Читать книгу Judicial investigation. The death of Senna - Dmitry Nazarov - Страница 5

We see not only vivid images in the magical world of Formula 1, but often cynical relationships. Horror and outrage reign in the headlines of all the news.

On Monday, May 2, the President of the Italian Republic, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, immediately contacted the Minister of Justice to find out what initiatives the judiciary had taken in connection with the events in Imola.

On the same day, a telephone call from the Minister to the Attorney General of Bologna launches the process of investigating the double incident of the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna.

Oscar Luigi Scalfaro sent an official fax to the President of Brazil with the text: «This tragedy saddened me and the millions of people who admired Senna in Italy and around the world. In this regard, I want to convey to you a feeling of deepest condolences. The judiciary in Bologna has already initiated an investigation process. I am very sorry that the race was not abandoned after such a disaster.»

The official investigation is headed by prosecutor Maurizio Passarini, who was handed a document from above indicating the plan of action and the main stages of the investigation. Passarini immediately gets to work.

The track at Imola has been suspended. Ratzenberger and Senna’s car is under guard.

On May 3, at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, by order of the prosecutor’s office, an autopsy of the bodies of pilots is carried out, in the morning of Senna, in the afternoon of Ratzenberger. The results show that both were fatally injured at the time of the accident.

After that, there were even more questions to the direction of the race and the medical authorities. There were accusations that the resuscitation procedures carried out with Ayrton were more in line with the interest of the organizers of the race. After all, the leadership understood the gravity of the situation.

At the same time, according to the doctors, the medical staff did everything right. Realizing that the pilot’s heart was still beating, the rescue team could not think of anything else but to provide assistance and immediately send the victim to the hospital.

On the same day, Senna’s body leaves the forensic examination building on a plane specially provided by the Italian government. He is sent to Paris to Charles de Gaulle Airport, where he is transferred to a flight of a Brazilian airline, ready to go home, accompanied by his younger brother Leonardo, friends and close journalists.

Especially for this case, the passenger board receives permission to place the coffin in the cabin. After 12 hours of flight in the early morning of May 4, the plane appears over the runway of the airport in São Paulo.

Ayrton’s coffin, covered with the Brazilian flag on a fire truck, accompanied by a guard of honor, makes a 30-kilometer journey to the city center, where a farewell ceremony was organized in the building of the local legislative assembly. The total number of people who came out to see Senna on their last journey is estimated at several million.

Next to Ayrton, the whole family and loved ones. The flow of people was endless. Brazilian President Itamar Franco declared three days of mourning in the country, canceled all official meetings and also attended the ceremony.

A dozen and a half former and current Formula 1 drivers, team leaders Ron Dennis and Frank Williams arrive in Sao Paulo.

Frank Williams: «I feel terrible. It will be hard for anyone to forget this damned weekend in Imola. But you have to understand that we are the first to want to find out as soon as possible what happened to Senna’s car.»

On May 5, Ayrton Senna was buried at the Morumbi Cemetery, Sao Paulo.

Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has also arrived in Brazil. However, he was denied permission to participate in the ceremony. The family of the Brazilian racer blames the organizers of the championship for everything.

Leonardo Senna: «Like after several accidents in previous years, there is still no protection in this corner. The fact that no one had died there before was just luck, Ayrton was unlucky, he got into a situation that became fatal for him. If there was protection, maybe tires or gravel, he would be with us now. This upsets many. Because in Formula 1, people seem to only care about money, that’s all.»

Three days after the accident at the FIA building in Paris, journalist Roberto Cobrini fished out Ecclestone to ask if it was true that immediately after the incident, he said the phrase Ayrton was dead to Leonardo present in the paddock. Adding that an announcement about it, they will make later. Bernie replied that at that moment he did not understand well the information coming from the doctors by radio. The words «HEAD» sounded like «Grandfather» to him. And ten minutes later he hastened to apologize to Leonardo. Ecclestone showed a fax from Bologna. In which it was said that Senna’s death was ascertained at 18:40, four hours after dispatch. In the Ecclestone hospital, when asked if he was aware of the autopsy results, which say that the fatal injury was received at the time of the impact? Ecclestone said that at the time, no one told him about the pilot’s condition, nothing specific. At the same time, he was getting all the information he needed to make sure the race went ahead.

On May 6, in Salzburg, on the site near the crematorium, they say goodbye to Roland Ratzenberger. The ceremony is much more modest, only about 250 people from the pilots, teammate David Brabham, as well as Friendsen, Wendlinger, Lauda and Berger and Herbert, who have just arrived from Brazil. FIA President Max Mosley is present at parting with the Austrian pilot.

In the first days of May, immediately after the San Marino Grand Prix, prosecutor Maurizio Passarini organizes the investigation. An initial inspection of the remains of cars is being carried out. In the cockpit of Williams Senna, a folded Austrian flag was discovered. The Brazilian expected to lift it at the finish line in memory of Ratzenberger.

On a highway sealed off by the police in Imola, an inspection of the road surface and the accident site is being carried out. The prosecutor’s office asks to provide all available video recordings from the scene, as well as electronic control units from the cars of Senna and Ratzenberger.

It turns out that the team engineers removed them and took them with them immediately after the race. Numerous TV programs dedicated to the tragic events of the weekend analyze the episodes according to the available video frames. They invite experts from motorsport and try to understand what happened and whether there is any common cause for all these incidents in Imola.

A few days later, in the editorial office of the Italian edition of Auto Sprint, a phone call is heard from ex-Formula 1 pilot Gabriele Tarquini and asks to take a closer look at the published photographs taken at the scene of the accident by the publication’s staff photographer Angela Orse. In particular, on the steering wheel lying next to the car. It didn’t look like it was taken off the steering column at all. It lay with a broken off fragment of the steering column.

At first it was assumed that the column was cut off by rescuers during the evacuation of the pilot. But during the interview of witnesses, it turned out that none of those who arrived at the scene of the incident had committed such actions. It was already broken and in this form lay on Senna’s lap.

From that moment on, the version that the breakdown of the steering column could lead to an accident becomes a worker.

May 12 in the British press there is a message from the head of Formula 1 Bernie Ecclestone

«The death of Senna is a tragic accident. The pilot was killed by a detached front wheel.»

International Automobile Federation President Max Mosley echoes his words while speaking out in defense of Imola’s concrete walls. The same report suggests that Senna would not have been injured if the front wheel had gone ten centimeters to the side or above his head.

According to experts, the contact of the car with the wall occurs at a not very large, but as it turned out very unfortunate angle of 22 degrees. At the same time, the speed at the time of the collision is enormous, two hundred and eleven kilometers per hour according to telemetry, two hundred and sixteen kilometers per hour according to the calculations of the prosecution experts.

The front right wheel, hitting the wall, is preparing to converge with the open part of the cockpit, Ayrton, in turn, moves towards the fatal blow. For a moment, the wheel is right between the cockpit and the wall. The black mark on the car from the rubber indicates the contact zone. One of the elements of the front suspension fixed on the wheel, bending in the direction of the pilot’s head, passes to the very edge of the upper vulnerable part of the helmet under the sealing gum and penetrates Senna’s head. The helmet is strongly affected by the metal suspension elements of the front wheel. Which at the same moment, soars up and Williams is applied to the concrete with his rear wheel.

The blow, which seemed to take place along a tangent trajectory, nevertheless turns out to be quite dense. The cockpit on the right side cracked, and on the left it completely dispersed along the entire height of the wall.

The concrete wall, twenty centimeters thick, moved away a little at the impact site.

May 17 Maurizio Passarini appoints a group of expert appraisers. Which within two months it was necessary to present to the investigation their conclusions about the incidents. Among them are sports and road specialists, representatives of the traffic police, forensic experts, scientists from the University of Bologna, former Formula 1 engineers Mauro Forghiere and Tommaso Carletti, ex-pilot Emanuele Pirro. They are joined by Williams’ engineer Giorgio Stirana, as well as three experts appointed by Sajaz.

In relation to the manslaughter hypothesis, nine members of the Williams team initially appear, including Frank Williams himself. Five people from the Sintec team, including the owner and technical director of the team, Nick Wirth, as well as two leaders of Sajaz, the promoter of races in Imola and the director of the circuit itself.

May 18 Passarini receives a Renault engine control unit. It is also a data logging unit that acted as a black box on Senna’s machine.

It turns out that over the past two-plus weeks, the block has been reused by Renault’s sports department. For this reason, the data containing the seventh lap readings of the San Marino Grand Prix was copied. First on a laptop computer and then moved to a floppy disk. And in this form they were transferred to the judicial system.

At the same time, the second control unit installed by Williams engineers, according to the team, was broken.

On May 25, Passarini, together with appointed experts, inspect the remains of the cars. A photographic sample is being taken, and Giorgio Stirana, Patrick Head, and Charlie Whiting are present, accompanied by a team of FIA technicians. At the same time, the Sipromo company, appointed by the prosecutor, is inspecting the road surface of Imola, and the Sarita company is carrying out topographic work.

As for the Ratzenberger accident, the engineers of the Sintec team immediately pointed out the telemetry data to the investigation. They showed that on his previous lap Roland drove a greater distance than usual. This proved that the Austrian pilot had gone off the track. And apparently returned to her, damaging the front fender. Which then could not withstand a large aerodynamic load, broke and fell under the front wheels of the car, between the Tamburello and Villeneuve turns.

As a result, the driver lost control at a speed of 314.9 kilometers per hour. A little later, photos appeared showing how Ratzenberger returns to the track through the curb in a toze.

Initially, Passarini asks for an investigation into Nico Wirth and his subordinates. But in the end he decides not to file a case against the Simtek team.

Maurizio Passarini:

«Ratzenberger’s crash was due to damage to the car resulting from a drive off the track, not a design or construction error.»

At the end of June, the dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Bologna, Professor Enrico Lorenzini, informed Passarini of his findings. Under his leadership, laboratory studies of the steering column of Williams Senna were carried out at the Institute of Metallurgy. And it turned out that it was originally modified. The original tube that forms the basis of the column was cut off at the junction of the bracket. A new element in the form of a tube of smaller diameter was added to it. Which was fixed on both sides by welding.

According to Professor Lorenzini’s report, the weld caused premature fatigue failure of the material of the new column element near the weld, which, in his opinion, caused the pilot to lose control of the machine.

Enrico Lorenzini:

«She was poorly cooked, could not stand the stress of the race. We found fatigue cracks near the seam on the rod itself. There were also traces of a tool on the part, someone was trying to smooth the joint after welding. It seemed that the work was done in a hurry. I believe that the column was faulty, probably cracked during training. And a few moments before the accident, only a small piece remained, connecting the two parts together. Therefore, the car did not react to the turn».

Studies conducted using an electron microscope revealed signs of obvious metal fatigue at the break point. On June 28, all the specialists involved in the investigation, as well as Williams engineers, were invited to the Institute of Metallurgy. On the microscope screen, they were also shown the characteristic traces of metal fatigue.

The source of crack propagation was initially located in the upper crescent of the tube. The examination showed that 70 percent of the circumference had signs of fatigue failure even before the accident. In this place, there were traces of friction and cyclic stresses between the two parts. The results were similar to data from another examination conducted earlier in the military aerospace laboratory by the practice of demaro.

Experts appointed by the Williams team confirmed signs of fatigue, but disagreed with the percentage. They estimated that only 35 percent of the circumference had a fatigue crack, while 65 percent continued to hold the load. The column, in their opinion, retained sufficient strength until it hit the wall.

Two and a half months after Senna’s death, in the final of the World Cup, the Brazilian team beat Italy in a penalty shoot-out, winning their fourth league title. After the match, celebrating the victory, the Brazilian players unfurl a banner that reads, «Senna we accelerate together. Our fourth title».

By this time, Passarini had interrogated Patrick Head, who was already under investigation. And also Damon Hill, who drove the second car for the Williams team. In early autumn on September 9, before the start of the Italian Grand Prix weekend, the prosecutor travels to Monza, where he arranges a meeting with Williams’ chief designer, Adrian Newey. Who is being questioned as a witness.

Passarini finds out that the modification to the steering column was made by the engineers in response to Senna’s requests for a little more hand room in the cockpit.

At McLaren, the Brazilian got used to the free position of the hands. The steering was located high there, and the steering wheel familiar to him was about 30 centimeters in diameter. In Williams, on the contrary, they used a low steering position. The steering wheel was hidden behind the walls of the cockpit and was of a smaller diameter. Ayrton wanted to have a familiar steering wheel, but it did not work out to increase it. To do this, it would be necessary to change the design of the machine. But as for the space for the hands, here the engineers go to meet him and try to slightly change the position of the steering.

In his book I’m How to Build a Machine, Adrian New writes:

«In the cockpit, he was cramped, his hands rubbed against the inner walls. He wanted the handlebars a little lower to have more hand clearance. It was necessary to move the steering wheel down a couple of millimeters. But we had to keep in mind the provisions of the FIA rules.»

Article 13 of the 1994 Formula 1 Technical Regulations describes the requirements for the dimensions of the interior of the cockpit. A free vertical and cross-section having a minimum width and height of 25 centimeters with a maximum corner radius of 5 centimeters must be maintained along the entire length of the cockpit, with the steering wheel removed.

Representatives of the FIA, using a template in the form of an aluminum plate, could at any time place it inside the cockpit and draw it along the entire length to the pedals. If he got stuck somewhere, then the car would be recognized as not complying with the rules.

Trying to lower the steering column, the engineers realized that they did not fit into the regulations.

Adrian Newey:

«If we just lowered the steering wheel, we would not pass the test. We have done the following. Locally reduced the diameter of the steering column by four millimeters».

At the same time, Passarini receives a video cassette with a recording made by the on-board video camera located on Senna’s car. He wonders why the video recording took so long to reach him. After all, Frank Williams had it just a few days after the accident.

In January 1995, a group of experts from the University of Bologna, headed by Lorenzini, formalizes their work into an official report of six hundred pages and hands it over to Passarini. It follows from it that the accident occurred due to a breakdown of the modified steering column.

In February, Passarini, submits reports on the incidents of Senna and Ratzenberger to the district attorney’s office in Balonna. After that, he sends a report, asking that a member of the Williams team, as well as the management of the track, be charged.