Martin Brundle once recalled how F1 legend Ayrton Senna reacted to Roland Ratzenberger’s tragic death at Imola

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It has been 31 years since the death of Roland Ratzenberger shocked the Formula 1 world, on a weekend that would see the sport change forever.

Ratzenberger was a 33-year-old from Austria and had realised his F1 dream with the Simtek, having missed out initially on a drive with Eddie Jordan in 1994.

Having gained sponsorship from a wealthy German business owner, Barbara Bahlau, it enabled Ratzenberger to sign a five-race deal with the team co-founded by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth.

Partnering David Brabham, son of three-time world champion Jack Brabham, the Simtek proved uncompetitive from the first round at Interlagos.

Roland Ratzenberger struggles in first races for Simtek

Having set a time that was six seconds off the pace, Ratzenberger failed to qualify and would not start the race, but at the next round in Japan he fared much better.

Qualifying in 26th and last place, Ratzenberger managed to finish the race in a respectable 11th place by keeping out of trouble, although this was effectively last place after there were 15 retirements.

The next round at Imola would be his final, following a fatal crash during qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix. On the same weekend, F1 legend Ayrton Senna would be involved in a fatal crash just hours later on Sunday.

Recalling the fateful weekend on the Howie Games podcast, former F1 driver Martin Brundle recalls what Senna told him in the aftermath of Ratzenberger’s death.

Martin Brundle reveals how Ayrton Senna was upset over Roland Ratzenberger death

Coming into qualifying, Ratzenberger was trying to avoid the relegation zone that would’ve prevented him from starting the race. As a result he was taking more liberties than usual and had gone off track at Acque Minerali, causing damage to his front wing.

Eighteen minutes into the session, Ratzenberger failed to negotiate the Villeneuve curva and subsequently hit the concrete wall. The impact with the wall proved to be fatal, with the cause believed to be due to a failure of his front wing heading into the corner.

Senna watched on and was visibly distraught by the crash, having voiced his concerns over safety following a big crash for Rubens Barrichello on the Friday.

Brundle was with Senna on the night of Ratzenberger’s death and recalled how it impacted the driver’s briefing on the Sunday morning.

“I saw Ayrton the night before in the lift in the hotel and it was hard because he was really cut up about Roland Ratzenberger and the driver’s briefing on the Sunday morning was a pretty tense affair,” said Brundle.

Roland Ratzenberger’s death leads to significant changes in F1

Senna had planned to pay tribute to Ratzenberger by carrying the Austrian flag in his car and waving it after the race, but he would also suffer a fatal crash five laps into the race.

The death of Ratzenberger and Senna would lead to widespread changes in F1 relating to safety, driven by then-FIA President Mosley and F1’s perminant medical delegate Professor Sid Watkins.

Watkins and Mosley took a scientific approach to safety, implementing changes to the cars that saw higher cockpit walls, anti-intrusion panels, grooved tyres, and changes to circuit safety to help make crashes more survivable.

The legacy of their work was on display when Romain Grosjean suffered a fiery crash at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, in which the Frenchman walked away with only burns to his hands.