“People freaked out”
Vettel makes a grand gesture to remember Formula 1 deaths
May 19, 2024, 3:04 p.m
30 years ago, two drivers died on two consecutive days at the Formula 1 race in Imola. The racing series remembers Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger on their sad anniversary. Sebastian Vettel chooses an unusual way to pay tribute to the deceased.
Sebastian Vettel was very moved and spoke of “one of the most beautiful moments”. The four-time Formula 1 world champion did a lap in Ayrton Senna’s McLaren MP4/8 from the 1993 season in Imola before the seventh race of the season. Vettel’s helmet was divided into three parts: in his own colors and the Austrian colors for Roland Ratzenberger – and then of course in the legendary one Yellow-green-blue of the Brazilian Senna, who, like Ratzenberger, had a fatal accident in Imola in 1994.
“It’s something really big to bring out the car in front of so many people 30 years after that tragic weekend,” said Vettel on Sky. There was thunderous applause when Vettel, who was wearing racing overalls in the Brazilian national colors, also held the Brazilian and Austrian flags out of the cockpit during the lap. “People freaked out,” said Vettel, who retired in 2022 and was an ardent fan of three-time champion Senna in his childhood: “That was a very special moment.”
Vettel drove his own McLaren MP4/8 on his four laps of honor. The Brazilian Senna drove this car before moving to Williams in 1994 and celebrated his last Grand Prix victory in it. “Now it’s my car, before it was his car. It’s so emotional,” said Vettel after he drove smoking curls into the asphalt on the start-finish straight in the white and red car with the inscription “Forever Senna”. had.
He then placed the two flags on the chassis of the McLaren before kneeling on the ground and bowing. Meanwhile, Senna’s nieces Bianca and Lalalli as well as Vettel’s father Norbert shed tears. “It’s an incredible moment to remember Ayrton and Roland,” admitted Vettel, who himself resigned at the end of 2022.
Vettel had already invited people to a race beforehand
Bitter point: Senna started the race on May 1, 1994 with the Austrian flag. He apparently wanted to show it after crossing the finish line to commemorate Ratzenberger. Senna’s Williams hit the concrete wall in the Tamburello corner on lap seven and the idol died from his injuries.
Vettel had already been able to convince his former driver colleagues to run over the 4.909 kilometer long course on Thursday. Wearing commemorative T-shirts, they paused at the Tamburello curve, where three-time world champion Senna drove his Williams off the track on May 1, 1994 and crashed into the wall at more than 200 km/h. A statue next to the route commemorates the terrible events, tens of thousands still make the pilgrimage there every year, the fences are full of flags, posters and other memorabilia.
Vettel described that time as a “very dark and tragic weekend” in Formula 1 history. One day before Senna, the Austrian Ratzenberger had already lost his life on the same route. The premier class of motorsport then pushed ahead with its safety precautions. For example, cars were made more massive, head and neck supports were made mandatory and the Halo roll bar was introduced.