Before being sports director of Red Bull then Team Principal of Sauber F1, a position he occupies today, Jonathan Wheatley was a mechanic of Benetton. A position he held from 1991 to 2001, before becoming a mechanic chief in Entone under the colors of Renault.
At the start of the 1994 season, he remembered that he was having fun with Ayrton Senna, who consisted of showing him the times of Michael Schumacher when the Brazilian was preparing to take the track. An intimidation without too much serious who, according to the principal concerned, perfectly reflected camaraderie between the two pilots.
“We had this kind of relationship in 1994, when Michael signed a pole position and that Ayrton came out of the garage, I showed him the panel with the time of Michael on it” told Wheatley to the Podcast Beyond the Grid, when the 31 years of the death of the Brazilian was commemorated in Imola.
“He opened his visor, shook his head, closed it. He arrived, went faster than Michael and looked at me from the wall of the stands as if to say to me ‘where is my time?’ There was this camaraderie that people may not be aware.
From the accident to Rubens Barrichello to that of Senna via the death of Roland Ratzenberger and the appalling crash of Pedro Lamy and JJ Lehto at the start, Wheatley keeps a moved memory of this fatal Grand Prix of Saint-Marin: “Imola 1994 is the worst weekend that I remember. I still remember my emotions.”
-“I kept a lot of affairs from 1994 because I think that, for the young man I was, it was a major turning point. I still remember Mick Cowlishaw, the mechanic chief, who came to me, posed his hand on my arm, because he knew the relationship I had with [Senna] And what I thought, and told me he had gone. “
“This weekend was rich in events. You know, the accident of Rubens, where he puts his hands in front of his face. This image is incredible. She shows the human being inside the car.”
“Then Roland. I remember seeing this image on television and having immediately understood that it was not a normal accident, but a very serious accident. Then, in the race, JJ stuck on the grid, the massive impact which caused the red flag.
“Then [Michele] Alboreto lost his wheel on the lane of the stands and the wheel nut hit my number one mechanic, injuring his leg. The wheel went to the Lotus stand where she hit someone … Then Senna’s accident in the race. “
“We did not want to get on the plane. I remember that we were sitting in silence in the airport living room. The guys from Williams had just learned for Ayrton, and none of us wanted to get on the plane, we wondered what was going to happen.”
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