In the 1994 Formula 1 San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, Italy, Ayrton Senna was among many drivers that weekend to have crashed. Unlike the other drivers, unfortunately (aside from one test driver the day before the race), Senna suffered brain death and died shortly after the event. From every angle before his accident, it did not look like his car bottomed out, lost grip, or anything, but instead simply "stopped turning left" through the extremely fast Tamburello left hander. Is it possible that, due to the excessive G-force associated with this 190mph left hander, that Senna actually passed out (which is quite possible when anyone is exposed to high G-force), causing him obviously to loose control of his car and stop turning left. It seems quite possible to me, as his car looked to have simply stopped working. Any ideas? Right, I apologize for understating Roland Ratzenberger's contributions to the sport (I'm rather new to formula-1 actually... after being left in the dark all these years). Obviously since I've missed quite a bit in F1 I'm just looking for some answers to build up my knowledge of the sport.
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1 :
I think you hit the nail on the head with that description. It seems like a very possible event. Ayrton Seena most likely blacked out while turning left.
2 :
we will never know for sure, but you would think he must have....
3 :
We will never know for sure but computer evidence at the time showed that he was using his foot to brake before he hit the wall. Quite a hard thing to do if you are blacked out. The likely cause was broken steering but again as it was damaged further in the accident we will never know for sure. Only Senna could tell us. However, while Roland Ratzenberger was a rookie driver he was not just some test driver, he was qualifying for the race. He was a talent that was never discovered because he never had a chance. As someone who saw both deaths as they happened I think formula 1 was just too dangerous for the speed and ability of the cars.
