Senna Page #7

without the electronic suspension.

As a consequence, they are harder to drive,

and we'll have more cars

spinning and going off the track.

More cars spinning

is more excitement for the viewers,

and for us, if nothing happens to the driver.

Otherwise it's not very comfortable.

Senna in second place.

Almost 8 seconds between them now.

We're certainly not happy with the way

things are with the car

right as they are at the moment.

The handling isn't particularly good.

The cars weren't supposed to

have any of the electronic aids

that they'd come with the previous year.

But Senna became convinced

that the Benetton

being driven by Michael Schumacher,

who had won the first two races

of the season, had retained some of those,

particularly the traction control,

the thing that eliminates the wheel spin.

It didn't stack up that

he was being blown away by the Benetton.

He wanted us to protest,

which we didn't do.

We are here starting from zero,

so basically our championship starts here.

It's not a comfortable position to be in,

but that's the reality.

Now you've won here three times already.

You really do need to make it four.

I would love to.

I'd never seen Senna

as tense as I did that weekend.

At no moment did I see him smile.

He was constantly focused, annoyed,

saddened really.

It's the balance.

Changing balance.

The car is worse.

Is it generally

more one balance than the other,

or is it changing too much?

There was a bit more under steer.

Bit of under steer on the first lap,

then on the second lap,

it's just changing balance.

Over steer and under steer?

Yeah.

During the middle of a corner...

breaks away at the entrance.

When it is supposed to break away,

it breaks away even more.

Do you already know Ayrton

or shall I introduce you?

No, I already know him.

Do you know him by name

or have you met him?

I know him because I follow Formula One,

so I've met him before.

Why are you so nervous?

Because when you're close

to someone like him,

you always get nervous.

Well, good luck to the Champion

and the future Champion.

F***.

You have seen Rubens?

He's all right. He's all right.

He's shocked, of course, but he's all right.

Did you talk to him?

Yes, yes.

You take care, Rubens.

Ayrton was still uncomfortable

in the new relationship,

and he was very uncomfortable with the car.

But he struggled,

and put it on pole position.

F***.

I just need to get myself under control.

I'm doing things with that car that no-one...

Throwing it around a bit?

Ladies and gentlemen,

the San Marino Grand Prix organizer

has received a report

from the Maggiore Hospital in Bologna

that the driver of car number 32,

MTV Simtek Ford, Roland Ratzenberger,

succumbed to injuries sustained

in the accident

which took place at Imola circuit

during Saturday qualifying practice

April 30th.

It was the first time we had to face a dead

Formula One driver for our generation.

The whole atmosphere

was very heavy that afternoon.

Everybody was thinking about,

"What are we doing here?"

Or, "What's the point?"

Ayrton got very, very upset and cried a bit.

And that's when I said to him,

"You know, Ayrton,

you've been three times World Champion.

"You're the fastest man in the world."

And he liked fishing,

so I said, "Why don't you quit

"and I'll quit and well just go fishing?"

He said, "Sid, I can't quit."

On Saturday, at dinner,

Frank Williams had doubts

if Senna was going to be on the grid.

I was certain that he didn't want to race.

On that morning when he woke up,

he asked God to talk to him.

He opened the Bible

and read a passage which said

God would give him the greatest of all gifts.

Which was God himself.

A crash!

Everyone goes around, look at that!

Lamy arrives at full speed.

And there is Lehto!

Terrible crash.

Lamy and Lehto are very lucky.

The safety car goes out on track.

The safety car's lights are off

which means the safety car

is going into the pits.

And here we go, Senna in front,

Schumacher is second.

And Michael Schumacher tries to

pressure Senna on the sixth lap.

Senna crashes hard!

At Tamburello Corner.

A very serious accident.

We got him out of the cockpit,

got his helmet off

and got an airway into him.

And I saw from his neurological signs

that it was going to be a fatal head injury.

And then he sighed, and his body relaxed.

And that was the moment...

I'm not religious...

That I thought his spirit had departed.

Even at racing speed,

Tamburello is not a corner

that you would make a mistake on.

Something on the car

would have to go wrong.

Maybe the power steering failed.

Maybe it was the tire temperatures

that made the car skate straight off the road.

It will always be a mystery.

Was there a cause?

In my opinion

the steering column broke

and the car became uncontrollable.

But above all, it was fatal because

the car crashed at the exact angle

for the suspension shaft

to hit his helmet.

Ayrton ran out of luck.

He did not have a broken bone in his body.

He did not have any bruising.

If that piece of assembly

would have gone six inches higher

or six inches lower,

he would have walked back to the paddock.

He was an idol for me.

He represented the best of Brazil.

I kiss you, Senna.

I will never forget you.

Brazilian people need food,

education, health

and a little bit of joy.

And now that joy is gone.

Nothing can separate me

from the love of God.

Who is or has been

the driver that you get the most satisfaction

of racing against...

Past or present?

I would have to go back

to '78 and '79

and 1980, when I was go-kart driving.

I came to Europe for the first time

to compete outside Brazil

as a team-mate for Fullerton.

Named Fullerton. He was very experienced.

I enjoyed very much driving with him

because he was fast, he was consistent.

He was, for me, a very complete driver.

And it was pure driving, pure racing.

There wasn't any politics then, right?

No money involved, either.

So, it was real racing.

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