31 years after the death of Roland Ratzenberger, his former F1 team-mate David Brabham has remembered him as a driver who died “doing what he loved”.

Ratzenberger was killed 31 years ago today, April 30, when he crashed during qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.

‘It’s a shame that we never got to see what he was really capable of’

On what has become known as Formula 1’s darkest weekend, Rubens Barrichello crashed on the Friday when he hit kerb at the Variante Bassa chicane and was catapulted into the tyre barrier at 140mph. The accident was recorded at 95G with the driver fortunate to be walking away with minor injuries.

However, a day later the sport was mourning the loss of Ratzenberger who crashed in qualifying, earlier damage to his front wing in a previous off leading to a complete failure.

The wing became lodged under his car, resulting in a major crash – one recorded at 500G – as he slammed into the outside wall at the Villeneuve corner.

Ratzenberger suffered a basilar skull fracture and was killed instantly on impact.

Horrifyingly, a day later Ayrton Senna was also killed when he crashed into an unprotected concrete barrier at Tamburello. His too suffered fatal injuries .

Brabham, Ratzenberger’s MTV Simtek Ford team-mate, has remembered the Austrian on the anniversary of his death.

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“As a driver, you always want to know who your team mate is,” he told the official F1 website of his team-mate who was in his first season in F1.

“Whenever somebody says their name, you instantly have an idea in your head about that person. You’re either excited or disappointed, and when Roland’s name was mentioned, I was excited.

“I didn’t really know him that well, but I certainly knew of him and what he had achieved in his racing career. He was an experienced driver who had always shown himself to be quick, didn’t make mistakes and looked pretty complete.

“I’d had some F1 and sportscar experience, he’d had some sportscar and single-seater experience. I thought the combination would have made for a good team.”

But three races into the season came the fateful weekend at Imola.

Having suffered brake issues earlier in the weekend, the team resolved the issue with Brabham revealing his team-mate felt “much more comfortable with the car” heading into qualifying.

“Hee was much closer to me – we were neck and neck – and it was how it should have been, to be fair. Then we went into qualifying,” he recalled.

“I was out on track and saw some parts on the road, some bodywork, and it was the same colour as my car. I knew then that it was Roland.

“As I’ve gone around the corner, seen him and seen the car… it’s a very vivid moment in my memory, and one that I can still see as clear as day. For me, I was looking at someone who wasn’t there anymore.

“I went back to the pits and, of course, everybody’s in a state of panic. I drove past the car, so they were all asking me, ‘What do you think?’. I remember my wife, Lisa, asking me what I thought and I said, ‘I think he’s gone’. There was something about it.

“I was out on track and saw some parts on the road, some bodywork, and it was the same colour as my car. I knew then that it was Roland.

“Then the announcement came out that he’d gone and that was a massive shock to everybody, not just the team but the whole of F1 – everyone who loves F1. Certainly, I’d never dealt with anything like that before.”

Ratzenberger’s passing was overshadowed by the death a day later of triple World Champion Senna.

“Obviously Ayrton going put Roland in the shadows – they were two very different people with different careers and different impacts amongst global fans – but it’s great that people still want to remember him, because he was also part of the fabric of F1 at the time,” Brabham added.

“He was still a driver, still on that grid, and he lost his life doing what he loved.

“For me, Roland had a lot of talent. It’s a shame that we never got to see what he was really capable of.”

Ratzenberger and Senna were the first fatalities during a grand prix weekend since Riccardo Paletti was killed in a start-line accident at the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix.

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