Prior to the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix and the loss of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna in one terrible weekend, motor sport tragedy had tended to be obscured by the mists of communication methods that were antiquated by today's fast-moving standards.
The previous fatality in a Formula One race had occurred at the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix. Starting from the penultimate row of the grid, Riccardo Paletti was unsighted and accelerating hard when he smashed into the back of Didier Pironi's Ferrari, which had stalled on pole position. Suffering serious abdominal injuries and two broken legs, the 23-year-old Italian was transferred to hospital in Montreal.