Your Saddest Moment In F1

[Kopite Girl 0]

Oh yeah. And the day they introduced the stupid aggregate qualifying system. Thank god THATS over!

[Senna 0]

What happened. I keep hearing people mention this on the forums but i dont know what happened. In 94 i was 6 and i didnt watch alot of F1 when i was 6. Would somebody please explain what actually happened to Damon Hill in 1994.

Michael cracked under the intense pressure and hit a concrete wall. He came back onto the circuit with a fatally damaged car and deliberately hit Damon when he went to make his opportunistic overtaking manoeuvre. Damon was of course unaware that Michael could not continue, he didn

[MontoyaFan-HatesJenson 0]

Senna...

Hill retiring...

Murray Walker retiring (WHY?!)

[jimmyk 0]

hmm i have 4 All but one have been mentioned so far...

Senna's Death

Damon Hill being cheated in 94

Damon Hill Retiring

Murray Walker's last call

This may make you even sadder, but Damon wasnt cheated in 94, he simply failed to read a situation correctly....If he just lifted throttle for a moment on entry, he could have exited the chicane inside of Micheal a gear lower and blown him away,he made a choice to make contact and that contact was made ON RACING LINE...the saddest moment in 94 would be Senna's death, but next saddest is Damon putting on his skirt and trying to beat Schu with protests and unsportsmanlike behaviour, rather than utilising his superior Williams package to win WDC on the track as Ayrton, or JV would have....

[funkejay 0]

I wasn't watching F1 in '82 when GV died at Zolder (though I have seen clips of the accident since), but that would have to be one of the darkest days in F1 history, as not only was Gilles almost universally admired and liked, but also because he so epitomized the spirit of the sport (as it was in its heyday).

On a more personal note, I watched the events of the Imola race in '94 live on television, and was completely shocked. I didn't see Ratzenberger's crash live (they didn't used to televise qualifying live on Cdn television back then), but instead watched the coverage of it before the live race coverage on Sunday. As a result, there was already a distinct pall over the race even before it began, and I was reeling from having just learned of RR's death, as I was a big fan of the then up and coming racer. But as anyone who watched it live will recall, it was absolutely UNTHINKABLE that anything like that could ever happen to Senna, he was just too good to ever make a serious enough mistake, and the generally accepted wisdom was that the Williams cars were so well engineered that a catastrophic failure seemed impossible.

But the most interesting thing of all, was that I watched the race again later that evening (they always used to replay the races at midnight on Sunday) and the coverage was totally different. As I recall, that morning they showed the Italian feed of the race, which had been directly controlled by the director and his crew who were all on site. They were aware that members of Senna's family were also at the track and were watching the race on TV's located around the paddock, and, in a demonstration of tremendous sensitivity (which I fear we would never see in today's time) the director decided not to show the events as they unfolded, in deferrence to the family. It was not until I watched the international feed later that evening that I saw the full extent of the carnage, and witnessed the immediate aftermath from the overhead shots provided by the helicopter mounted cameras. They showed the entire event, in real time, from the moment of the crash, through the excrutiatingly delayed extraction of Senna from his car, to his transport into the ambulance and away from the track to the circuit medical center, and then the eventual airlift to hospital.

I have certainly seen far more grisly and explicit pictures of human suffering throughout my career as a criminal defence lawyer, but, perhaps becuase of the personal significance I attached to Senna, I shall never rid my mind of the images I saw that spring day in '94. In retrospect, it has made me appreciate even more the discretion and respect shown by the director that day.

[Wez 0]

Most definately Senna's death.

In all honesty, I don

[Senna 0]

Most definately Senna's death.

Without a doubt.

[F1 FANatic 1]

its obvious most people will say Senna's death but i did not watch F1 at the time so i cant use that as my sad moment.

My saddest moment was when i heard that Manardi was no more. they might have been the backmarkers but they always tryed to do the best they could and were the starting platform for many good drivers. With Red Bull taking over i wonder how many new drivers are going to get a chance at F1 now. Plus, it was the only car that had a diffecrent paint scheme ever race.

[schumi13 0]

Without a doubt.

To everyone that witnessed it. I suppose as I would of been to small to watch or even understand what happened I consider myself lucky I never watched it.

[Max Mosley 2]

I only vaguely remember Senna's death, being quite young at the time (and I actually wonder whether the coverage of it helped to introduce me to F1). Looking back I would say all deaths in F1 are equally sad, perhaps I even feel more sad for the less well-known drivers. Having said that they all willingly accept the risks as Wez's DC quote illustrates (in another thread).

[ecapdeville 0]

To everyone that witnessed it. I suppose as I would of been to small to watch or even understand what happened I consider myself lucky I never watched it.

You are very unlucky, you never saw Senna drive...and believe me, its a shame