Dear Nigel,
I've just read Damon Hill's comments regarding the death of Ayrton Senna at Imola, where he claims that Senna was at fault for the crash. I must admit that I, for one, was surprised by such comments at such a sensitive time, but I was wondering what your particular theory is regarding what caused the accident? Or will it remain a mystery forever?
Gavin Grace, Ireland
Dear Gavin,
Probably it will remain a mystery forever, but I don't see anything wrong in Damon Hill's advancing his theory that Senna simply made a mistake. Of course it's an explanation of the accident that many will not want to believe, but, as Damon points out, he is the only man alive who knows how it was to drive a Williams-Renault FW16 through Tamburello that weekend.
Certainly, I don't think Hill's theory can be discounted out of hand. Of course, as with Jim Clark's fatal accident at Hockenheim in 1968, there was a strong reluctance to accept that driver error could have been factor. Both men were revered, and no one wanted to believe either could have made a mistake.
In the case of Clark, there seems to be little doubt that his Lotus crashed because of tyre failure - probably he picked up a slow puncture, perhaps after running over debris from an earlier accident. Still, though, no one positively knows why Senna crashed. The most widely touted suggestion for a long time was that the Williams had suffered steering failure, but the telemetry refutes this, and Patrick Head - as honest a man as I known in motor racing - firmly believes that the steering was not at fault.
It is true that, before the restart, the power steering on Hill's car was disconnected, but that was purely as a precaution - there had been no opportunity, obviously, to examine Senna's car, and no one knew why it had gone off.
No one does to this day - not in any absolute sense. But I think we have to allow for the fact that Ayrton - driving absolutely at the limit - may have made a mistake. It's not a matter of making comments like this 'at a sensitive time' - yes, it's 10 years since he died, but frankly some would have been disapproving of Damon's remarks, whenever they had been made. It's his honestly held opinion, and he's absolutely entitled to express it - however much many won't want to agree with him.