10 Biggest Formula One Controversies

10. Ayrton Senna's Crash At The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix

We start things off with arguably the darkest weekend in Formula One history. The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at the Imola racetrack witnessed a serious accident and injury for Rubens Barrichello, plus fatal accidents for both driver Roland Ratzenberger and triple world champion Ayrton Senna.

Ayrton Senna in his Williams was leading the race from Michael Schumacher in his Benetton (who noticed on lap 6 that Senna had taken an unusual line through the Tamburello corner), before eventually crashing at that very corner on the next lap at approximately 211 km/h, according to the telemetry data.

Despite the official line and autopsy being that Senna had passed instantly the moment that he hit the wall at Tamburello, the Italian authorities have disputed this and insisted he passed en route to the hospital.

This weekend has had a lasting impact on the sport, with numerous changes in the sporting regulations being introduced as a reactionary measure in order to curb the safety concerns raised from the myriad of crashes. The pit lane had a speed limit introduced as well, and remains in place to this day. The Williams team were involved in various criminal prosecutions until finally being acquitted in 2007.

The safety changes have also ushered in a new safer era of Formula One which has seen only one other driver fatality since (Jules Bianchi after the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix).