Crashes in Formula 1 can be spectacular for audience but in the other hand can mean pain and suffering for all involved in it.
In 57 years of world cup of the most elite sport, 24 drivers died. They died mostly at the beginning of the cup because of the inferior safety and lower quality of the vehicles. In last 25 years there was “only” 2 deaths. I will present 5 most known accidents that made the history.
1. Niki Lauda (Nurburgring, 1. august 1976)
The race was at raceway in Nurburgring, where a lap was 22,8 km long. Because of the many tricky corners and nothing but forest around, the track was called “green hell”. Austrian Niki Lauda came to the race as world champion and leading in current championship. At the start of the race there was some rain, so all the drivers went to pit lane to change tires for dry weather. Lauda lost a lot of time because of that.
In second corner Lauda lost control in turn Bergwerk and crashed into the wall. The vehicle caught on fire and bounced back to the track where it was hit by Herald Ertl and Brend Lunger. These two drivers and Guy Edwards rescued Lauda from the burning vehicle saving his life. The medic rushed him to the hospital where they fought for his life next couple of days.
The Austrian missed only two races and had to fought for title. At the end he lost it to James Hunt for just one point. Lauda finished his career with three world champion titles (1975, 1877 and 1984).
Niki Lauda crash
2. Gilles Villeneuve (Zolder, 8. may 1982)
Although Villeneuve never won a world cup he was one of the most popular drivers in the history of F1. In his short career he won 6 times. He was closest to the title in 1979 when he was behind his team driver Jody Scheckter.
The Canadian died at Belgian grand prix. On the qualifying day he was falling behind the French Didier Pironi. At the end of the qualifications he tried to set his best time with used tiers. He came across Jochen Mass who was driving slowly finishing his qualifications. Villeneuve had contact with other driver’s wheels which lifted Ferrari to the air. What followed was one of the most shocking overturning in the history of sport. Villeneuve was catapulted from the vehicle. He died because of the broken neck injury in the hospital.
Gilles Villeneuve crash
3. Gerhard Berger (Imola, 23. april 1989)
The third accident has also happened to the Ferrari driver. Gerhard Berger crashed in 4th lap at San Marino grand prix in Imola. The Austrian lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the wall without having the chance to break. The vehicle immediately caught on fire. He suffered only few scratches because of the quick intervention of the rescue crew.
He finished the season with two consucetive retreats.
Gerhard Berger crash
4. Ayrton Senna (Imola, 1. may 1994)
If you think about F1 accidents you think on Ayrton Senna who to this day is recognized as the best driver in F1 ever. He made his reputation not only because of numerous wins but with his passion and commitment to the sport.
Three times world champions ended his life in 7th lap of San Marino grand prix. Short time before the accident the safety car left the track because of the Pedro Lamy and JJ Leht crash. Williams driver left the track with 310 km/h and crashed into concrete wall with 218 km/h. The crash with the wall wasn’t fatal. Senna was hit in the head by the front right tire with attached suspension piece. The race weekend in 1994 was one of the worst ever. The day before Senna’s death, died Austrian Roland Ratzenberger, and on friday’s qualifications almost fatally crashed Rubens Barrichello.
Ayrton Senna crash
5. The craziest start of the race (Spa-Francorchamps, 30. August 1998)
This was the craziest start in the history of F1. Fortunately there was only damage to the cars. The race started in rain with no safety car. Seconds after the start David Coulthard spun and the drivers behind him started to brake in panic. Because of that there was chain crash ehich resulted in 16 crashed vehicles.
The craziest crash
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