Thirty years on Ecclestone regrets causing upset over Senna’s death

AFP | Paris, France 

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Former Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone regrets prematurely informing Ayrton Senna’s brother the three-time world champion had died after his crash in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix telling AFP it caused “unnecessary trouble.”

Speaking to AFP on Wednesday, 30 years to the day after Senna’s death, which sent shockwaves around the world, Ecclestone said he had misheard F1 doctor Sid Watkins.

Senna’s death at the age of 34 came a day after Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger had been killed in the second qualifying session at Imola.

On the seventh lap, Senna’s Williams, which was leading at the time, hit a concrete wall at 211 kilometres per hour (131mph), leaving the Brazilian m otionless in the cockpit.

“As soon as Senna’s accident happened I went into the control tower,” Ecclestone told AFP by phone from Portugal. “Sid Watkins was at the scene of the accident.

I thought he said ‘he is dead’ and told his brother (Leonardo Senna). When in fact Sid had said ‘it’s his head’.” In fact, it was not until nearly four and a half hours after the accident, that Senna was pronounced dead in hospital.

“It caused unnecessary trouble,” admitted a sorrowful Ecclestone who had been on friendly terms with Senna and his family, and travelled to Brazil for the funeral.

But it was his then wife Slavica Radic who lined up to pay their respects. “Ayrton used to ring my children late at night in Brazil and chat with them,” said the 93-year-old Englishman.

“The relationship soured a bit after his death with his sister (Viviane) and family, who thought that I should never have said he was dead when he was not.

“I never went to the funeral. I went to Brazil and my then wife stood at the front along with the Mayor of Sao Paulo as the funeral cortege passed.

“That is how close we were to him. “ I stayed in our hotel room and watched on television and came home straight afterwards.” Ecclestone, who over several decades transformed Formula One into a global multi-billion-dollar commercial giant, said Senna was very much his own man.

“As a person you could not complain with Ayrton,” said Ecclestone. “He was a really complete person, who had his principles and his own way to think about things.

“One respected he was a bit different.” As for where he stands as a driver Ecclestone says he was competing in a much more competitive era than is the case at the moment with Senna tussling with Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet.