Chequered Past

1st May 1994: The Race That Stopped The World


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No circuit in Formula One has accumulated more meaning on a single date than Imola on the first of May. In 1983, Patrick Tambay won there for Ferrari carrying Gilles Villeneuve's number, in one of sport's quiet acts of dedication. In 1988, Ayrton Senna took his first McLaren victory on the same day, opening a season of almost total domination. In 1994, he came back — and didn't leave. This episode traces the arc of May the first through three decades of the sport, from Tambay's tribute lap to the safety revolution that Senna's death made possible, with a coda from a chaotic afternoon in Sochi that set Max Verstappen on his way.

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Music by #Mubert Music Rendering

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Chequered PastBy Martin Elliot