How do you think Senna Died?

Can't we let it rest... please.

 

Not to sound like a Jerk and please do not take this the wrong way. The bottom line is, when it is you time to go, its your time to go. Nothing will stop it. You could look at the possibilities of how he died, but in the end it is just fate. We have seen more horrible accidents where the driver has walked way with no scratches and we have seen mere fender benders where drivers have died. Case closed, lets not analyize Senna death.

 

steering column was cut and welded back together.

the said column broke (no one knows whether it was before or after
the accident - this is the mystery).

he appeared to 'pass out' as the car when viewed by the cameras,
did not turn or attempt to turn , as demanded by the corner. all sorts
of stories here about cornering g's , how Senna holds his breath during
manouvers ..... no one knows.

the collision did not kill him.

the wheel that came loose and thumped him on the head did.

 

The wheel didn't bonk him in the head, one of the suspension arms from the right front corner folded back and pierced his visor and into his forehead. I think it was a matter of cold tires; the fellow who was driving the safety car said that Senna pulled up beside him during the full course yellow laps prior to the accident and he could see Senna's anger in his eyes that the safety car was not able to go faster and allow the F1 cars to scrub their tires at high enough speed to keep heat in them.

 

Here we go again. The steering column did not break. Telemetry shows that he turned the steering wheel and that pressure was required to do so. The car hit bumps on the road as it was lower than normal because of the cold tyres. This speared the car off the track. The suspension broke and the wheel hit him on the head and it was the force of that that killed him. So, in closing, again, the steering column did not break and no suspension parts penetrated his helmet. It's all very well documented, filmed and recorded on telemetry.....or at least that's what the documentary on tv showed me. Personally, I wasn't there nor has anyone confided in me. I LOVE how so many of you guys quote opinion/theory/folklore/rumour as fact.

 

That's what I had thought happened. I actually was there although we weren't at Tamburello and didn't see the accident. We did walk the track after the race and there was a huge splotch of blood on the pavement next to some yellow and blue marks on the wall, so I'd say it was probably the suspension that went through his head. I saw Ratzenberger's accident the day before in qualifying. Everyone seems to forget that there were two deaths that weekend.

-Steve

 

and why do we need to pontificate on Senna, what about Roland Ratzenberger who died the day b4 (what he doesn't count cos he aint senna)

and why not discuss Ronnie Petersen, but in the end WHO CARES!!

 

It's pretty sad how most people still really have no idea exactly what killed Senna, and why he crashed.

A result of the accident happening in Italy perhaps?

My beliefs are, and I find these the most likely scenarios:

1. Cause of crash was bottoming out on bumps over Tamburello due to lowered ride height due to slow safety car laps

2. Cause of death a result of blunt impact of wheel, with possible contact from suspension component. Sid Watkins would know exactly what injuries he suffered... amazingly in 11 years, noone's bothered to ask, or document the answer.

 

Steve, good point. Ratzenberger was F1's first death in 12 years and no one makes mention of the fact that Rubens ended up in the hospital and withdrew from the final qualifying session. Story has it that Williams and Senna were at Ruben's bedside, Senna with tears in his eyes when Rubens regained consciousness. Senna apparently phoned his girlfriend to say he didn't want to race on Sunday. Reported cause of death was massive head injuries received when a suspension arm from the Williams punctured his helmet.

Carol

 

You cannot clearly say that the column did not break. It is impossible to say wheather it did not not because the only person that would know for sure is dead. I think it is possible that it broke for two reasons. One, the car had already turned into the corner. All he had to do was hold his line. If the sort of massive understeer that the car would be suffering from to go off like that were present, chances are the car wouldn't have turned in too well at all. Secondly I've never seen an accident before or after that in which the steering column had broken. What makes it a more strange is that he didn't hit the wall straight on, he caught it at a slight angle which would be less stressful on the column. A straight on hit would maybe cause it to break but not a sideways blow. I think perhaps the column had been damaged or partially cracked which would explain how the telemtry was able to register two steering inputs. The crash pretty much finished it off. The whole concept that he passed out is just plain stupid. Telemetry also shows that he was working to save the car till the last possible moment. it's broken down to the tenth or hundreth of a second in several books but i read it in "As Time Goes By" by Christopher Hilton. Pretty much impossible to do if your passed out.

 

I forgot to mention, I also saw the Ratzenbeger crash. It made me sick to my stomach. Roland should be remembered too.

 

I think it was the aliens who crashed at Roswell and who were the original citizens of the lost city of Atlantis...

Saying to just let it rest is best. I really don't care and as most sane people on Fchat know, nothing is 100% dependable in racing. I'd much rather dwell on his crazy qualifying performances or his wheel to wheel battles with Prost than thinking of how some of the most respected, even legendary names in F1 have plotted to kill.

Was his steering tampered with, I don't care and do not want to dwell on what ifs. Was Senna one of the greatest of all time, most definitely. I'd much rather see what if discussion on something like Senna making season opener predictions of a title factoring collision with his arch rival.

RocketBoy

 

I have seen pics in brazilian magazine showing his helmet. You could see a hole as if a sword had gone through .

 

Sort of like you just did?

The wheel came off and HIT HIM IN THE HEAD. A suspension piece pierced is visor and KILLED HIM. There are pictures of his helmet, blood on his driver suit (that can be seen from the helicopter views during the live broadcast) and NO ONE has refuted this. The medical director, Dr. Sid Watkins also said as much. He knew it was hopeless when he arrived at the scene of the accident. That is what killed him.

He did in fact try to turn his wheel, but if the shaft broke BELOW the telemetry pick up point, it would still register as him turning, but the wheels would not turn. Would you care to explain why his wheel appears to fall into his lap just before the footage of the accident ends? Did you see the pictures of his streering column? Where it broke is a classic example of brittle facture. This means it was already failing and had cracks in it before the accident. And the telemetry does not measure steering pressure, merely that the wheel is turning.

 

This is a stupid thread......Senna is gone, he died at the wheel of his F1 car, and the racing world, actually, not just the racing world, but the "world", is poorer becasue of it. End of story.
Let him rest in peace.

Mario Andretti said it best ..."unfortunately, racing is also this...."


hps

 

Does anyone have any decent pics of Senna in a McLaren, etc.? I was trying to find a good one of Donington 1993 this weekend for my background, but to no avail.

In his biography they go into a bit, I tend to agree with Sean F. He didn’t die immediately either, they had him on life support IIRC for a few hours in the hospital before his family decided he wouldn’t want to live like this. The upright went in like a sword as Amenasce points out, and one can only imagine… I’m not a fan of San Marino’s policy of having to find someone liable for the death though. It’s racing, Senna knew what he was involved in.

 

Apparently not....

 

Is any of the info presented here actually from the copious trial transcripts? I remember seeing a website that had "pics" of the welded steering column...

 

does anyone understand that hitting a wall at the speed senna hit, what it would do to your internal organs, the thorax kinda gets crushed, the spinal column goes forward enough to explode the heart. forgetting the head injuries, his body would have been mushed, internally.

 

Simple, racing is dangerous.

It says so on your ticket.

 

and then some...........

 

nonsense. The human body is incredibly resiliant and compliant in that way. E. Fittipaldi hit the wall at Michigan and the onboard telemetry recorded over 50 G's at impact. He was going over 150mph. He survived.

There have been many impacts that have occured with recorded telemetry that were much harder than Sennas. His death was not due to simply the impact, but the wheel hitting him in the head. Whether a suspension part pierced his visor I do not know.

I have never heard of a single racing accident that resulted in the type of injuries you describe. "Exploding heart".... please.

Most deaths from these high G impacts are due to head injury. Like Greg Moores accident.



Terry