Ex-Ferrari Boss Advocates for Tamburello Chicane 30 Years On From Ayrton Senna’s Horrifying Crash at Imola

The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix in Imola will forever remain one of the darkest moments in Formula 1 history for taking away the life of Ayrton Senna. The Brazillian crashed into a hard wall at the Tamburello corner at high speed, which took away his life. However, this wasn’t the only accident that weekend. The day before, Austrian driver, Roland Ratzenberger, also crashed and passed away in the qualifying round.

Fatal accidents hadn’t happened in Formula 1 since 1982 when Riccardo Paletti lost his life during a race in Canada. It prompted a lot of safety improvements in Formula 1, including the introduction of the Tamburello Chicane in 1995, to avoid such high-speed crashes.

30 years after tremendous improvements in F1’s safety standards, former Ferrari boss, Peter Windsor still believes that introducing the Tamburello Chicane was the right thing to do. In a recent live chat on his YouTube channel, Windsor was asked if F1 safety has reached a point where we can think about removing the chicane at Imola.

In his response, Windsor said, “There is only that one chicane, you know the Tamburella chicane. I think that’s appropriate. You think of the number of shunts that were there not only, obviously, Ayrton [Senna] but also Nelson [Piquet] ’87 qualifying plus Michele Alboreto had a huge one in the arrows Porsche didn’t he that funny V12 Porsche engined arrows had a huge one there. So yeah, we had… and Gerhard Berger, of course, in the Ferrari in ‘ 89. So we’ve had so many big shots at Tamburello. The last thing you want to do is take that chicane away.”

Fans paid tribute to Ayrton Senna in Imola 30 years after his passing

On May 1st, 2024, motorsport fans came together at 2:17 p.m. to have a moment of silence at the Tamburello corner. They then broke into applause to honor the veteran. It was the exact time when Senna crashed in 1994. Many spoke about what Senna meant to them and how they still miss the racing legend, decades after his tragic death.

Scarves, candles, and flowers were also placed at Senna’s statue in Imola.

Politicians from Italy, Brazil, and Austria were also there along with Ayrton Senna’s nephew, Bruno Senna.

Renata Ewbank, a big fan from Brazil, shared how much he meant to the people there, saying, “Senna was a very important person for all Brazilians, a very humble person, very dedicated with great values who taught us great lessons. And we still miss him deeply today.”

Is modern Formula 1 safe enough to remove the Tamburello chicane at Imola? Or do you agree with Peter Windsor? Let us know what you think on the matter in the comments down below.