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Ayrton Senna is and always will be one of the greatest drivers to grace the sport of Formula 1. His unfortunate death at Imola back in 1994 is still one of the most tragic moments in the sport’s history. But we remember the three-time world champion for a lot more than the mishap.

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It was Senna’s charisma and brilliance behind the wheel that made him great. Moreover, the circumstances of his death changed Formula 1 forever.

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Ayrton Senna just before the race

Senna’s girlfriend Adriane Galisteu has a lot of details to share. Especially right before his fatal crash. We’re back racing this weekend at Imola. And even though the track has gone through some modifications, the infamous Tamburello turn, where Senna crashed, will always be remembered for the incident.

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Recently, Senna’s girlfriend disclosed some disturbing details right before his race. Adriane spoke in a podcast about his death. Senna was not happy and did not want to race at Imola at the weekend of his crash.

He told her, “Out of all my stories on this track, this is the first time I don’t want to race.” Hearing this, Adriane told him not to race, but Senna refused as he hadn’t scored any points till then.

His apprehension was because of the previous accidents on the track. And the death of Ratzenberger did not help the case as well. Adriane shares her last conversation with the Mclaren man.

He said, “When the race starts, go shower [and get ready] because I’m going to leave the race track directly to Portugal, Algarve.”

Read More: Remembering 10 Fascinating Facts About Legendary F1 Champion Ayrton Senna

When he crashed, she said “Thank God, he’s going to get home earlier,” since she thought he would just retire and she was relieved he wouldn’t have to race so angry.

What happened after Senna’s crash?

Despite Senna’s passing, the race continued. An extremely strange situation looking back. However, the clueless Adriane after the crash packed a bag for Senna and herself, for their hospital visit. Clearly, she did not know about the severity of the crash.

Later, she got a call from Braga right before her plane took off to inform her about the situation.

“Adriane, you’re on a plane coming here right?” She said yea, how is he? is he okay? “No, don’t come.”

“Why not?” she asked, to which he said “because there are a thousand people elbowing each other at hospital door and he’s dead,”

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This was probably the grimmest moment in the sport’s history that changed the racing world forever.

Even though the cars are a lot safer now, this incident changed Imola forever. Since then, the Tamburello turn has been approached with caution and the track has also been remodeled for better safety.

Let’s look forward to some safe and exciting racing tomorrow at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

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Written by

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Mahim Suhalka

2,204 Articles

Mahim is a senior Formula 1 writer at EssentiallySports. With a Diploma in Sports Management, he ventured into sports journalism for his sheer passion for F1. Mahim has written over 2000 articles during his tenure at ES, and his expertise is in perspective pieces and core sports coverage. Mahim’s writing flair and meticulous research work have resulted in him contributing to in-depth analysis on teams like Red Bull and Mercedes as well as Team Principals Christian Horner and Toto Wolff. His support for Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team and their #44 driver Lewis Hamilton came naturally after being awestruck by the brilliance during his foray into F1. You can follow him on X @MahimSuhalka.

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Ranvijay Singh

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