Fans and politicians gather to pay their respects to F1 legend Ayrton Senna on the 30th anniversary of his tragic death at Imola

The 30th anniversary of the death of F1 icon Ayrton Senna is being commemorated with a memorial at Imola, while fans have gathered on the track where he crashed in 1994 to pay tribute. 

Senna was the sport's brightest star, a hero to millions, especially in his native Brazil but on lap seven of the ill-fated San Marino Grand Prix - a weekend that had already claimed the life of Austrian Roland Ratzenberger - he ran off the road at 190mph and hit a concrete wall. He died instantly, aged 34. 

Wednesday marks three decades since the Senna's death and the occasion has been observed by fans paying their respect. 

In addition, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali was joined by politicians from Brazil, Italy and Austria - in remembrance of Ratzenberger, who died during a qualifying session. 

Flags, jerseys and posters bearing the Sao Paulo-born driver's face adorned gates of Imola on Wednesday, while many surrounded the memorial in his honour and laid wreaths, lit candles and took a moment for reflection. 

Senna won his three World Championships with McLaren in 1988, 1990 and 1991. In 1994 he joined Williams after the retirement of Alain Prost.

The move had long been desired by Senna but he was unhappy with the way his car performed following a number of rule changes and even predicted that a possibly fatal accident might occur.

On the eve of the 1994 season he said: 'The cars are very fast and difficult to drive. It's going to be a season with lots of accidents and I'll risk saying we'll be lucky if something really serious doesn't happen.'

And the fearful prophecy came to be at Imola. While leading the race, Senna lost control of his Williams at the notorious Tamburello corner. The right-front suspension of the triple world champion's car penetrated his crash helmet.

However, the race restarted less than 40 minutes later with Michael Schumacher winning. Damon Hill, in the other Williams, crossed the line in sixth, two places ahead of Martin Brundle.

During Saturday's qualifying Ratzenberger was killed when his car ploughed into a concrete wall after the front wing of his Simtek-Ford broke.

Senna's death triggered a wave of safety improvements at the Imola track and throughout F1, resulting in shorter straights, additional room around dangerous turns and less powerful engines. 

Former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone revealed this week that he was told the sport would be cancelled in the wake of the Brazilian driver's death. 

'It was just a disastrous weekend.' He told PA. 'If you think about all the things that happened, with Roland crashing and never getting out of his car, and then Senna, I really don't think it would be possible for it to happen again.

'Max (Mosley - FIA president at the time) said to me afterwards that he believed it would be the end of Formula One. I said, "I think you are wrong and we will have to see."

'We hoped it wouldn't cause what Max had suggested might happen, but it was just a disaster. It wasn't a good weekend, and it seems to me a lot longer than 30 years. He was just so unlucky to die in that accident.'

Senna remains the last driver to be killed during an F1 race. Jules Bianchi died nine months after injuries he sustained at the Japanese Grand Prix a decade ago.

'Formula One became more popular after Senna's death,' added Ecclestone. 'It got so much worldwide publicity that people who had not watched Formula One before started to become interested.

'But I hope we will never see something like that again, and I think today, with the way everything has improved with safety, thank God, the chances are so much smaller.'

The groundswell of emotion as the anniversary of Senna's death approached even  

Miami plays host to the fifth round of this year's championship this weekend, with F1 expected to pay tribute to Senna at the Emilia Romagna GP in Imola on May 19.