– On April 30, 1994, Roland Ratzenberger fatally crashed during qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola. According to his own statement, Ratzenberger’s accident was one of the most difficult moments of Gerhard Berger’s entire career for his compatriot.
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“For me, the most difficult moment after an accident […] was after Roland’s death in Imola,” Berger reveals to ServusTV and explains that he was sitting in the car at the time, waiting “for qualifying to start again.”
Because although Ratzenberger’s crash caused a long interruption of the session, qualifying was then resumed. According to Berger, the circumstances made it “very difficult to get back into the rhythm.”
The biggest problem was “that we were in the cars and that we had just aborted the lap and that we were simply following it on the screen.” Because during the interruption, the TV broadcast showed images of the crashed driver.
Photo series: Career of Roland Ratzenberger
“You are tense from qualifying, […] and you knew the accident couldn’t end well,” explains Berger. Nevertheless, the drivers had to stay focused because the session was continued afterwards. That was “more difficult than my own accident,” says Berger.
The then Ferrari driver had also survived a serious crash in Imola in 1989, in which his car caught fire. Nevertheless, he was already back in the car at the next but one Grand Prix in Mexico.
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Berger on accidents: “Didn’t deal with it much”
According to his own statement, that was not as difficult for him as the Imola weekend in 1994, when not only Ratzenberger died, but also Berger’s good friend Ayrton Senna fatally crashed a day later.
“We didn’t deal with it much,” says Berger about the danger that was always present especially during his active time in motorsport. Safety measures like the Halo or the HANS system were only introduced in Formula 1 many years later.
“We keep seeing the images of our accidents in Formula 1,” says Berger. But one must not forget that it was even more dangerous in other series back then. “Formula Ford, Formula 3, those were all aluminum chassis,” he cites as an example.
Photo series: Gerhard Berger’s fire accident in 1989 in Imola and its consequences
“Those were all vehicles that immediately caught fire,” explains Berger, who emphasizes: “So much also happened off-camera.” Only today, according to his own statement, does the now 66-year-old sometimes realize again how many colleagues died back then.
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“For me today, when I have presented a book and have to sign and then see: he’s no longer here, he’s no longer here, he’s no longer here … then it only becomes apparent again how many did not come back,” says the Austrian.
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