![]() He was exiting the famous Tamburello corner when his car traveled in a straight line rather than taking the corner naturally. Senna had been heavily involved in the improvement of driver safety following the death of Roland Ratzenberger and had been advised by FIA Medical Chief Sid Watkins to retire from the sport, but he did not. Victorious on the track and loved off it, Senna donated a reported $400 million to charities for children in poverty and left a great legacy when he lost his life at the age of 34. Regarded by many as the greatest F1 driver of all time, Senna was a true champion. The most famous crash in F1 history is probably that of Ayrton Senna. Following Jules Bianchi’s crash in 2014 further efforts were made to increase safety within the sport. However, with the cars hitting top speeds of up to 180 mph, when contact is made it still tends to end in dramatic fashion. As a result, the majority of major crashes happened over 30 years ago. Following the pair's fatalities in 1994, no F1 driver had been killed whilst racing, although in 2013 María de Villota was sadly found dead and her death was attributed to cardiac arrest which was a result of a crash she had over a year earlier in 2012.Īs well as the number of fatalities, the amount of contact between cars has decreased dramatically since the 1970’s, which many people consider to be the peak of the sport. ![]() The deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger marked a watershed moment in the history of F1 racing and saw the introduction of a number of security measures introduced to prevent any future incidents. 15 deaths in the 1950’s became 14 in the 1960’s, followed by 12 fatalities in the 1970’s, four in the 1980’s and two in the 1990’s. With each decade came increased safety precautions and a drop in the number of deaths. Some undoubtedly awful crashes will miss out on this list by virtue of there being limited surviving footage of the events. ![]() In total, 50 drivers have died driving an F1 car since the sport began at Silverstone back in 1950 with 39 coming in events that were part of the Formula One World Championships. The cars have very strict restrictions placed upon them in modern F1 and some believe that, as the pinnacle of motor racing, F1 should be allowed greater freedom to create faster and more extreme cars. In the 21st century Formula One has drawn criticism from some quarters as a result of the lack of contact between cars and the perceived decrease in entertainment as a result.
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