologated the circuit for the San Marino Grand Prix. Bendinelli also adds some other interesting details:
"When I went to greet him he said that all was alright. I don’t think that he has complained again. I believe that the true problem is another: Senna had a critical car, as he said. A really difficult car to drive for him too".
Actually, Senna did complain about the asphalt conditions with the circuit directors, but he also spoke to a journalist of Auto&Sport about Williams’ problems:
"We have to work on suspensions because they aren’t strong enough to resist solicitations. It is important to fix the set-up of dampers and springs".
Even Bernie Ecclestone says publicly that Senna’s loss was caused by a suspension failure rather than by track conditions. Nelson Piquet agrees with him. So, while the Italian political class is against the Formula 1 world and the Imola circuit, the idea that Ayrton’s accident was due to a mechanical failure is spreading. Meanwhile, the investigation of the Prosecutor’s office in Bologna continues.
On May 6, 1994, after having analyzed the two cars, the Public Ministry Maurizio Passarini asks for the control unit of Ratzenberger’s Simtek and Senna’s Williams: both should be at the box, but the Public Ministry finds out that the engineers of the two teams have extract them and taken away when they left the Imola circuit, on May 1, 1994. Passarini draws up an international rogatory letter and sends it to England, in Banbury and Didcot, the headquarters of the two teams. The hypothesis of the magistrate is that the explanation for the loss of the two drivers can be found in the information recorded by the telemetry.
Between May 6 and 7, 1994, the Public Ministry and two technicians secretly meet Michele Alboreto and Pierluigi Martini in Imola in the traffic police’s barrack. The interrogation is about their polemic declarations after Ratzenberger and Senna’s loss. In particular, Alboreto had told how Ayrton was upset after what happened on Saturday. In addition, he had criticized the Imola circuit and the cement wall against which the Williams crashed. Martini, instead, tells the Public Ministry that he had discussed for a long time with Senna about the issue of the cold tyres, which reached hardly the right temperature. This was another risk, in particular at Tamburello and for Senna, because his Williams touched the asphalt. After Ayrton’s fatal accident, the Goodyear’s boss, Leo Mehel, said that Formula 1 cars with this type of narrow tyres couldn’t and can’t be controlled, but added:
"They wanted narrower tyres and we did them. Now it is not our problem".
On Saturday, May 7, 1994, the world learns that Frank Williams would have admitted that the fatal accident involving Senna might have been caused by a mechanical failure. Brazilian newspapers report what the English boss would have said to Senna's brother, Leonardo, during the vigil at the pilot's coffin in the Legislative Assembly hall.
"Williams told me that he had seen, from the video recordings, the car hitting the asphalt more than usual but did not know what had happened. He then observed that the curve, as fast as it was, had a slight angle, and only a mechanical failure would explain such a violent crash".
Williams would have added that he could not provide more detailed explanations before examining the remains of the car, currently seized by order of the Italian judiciary. On the investigative front, two Formula 1 drivers are already reported to have been questioned (Pierluigi Martini and Michele Alboreto are mentioned, but the names have not been confirmed by the magistrate), along with two technicians, heard by Prosecutor Passarini, in charge of the investigation. The interrogations take place on Saturday (for Alboreto) and Thursday (Martini) in a location kept hidden from reporters. The two drivers would have confirmed to the magistrate the statements made immediately after the San Marino Grand Prix, providing further details. One of the investigators explains:
"The interrogations are important, but the key should be in other documents".
No one wants to specify what those documents are, but a lot of importance is given to accident footage and telemetry. In the Prosecutor's Office, they explain that there is currently no certainty about the existence of footage from Senna's car, as stated in the previous days by Bernie Ecclestone, president of FOCA.
"If they exist, the Prosecutor hopes, since FOCA intends to collaborate, that they will be made available to us".
For his part, Bendinelli, administrator of Sagis, the company that manages the racetrack, clarifies that in the conversation recorded by a photographer on March 9, 1994, during the inspection of Tamburello corner:
"Senna said that the asphalt had roughness that made the car bounce. We asked if he could suggest something, and Ayrton recommended filing down the roughness. We did the work, and the next day Senna said everything was okay".
From Bonn, finally, Michael Schumacher declares to a magazine that, after what happened in Imola, he will be even more careful not to exceed the limits and those of the car.
"Senna's accident should be an opportunity, together with the FIA officials, to improve the safety of the drivers".
On May 9, 1994, after that the Italian magistrates sent an international rogatory letter to see Williams and Simtek’s telemetry recording of the race, the English magistracy asks for some clarifications about the investigation before proceeding. Meanwhile, the Public Ministry Passarini finds out that, in addition to central units, even Roland Ratzenberger’s wing - useful for the investigation - isn’t at the box and could have been stolen by a spectator. Just a few days later, it is find out that a bartender of Bazzano, Salvatore Straniero, in his home has a part of Ratzenberger’s wing as a souvenir. Straniero, after having refused to sell it, decides to say it publicly, especially since his neighbourhood knew it. The wing is immediately sequestered by Bazzano’s police to be given to the magistrates who are investigating Ratzenberger and Senna’s loss. Salvatore Straniero will say:
"I was just behind the Villeneuve turn when I saw the Simtek losing adherence and going against the wall. I got on the ground, I saw this wing part next to me and I grabbed it".
Meanwhile, Frank Williams - who is in England - says to the press that in Monte-Carlo will race only Damon Hill with his Williams and adds that the investigations didn’t discover any failure on Senna’s car that could have caused the fatal accident:
"Since we’ve come back after Italy, all the available data has been studied, but no system nor any other car components failures have been found. However, the investigation is still going on. Of course, it would be easier if we could do an investigation over the car, but it is sequestered. On the basis of the results and all the information available, we can say that the team believes that the Williams that will race in Monte Carlo is completely safe".
So, a trial of strength between the British teams and the FIA begins. The teams want the car’s release to better understand what caused the accidents, pointing out that, from what they’ve seen, there wasn’t any technical failure (despite the fact that these declarations go against what they’ve said in the days before). The Italian magistracy, instead, keeps all sequestered, but asks also for the central units to understand the accidents. Meanwhile, on May 10, 1994, Damon Hill criticizes the FIA stating:
"These men in suits of the FIA don’t know anything about safety. Talking with them is either impossible or useless: it is like trying to make Stalin learn democracy. These people, who never got in a Formula 1 car, can’t understand what it feels like driving at over 300 km/h in a track surrounded by walls of cement and twenty five cars behind. I think that our safety should depend on authorities. Drivers are still driving in the most dangerous conditions because the competition is hard. There is always someone who is willing to do anything to win. We need regulations even to protect us from our instincts".
He ends his public statement saying that on 1994 cars no driver could have survived a collision at over 300 km/h. The answer of the FIA comes. After the tragic events at Imola, a rumor started circulating: Gerhard Berger, a Ferrari driver, had decided to quit racing. It was more of a speculation, arising from alleged confidences the thirty-four-year-old Austrian racer had made to a friend and compatriot. These were vague statements, as it was not specified whether Berger intended to quit immediately, meaning not participating in the Monaco Grand Prix starting on Thursday, or if his decision was for the end of the season. However, it was widely discussed and talked about in the motorsport community. Finally, after attending the funerals of Senna and Ratzenberger, in a television interview, Berger publicly expressed his current moral and psychological struggles. He stated that he was terribly shocked by the deaths of his two friends and, at the moment, had no desire to race, although he hadn't yet made a definitive decision on the matter.
"For now, I have zero desire to sit back in a racing car. I don't feel up to it yet".
When asked if he was close to retiring from racing or planning not to participate in the Monaco Grand Prix, Gerhard replied that he had not made any decision yet.
"My feelings tell me that I am not ready."
Regarding the proposal made by Lauda to elect him as the spokesperson for a drivers' association, aimed at promoting driver safety, Berger clarified that he didn't know if he would accept such a role. Lauda, recalling his accident in which he was disfigured, agreed with his fellow countryman, saying that shock cannot be overcome with reason and that only internal balance, from the heart and feelings, can bring him back to the wheel. However, Berger announced that he would hold a press conference at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday, May 11, 1994, at the Hotel Hermitage in Monaco. During the conference, the Austrian driver would reveal his decision to participate or not in the Grand Prix. Ferrari stated that they were serene and confident, knowing that whatever decision Gerhard makes would be the right one. When contacted by phone, Berger confirmed that he had uttered the reported phrases.
"But I said them in a much broader context. I wanted to describe especially the psychological and emotional state I've been in for the past few days. That's why I decided to call a press conference to personally communicate what I will do".
Now, all that remained was to wait. It's essential not to forget that Berger has been involved in numerous accidents in recent years, including the one at Imola in 1989 when, exiting at 250 km/h in the same Tamburello corner where Senna met his death, he risked burning, suffering burns to one hand and chest, and surviving primarily due to the swift intervention of the rescue teams. Hence, thinking that Berger genuinely wants to immediately end his racing career might be premature. Certainly, the racer (and perhaps even more so, the man) has low morale, is sad, and grieving. If he were to leave, no one could blame him for being scared or for respecting his feelings in this way. The Formula 1 environment, in this regard, is already split in two. Some want to encourage Berger to leave, while others are convinced that his presence would be useful for many reasons. Meanwhile, Clay Regazzoni, in a newspaper article, urges drivers to boycott the Monaco Grand Prix.
"Drivers, go on strike! It would be enough for Schumacher, Alesi, and Berger to refuse to race to take away all interest from the race. The measures taken by the FIA are insufficient. The chicanes at the entrance and exit of the pits will create new dangers because cars risk stopping to enter".
Emerson Fittipaldi also adds fuel to the fire:
"In Formula 1, everything is currently wrong. FIA management is arbitrary and inconsistent. The admonishment of Senna for going to the scene of Ratzenberger's accident is dictatorial action. I advise drivers to appoint Alain Prost to discuss regulations with the Federation. He is the only one with the personality, charisma, and experience to advise on necessary changes".
Meanwhile, Williams confirms that they will only compete with Damon Hill, while the FIA convenes a public debate on Formula 1 for Friday. On Monday, May 9, 1994, a memorial service for the two lost drivers is held in the Ferrari racing department. On Tuesday, May 10, 1994, there is a strange atmosphere in the Principality of Monaco on the eve of the first trials of the Formula 1 Grand Prix.