Drivers observe a minute of silence in memory of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, moments before the start of the F1 San Marino Grand Prix in Imola on April 30, 1995. Photo: AFP
Formula One is a sport of glitz and glamour.
Some of the world's most recognisable brands travel to some of the greatest cities on Earth to see who has the fastest car.
But for all the celebrity status the sport enjoys, every race weekend contains a fatal risk that the sport has had to reckon with.
In 1994, Australian F1 driver David Brabham was driving his car in qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix.
He drove past the wrecked car of his teammate Roland Ratzenberger, who had just gone off track and slammed into the barriers at high speed.
"If you see a dead body it's a very different experience," he told ABC Sport.
"When I got back to the pits I remember my wife Lisa asking me 'What do you think?' and I said 'I think he's gone'. That was the only thought I could have."
Roland Ratzenberger was an Austrian driver who had devoted his life to motor racing.
His passing was a tragedy ultimately overshadowed by the death of Ayrton Senna, who would suffer the same fate just 24 hours later during the grand prix.
Medical and security personnel surround the crashed car of Ayrton Senna at the Imola track after his fatal crash on the seventh lap of the San Marino Grand Prix. Photo: AFP
But his teammate Brabham remembers a man with a passion for racing, a genuine personality and someone who inadvertently turbo-charged a push for driver safety which has had immeasurably positive consequences.
Ratzenberger breaks through with Brabham at Simtek
Ratzenberger's long road for F1 finally culminated when he was handed a five-race contract with Simtek in 1994.
The 33-year-old was finally given his chance after years of persistence, teaming with Brabham, the son of three-time world champion Jack.
"I knew of Roland well before I worked with him at Simtek and that's because he was quite a successful driver in many different disciplines," Brabham said.
"He always came across as someone very versatile - driving touring cars, sports cars, racing in Japan. It was obviously great to see he had an opportunity at a relatively late age to get to his dream which was in Formula 1."
In the back-marker Simtek, Ratzenberger failed to qualify for the opening race in Brazil but did qualify and complete the Pacific Grand Prix, held in Japan.
"You could see it on his face. He was just so, so excited to be in Formula 1. He had worked very hard in the background and never gave up hope that he was going to be in Formula 1. I think that was the big thing, he never gave up on that dream."
Ratzenberger's crash shocks the F1 world
The weekend started ominously, with Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello suffering a high-speed crash during practice on Friday, sending him to hospital.
The first of two fatal accidents that weekend would come on the Saturday during qualifying.
Ratzenberger's front wing gave way while he was travelling at high speed, suspected of being damaged during an earlier lap.
The wing was lodged under the car lifting the front wheels, taking away Ratzenberger's ability to steer and most of his braking.
The Austrian was helpless as his car ploughed into a concrete wall at speeds of around 300km/ph.
"Once we learnt what happened to Roland everybody obviously down the pit lane, not just us, were in a state of shock - and the whole world was when that news came out," Brabham said.
"It was something we didn't hear that often, certainly not compared to my father's day. Formula 1 had been pretty safe for a while up until that point."
Ratzenberger's death was the first during a grand prix weekend in more than a decade.
Tributes to Ayrton Senna. Photo: photosport
Almost a generation of F1 fans had not dealt with such a tragedy, and it weighed heavily in the paddock.
"I had the responsibility I guess to make the decision of what we do," Brabham said, talking about whether Simtek would race on the Sunday.
"You don't know what the hell is going on … you're mind's in places it's never been before and it was very difficult to know how to deal with the situation because everything was so new."
The team made the decision to race the following day, something Brabham said the team felt Roland would have wanted.
The race began with a major crash, which was later followed by the crash of Senna, leading to his death.
"Each of these impacts, from Reuben's, to Roland's to the start and then to Ayrton's, they were violent accidents.
"It did take time. Because it was a new experience it was difficult to know how to process it properly. I think it affected not just me, I think everyone on the grid. It affected a lot of junior drivers.
"I think it took a little bit of time for people to feel 100 percent comfortable again racing at full speed. I know it affected me for several races afterwards, because your mind's not in the place it was before and you're trying to get it back to that place."
Bruno Senna driving the 1988 McLaren MP4/4 raced by his uncle Ayrton Senna. Photo: photosport
Driver safety becomes Ratzenberger's lasting legacy
Thirty years on from one of F1's darkest hours, the sport has a very different complexion.
Driver safety is more of a focal point for organisers than ever before.
Safety features on a Formula 1 car are better than ever before - with the protective halo over the driver's cockpit the most recognisable.
The sport has not been without tragedy since 1994, with Jules Bianchi and Anthoine Hubert both being involved in fatal crashes during F1 weekends.
However, Brabham says the improvements to safety made since the deaths of Ratzenberger and Senna potentially saved many lives.
"That was the start of a change that we are still experiencing today because it really motivated a lot of people to improve the safety of the cars," he said.
"Obviously losing Ayrton and Roland was pretty horrific, the positive out of that is that we've probably saved a lot more drivers because of the safety consciousness shift that happened after that weekend."
Start of the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix 2023. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Safety improvements across all aspects of F1 have been credited with protecting drivers over recent seasons, with Lewis Hamilton and Romain Grosjean escaping serious injury from major incidents.
It is these moments - when drivers are able to walk away from dangerous incidents - that Brabham believes is the enduring legacy of Ratzenberger.
"There is always a silver lining, somewhere in a dark cloud, and the silver lining out of all of that was the safety change that went on," he said.
"When people talk about that weekend, they do talk about Ayrton a lot, but of course in the back of their mind they know someone else died, so they talk about Roland as well.
"So Roland's legacy is in the slipstream of Ayrton, so it'll never go away, So I see that as a positive."
-ABC
