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Formula One Founded
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Onofre Marimon: Nürburgring 1954
Argentine Onofre Marimon was the first fatality in Formula One, killed when his Maserati 250F's brakes failed at the bottom of a steep hill, sending his car careening through a patch of trees and overturning. Marimon was ejected from the car, which eventually came to rest on top of him. He survived long enough to be issued his last rites by a catholic priest on the scene. -
Luigi Musso: Reims
Italian speedster Luigi Musso died in similar fashion to Marimon, at the French Grand Prix at Reims four years later, when he lost control while attempting to overtake Scuderia Ferrari teammate Mike Hawthorne. His car struck a ditch and overturned onto Musso, crushing him. -
Peter Collins: Nürburging
World Championship favorite Peter Collins was the second driver to lose his life in 1958, at the Nürburgring. He was chasing another driver when his Ferrari failed to take the fast and dangerous Pflantzgarten curve, struck a ditch and overturned violently, killing Collins. -
Stuart Lewis-Evans: Ain-Diab
A terrible 1958 was brought to an end in Morocco, and at the Ain Diab circuit there, so was the life of Stuart Lewis-Evans. The second Englishman to die in 1958 along with countryman Peter Collins, Lewis-Evans' engine seized and sent him into a barrier, catching fire and inflicting fatal burns. -
Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey: Spa
The Belgian Grand Prix was the first Formula One event to claim the lives of two drivers, as Englishmen Bristow and Stacey were killed withing minutes of each other during the race. Bristow's accident occurred on lap 20 as he fought to stay ahead of a Ferrari, while Stacey's accident happened five laps later when he was struck in the face by a bird and careened through a hedge and down a hill into a field. -
Lorenzo Bandini: Monaco
One of the most disturbing deaths in Formula One was the horrific daeth-by-fire Lorenzo Bandini endured at the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix. He crashed his Ferrari into hay bales which lined the track and which only served to add fuel to the fire that ensued. Bandini was trapped in the car and was incinerated by the fire, as other drivers could smell burning flesh for the rest of the race. Bandini suffered third degree burns over more than 90 percent of his body and died in hospital days later. -
Piers Courage: Zandvoort
Piers Courage, a rich hier from England, showed great promise in his young career but dreams of glory came to an end in a fiery high-speed crash at Zandvoort in 1970. The fire burned so intensely that firemen couldn't put it out, but the fact that Courage's helmet rolled out of the wreckage indicated his fate was already sealed. -
Jochen Rindt: Monza
Championship leafer Jochen Rindt hoped to clinch the World Title at Monza in 1970, but wasn't thrilled with Lotus' new car, the 72. He asked for his preferred car, the Lotus 49, to be sent to Monza instead but arrived to see a 72 waiting for him. Two laps into his qualifying run, a break shaft failure sent him into the wall at over 185 mph, killing him almost instantly. He would, however, go on to become Formula One's first and only posthumous World Champion. -
Roger Williamson
The most heartbreaking story is that of Roger Williamson, a hot prospect from England who was in just his third race when his car suffered a tire failure and overturned, catching fire. Though a fire truck was at the ready, marshalls failed to properly deploy it, and fellow driver David Purlery took matters into his own hands, trying in vain to right the vehicle as the uninjured Williamson suffocated inside it. -
Francois Cevert: Watkins Glen
Devastating good looks met with devastating speed in Francois Cevert, protogee of triple World Champion Jackie Stewart. Cevert went to Watkins Glen for the final race of the 1973 season knowing he would be the favorite to bring home the championship in 1974. But a driver error in qualifying sent him into the barriers and his car overturned onto the Armco, cutting Cevert in half between shoulder and hip and killing him instantly. -
Tom Pryce: Kyalami
Tom Pryce's death was one of the most frightening and unlikely events in Formula One history. While racing down the long front straightaway, Pryce strruck a young marshal who was attending to a disabled car. The marshal was killed instantly, and the fire extinguisher he was carrying struck Pryce, who was travelling at over 170 mph, in the head, inflicting fatal blunt force trauma. -
Gilles Villeneuve: Zolder
Canadian star Gilles Villeneuve was qualifying at Zolder in a heated fight with Ferrari teammate Didier Pironi. When Villeneuve approached the slower car of Jochen Mass at speed, Mass attempted to move aside. But Villeneuve also attempted to move aside to pass Mass, and the two collided. Villeneuve's car went airborne and began to somersault end-over-end, and the entire seat contraption broke free of the car, launching Villeneuve - seat and all - over 40 feet into catch fencing, killing him. -
Roland Ratzenberger: Imola
Austrian Ratzenberger was slated to be a top driver but his life was cut short in a violent crash at Imola in qualifying for the 1994 Grand Prix of San Marino. He crashed into a concrete wall at over 180 mph and suffered a basular skull fracture, an injury common among racecar drivers, when a violent jerking motion of the head caused by massive deceleration causes the skull and spinal cord to separate. -
Ayrton Senna: Imola
One day after Roland ratzenberger's fatal crash, Senna led the 1994 Grand Prix of San Marino when his car bottomed out on a bumpy stretch of track at the fast and dangerous Tamburello corner, sending him into a concrete barrier at over 180 mph. A piece of suspension broke off the car during the collision and impaled Senna's helmet inflicting fatal injuries. An examination of the car yielded a rolled up Austrian flag which Senna had intended to wave in honor of Ratzenberger after the race.
