Timeline of the weekend of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix
Friday, April 29
In the first qualifying session, Jordan driver Rubens Barrichello hits a kerb at the Variante Bassa corner at 140 mph. He is knocked unconscious while his car comes to rest upside down. After treatment at the Imola medical centre and Bologna’s Maggiore Hospital, the Brazilian returns to the track nursing a broken arm and nose. He does not race over the weekend.
Saturday, April 30
Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger fails to negotiate the Villeneuve curve in his Simtek and crashes into a concrete barrier wall head-on. The force of the crash causes a basal skull fracture. Ratzenberger is airlifted to Maggiore Hospital where he dies from multiple injuries. It is the first Formula One race weekend fatality since the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix when Riccardo Paletti was killed.
Sunday, May 1
The start of the race sees the cars of Pedro Lamy and JJ Lehto collide on the grid leading to deployment of safety car to allow debris to be removed. The cars proceeded under the safety car for five laps. On lap seven, Senna’s Williams car leaves the track at 190 mph at the Tamburello corner and careers into a concrete barrier. Senna is airlfited to Maggiore Hospital but he pronounced dead at 6.40pm local time.
