1994 — why so many crashes?

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timbo
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Joined: 22 Oct 2007, 10:14

1994 — why so many crashes?

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Apart from Senna and Ratzenberger fatal accidents there were heavy crashes of Barrichello and Wendlinger, also Alesi, Lamy, Lehto and Montermini suffered serious injuries.
The answer seems to be obvious — the ban of electronic aids made cars extremely hard to drive, but there are few things that make me feel a bit skeptical about this reasoning.
First, how many teams had full scope of electronics, including active suspension, ABS and TC? IIRC only Williams, McLaren, Ferrari, Beneton and Lotus. Other teams are not documented running active suspension, ABS was not very common, and I'm not sure how many teams ran TC.
So, in case of Williams it is likely that the car was optimized for active ride, ABS and TC and without that it suffered serious driveability problems, but as for Jordan and Sauber I don't think they had to readapt this much.
What do you think?

TzeiTzei
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Joined: 09 Mar 2011, 21:19

Re: 1994 — why so many crashes?

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Footwork had active suspension. Lamy had his crash because Lotus' rear wing failed.

zonk
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Joined: 17 Jun 2010, 00:56

Re: 1994 — why so many crashes?

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The 1994 Formula One season was the 45th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1994 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 27, 1994, and ended on November 13 after sixteen races. The season is remembered as one of the most tragic and controversial seasons in the 1990s, if not in the sport's history. 1994 was one of the closest championships in history as Michael Schumacher won the Drivers' title by a single point from Damon Hill after the two controversially collided at the final round in Adelaide. British constructor Williams-Renault won the Constructors' Championship. However, the 1994 season will also be remembered for the deaths of three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna and the Austrian Roland Ratzenberger at the San Marino Grand Prix. Forty-six drivers competed in the 1994 World Championship, including fourteen rookies and numerous pay drivers.

n order to combat the spiralling costs of running a Formula One team, and to counteract criticism that over-reliance on technology was reducing the drivers to a secondary role, sweeping rule changes were introduced for 1994, most notably banning of all electronic "driver aids" such as active suspension, anti-lock brakes, traction control and launch control.

Ayrton Senna was among several observers who said that, with such features removed but no attempt to curtail the speed of the cars, 1994 would be "a season with a lot of accidents".

1994 also saw the reintroduction of refuelling during the race for the first time since 1983. After Ayrton Senna's crash at Imola, several rule changes were introduced to slow the cars. At the Spanish Grand Prix, front wing endplates and rear diffusers were reduced in size. From the next race in Canada, the effectiveness of the airbox was reduced (by cutting holes in it). From the German Grand Prix, a 10mm wooden plank was affixed to the underside of every car to reduce ground-effect advantages. Wear was permitted on the plank up to 1mm by the end of the race.

zonk
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Joined: 17 Jun 2010, 00:56

Re: 1994 — why so many crashes?

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Brasil Grand Prix

By lap 35, Verstappen, Brundle and Eddie Irvine had all got ahead of Wendlinger. As they came up to lap Éric Bernard, Verstappen tried to pass Irvine. Irvine pushed him onto the grass and Verstappen spun off, going over Irvine and tipping it into Bernard's car and then hitting Brundle, being launched into a series of barrel rolls. No-one was hurt, but Irvine was banned initially for one race, later extended to three races by the FIA after an unsuccessful appeal.

Alesi had injured his back in a testing crash at Mugello and was replaced by Nicola Larini, while Aguri Suzuki would replace Irvine for the Jordan team.

San Marino Grand Prix

Lehto was back for the San Marino Grand Prix and Andrea de Cesaris would be the second driver at Jordan. However, the weekend got off to a bad start as Rubens Barrichello had a major crash during practice and was knocked unconscious. Coming too fast into Variante Bassa, his car was launched into the air by the kerb. Less than a yard from that kerb was a tyre wall, which almost instantly stopped the car's forward motion. His car was flipped over and landed upside down. Barrichello had swallowed his tongue and his life was only saved by quick action from the medical team. He would be back at the circuit on the Saturday afternoon with a fractured nose, bandaged arm and cut lip. Barrichello has never been able to recall anything from the incident.

In qualifying, a front wing flap fell off Roland Ratzenberger's car, causing major suspension damage and worsened aerodynamics. On his next lap Ratzenberger lost control and crashed into the wall at the Villeneuve kink at over 180 mph. His Simtek S941 was severely damaged, and he suffered a basal skull fracture caused by the impact and was pronounced dead at Bologna's Maggiore Hospital shortly afterwards.

After qualifying re-commenced, Senna took pole ahead of Schumacher, Berger, Hill, Lehto and Larini. During the race morning's driver meeting, all the drivers were talking about Ratzenberger's crash and were determined to improve safety for drivers, resulting in the inauguration of the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers Association). Senna offered to take the role of leader as he was the most senior driver.

At the start of the race, Lehto's Benetton B194 stalled and was hit by Pedro Lamy's Lotus. Debris from the crash, including Lamy's right front tyre, flew into the grandstand and injured four spectators and a policeman. Lamy was unhurt but Lehto received a light arm injury. The Safety Car was called out with Senna leading Schumacher, Berger, Larini and Häkkinen.

The race restarted at the end of lap 5. Senna tried immediately to pull away from Schumacher, whilst Berger in 3rd was already 2.586 seconds behind and Hill in 4th was 5.535 seconds behind. At the start of the 7th lap, Senna lost control, for reasons that are still the subject of controversy, and his car went straight on at Tamburello into an unprotected concrete wall at 131 mph (210 km/h). The suspension of the Williams broke on impact, flying backwards and hitting Senna on the head, piercing his helmet and fracturing his skull. The car slid to a halt on the circuit, with Senna motionless. From the helicopter pictures, a slight movement of Senna's head gave a hint of hope. Doctor Sid Watkins was on the scene in less than two minutes. Senna was airlifted to hospital but nothing could be done and Senna was pronounced dead later that evening. After the race, a poignant detail was revealed when an Austrian flag was found in Senna's car; he had planned to dedicate the win to Ratzenberger had he won the race. The race was stopped after Senna's crash.

During the red flag period, the Larrousse team mistakenly released their driver Erik Comas from the Pit lane, and Comas was marshalled to a stop at Tamburello corner. At TV channel Eurosport (British version), former F1 driver John Watson described the Comas incident as the "most ridiculous incident I have seen at any time in my life, that a Grand Prix driver is allowed to exit the pits whilst the race is stopped". At the second restart, German Heinz-Harald Frentzen stopped in the Sauber and had to start from the pit lane.


When it restarted, Berger took the lead on track but Schumacher (who collided with Damon Hill, forcing the Briton in the Williams to stop for a new front wing) was still leading in the aggregate standings, with Berger, Häkkinen, Larini, Wendlinger and Katayama following. On the 12th Lap in total, Schumacher did take the lead on the circuit from Berger, but pitted immediately afterwards. When Berger stopped on lap 15, Häkkinen took the lead for McLaren. Berger retired on lap 17 with a suspension failure, whilst Häkkinen pitted a bit later, rejoining fourth. On Lap 21, Schumacher led (although driving behind Larini) on aggregate ahead of the Italian with Fittipaldi (who pitted on lap 23) in third, Häkkinen, Frentzen (who pitted a bit shorter as well) and Wendlinger making up the top six. From about lap 45 until lap 55, Damon Hill, Ukyo Katayama and Christian Fittipaldi battled for 5th, 6th and 7th, with first Fittipaldi and then Hill passing the Japanese in the Tyrrell on aggregate, Hill himself passed Fittipaldi on lap 49, only to lose the position two laps later. Fittipaldi did not finish the race; he retired with brake problems on lap 55. Damon Hill gained fifth, but lost it again to Katayama with two laps to go, and only kept a one second lead over Heinz-Harald Frentzen to score the last point in the San Marino Grand Prix.

Another incident followed when Michele Alboreto's Minardi lost its right rear wheel while exiting the pits. Alboreto had already accelerated to a significant speed, and thus the wheel caused severe injuries to a member of the Ferrari pit crew. Alboreto's car came to a halt just outside the pits. The incident would lead to two major rule changes in Formula One:

A pit lane speed limit of 80 km/h during the race and 50 km/h during practice and qualifying.
Pit crews would now have to remain inside their garage until needed

tommylommykins
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Joined: 12 May 2009, 22:14

Re: 1994 — why so many crashes?

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I think a comparison whith the seasons before and after needs to be done to see if it really was such a crashy season. What if there were actually more incidents in 1993, or 1995, etc.?

zonk
69
Joined: 17 Jun 2010, 00:56

Re: 1994 — why so many crashes?

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Rises and falls. Formula 1 1994 season

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCo7LsuPiCs[/youtube]

timbo
111
Joined: 22 Oct 2007, 10:14

Re: 1994 — why so many crashes?

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tommylommykins wrote:I think a comparison whith the seasons before and after needs to be done to see if it really was such a crashy season. What if there were actually more incidents in 1993, or 1995, etc.?
There were less incidents with such serious injuries. In 1995 was a very heavy crash for Mika Hakkinen, in 1993 Zanardi had a big crash. Although it is hard to compare subsequent years because safety standards were raised.

CMSMJ1
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Joined: 25 Sep 2007, 10:51
Location: Chesterfield, United Kingdom

Re: 1994 — why so many crashes?

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I remember it being a case that the active aids had taken the teeth from the cars and they were setup on the edge all the time.

Once the aids were banned then the fastest way was to keep thme on the edge but the drivers and the passive systems just did not allow the drivers to keep up.

The safety regs were, compared to recent times, a bloody joke too.

It was a nasty year - highpoint of the widebody cars and lax safety
IMPERATOR REX ANGLORUM

timbo
111
Joined: 22 Oct 2007, 10:14

Re: 1994 — why so many crashes?

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CMSMJ1 wrote:I remember it being a case that the active aids had taken the teeth from the cars and they were setup on the edge all the time.

Once the aids were banned then the fastest way was to keep thme on the edge but the drivers and the passive systems just did not allow the drivers to keep up.
Yeah, but my point was that not every car had aids in 1993.

rich1701
8
Joined: 11 Sep 2009, 17:09

Re: 1994 — why so many crashes?

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I think a big part of the reason was the change in tyre regulation in 1993, which made the rear tyres particularly, far more narrower than they used to be. The net result was significantly less mechanical grip. In 1993 the cars were allowed to run traction control, active suspension, and other driving aids which compensated for this lack of grip. In 1994 all of the electronic aids were stripped away.
Chassis strength around the tub was not strong enough to protect drivers legs either.

timbo
111
Joined: 22 Oct 2007, 10:14

Re: 1994 — why so many crashes?

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rich1701 wrote:I think a big part of the reason was the change in tyre regulation in 1993, which made the rear tyres particularly, far more narrower than they used to be. The net result was significantly less mechanical grip. In 1993 the cars were allowed to run traction control, active suspension, and other driving aids which compensated for this lack of grip. In 1994 all of the electronic aids were stripped away.
Good point about tyres. Though still I have to repeat -- just how widespread aids were? Not all cars had active ride and ABS. Maybe TC was used extensively, so was it so important?
I remember the story that sometime mid-1993 (around Canada GP) stewards claimed electronic aids illegal by reading the regulations strictly. It was said that only Lola BMS cars were 100% legal.
Chassis strength around the tub was not strong enough to protect drivers legs either.
That is true.

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