Senna's Car Not Destroyed, Say Williams

The Williams FW16 car driven by Ayrton Senna when he died at Imola in 1994 has not been destroyed since Italian police released it last month, the Formula One team said on Thursday.

The car was impounded after the triple World Champion's death in the San Marino Grand Prix and was held throughout court cases involving top Williams staff.

"At the moment the car has not been destroyed," a team spokesman said. "But its future will remain as a private matter."

Britain's Autosport magazine reported that the car, extensively damaged when the Brazilian careered off and hit a concrete wall at the Tamburello corner on May 1, 1994, had been destroyed by the team.

It said Senna's helmet had been incinerated after being returned to manufacturer Bell last weekend.

The court hearings in Italy dragged on until the end of 1999, when technical director Patrick Head and former Williams chief designer Adrian Newey were cleared of manslaughter. The cause of the high-speed crash has never been conclusively determined.

Senna's car was released to Williams by Italian police in Bologna last month and returned to the factory at Grove in southern England.