In the last hearing, the defense lawyers replied to the prosecution's comments. Colliva (Bendinelli and Poggi's defense) said that the difference in level in the track is not a factor in the accident because the car never left the ground. Since there is no causal relationship between the difference in level track/off-track area and the accident, Colliva asked for non-guilty verdict for both Bendinelli and Poggi. Landi (the other lawyer for Bendinelli and Poggi) reminded that at the time of building the wall at Tamburello nobody had had anything to say about it because it fitted the FIA regulations perfectly, even after the accidents of Alboreto, Berger and Patrese.
Dominioni (Williams' and Head's lawyer) criticised the prosecution's experts because they overlooked the instability of the car at the Tamburello in their reconstruction. The metallurgy expert had said that the steering column had signs of stress but it was not broken, therefore the prosecution's theory is proved wrong. Head's responsability in the accident is derived from the fact that he did not check the work on the steering column after it had been carried out. This is true according to Italian rules, but in England the rules are different and managers are not responsable for what their team members do. Dominioni asked for a non guilty verdict for Head for not having committed the fact. Stortoni asked the same thing for Newey using the same argument. Newey did not design the piece, there is no evidence that he ordered the modifications to the steering column and he is not even included in the Williams' team staff list.
Patrick Head, who had chosen not to answer in court, yesterday sent Dr Costanzo a written statement in which he disagrees with the prosecution's experts, mentions the bumps on the track and excludes that the steering column had signs of stress, as it was possible to see from Damon Hill's car, which was identical to Senna's and had been driven for a lot longer.
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