Who is Roland Ratzenberger ? The forgotten F1 driver who lost his life the same race weekend as Ayrton Senna

Many F1 fans remember the death of the great Ayrton Senna at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, but there was another F1 driver, Roland Ratzenberger, who lost his life during the same race weekend.

Ratzenberger was an Austrian racing driver who met his demise just three races into his F1 career. In the early days, he started racing in series like German Formula Ford, Formula Ford Festival, British Formula 3 and World Touring Car Championships. He won two races in the Ford Festival in 1986.

He had great success in the British Formula 3000 in 1989, where he finished third overall. During that time, he also raced in the 24 hours of Le Mans for the first time with Brun Motorsport. In the 1990s, Ratzenberger mostly raced in the Japanese Sports Prototype Championship, Japanese Touring Car Championships and eventually the Japanese F3000.

Since he started racing, he wanted to participate in F1. In 1991, he came close to sealing the deal with Jordan but failed due to a lack of financial support from a major sponsor.

In 1994, he finally received funding from a wealthy German, which allowed him to enter the top formula series with a new team, Simtek. He joined the team alongside David Brabham and started racing in the 1994 F1 season.

Roland Ratzenberger struggled with an uncompetitive car developed by Simtek. He was not even able to qualify for his first race in Interlagos, Brazil. However, he managed a decent P11 in the 1994 Pacific GP in Japan.

His third F1 race was the 1994 F1 San Marino GP after he asked Brabham to test his car for any issues, which were soon fixed. During the second qualifying session at Imola, Roland Ratzenberger went off track at the Acque Minerali chicane and spun at the Tosa hairpin. Despite these minor incidents, he continued to participate in the session.

However, the minor off-track moment at the Tosa damaged his front wing, which he and the team were unable to detect at the time. When he went on another push lap and tried to take the Villeneuve's corner, the front wing broke and lodged under the car. This caused the car to crash hard at 314.9 km/h with a measured g-force of around 500.

Soon after the crash, Roland Ratzenberger was taken to hospital by air. He suffered fatal injuries like a basilar skull fracture and a ruptured aorta. By the time he reached the hospital, he was pronounced dead.

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Ayrton Senna's famous words following Roland Ratzenberger's fatal crash at the 1994 F1 San Marino GP

When Roland Ratzenberger was taken to hospital, three-time world champion Ayrton Senna himself drove an official's car to head to the medical center.

Arriving at the hospital, Senna met the Austrian's friend and neurosurgeon, Sid Watkins, who explained the injuries and declared that he was no more. Watkins urged Senna not to continue with the race. The Williams driver replied:

"I cannot quit. I have to go on."

Following this, Ayrton Senna and other drivers continued with the Grand Prix, where the legendary driver crashed in the Tamburello corner on lap 7. He too was taken to hospital and was declared dead.