The Senna case is over The Italian appeal court has finally closed the book on the case surrounding the death of Ayrton Senna, 11 years after the crash at Imola which killed the Brazilian. The court ruled that Adrian Newey, the former chief designer for Williams, was innocent of involuntary manslaughter and the case against Patrick Head, the Williams team's technical director, was dropped because of the statute of limitations. Both men were acquitted of manslaughter in 1997. That verdict was upheld at appeal in 1999 but in 2003 there was an attempt to revive the case because of errors in the procedure. MAY 27, 2005 http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns14909.html So technically this settles the debate over whether or not the Williams car was at fault. According to law, the Williams officials are not to blame.
According to Italian law the rope manufacturer is at fault if a rope breaks while you're climbing a rock. The fact that nobody told your ass to do it in the first place and knew isn't taken into considersation. Technically this settles nothing, plus i rememeber the judge saying he thought the car had a failure.
It does not matter what the judge thinks or what his personal opions are. According to the letter of the law, the Williams car and the Williams officials are not guilty. I happen to have great respect for international law and Italian law. When event takes place within a country, the law of the land must be respected. Just because it is different from our laws does not mean it is wrong! Thus, in conclusion Senna's death cannot be blamed on a faulty design or car. End of story!
In the first comprehensive biography of Senna released early last year, written by Tom Rubython, there is the strong suggestion that, aside from Senna pushing too hard on cold tyres, he may have suffered a power steering failure. The Williams team members analysing the telemetry in the pitlane were heard mentioning the power steering, and Hill was ordered by the team to switch it off for the remainder of the race. Schumacher also remarked that Senna took a slightly different line through Tamburello, making him more vunerable to the bumps.
never watch it since senna died as nobody out there can drive like him and wanted to win as much as him he was the best
There was an analysis on tv a couple of months back which showed the car grounded on a bump and lost airflow underneath the car, thus removing all downforce for a moment which removed grip and caused massive understeer.
Has anyone ever mentioned a fault in the design of the racetrack? I always though Tamburello's original design was a fatal accident waiting to happen.
The letter of who's law? An antiqated legal system? So you think the courts know more than many people in the F1 pitlane? Have you fallen down and hit your head recently? Tony is right give it a rest. Nobody, including you, or the Italian courts know for sure. And that's the end of story.
Yep. Senna was the best driver in modern F1 times. Sorry MS lovers... but your boy is 2nd. Great no doubt but not better than Senna. This season is really making the case.
The closure of this case really does not proove anything: They had to close the case because of political pressure. Mosley made it very clear, that if any guilty verdicts had come out of this case, the FIA would have no longer held neither the Imola nor the Monza race. Aside from a big letdown and shame on Italy that would have probably even caused some economic consequences as F1 racing is almost the live blood of that region. The DA deliberately missed some deadlines to file some papers so the case could be closed on a technicality. Best all around solution for everybody. Nobody looses his or her face and we can move on. Autoracing is dangerous and national/regional laws should not apply to them if you have a global governing body like the FIA. Similar situation as in Melbourne earlier this year. And as in Australia FIA's real threat to withdraw settled the issue.
I disagree with you there. It is similar to when we were discussing F1 in Singapore and what would happen to rowdy F1 fans if they littered or vandalized something! Nothing should be above the law. Do you really think that the Italian legal system would care about what the FIA wanted? Autosport events that occur in a particular country have to be under that country's legal system. Otherwise what would prevent a maniac like Juan Pablo Montoya from murdering another driver using his F1 car. (I know this is an exaguration, but we all saw his attck on the cameraman) The event that occured in Australia was not because of F1. It was because Paul Stoddart was abusing his powers in F1. It is upto the F1 community to maintain restrain over using local laws for personal gain. It is the responsiility of local law enforement and legal systems to ensure that an event on their soil takes place in accordance to their laws. The Australian courst recieved a complaint. They had to react. Paul Stoddart abused F1's international presence (once again)!
Of course events around a race should be covered under the local law. However sport related incidents such as Senna's death ought to be outside of the national legislative and governed by the organizing body (FIA). Quite frankly Italy has some weird DA. I remember the Peterson/Patrese case, which too should have never ended up in an Italian court, but only governed by the FIA. If a driver brake tests another one, that too should be regulated by the FIA only. Whether that driver was JPM 05 in Monaco or MS 04 in Monaco...
See what you are suggesting is that a sovereign nation hand over its jurisdiction over an event that occurs on its soil. Such hand over of jurisdiction will have occur through legal doccuments and goverment legislation. It is highly unlikely that an entire governmental body would deliberate on such handing over of sovereignity for a weekend event concerning 20 cars. It is best that the F1 community refrain from using local legal structures for their own personal gains rather than have 20 nations hand sovereignty of an event on their soil. The FIA cannot act as an international political organization. Just imagine Max Mosely in international affairs. (F1 would be banned around the world in no time.) What needs to happen is that as an amendment to the Concorde Agreement there whould be set guidelines as to how disputes should be handled. Any team that goes outside of that dispute resolving system (aka Minardi) should recive a season ban and maybe even a huge fine.
That court didn't find it at fault, it doesn't mean it couldn't be at fault. He drove over a bump that everyone was avoiding all day, on cold tires, he lost traction in a high speed turn and hit the wall, a wheel struck him and that's that.
Have you heard of Schapelle Corby? So the laws of Indonesia say she must spend 20 years in jail for a crime she may not have been a part of. The quick investigation was a joke, she was doomed as soon as she stepped foot off of the plane. Is her situation fair? Is it right? She is in that country and has to abide by their law so using your logic, she is where she should be, in jail for 20 years. imperial83, don't you find it odd that 98% of everyone has the opposite opinion of you? There must be somthing to that....
The Warren Commission report maintained that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone and without accomplices, shot and killed the President and wounded Texas Governor John Connally from the sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository Building in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Oswald was also declared the murderer of Police Patrolman J. D. Tippit, who tried to apprehend Oswald some 45 min after the shooting. In addition, Jack Ruby, a Dallas restaurant owner who killed Oswald the day after the assassination (Nov. 24), was found innocent of conspiracy; no connection was found between Oswald and Ruby. Does that mean the "case" is over?
Schapelle Corby could be part of a conspiracy that happened when she was boarding in Australia to go to Bali. It is possible that someone put drugs in her bag. But the fact of the matter is that when she landed. She had in her possesion drugs that mandate a 20 year prison sentence in Indonesia. Her family needs to argue with Australian authorities who possibly are allowing an illegal narcotics ring to operate in Australia. It is not Indonesia's fault that she had drugs in a possesion. A trial was held, both the defence and the prosecution made their cases. She was found guilty. It was a fair trial by Indonesia's standards. The Western World does not get to right the rules of Fairness! Just because we have more money and more weapons does not mean we write the rules of fairness. Each country has their laws. The sovereignty of each country must be respected. The decision to go to Indonesia was Schapelle Corby's decision. No one forced her to go. WIll this hurt tourism in Bali? Sure it will. That is Indonesia's problem. The fact of the matter is that Italian courst have closed the case on Senna's death. So no fault can be found with the Williams officials.
So shouldn't that person be in jail? This issue was not solved. Even if they weren't hers? So if I shoot someone and throw you the gun, does that mean you are guilty? Who said the Australian govenment is "letting" drug dealers operate? All countries have crime. Who said it was their fault? It is thier fault for not conducting a proper investigation as they said they would and that they said they did. Being found guilty in a country with unjust laws and penalties doesn't mean you are guilty of anything other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Who said I was "{w}righting" anything. I am an intelligent person who pointed out flaws in a corrupt land to prove a point. Should we turn our backs on Schapelle Corby? How about every other person who has been in her shoes? Countries try to get their troops back in times of war even if they are POW. Should they not try to get back their civilians who are on vacation? My point is, just because one place or government says one thing, it doesn't mean it's right or it's fair or even concrete. Anyone could say "change the laws over there you bastards!" But I am saying "Senna's death was caused by..." and "Schapelle Corby should not be in prison because...." I'm looking at the facts in both stories and coming up with the simple solutions based in logic.
It is a simple matter of perception. The person who put the drugs in her bag (if there was one) should go to Jail. That is the reponsibility of the Australian government. No one acused Australian govenment of harboring criminals. just in this case there might have been a narcotics ring that has caused maybe an inncoent girl to go to jail. When she landed in Indonesia she had drugs in her possesion. A crime had been commited. She had a fair trial. Just because it was not an extensive investigation OJ Simpson like trial does not mean it was not fair. Indonesia does not have Millions of Tax Dollars to blow on investigation that requires all kinsds of specialists. The Indonesian justice system found her guilty and she needs to live with that. Whether or not she gets to come back to Australia to serve her prison sentence in a Martha Stewart like prison-resort is a whole different matter. That is up to diplomacy between Indonesia and Australia. Australia has a reposibility to do that. Indonesia has the RIGHT to say NO! And all I am saying in regards to the Senna case is that the Italian courts have closed the case on Senna finding no fault with the Williams officials. It is possible than an Alien Saucer was hovering over Imola that day and zapped Senna's car with an undetectable ray gun. But according to Italian Legal records there was no fault with the Williams officials. That is all I want to say ragarding this thread!
To zealots everyone is wrong because it's a conspiracy. I suppose there is such a thing as statue of limitations... no-one wants to see Williams get punished for something that they didn't want. T.
I sure hope Schapelle Corby has a politically-connected lawyer-boyfriend who really really loves her, just like Bridget Jones did. Because then justice will be served. Whether or not anyone agrees with a country's laws and procedures misses a big issue. Formula 1 has raced in Italy for decades, and we all know that Senna's death was far from the first to happen on a race track within the Italian borders. Colin Chapman fled the country following the death of Jochen Rindt in '70, so even back then the players of F1 were very aware of the risk of prosecution in such an event. Remember the uproar during the trial about F1 threatening to never race again in Italy? Well, if you disagree with the nation's policy, yet continue to do business there, then don't kick and scream when the rules bite you in the a$$. Here's what is also scary. Italy is part of the Western world with which we are largely familiar. F1 is now reaching out to more and more parts of the world that are a little different and less familiar, frequently with different sets of laws. I will assume the FIA is well abreast of what they're dealing with.
