Senna's Death Trial


17 September 1997 At the 19th hearing in the trial for Senna's death Williams defence asked the court to accept as evidence a written statement by D. Coulthard, who should have been present but was not. Dominioni said that Coulthard will not be able to come back to Italy until after the end of the F1 Championship, therefore the written statement should be accepted. Passarini replied that since Coulthard lives in Montecarlo, it would not be difficult for him to come to Italy and be present at the trial. On the other hand, if the written statement does not add anything to what already said by the defence, there would be no reason to allow the statement as evidence in the trial. Dominioni then asked for Coulthard to be counter-examined with Alboreto about how much a steering wheel can move by in a F1 car.

Alboreto had said that a steering wheel could only move by a 2-3 mm and, considering the torsion of the arms of the driver and the nature of the material, could never get to a few cm. Moreover, the movement can depend from the distance from the base to the column, but can never get to as much as 10 mm. Alboreto added that he was making this statement from his experience as a driver both at Imola and on lots of other tracks. After hearing Alboreto Dominioni insisted that since Coulthard thinks exactly the opposite, it is mandatory that he testifies in court. The judge allowed the testimony of Coulthard, provided the Scot comes to the trial in person.

After the trial Alboreto repeated that he is more than ever convinced that Senna went out because of a mechanical failure. Senna's wheels were straight, Alboreto added, perhaps he wanted to go out? There is no steering wheel in F1 that can move by a few cm and if Coulthard says so it is because he still has a long career in front of him while he himself (Alboreto) is due to retire soon and is not scared of talking openly. It is human for people working in the F1 circus not to want to make enemies. Nobody will be jailed for Senna's death and it is logical that it is so because all motorsports have a component of danger that cannot be easily avoided, but this trial must be used to defend the memory of two drivers (Ratzenberger and Senna) who cannot defend themselves. Alboreto concluded by saying that he is annoyed that everybody is trying to maintain positions that cannot be defended in this trial.

The trial continued with a discussion between Passarini and the Williams consultants (engineers Minen and Guttila) about the simulation produces by Williams to prove that the behaviour of Senna's car was "ideal". Passarini, using the images from Senna's on-board camera proved that the Brazilian steered to the right. Vitali, another Williams expert, said that the movements of the steering wheel visible in the film are not only circular, as there are other forces at play and this is normal. Finally, Stirano showed a new video with a reconstruction of the movement of the steering wheel before the accident, in which the steering wheel was moving in a way compatible with the materials used and the force put on it by the driver. Coulthard's written statement says that the steering wheel in the McLaren 96, which he drove, had a very similar behaviour.

Next hearing will be on 22 September with Coulthard (if he chooses to appear). The most important hearing will be on 3 October, with Frank Williams, Patrick Head and Adrian Newey.


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