Ayrton Senna’s passing was now over 30 years ago (Image: Getty)
Johnny Herbert has provided his memories of the day of Ayrton Senna’s passing at the 1994 . The Brazilian legend crashed at the Tamburello corner, suffering deadly injuries after contact with the concrete outside wall.
The 30th anniversary of Senna’s passing was commemorated at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix back in May, and further celebrations were planned at the three-time world champion’s home event in Sao Paulo. even drove his title-winning MP4/5B from the 1990 season in front of a bumper home crowd.
Casting his mind back to the day of Senna’s death, Herbert told : “Apparently, he had a premonition the night before that he was going to die. He said this to Professor Sid Watkins, F1’s medical expert, who told him to quit and go fishing as he had nothing else to prove to anyone.
“Senna said he was not in a position to do so and had to carry on. He was always aware of the risk factor but we all were. We had all seen the horrific accident with Rubens [Barrichello] on the Friday, then Roland [Ratzenberger] being killed.
“It was made worse because it was Ayrton Senna and the myth that surrounded him. You see the cameras trained on his face before the race. It was a very different Ayrton than we had seen before.
“He looked very distant. It was very, very eerie knowing what was going to happen. To go through what he did with those feelings on his own apart from the conversation with Professor Sid, must have been so hard.
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Johnny Herbert has offered his account of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix (Image: Getty)
“He then had to get into the cockpit. It makes it all the more poignant. God was his biggest protection and always had been. That is how he got through his races. Then there was the calling he had the night before after seeing [Roland] Ratzenberger die.”
Herbert did not believe that the initial impact would lead to such severe consequences. “I remember Senna’s crash. We all stopped on the grid with the red flag waiting for news. I remember on the screen we had on the car the shock of seeing the crash and then seeing his helmet move. I remember thinking, ‘It’s ok, he is alive.’
“But it wasn’t, it was just a nerve twitch. It was such a shock. We had seen Rubens Barrichello’s accident and with Senna’s accident, we were unaware during the race itself what the outcome had been.
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“Ayrton knew there was a risk. At the start, JJ Lehto, my teammate, had stalled and Pedro Lamy crashed into the back of him. Several spectators were hit by debris. Going past after the crash I thought he was ok. We weren’t aware until after the race when we were told he had died.
“When I drove past the accident at the Tamburello corner, I could see it was Ayrton. I didn’t think it would be of any significance. The way he hit the wall, there were still wheels on the car. It was still together. I didn’t see him slump to one side. I thought it was a normal crash and it would all be fine.”