Sebastian Vettel called out the names of the two Formula 1 drivers who died in crashes at Imola 30 years as he drove laps of the track in honour of them before today’s race.
Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger died in separate crashes during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix weekend.
Vettel drove a McLaren MP4/8 previously raced by Senna, sporting overalls in the same colours as the three-times champion’s helmet. Vettel also added Senna and Ratzenberger’s helmet colours to his design for the run in front of the crowd ahead of today’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
The winner of 53 grands prix said his run in the MP4/8 was “one of the most beautiful moments I had behind the wheel, to be honest.”
“I was alone on track and I wasn’t racing, but the car is fantastic to drive,” he told Channel 4. “I love the car.”
Vettel waved Brazilian and Austrian flags to pay tribute to the two racers. After Senna’s crash during the 1994 race an Austrian flag was discovered in the cockpit of his car, which he planned to wave as a gesture of respect to Ratzenberger, whose death occured 24 hours before Senna’s fatal crash.
“I had the flags with me and the moment I got those flags out, the people were just going mad. It was such a great moment. I was shouting their names in the helmet.
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“Also to get the Austrian flag out, which is the job that Ayrton wanted to do and really belongs to him because he had the Austrian flag in the car on that Sunday, was very, very special.
“It’s crazy to see how much joy and passion the name and the legacy still brings to people. It just felt like the right thing to do.”
On Thursday, Vettel led the F1 field plus drivers from support races in a lap of the track on foot, and stopped at the scenes of the two crashes.
“I feel it’s a colleague of us drivers that we never got the chance to meet, never got the chance to race against, obviously, but also meet in the aftermath,” he said. “So I’m very happy to have that great moment on Thursday when we ran the track together with the drivers, also Formula 2 and Formula 3 drivers. But to be out in the car today, taking the flag out, is incredible.”
“Especially for those who weren’t around because they weren’t born or they don’t know the story, I think it’s such a powerful story,” he added.
“Yes, he was an incredible talent and one of the best…
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