The 1994 Formula One Conspiracy
Conspiracy theorists love to point out that sometimes, conspiracy theories turn out to be true. Well, of course they do. Conspiracies are often discovered. One famous one surrounds the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, which resulted in the deaths of two drivers, including that greatest of all motorsports heroes, Ayrton Senna.
It was one of the worst races ever held. In qualifying, driver Rubens Barrichello was knocked into a coma in one of the most horrific crashes ever seen. Later, F1 rookie Roland Ratzenberger was killed when he plowed into a tire barrier, dying from a basal skull fracture. All this before the race even started.
And once it did start, it got worse. An accident on the starting grid sent tires over the fence and into the spectators, injuring nine people. Two laps later, Senna, leading the race, went off the track and hit the wall, dying from a suspension bar that penetrated his helmet. This caused a long delay, sending shockwaves throughout the racing world. And then the race restarted again, and still the mayhem continued. A tire flew off a car in the pit lane, sending four mechanics to the hospital. The whole race weekend has been frequently described as a kind of bad dream, it just didn't seem real.
But racing is a dangerous sport, and we should expect such things to happen. So where was the conspiracy?
The tiny nation of San Marino is small enough that it didn't have its own race track, and so the race was actually held in Imola, Italy. Italian prosecutors ended up leveling manslaughter charges against six people, three of the heads of Senna's team and three directors of the race and the circuit. All were eventually acquitted, but two of the cases dragged on for eleven years.
It seems silly to charge people with manslaughter when someone dies in a racing accident, doesn't it? Formula One even threatened Italy with pulling all future races, saying that they wouldn't race there if they had to be liable for criminal prosecution for accidents.
But it wasn't as simple as that.
Italy has a law stating that when anyone is killed in a sporting event, that event is cancelled to allow for an investigation. Finished. Done. No exceptions. But let's see, after Ratzenberger's death, the event continued. And it even continued after Senna's death. How could that be? The race weekend should have been cancelled when Ratzenberger died. If it had been, the spectators and the mechanics would never have been injured, and Ayrton Senna would have survived.
The allegation is that Formula One and the medical staff conspired to keep the deaths of both Ratzenberger and Senna secret until they had physically left the circuit in medevac helicopters; the law applies to deaths inside the confines of the venue. Both men's times of death are listed after they left the track. So far as I'm aware, no legal action has followed this particular thread; prosecutors can't really second guess the attending physicians who were there. But there have been conflicting announcements by doctors. Some have said both men died instantly, some have said both were still breathing until after they left the circuit. Basal skull fractures almost always cause instant death, and Senna's head injuries were extensive, traumatic, and not survivable. The blood loss alone was rumored to have filled the footwell of his car.
Millions of dollars would have been lost by multiple parties had the race been cancelled. The track administrators alone stood to lose $6.5 million.
That circumstances favored theoretical conspirators does not prove a conspiracy took place. As I often say, every tragedy benefits someone somehow. Did this one happen?
Um …
“One famous one surrounds the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, which resulted in the deaths of two drivers, including that greatest of all motorsports heroes, Ayrton Senna.”
“In qualifying, driver Rubens Barrichello was knocked into a coma in one of the most horrific crashes ever seen.”
“And once it did start, it got worse.”
“This caused a long delay, sending shockwaves throughout the racing world.”
“The whole race weekend has been frequently described as a kind of bad dream, it just didn’t seem real.”
Are you, Brian Dunning, now writing for the Daily Mail, or the National Enquirer, or something like that?
I haz got losts on the Interwebz Highwayz .. thought I waz at Skeptiblog.
As a friend points out, there’s a difference between an actual conspiracy and a conspiracy theory. Given that we have conflicting doctors’ statements on the record, there’s empirical evidence to at least argue for a conspiracy, so this isn’t a conspiracy theory.
This is an unexpected entry. It might have been better suited to a specific collection of conspiracy stories. I suppose that it is not entirely out of place, following Dr. Shermer’s JFK piece. (I don’t follow racing, and I had never heard of this incident.) Still, “follow the money.” It’s not hard to believe that the stakeholders could get wrapped up in such a thing. NASA insisted launching Challenger when it was too cold–they had to get that teacher into space so that she could do her lesson for the kids. Great PR. Big mistake. (Admittedly, that’s my semi-informed take on the thing, but there you are.)
It wasn’t so much about the teacher in space as about “flying out the manifest.” Teacher in space was only part of that–they were pursuing an ambitious schedule that year (to justify the Shuttle’s existence as “routine access to space” with fast turnaround times) and failure to launch Challenger within that certain window would have caused delays down the line for the following missions.
True enough, I expect. However, the stories were all about Christa MacAuliffe and her lesson plan. It was sugary-sweet baloney and the news anchors were absolutely orgasmic presenting the whole thing to their audiences. NASA went overboard and the fallout was the worse for it. Of course they must have good PR to secure funding, but they really need to stick to science. They seemed to have learned this.
C’mon Brian, this is not the time or place for this kind of gutter gob-shite !!
Barrichello’s crash was spectacular but hardly enough to stop a race. Ayrton Senna was indeed a great driver but his death was human error, both his and his teams.
Roland Ratzenberger’s death was avoidable. Speed can kill, even today.
High speed crashes kill that much quicker.
In sport, as in all forms of competition, truth is stretched to breaking point in the face of tragedy.
Stick to chats about Our Lady of Guadeloupe, and steer clear of “semi-informed takes “.
Err… Brian’s point was not whether the deaths could be prevented or not, but whether the pilots were already dead before leaving the venue or not. If they were, the race should have been stopped in accordance to Italian law. So there is at least some reason to wonder if it was just an uncoordinated sequence of actions where doctors were simply worried with saving the lives of the victims or an actual conspiracy by the race coordinators in order to not lose quite a bit of money.
Andiis, you should read and understand an article prior to responding to it. Every argument you throw up is a straw man. The article didn’t suggest that Barrichello’s crash was enough to stop a race. Nor, does Brian debate that speed can kill. The article discusses whether Ratzenberger actually died on the track which should have stopped the race under Italian law.
A conspiracy is simply whenever two or more people agree to commit a crime.
I would say “no”, its not a conspiracy. I doubt anyone who was attending the victims would be cognoscente of where they pronounce the person dead. Their immediate goal is to provide as much assistance as possible. Few racing deaths are declared on-scene. Many horrific injuries are survivable, so declaring the victims death prematurely helps nobody, but a delayed pronouncement harms nobody. Conversely, declaring the persons death on-scene could prevent further medical treatment that could have helped saved that persons life.
Senna was very well liked, so I can understand how this death, instead of others, draws the conspiracy theories.
And ignore these other guys. I enjoy this. I await a future post shedding light on this from your perspective.
” And ignore these other guys.”
At your peril dear sir, at your peril ! But seriously, does BD know the Senna family , has he met with officials from that day ?…in short does he have a new perspective to bring to this tragedy that those of with a love of F1 racing, and its history have not already explored ?
I have been fascinated by some of BD’s writings and pods over the years, just not this one.
What does any of that have to do with the article or the question posed therein? From skimming through the comments, I can surmise that you have an uncanny ability to completely misunderstand everything.
Interesting article Brian- I do follow F1 and I was always under the impression that both Ratzenberger and Senna, died instantly, however I was unaware of the Italian law regarding this. It is interesting when most commentators these days, and even documentaries I have seen/read regarding the death of Senna seem to indicate that when the suspension hit him, his death was pretty much immediate. It would not surprise me that the time of death was noted as after both drivers left the track, as F1 is all about the money, and as you say the losses would have been substantial. F1 also has a history of conspiracies some found ie ‘crashgate’ others not (I don’t know- by definition).
I think you also raise an interesting point regarding conspiracies and conspriacy theories, conspiracies do exist, and have done in the past and will in the future, and skeptics should be careful not to dismiss any conspiracy claim out of hand. However unlike Dr Shermer, we should be careful not to be taken in by some due to our world view as well.
Oldskool,
Not sure if I am reading your last paragraph correctly. Are you saying that Shermer has been taken in by conspiracy theories because of his ideology? It seemed to me that he was debunking conspiracy theories in his previous piece. Which ones does he believe in?
Read the review of Cool it!
Sounds to me like he is somewhat of a climate change denier, therefore he believes that 98% of climate change scientists are involved in a conspiracy.
Further reading: Sid Watkins (F1’s dedicated doctor, retd.) has two books which include these incidents:
http://www.amazon.com/Life-at-Limit-Sid-Watkins/dp/0333657748
http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Limit-Sid-Watkins/dp/0330481967
I don’t have my copy to hand so this is a remembered fragment, but he does mention the declaration of time of death off-circuit, but says that he believes Senna died at the track, while Watkins was attending. I don’t quite recall how he treated the ratzenberger case.
I’ve met Watkins, got his signature on Life At The Limit. Personal impresions don’t count for a lot, but I believe him to be a very honourable chap who wouldn’t actively conspire to certify the deaths off-circuit. I think it probably just happened that way due to procedural chaos – medivac the crash victims ASAP, and take stock while in transit. Watkins is/was also one of the few people Bernie Ecclestone defers to “without question”. If Sid wants it, Sid gets it, so the story goes.
Brian, I suspect Sid would be amenable to a chat if you can get in touch with him. IIRC he still has a neurosurgery post at the London hospital, though probably retired by now.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Watkins
I have read many articles regarding the death of Ayrton Senna, including an autobiography by his former teammate Gerhard Berger. Berger states that after the race he went to the hospital where Ayrton was technically still alive. (hooked upto live support.
Not many articles where written about Ratzenberger as he was in his first year of driving in F1 with a lowly ranked team. Both Frank Williams and Patrick Head (owners of the Williams team) were charged with manslaughter and after many years cleared.
Was it driver error, who knows, there were many theories that welding of the steering wheel failed etc. All I know is that world became a worse place with the loss of Ayrton Senna – but gained a great humanitarian with the creation of the Ayrton Senna Foundation.
Brian, I am a HUGE Formula 1 fan. This is a refreshing post. I knew about the deaths of Senna and Ratzenberger, but I’d never heard of the other incidents on that tragic day. In F1, you must ALWAYS follow the money!
While I agree that it seems likely that the times of death were unduly postponed, I’m not convinced that it’s a conspiracy.
For it to qualify as a conspiracy there would have to be actual deliberation between multiple individuals. Since the dead or dying drivers had to get on the copters anyway, and the physicians knew how much weighed on their shoulders, it was just so easy to wait just another 20 seconds before proclaiming death. What’s the harm, right?
When really big sums of money are involved people cut ethical and legal corners all the time and no one has to tell them to do so.
Well it’s at least got more plausibility than most conspiracy theories. There’s always been a ‘show must go on’ mentality about racing after all, and Mr. Ecclestone and friends are about nothing if not the money. In Dr. Steve Olvey’s book about being the CART/Indycar chief medic there’s a statement to at least support the idea that the awareness of the ramifications of declaring a driver dead is in the minds of doctors at the track – from memory (I could be recalling the wrong incident here) it was with regard to the death of Gordon Smiley in 1982 at Indianapolis, basically the driver was, how to put it tastefully, *very* dead – which then caused legal complications when the death was declared at the track, so the doctors agreed that henceforth a driver would only be declared dead if he was either incinerated or decapitated.
But my feeling is that it’s not a conspiracy but the old story of ‘never attribute to malice what can be attributed to…’ not to stupidity of course in this case, but urgency or the instinct to get the driver to hospital. I’ve read Dr. Watkins book mentioned above and massive improvements to safety and rapid intervention he pioneered have saved several lives (Mika Hakkinen, Martin Donnelly, Alex Zanardi come to mind), of drivers who in a road crash would’ve been dead for certain. I think Zanardi was two minutes from bleeding to death, and Hakkinen was not breathing until a tracheotemy was performed at trackside. So when you’ve encountered situations like that where every second counts it’s understandable that even though Dr. Watkins admits he pretty much knew Senna was dead, he made every effort to get Senna to the medical helicopter and to hospital. And that’s all with hindsight of course.
well, let’s not forget gerhard berger, who diceided to stop the race, only later discovering that his car was hit by debris( a camera of another car) wich might have let to an accident for him as well.
as for the doctors and the time of death-conspiracy… that would be highly unlikey given the personal realtionship of the F1 doctor at the time Dr. Sid Watkins and Senna.