As with all motorsports, Formula One has witnessed fatal accidents. Since 1950, 32 drivers have been killed during a Formula One Grand Prix weekend, while 7 have been killed during test sessions and 12 during non-championship events.
The first driver fatality that occurred in the Formula One series was that of Cameron Earl, who was killed during a private test session for English Racing Automobiles at the Motor Industry Research Association's test circuit in England. He died in hospital at the age of 29 from skull fractures after his ERA R14B car overturned.
Chet Miller was the oldest driver to die in a Formula One car, aged 50. He was killed during practice for the 1953 Indianapolis 500, which was a part of the Formula One championship at the time. Ricardo Rodríguez, who is the youngest driver in history to have raced for Scuderia Ferrari, is the youngest driver to be killed while racing in Formula One, aged 20. The suspension of his Lotus 24 failed during an unofficial practice session for the non-championship 1962 Mexican Grand Prix at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
In 1970, Jochen Rindt became Formula One's only posthumous World Champion. He was killed while practicing for the 1970 Italian Grand Prix in a Lotus 72C, when he lost control of his car under heavy braking. He won the championship by 5 points over Jacky Ickx, despite missing the final three races of the season.
Often regarded as one of the darkest weekends of Formula One, the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was marred by multiple incidents. Rubens Barrichello was lucky to escape a heavy airborne crash during Friday practice, being left unconscious after hitting the wall at more than 225km/h. On Saturday, Roland Ratzenberger was tragically killed when the front wing of his Simtek S941 failed at the high-speed Villeneuve Kink. He was killed instantly when his car struck the wall at more than 300km/h. Unfortunately, there would be one more driver killed that weekend. This time it was three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna, after a steering failure sent his Williams FW16 into the outside barriers at Tamburello and he was struck in the head by a steering arm. He is the only World Champion to have been fatally injured, excluding Rindt, who won the championship after his death.
Over the next 20 years, Formula One did not witness any further fatal accidents, thanks largely to the various safety innovations introduced into the sport over its long history. Some of these innovations were the direct result of lessons learned from previous fatalities in Formula One and other motorsport categories. The 2000's is the only decade to date in which no driver was killed.
However, at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, Marussia driver Jules Bianchi suffered a diffuse axonal injury after crashing into a recovery vehicle in severe wet conditions. At the time of the accident, the trackside vehicle was removing Adrian Sutil's car after he had crashed out of the race a couple of laps prior. The accident was eerily similar to that of María de Villota's testing crash in 2012 with the same team. Bianchi was transported to hospital where he spent nine months in a coma, eventually dying of his injuries on 17 July 2015. The accident was thoroughly investigated by the FIA, resulting in the addition of the Virtual Safety Car and the Halo.
The following is a list of drivers who were killed while driving a Formula One car, including those killed during a:
- Grand Prix
- Qualifying
- Practice
- Pre-race test
- Private test session
- Non-championship event
- Historic event
Drivers[]
Not part of the Formula One World Championship |
Track Marshalls[]
Name | Age | Date Of Accident | Event |
---|---|---|---|
Günther Schneider | 19 | 4 August 1963 | 1963 German Grand Prix |
Jansen van Vuuren | 19 | 5 March 1977 | 1977 South African Grand Prix |
Paolo Gislimberti | 33 | 10 September 2000 | 2000 Italian Grand Prix |
Graham Beveridge | 52 | 4 March 2001 | 2001 Australian Grand Prix |
Mark Robinson | 38 | 9 June 2013 | 2013 Canadian Grand Prix |
References[]
External Links[]
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