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Collector Senna – Imola 1994: a weekend in hell

The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Three terrifying days that made Ayrton Senna a prophet and Roland Ratzenberger a martyr. Three days when Formula 1 more than faltered. Three days that, thirty years on, continue to haunt memories and make hearts bleed. Three days lived.

Published 01/05/2025 à 15:30

Jean-Michel Desnoues

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Collector Senna – Imola 1994: a weekend in hell

© DPPI

This article can be found in our Ayrton Senna Collector. 100 pages retracing the career of the Brazilian legend who died 30 years ago, available in our online store in paper format or  numerical format.

On Monday, May 2nd, the Air France flight from Bologna touched down on the tarmac at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. Not a sound in the cabin, not a whisper, the cruise ended as it had begun, in absolute silence. A stunned silence. Did all this really happen? Did this weekend really happen? Will we wake up? Return to our lives before this May 1st, which will no longer be synonymous with Labor Day, but with universal trauma. Never before has the word "Imola" seemed closer in meaning than that of the verb "to sacrifice."

Yesterday, Ayrton Senna, god of the track, set himself on fire in front of the world! The unthinkable happened. The unimaginable took place, and no one on that plane home can erase from their memory the sight of that fallen angel lying on the ground. Exit the plane, take the jetway, collect your luggage, catch a taxi, above all, flee! Flee this unbearable reality. Get back to your life, the life of last week, the life of the joy of going to a Grand Prix. The young reporter, covering his second season of Formula 1, clings to what he can. He knows how much fate

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4 Comment (s)

A

Alain Féguenne (Luxembourg)

01/05/2025 at 05:38 a.m.

It was a... a shitty weekend, from Friday to this... rotten Sunday, and the disappearance of Ayrton... but in our hearts he still lives. 🥲🇱🇺👀

V

vincent moyet

01/05/2025 at 04:51 a.m.

I forgot: from this decapitated F1 emerged Schumacher, a driver who never wanted to measure himself against a dangerous, terribly gifted but deceitful teammate, who delivered nothing except empty "wooden language" comments. And the years passed. Schumacher has (alas) become the typical driver, supported by a manufacturer that invests heavily and that strings together titles without competition. Seeing two McLaren drivers fighting for the title again is a bit like this long parenthesis is finally closing.

V

vincent moyet

01/05/2025 at 04:43 a.m.

From May 2nd, no more active world champion, a driver who leads the championship with a few victories to his name, how can one believe in this decapitated F1 that no longer resembled anything, with this anxiety that led to the installation of artificial chicanes on all circuits for fear that it would happen again, after Monaco when Wendlinger crashed into the barrier...? I stopped buying Sport Auto and Auto Hebdo, this "fake F1" without a champion no longer interested me. There were the "sons of" at Williams to artificially put famous names back in F1, and it took me almost 10 years to get interested in it again.

A

Alain Féguenne (Luxembourg)

01/05/2025 at 03:46 a.m.

Ayrton was diabolical with a single-seater, Alain knows something about it…. But all Ayrton fans in the world are thinking of him today. 🥲👀👍President: Ayrton Senna Memorial Club of Luxembourg…….

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