If... (1st of May, 1994)

[Bononi]

Nobody really knows, but based on his principles and knowing what means to be a politician in Brazil, that would be contradictory, to say the least... but no, I don't believe it would happen, but again who am I ?

[stripedcat]

Originally Posted by beau1

As for the future of Formula One had Senna lived? Well, I think people can confidently say that Schumacher would have won the 1994 Championship. 1995 would have been a bit different with a strong rivalry between Senna-Schumacher and maybe Hill. 1996 would have been interesting because Senna was planning to move to Ferrari that year which would have meant Schumacher probably staying at Benetton or moving to Williams or even McLaren, in turn this would have completely altered the state of F1 in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Hmmmm, it would have been a close run thing in my opinion. I know Senna would have been behind Schumi in 1994(because of all of the problems with the Williams car and the fact that it never finished any races). Once the problems with it were fixed though, it would have been a tougher challenge for Schumi. It is worth noting that Senna was always on pole compared to Schumi(even in the car spec at the start of the season). I wonder if Schumi would have got the race ban that year as well? It would have been close.

1995 would have been a different story. The Williams was the car to have! In the hands of Senna he would have walked it! It would have been interesting to how competitive Hill was that year compared to Senna. Hill seemed to have a very bad time in 1995. He seemed to be at the mercy of Schumi's mind games!

One race which would have been interesting, would be Spa 1995. Schumi stayed out on dries - what would rainmaster Senna have done? Sadly we'll never know.

[codename_47]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

I think both of those fatal accidents forced a lot of changes in regards to safety. It forced a rethink on how exposed the drivers head was in an F1 car, barrier design, helmet design, head and neck restraints, suspension wishbone design and tethers, etc. Nearly 2 decades later, the fastest open wheel formula in the world hasn't had a fatality since, knock on wood. I think that is a pretty good record considering. You have to give the FIA and F1 credit for improving safety, rather than what many people or organizations would do, which is talk big and apply band aid solutions.

Well I feel it's sad really the 2 deaths we've had in the sport since Senna are swept under the carpet, as if driver fatalities are the only ones that matter and the Marshals who were killed at Monza and Melbourne are inconsequential.

Also I would hope F1 won't rush into any kind of foolish canopy suggestion, because that is going to cause more trouble that it is worth.
Any kind of rollover scenario will ensure the driver being trapped until the marshals can get to him and then I'd dread to think what could happen to him in that time.

As for what would've happened if Senna had lived post Imola, well he was convinced of Schumacher's car's illegality so perhaps with the biggest name in the sport pushing for Benetton to be checked and double checked Schumacher wouldn't have had such a car advantage and Senna could reel his points advantage in over the course of the season.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by stripedcat

1995 would have been a different story. The Williams was the car to have! In the hands of Senna he would have walked it! It would have been interesting to how competitive Hill was that year compared to Senna. Hill seemed to have a very bad time in 1995. He seemed to be at the mercy of Schumi's mind games!

One race which would have been interesting, would be Spa 1995. Schumi stayed out on dries - what would rainmaster Senna have done? Sadly we'll never know.

The Williams might not have been the car to have. Remember a boat load of rule changes were driven through after his death. Some adapted to those changes better than others.

[Knowlesy]

Safety would have been improved anyways, just perhaps not as quickly and knee-jerk. Max was always big on safety, as was Senna (ironic I know).

I don't think it would have changed much. Obviously Senna would have battled hard with Schumacher, but he was possibly on the downward trajectory that all drivers get in the latter half of their career and Schumacher was certainly on the rise.

1994 would probably still have been a Schumacher success. The FIA wouldn't have tried to spice it up and atone for the misery of the first half of the season by handing out stupid penalties to Mickey. But on the flipside, perhaps without the early season PR horror they would have had no qualms about throwing out Benetton for their illegal electronics devices and fuel rig tampering.

The Williams may have been fast in 1995, but it was unreliable too. Schumacher had, what, one mechanical retirement that year?

Would Senna have remained at Williams in 1996 if the previous two seasons brought no titles? He was driven by titles after all.

So many what ifs! Maybe history is best left alone.

[winkle]

Originally Posted by Bononi

...had been this way...

I guess when all is said and done history is best left and we certainly cant change it.
I have never seen that picture before though and I think it is amazing and moving.

[Aysedasi]

Agreed. Great fan though I was (and still am), the 'if' debate is one I find difficult to enter into.

[Bononi]

Actually I never think about "if", but this picture was so amazing because that day is so clear in my mind that this view was disturbing at first glance.

[Mekola]

Originally Posted by DS"

I think that Senna might have fullfilled his contract with Williams, but seeing more and more "Ecclestonisation" of the sport, he might leave F1 for CART/IndyCar in 1996. Senna stays in CART until 1999/2000, before he does one last attempt at Formula One, or he just retires in Brazil and becomes a politician.

And I believe he might have stayed at Williams for a while and returned to McLaren in 1996. Probably the first Mercedes-engine win after Fangio's days could have been his...