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Race safety is the buzzword in the motor sports these days. Two racers, Dan Wheldon in IndyCar racing and Marco Simoncelli in MotoGP race lost their lives while racing on the track. Though the safety on the track has improved over the last decades, the races can never be 100% safe. Cars run at more than 200 kilometers per hour speed on the track crossing the 300kmph mark several times in races. Under such scenario, there will always be the danger to the driver’s life from a crash or a collision on the track. India is all set to host the first ever F1 race in the country and the organisers have claimed to have taken care of all safety factors.
Building up to the Indian GP, we present this list of five disastrous accidents that happened on F1 tracks.
1. Niki Lauda, German GP, 1976
Considered as one of the legends of Formula One, Niki Lauda had a disastrous race at the German GP in 1976. Niki Lauda driving a Ferrari met one of the most frightening crashes in F1 history at Nürburgring. Before the race, Lauda had tried to boycott the race expressing his dissatisfaction over the safety arrangements on the track. Other drivers voted against Lauda’s suggestion and Niki had to race. During the race, Niki’s car, Ferrari 312B2, spun into the barriers on the right side of the track and returned to the track where he was hit by another car. The car burst into flames after the car’s fuel tank caught fire.
As apprehended by Niki before the race, the safety arrangements were not enough to help him as the safety car took around ten minutes to reach the accident spot. However it was the swift action by fellow drivers which saved Niki’s life not before the flames left him with some serious burns. His lungs were damaged due to toxic gases and he later fell into coma. It is said that his coma was so critical that a priest was arranged to perform his last rites. Thankfully, he survived and returned to race track in just 39 days.
2. Gilles Villeneuve, Belgian GP, 1982
Gilles Villeneuve was a young Canadian racer who died at the tender age of 32 in a crash during the qualifying of the Belgian GP in 1982. At the start of the final qualifying lap of the Belgian GP at Zolder, Villeneuve’s Ferrari hit the back of Jochen Mass’s car.
Gilles along with his car was launched in the air and was thrown 100 meters above the ground. The car was destroyed and Gilles, who was one of the most promising racers of those days died a premature death. His on track rivalry with Ferrari co-driver Didier Pironi is still remembered by F1 fans.
3. Ayrton Senna, San Marino GP, 1994
Brazilian racer and three times world champion Ayrton Senna was killed in a crash at the San Marino GP at Imola in 1994. The race was third of the season but Senna had hoped to start his season afresh from the race at San Marino after not being able to finish the last two races. He had achieved the pole position for the record 65th time. (This record was later broken by Michael Schumacher).
The race at San Marino was marred by accidents before the race during the free practice and qualifying. Senna being a senior driver was also leading the drivers to form an association to look into the driver safety issue.
Even on the race day, the beginning of the race saw a huge accident. Later when the race restarted, Senna, leading the race at that time with his Williams car, set the third quickest lap of the race.
During lap 6, the car left the track when the car was at around 330 kmph, and collided with the concrete retaining wall. Within 2 minutes of crashing Senna was extracted from his race car and initial treatment took place by the side of the car. He was later airlifted to Bologna’s Maggiore Hospital, where he was declared dead. Senna is the last F1 racer who died in a crash during an F1 race.
4. Michael Schumacher, German GP, 2001
At German GP in 2001 Schumacher met with a major accident when the gears of his car failed. After a few moments of the start of the race, it was learnt that Schumacher faced problems with Ferrari’s gear selection and lost control over the car. Schumi was slowing down but Luciano Burti behind in the traffic failed to see Schumacher struggling. He hit Schumacher from behind and was launched into air. Luckily, no one was hurt severely in this accident.
5. Felipe Massa, Hungarian GP, 2009
On 25th July 2009, a major accident involving Brazilian driver Felipe Massa happened during the second round qualifying at the Hungarian GP. Massa was struck by an 800 grams suspension spring that came off from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn. The spring hit Massa’s helmet and he lost his consciousness temporarily and crashed into the tyre barrier. Massa faced a life-threatening injury and underwent surgery. A titanium plate was later inserted into his skull to strengthen it for racing. He couldn’t race further in that season but returned to professional racing in the next season.
6. Jules Bianchi, Japanese GP 2014
During a rain-lashed Japanese Grand Prix, Bianchi collided with a stationary crane that had been removing the wreckage of Adrian Sutil’s Sauber. Sutil, who had crashed at that same corner only a lap prior, had walked away from that accident with minimal injury. Bianchi, whose vehicle went into the rear of the tractor at full force, had been unresponsive to team radio or calls from race marshals.
