4-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel pays tribute to Ayrton Senna at Imola with heartening surprise for the grid

Former F1 driver and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel made a surprise appearance at Imola, gifting special T-shirts to drivers on the grid to pay tribute to Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, both of whom passed away on this track 30 years ago on the same weekend.

Vettel is known for his heartwarming acts while he was racing on the grid and even after that. He raised awareness for bees last year at Suzuka in Japan and made his presence on Thursday at Imola during the F1 Emilia Romagna GP. The entire grid was spotted wearing yellow T-shirts with their driver number customized at the back, a gift from the 36-year-old.

The T-shirts, in colors of the Brazilian National Flag, read "#Forever," symbolizing "Forever Senna." Sebastian Vettel organized a run around the track in tribute to the three-time world champion.

The 1994 F1 race weekend at Imola is considered the darkest weekend in the history of the sport. Roland Ratzenberger passed away during the qualifying session after a fatal crash. Following that, Ayrton Senna also crashed into the concrete wall while leading the race ahead of Michael Schumacher. The suspected issue was a broken steering column.

Every year, drivers pay tribute to both drivers. 2024 marking exactly three decades of the event was made remarkable by Vettel.

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Sebastian Vettel shares emotional post dedicated to Ayrton Senna

Ahead of the first race weekend in Italy, Sebastian Vettel, who regularly posts highlights of his early career on his Instagram handle, shared an extremely emotional post related to Ayrton Senna.

He mentioned learning about the legendary driver from his father, who also gifted him a "Senna doll" that he has kept intact to date.

Vettel wrote:

"I was only 7 years when the accident happened. Through my father, I learned what a great driver Ayrton Senna was. He was a big fan of Ayrton and gave me a ‘Senna’ doll and a small Senna toy car. However, the closest I got to Ayrton was watching a Friday practice session from the grandstands at Hockenheim during the German Grand Prix."

"Sadly, I never had the chance to meet him in person. Later in my racing career I learned a lot about him from people in and around the Paddock, their stories about him as a person and a driver," he added.

Ayrton Senna was one of the greatest drivers who ever stepped into the sport. His unique driving style set the standard for many, and his fierce competition was difficult to face for the drivers at the time.