As all Formula One™ fans know, the sport is celebrating its 20th year without a driver fatality on May 1st of this year. Of course that does not include any fatal accidents involving marshals, spectators or other staff members, but it is something to be proud of.
Since the sport was created from Grand Prix racing, 38 brave men have been killed {not including Formula One™ drivers killed in non-championship events). During the 1970s, two of the 25 drivers that entered the season were killed. Despite the high risk, there were still people willing to get back into the car and do what they love.
We saw the loss of many famous drivers like Gilles Villeneuve, Jochen Rindt, François Cevert, Tom Pryce and Ayrton Senna. As well as some drivers that were just starting their careers like Roger Williamson, Roland Ratzenberger and Riccardo Paletti.
If it weren’t for the scientists and engineers that helped to develop the cutting edge safety technology, we would have saw many more deaths. Some of these deaths even influenced bigger safety developments that would filter through to other motorsports, such as the HANS Device. For this, I think anyone who is a motorsport fan owes a big thank you to all of the drivers who have lost their lives. Without them, we would be no where near as safe as we are now.
Although these drivers lost their lives, I feel that it is also important to remember that they died doing something they loved. To them, F1™ wasn’t just a sport… it was their passion.
Thank you, all of the brave men that gave their lives to the sport of Formula One™.
Cameron Earl
Chet Miller
Onofre Marimón
Manny Ayulo
Bill Vukovich
Eugenio Castellotti
Keith Andrews
Pat O’Connor
Luigi Musso
Peter Collins
Stuart Lewis-Evans
Jerry Unser Jr.
Bob Cortner
Chris Bristow
Alan Stacey
Giulio Cabianca
Wolfgang von Trips
Carel Godin de Beaufort
John Taylor
Lorenzo Bandini
Bob Anderson
Jo Schlesser
Gerhard Mitter
Piers Courage
Jochen Rindt
Roger Williamson
François Cevert
Peter Revson
Helmuth Koinigg
Mark Donohue
Tom Pryce
Ronnie Peterson
Patrick Depailler
Gilles Villeneuve
Riccardo Paletti
Elio de Angelis
Roland Ratzenberger
Ayrton Senna
