F1 champion Ayrton Senna remembered on Imola track 30 years after his death

At 2:17 PM (12:17 GMT), a minute of silence was held and flowers were laid down at the Tamburello curve to observe the exact time and place that the 34-year-old Senna crashed.

FILE PHOTO: An Ayrton Senna fan visiting the racing driver’s grave, thirty years after his death. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

The 30th anniversary of three-time F1 champion Ayrton Senna’s death wass commemorated with a memorial on the Imola track where he crashed during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali was joined on Wednesday by politicians from Brazil and Italy, plus a representative from Austria to also recall fellow Formula One driver Roland Ratzenberger, who died a day earlier during qualifying.

At 2:17 PM (12:17 GMT), a minute of silence was held and flowers were laid down at the Tamburello curve to observe the exact time and place that the 34-year-old Senna crashed into a concrete wall at about 300 kmph (185 mph).

Then, flowers were also laid down at the Villeneuve corner only slightly further down the track where the 33-year-old Ratzenberger crashed. Ratzenberger’s father was among the announced attendees.

Senna, the Brazilian driver who won F1 titles in 1988, 1990 and 1991, was leading the race in Imola when he crashed.

Ratzenberger was an F1 rookie from Austria.

The attention around Senna’s death brought about safety improvements at the Imola track and throughout F1, resulting in shorter straights, more room around dangerous turns and less powerful engines.