One of the attractions of Formula 1 is the danger. There's a small part of every Formula 1 fan that is attracted to the danger and incredible risk the drivers take every race. Here are some of these dangerous situations where all the drivers walked away.
Biggest crash in F1 history.
Hard impact during the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Martin Brundle narrowly escapes injury in 1996 in Australia.
The only race where everyone crashed, or crashed before the race except for the winner at the 1975 British Grand Prix.
Sadly, all the drivers didn't walk away. When Formula 1 started in 1950, safety was the furthest thing from everyones minds. The only forms of safety were an open faced helmet, and an "optional" lap seat belt. It wasn't until the 60's when Sir Jackie Stewart spoke out about everyone doing their part to make the sport safe. In a time where team owners, track operators, and even fans pretty much told the drivers, "Shut up and drive!" he stood up against them and formed a drivers union. He once said that back then, if you were a Grand Prix driver, you had a 2/3 chance you would not see your career end because of a fatal accident.
WARNING: The next videos do contain footage of fatal accidents, mostly at the scene. I mean no disrespect and only post these because of it's historical accuracy and if it's tastefully done. Even though the footage may be hard to bear at times, it's necessary to paint a realistic picture of Formula 1 and what risks the drivers go through.
Sir Jackie Stewart paints a picture of the dangers of Grand Prix racing in the 60's.
Part 1 of a well-done tribute to all the Formula 1 drivers who have lost their lives racing from 1950-1967.
Unfortunately Part 2 was taken down by the FIA. There was another video, but after watching that, I thought it was way too graphic and it contained scenes that no one should ever see. I'm just going to mention the people who have died and the drivers who have been killed during Formula 1 races.
Bob Anderson 8/14/67, Test in Great Britain
Jo Schlesser 7/7/68, French GP, unavailable video
Gerhard Mittner 8/2/69, German GP practice
Piers Courage 6/7/70, Dutch GP
Jochen Rindt 9/5/70, Italian GP qualifying (Rindt is currently the only posthumous World Champion)
Jo Siffert 10/24/71, Exhibition race in Great Britain
Roger Williamson 7/29/73, Dutch GP
This was at the same part of the track Courage had died. This video proves the drivers took care of their own. Fellow driver David Purley stops his car, sacrifices his race, and sacrifices his own life to try and save his friend.
Francois Cevert 10/6/73, United States GP qualifying
Cevert was Sir Jackie Stewart's teammate and protege, his death occured in Stewart's last race (Stewart was to retire after the race). He withdrew and didn't race his last race in respect to his teammate.
Peter Revson 3/30/74, Test in South Africa
Helmut Koinigg 10/6/74, United States GP
Mark Donohue 8/19/75, Austrian GP practice
Tom Pryce 3/5/77, South African GP
I decided not to post a video for this crash because it was too graphic. A car broke and was on fire. Two track marshalls crossed the track tending to the fire. Pryce drove over the hill and couldn't avoid one of the marshalls. Both were killed instantly.
Brian McGuire 8/29/77, Exhibition race in Great Britain
Ronnie Peterson 9/11/78, Italian GP
Amazingly he didn't die at the scene. His fellow drivers who were in the crash pulled him out. He died after surgery when bone marrow seeped into his bloodstream after doctors reset 7 fractures in one leg and 3 fractures in another leg. His teammate Mario Andretti won the World Championship that day. Ironically the only 2 American drivers to have won the World Championship won during the same race where their teammates were killed in racing accidents. Phil Hill won and Wolfgang von Trips died in 1961 at the same track.
Patrick Depailler 8/1/80, Test in Germany
Gilles Villeneuve 5/8/82, Belgian GP qualifying
One of the greatest drivers to never win the championship hit another car at such an angle, that the front of the car broke apart and he was launched (while still strapped in his seat) 30 feet in the air.
Riccardo Paletti 6/13/82, Canadian GP, Murray Walker says it all in the video
Elio de Angelis 5/15/86, Test in France
I wanted to write this for today because of what happened 15 years ago today 5/1/94. Three accidents occured that weekend that forever changed the way Formula 1 is viewed today. It started on Friday the 29th, where Rubens Barrichello had a horrible crash that resulted in injuries. He currently races in F1 today for the Brawn GP team.
Saturday, during qualifying, Roland Ratzenberger crashed after his front wing on his car was failing. Not knowing it was failing, he took a turn at full speed and the car wouldn't turn. He hit the wall head on and died. This begins the controversey that is the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
After the many deaths at Monza, Italy passed a law stating that anyone who dies at the scene during a race weekend, the event is automatically cancelled and the track is closed for investigation. In the live footage of qualifying, the camera zoomed in on Ratzenberger and he is clearly not moving. His time of death would suggest that he died at the hospital, but Doctors at the track are coming forward saying that Ratzenberger died instantly. The cancellation of the race would've saved what happened on the 1st.
Three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna was affected deeply following Ratzenbergers death. F1 Head Doctor, Dr. Sid Watkins, told a crying Senna that he shouldn't race if he doesn't want to. Senna did everything possible and that he can take off and no one would be mad. Senna replied, "There are certain things over which we have no control. I cannot quit, I have to go on."
At the start of the race on the 1st, 9 fans were hurt after a tire and parts went into the crowd following a crash.
On the restart, leader Senna took the green flag. On lap 7, Senna's car bottomed out on the track and veered straight into the wall. One of the greatest race car drivers ever was dead.
Although he took a massive hit, it didn't look as serious as the previous two wrecks of the weekend. How he died was his right front tire broke apart. At the same time, a small piece of the suspension pierced his helmet striking him above the eye, a larger piece of the suspension also struck him in the head and the right front tire forced Senna's head to violently crash against the headrest. All three impacts played their part in the death.
Again, Doctors were for some reason forced to say that Senna died at the hospital. Now they are coming forward that Senna died at the scene. Dr. Watkins, who was performing an emergency tracheotomy on Senna on the track said in his book, "He looked serene. I raised his eyelids and it was clear from his pupils that he had a massive brain injury. We lifted him from the cockpit and laid him on the ground. As we did, he sighed and, although I am totally agnostic, I felt his soul depart at that moment."
Here's a report from the BBC about Senna's death.
One of the more heartbreaking observations was when Doctors pulled Senna out of the car, they found an Austrian flag covered in blood. It was later revealed that if Senna had won the race, the Brazilian would've waved the flag in honor of Ratzenberger.
Although this was a horrible day in motorsports, many improvements came about because of it. Tracks were made so they are slower and have proper runoff areas, drivers now use the HANS device to prevent someones neck from snapping from high impact, and tethers attach the tire to the car to prevent it from flying off and hitting anyone. No Formula 1 driver has died since.
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