Ayrton didn’t have many close friends within the Formula One paddock, but Roland was one of them. He’d jumped into an official car to take him to the scene of the accident the moment he heard about it. Later, when Roland was pronounced dead, he wept on Sid Watkins’ shoulder. The two were great friends, but when Sid asked Ayrton not to race the following day – ‘Give it up and let’s go fishing,’ he’d said – Ayrton could only say that he had to race. He had to go on, no matter how shaken he was. He had to go on.
