The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the 14º Gran Premio di San Marino) was a Formula One motor race held on 1 May 1994 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, located in Imola, Italy. It was the third race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship. Michael Schumacher, driving for Benetton, won the race. Nicola Larini, driving for Ferrari, scored the first points of his career when he finished in second position. Mika Häkkinen finished third in a McLaren.
Austrian rookie Roland Ratzenberger and Brazilian three-time world champion Ayrton Senna lost their lives in separate accidents during the event. In addition to the two fatalities, other incidents saw injuries to driver Rubens Barrichello plus several mechanics and spectators. The deaths were the first fatalities in the Formula One World Championship since the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix, and the first with two driver deaths since the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix. Senna was given a state funeral in his home town of São Paulo, Brazil, where around 500,000 people (some estimates put the number at 2 million) lined the streets to watch the coffin pass. Italian prosecutors charged six people with manslaughter in connection with Senna's death: Frank Williams, Adrian Newey, Patrick Head, Federico Bendinelli, Giorgio Poggi, and Roland Bruynseraede, all of whom were later acquitted. The case took more than 11 years to conclude due to an appeal and a retrial following the original verdict of not guilty.
These tragedies proved to be a major turning point in both the 1994 season, and in the development of Formula One itself, particularly with regard to safety. This led to a reforming of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association after a 12-year hiatus, and the changing of many track layouts and car designs. Since the race, numerous regulation changes have been made to slow Formula One cars down and new circuits incorporate large run-off areas to slow cars before they collide with a wall. As a result of increased standards in safety subsequent to this race, there were no fatalities for a period of 20 years from the deaths of Ratzenberger and Senna, a period which ended with the crash of Jules Bianchi at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix which led to his death the following year.
Background Heading into the third round of the season, Benetton driver Michael Schumacher was leading the World Drivers' Championship with 20 points; Jordan driver Rubens Barrichello was second on seven points, 13 points behind Schumacher. Behind Schumacher and Barrichello was Damon Hill in third place on six points, tied on points with Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger. Berger's teammate Jean Alesi was fifth on four points. In the World Constructors' Championship, Benetton were leading on 20 points and Ferrari were second on ten points, with Jordan third on seven points.
There were two driver changes heading into the race. JJ Lehto replaced Jos Verstappen at Benetton, the latter having replaced Lehto for the opening two races of the season due to an injury sustained by Lehto in pre-season testing. Jordan's Eddie Irvine, still serving a three-race suspension, was replaced with Andrea de Cesaris for this race.
Qualifying Friday On Friday, 29 April, during the first practice session, Rubens Barrichello, who was driving for Jordan at the time, hit a kerb at the Variante Bassa corner at , launching him into the air. He hit the top of the tyre barrier, and was knocked unconscious by an impact measured at 95 g. 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. 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. 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."
Despite a spin, Senna’s Friday “Practice 1” time was 1:21.598, 1.157 s quicker than Damon Hill, 1.250 s quicker than Michael Schumacher and, 1.469 s quicker than Gerhard Berger.
Saturday qualifying and death of Roland Ratzenberger
Eighteen minutes into the final qualifying session, Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger failed to negotiate the Villeneuve curva in his Simtek, hitting the opposing concrete retaining barrier wall almost head-on.
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. As Ratzenberger's Simtek racer accelerated past 300 km/h for the first time since he had begun the previous lap, the front wing gave way to the air pressure, most likely due to failure of two bolts attaching the wing to the nose's underside, and snapped off. It was pushed under the car, thus lifting the front wheels off the asphalt.
As a result, Ratzenberger could neither steer the car nor brake more than superficially with the rear wheels. Thrown out of control, the car continued straight ahead in the Villeneuve corner at a speed of . There were no tyre barriers or any other impact-absorbing installations in place at the Villeneuve curva, and the Simtek hit the bare concrete wall with a resulting force measured to be 500 g, the highest ever registered in F1.
After the crash, the session was immediately stopped via red flag. Doctors were on the spot within a minute, and chief doctor Sid Watkins quickly joined them. After initially being taken by ambulance to the on-circuit medical centre, Ratzenberger was airlifted to the anaesthesia and resuscitation unit of Maggiore Hospital at 14:07 local time, the second driver to be admitted there during the weekend. He was found to have suffered three separate injuries, all fatal, due to the enormity of the impact: a basilar skull fracture, blunt trauma from the front left tyre penetrating the survival cell, and a ruptured aorta. It was determined he had died almost immediately upon impact.
The session was restarted 48 minutes later, but several teams—including Williams and Benetton—took no further part. Ratzenberger was confirmed dead as a result of his multiple injuries at 14:15 local time. 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. 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." 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."
Senna had qualified on pole position based on his lap time in Friday qualifying, having not set a time in the Saturday qualifying session following Ratzenberger's death. 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. With Barrichello injured, Pacific's Paul Belmondo, the only driver to miss the cut, was promoted to the final position as the alternate by rule. However, on the ESPN broadcast in the United States, it was noted Belmondo declined to participate out of respect for Ratzenberger, and on the grounds that he had not earned that race spot and Ratzenberger had.
Aftermath Ratzenberger's death 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 , the FIA mandated the use of the HANS device, designed to prevent the type of injury suffered by Ratzenberger.
Qualifying classification Driver Constructor Friday Time Saturday Time 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 1011 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 33 Paul Belmondo Pacific-Ilmor 1:28.361 1:27.881 +6.333 26 14 Rubens Barrichello Jordan-Hart 14:57.323 no time +13:35.775 32 Roland Ratzenberger Simtek-Ford 1:27.657 1:27.584 +6.036 Source: — Paul Belmondo, the first alternate, was permitted to replace Ratzenberger. The entry was withdrawn out of respect to Ratzenberger before the race start. — Roland Ratzenberger suffered a fatal accident during qualifying, and the team withdrew the entry.
Race First start crash