Three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident whilst leading the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the 14 Gran Premio di San Marino) was a Formula One motor race held on 1 May 1994 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, located in Imola, Italy. It was the third race of the 1994 Formula One World Championship. Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger and three-time world champion Ayrton Senna were killed in separate accidents during the event. Michael Schumacher, driving for Benetton won the race. Nicola Larini, driving for Ferrari, scored the first points of his career when he finished in second position. Mika Hkkinen finished third in a McLaren.
Fatalities and injuries at this Grand Prix proved to be a major turning point in both the 1994 season, and in the development of Formula One itself, particularly with regard to safety. In addition to the two fatalities, other incidents saw driver Rubens Barrichello injured and several mechanics and spectators injured. The deaths were the first fatalities in the Formula One World Championship since the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix, and the first with two driver deaths since the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix.
The race led to an increased emphasis on safety in the sport as well as the reforming of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association after a 12-year hiatus, and the changing of many track layouts and car designs. Since the race, numerous regulation changes have been made to slow Formula One cars down and new circuits incorporate large run-off areas to slow cars before they collide with a wall. Senna was given a state funeral in his home town of So Paulo, Brazil, where around 500,000 people lined the streets to watch the coffin pass. Italian prosecutors charged six people with manslaughter in connection with Senna's death, all of whom were later acquitted. The case took more than 11 years to conclude due to an appeal and a retrial following the original verdict of not guilty.
As a result of increased standards in safety following this race, there was a 20-year gap between the deaths of Ratzenberger and Senna, and the crash of Jules Bianchi at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix which led to his death the following year.
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, which became the FIA Formula One World Championship in 1981, has been one of the premier forms of racing around the world since its inaugural season in 1950. The word formula in the name refers to the set of rules to which all participants' cars must conform. A Formula One season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, which take place worldwide on both purpose-built circuits and closed public roads.
A points system is used at Grands Prix to determine two annual World Championships: one for drivers, the other for constructors. Each driver must hold a valid Super Licence, the highest class of racing licence issued by the FIA. The races must run on tracks graded "1" (formerly "A"), the highest grade-rating issued by the FIA.Formula One cars are the fastest regulated road-course racing cars in the world, owing to very high cornering speeds achieved through the generation of large amounts of aerodynamic downforce. The cars underwent major changes in 2017, allowing wider front and rear wings, and wider tyres, resulting in peak cornering forces near 6.5 lateral g and top speeds of around 350 km/h (215 mph). As of 2021, the hybrid engines are limited in performance to a maximum of 15,000 rpm; the cars are dependent on electronics and aerodynamics, suspension and tyres. Traction control, launch control, and automatic shifting, plus other electronic driving aids, were first banned in 1994. They were briefly reintroduced in 2001, and have more recently been banned since 2004 and 2008, respectively.With the average annual cost of running a team – designing, building, and maintaining cars, pay, transport – being approximately US$247 million, its financial and political battles are widely reported. On 23 January 2017, Liberty Media completed the acquisition of the Formula One Group, from private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners for $8 billion.