The Emilia Romagna Grand prix is one of the historic races in Formula 1 history. Before Monza, it was the home to the Italian Grand prix, and recently it returned to Formula 1 as the Emilia Romagna Grand prix. It is also the home of many automobile brands known as the Motor Valley.
There resides the Enzo Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari race track. It is one of the old school tracks with narrow corners, which is too dangerous for racing. Over the years, there have been many incidents in Imola, and one such incident even took the life of one of the greatest F1 drivers Ayrton Senna. Let us rewatch those incidents one by one.
Watch the Biggest Crashes happened in F1 Imola GP
5. George Russell and Valtteri Bottas- 2021
Russell was a Williams Driver back then, and Bottas was driving for the Mercedes F1 team. During the Imola Grand prix in 2021, Russell tried to overtake Bottas in the straights. But Bottas, trying to defend his position, moved towards his right, pushing the Williams driver into the grass.
As Russell went into the grass, he spun, taking down Bottas alongside him, and both cars suffered significant damage. The two drivers blamed each other for the crash, and it was considered a racing incident by the FIA.
4. Michele Alboreto - 1991
Italian Racing driver Michele Alboreto was driving for the Arrows team. As he was racing, he approached the Tamburello corner, which is the most dangerous and high-speed corner of the track. He crashed into the wall, and his car erupted in flames. Luckily, Alboreto escaped with minor injuries.
3. Rubens Barrichello - 1994
The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was a fateful year for Formula 1. Three days and three big crashes, and it claimed two lives. During the Friday Practice session, Jordan driver Rubens Barrichello crashed his car into the fence after he ran over a kerb at the Variante Bassa Chicane. The massive crash broke his nose, and he suffered a concussion. He was lucky to survive because the other two drivers weren’t.
2. Roland Ratzenberger - 1994
The first unlucky driver was Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger. He went to qualifying and as he approached the Villeneuve corner, his front wing broke, which led him to ram the wall at a very high speed with a 500G impact. His helmet didn’t help him as he had a Fatal skull fracture, which ended his life. His friend Ayrton Senna ran for his rescue but it was already over.
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1. Ayrton Senna -1994
After seeing his friend Roland Ratzenberger die in qualifying, Senna didn't want to race at the San Marino Grand prix. But the organisers didn't agree with Senna’s call for a boycott and continued with the race.
The Brazilian driver scored a pole position in Qualifying ahead of Michael Schumacher. In the main race, he carried an Austrian flag to pay tribute to his late friend Roland. He planned to wave the flag after winning the race. But fate had other plans, as Senna was defending hard against a young Michael Schumacher at the most dangerous Tamburello corner, his steering column broke, and he lost control.
Ayrton crashed straight into the wall at a very high speed, similar to Roland’s crash. His suspension broke, and the parts pierced his helmet into his head, and Senna was immediately brain-dead. He was air-lifted to the hospital but was declared dead even before the race was over. This Imola track took away one of the greatest racing drivers in history. But the deaths have changed Formula 1 drivers' safety standards forever, and we race in Imola this weekend with the drivers having safer cars with all safety measures.
Also Read: F1 2025 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix Schedule, race timings, F1 teams and drivers standings & when and where to watch the race
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