100th, Unforgettable Monza Showdown: Senna's Misfortune, Berger's Triumph, and Ferrari's Roaring 1-2 Finish
It was an archetypal Monza day: mist lifting to reveal a hazy sun as the tifosi to begin with seeped and then flooded over, around and through the perimeter fence. Only one thing was missing.
The increasingly hermitic Enzo Ferrari had not attended his home GP for many years. No matter. The less he did, the more significant he became. Put it this way: Il Papa John Paul II had in June visited Il Commendatore, not vice versa – and Enzo, unwell, had stood him up; they spoke on the phone.
Knowing that Enzo was alive, holed up in his moodily-lit converted Fiorano farmhouse, watching the race on TV, waiting for the celebratory or explanatory phone call, had long been sufficient. But now he was gone. Aged 90.
Jean-Louis Schlesser was about to make his Formula 1 race debut one day short of his 40th birthday. Williams’ Nigel Mansell was indisposed because of a secondary infection triggered by chickenpox and its preferred subs Martin Brundle, Al Unser Jr and Roberto Moreno were unavailable. So Schlesser, a former test driver for the Didcot team, got the call.