1 Page #10

---

From that race on,

Dr. Watkins began riding

in a safety

car behind every start,

for the most dangerous lap

of every race,

so he could be on hand

in the event of an accident.

My job was really to look after the drivers,

and that's what I did.

He standardized medical response

within formula one,

mandating permanent medical facilities

at each circuit

and helicopters on hand

for every race and practice.

Sid Watkins was the man.

Formula one still lost

four men in four years.

Man:
An outstanding

driver lost his life

through what was,

in my opinion,

a pure motor

racing accident.

But only two drivers

were killed

over the next 12 years.

Each death was met with

scrutiny by the men in charge,

and a haunting refrain

by those

who knew too well

the price of glory.

It's terribly, terribly sad,

but it's always happened

and it always will.

It's just intrinsic

to formula one.

Until one.

Martin brundle:

I was driving in the race,

and it was

a really strange time.

We had just lost roland ratzenberger

a day earlier.

And everybody starts

looking over their shoulder

and looking round at

what's gonna happen next.

And I remember that evening

that we were talking about,

yep, it was ratzenberger.

It was, like, his first race.

Not for one minute

I thought it could ever happen to senna.

The three-time world champion

had become the new face

of formula one,

the one driver who could

finally challenge the great fangio.

Eddie Jordan:

You had this great vision

of a megastar

in ayrton senna.

He was revered.

He was probably the most popular

world champion

because he had everything,

and he brought great style to formula one.

He brought it

to another level.

He was one of

the most gentle people

that you could imagine.

He was getting older,

and he was starting

to campaign heavily for safety.

You've seen rubens?

He's all right.

He's all right.

He's shocked,

of course, but he's...

Dr. sid Watkins:

On Sunday morning,

just before the race,

I said to ayrton,

"you know, you're

the fastest guy around.

Why don't you quit?"

He said, "I can't quit.

I have to go on."

Maybe I should have been

much more severe with him.

But then, you know,

you've got responsibilities to all of those--

all of those boys.

And they were boys

to me, see,

since I was so much

older than them.

Lewis Hamilton:

I was 9 years old,

and my dad told me

that ayrton's crashed and he's died.

And I think as a kid

at that age,

it's always difficult

to understand what that actually means.

But I went round the back

of the car, I remember,

and I cried.

I couldn't let my dad

see me because, you know,

you don't let

a man see you cry,

but I remember that day,

and I really was affected by it.

Still today, I say he's

the greatest driver ever.

Maurice Hamilton:

The biggest difference

between the death

of Jim Clark on the 7th of April, 1968,

and ayrton senna

on the 1st of may, 1994,

is that the world

needed to know the answer

as to why

this had happened.

Why is this man dead?

Why is motor racing

so dangerous?

The death of ayrton senna

was relayed by television

into the living rooms of millions of people

around the world,

to people who didn't really

know about motor sport,

but knew of him.

Somebody had to be blamed.

The new President of the fia

had been on the grid

the day Jim Clark died.

I think it's distressing

that so much of the press

doesn't appreciate

the realities of the situation.

Max mosley had ascended

to the ultimate position

of power within the sport

just months

before senna's death.

They were absolutely

concentrated on,

why did senna

have the crash?

Totally irrelevant.

It's a sport done at the limit

of human and-- and mechanical ability.

When you do that,

you're gonna have a crash.

The interesting question

isn't why he crashed,

it's why did he get killed?

Mosley called on Dr. Watkins

to lead

a scientific examination

into every aspect

of the sport.

Michael schumacher:

Max had a clear message,

saying that whatever is

happening to a car,

there should be

no reason to die in a car.

( Spectators cheering )

Martin brundle:

I remember going up in the air.

My first thought was,

please don't let me

go in the trees,

because, you fly,

you die, into the trees.

Martin brundle:

Then it starts to roll.

It feels like being

in a tumble dryer, a washing machine.

When it stopped,

I could feel this liquid

running down into my overalls.

I could smell fuel,

and I thought I was going

to catch fire and burn.

Man:
This is what

we feared at this corner,

and that was

very nasty indeed!

Damon hill:
That's the first

big accident since ayrton senna,

and the whole world

was watching.

Martin brundle:

It was the first race

where they'd raised the headrests,

up beside the driver,

and that played a big role

in me not being injured at all.

Not only was he alive,

but he got back in the race.

( Spectators cheering )

And it struck me then

that we'd moved on,

that the whole aspect

of it had changed.

What happened was

the attitude changed,

and senna gave the impetus

to really go into safety

on a scientific basis.

In an arms race for speed,

no expense has been spared

for survival.

Lewis Hamilton:

Never had that fear.

Never been worried about death

or the danger of getting hurt.

Sebastian vettel:

270 kilometers an hour through the corners.

Ah, it's unbelievable.

Sometimes if you

just look outside,

left and right,

you think, am I crazy?

It's almost like you

have control of the danger.

Bernie ecclestone:

There's probably as many accidents today

as there was then...

But the results of the accidents

are completely different.

( Indistinct remarks

from race announcer )

Male reporter:

Have you seen the accident on TV?

Well, yeah, I-I have

seen it also live,

when I was there! But, uh...

( Onlookers laughing )

Sir Jackie Stewart:

The modern-day driver will never know,

and I hope and pray

that they never find out

what it feels like to have the consistency

of death surrounding you.

Jacky ickx:
The idea

was not to race and die;

the idea was to race

and to last as long as possible.

After all I have said

about Jackie Stewart,

I really did appreciate

what he started.

Male vocalist:

all this feels strange and untrue

and I won't waste

a minute

without you

Nigel mansell:

Emerson and I have been

talking about it today,

actually.

We're very grateful

to be alive,

to have actually won the races

we've won and driven.

Jacky ickx:
I think we all did something

unbelievable,

at the absolute limit

of the job.

Male vocalist:

I want so much to open your eyes

'cause I need you

to look into mine

tell me that

you'll open your eyes

tell me that

you'll open your eyes

In our days, we knew if you made a mistake

or something broke,

you had a good chance

you wouldn't get out of it.

Emerson fittipaldi:

All these drivers,

they had a glamorous life,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes