F1 star shares haunting photo taken just moments before fatal Ayrton Senna crash

F1 History

F1 star shares haunting photo taken just moments before fatal Senna crash

A former F1 driver has shared a picture from Imola 1994

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Friday 26 September 2025 11:56

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F1 star Heinz-Harald Frentzen has shared a haunting photo on social media taken just moments before Ayrton Senna’s fatal crash at Imola in 1994.

The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was one of the most tragic weekends in F1 history, which claimed the lives of Roland Ratzenberger and three-time champion Senna.

First, a major incident involving Rubens Barrichello occurred on the Friday, where the Brazilian crashed at the Variante Bassa chicane, and broke both his nose and arm.

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Emergency medical aid was performed at the scene by FIA doctor Sid Watkins, who saved his life after stabilising his blocked airway, with Senna rushing to the corner to be there when his protegee Barrichello woke up.

However, further tragedy took place on Saturday at Imola, when Ratzenberger was injured during a crash in qualifying after his Simtek hit a concrete barrier, with the Austrian pronounced dead on his arrival at the hospital.

Qualifying was red flagged following the incident, with Williams and Benetton agreeing to sit out the session out of respect for Ratzenberger, with Senna – who was driving for Williams at the time – claiming pole position after he set the fastest time on Friday.

Frentzen shares Imola 1994 photo of Senna

Sunday’s race at Imola had barely got underway, before Pedro Lamy and JJ Lehto were involved in a serious collision, where debris from the accident injured eight fans and a police officer in the grandstand.

A safety car was deployed following the collision, where Senna followed until lap six and resumed the race in the lead. However, on lap seven Senna’s Williams veered off track at high-speed corner Tamburello and struck a concrete barrier, in a fatal accident.

On social media, ex F1 driver Frentzen, who competed that weekend at Imola, reflected on the Sunday as he shared a haunting picture.

The photograph depicted Senna leading the grand prix in his Williams FW16, ahead of Michael Schumacher in the Benetton, on a hazy Imola circuit.

“It was sunny, but there was still a haze, and even though it was bright, the light felt so different,” Frentzen wrote on X.

Senna and Ratzenberger’s deaths were the first in F1 since Riccardo Paletti at the 1982 Canadian GP, and in the aftermath of the tragedy, new safety features were introduced by the FIA.

Furthermore, the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association was re-established in the wake of the tragedy, reformed by Niki Lauda, with Schumacher, Gerhard Berger and Martin Brundle elected as representatives.

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