April 29th is 30 years to the day since Rubens Barrichello’s accident on the Friday of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix weekend.
Up until the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix, there have been 1,106 official world championship grands prix in Formula 1. Among them, none is as ingrained in F1’s collective memory as the tragic 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, with Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna’s fatal accidents. The 1994 Imola weekend was already shadowed by Rubens Barrichello’s horrifying crash, just a day before Ratzenberger’s accident on April 30th, 1994. Barrichello miraculously survived with minor injuries after a 95g impact, which would be unthinkable today. Ratzenberger’s fatal crash, with a record-breaking 500g impact, deeply affected Senna, who tragically lost his life the next day while leading the race. The events of that weekend left an indelible mark on the history of Formula 1.
