Safety in Formula One Motor Racing from 1950 continued:

Masculinity and the Perception of Risk

In motor racing, and many other sports, there is an assumed assumption of risk. How many times have we heard or read after a sporting accident that the victim knew the risk they were taking, risk is part of sport, indeed the element of risk may be celebrated. Racing drivers aren't 'normal', they are supernormal for taking life threatening risks. When drivers are injured and return to racing they are celebrated as heroes for overcoming obstacles that would inhibit a 'normal' person even if they run the risk of aggravating the injury further or need medication to allow them to compete. If a driver is killed people may say 'no-one forced them raced' - reinforcing the belief drivers know and accept all the risks of competing.

Often this acceptance of risk is equated with norms of masculinity. As briefly touched upon in the theory summary of feminism , masculinity is a socially constructed idea of male characteristics. In patriarchal societies the dominant perception of masculinity includes characteristics of bravery, strength, competitiveness and heterosexuality. In the media and everyday conversation we will often hear racing drivers referred to as 'real' men and one of the greatest insults is to diminish a drivers masculinity - 'he's driving like a woman/poof/cissy'. During the 1950s some journalists wrote in such a manner to suggest the attention paid to safety was emasculating the sport. Three times world Champion, Jackie Stewart was an active safety campaigner during the 1960s onwards and was often accused of being a 'wimp' for doing so. Regarding Jackie Stewart's retirement, Nigel Roebuck writes of some people's opinion:

"What many found unacceptable was that he retired at 34, at the summit of his driving career . . . All this talk of safety . . . didn't he want to die in a racing car?".

(Roebuck 1986:191)

It is not unusual for people who believe the sport is being emasculated by increasingly stringent safety measures to compare modern day drivers with those of the 'Heroic Years' pre-WWII - drivers who were prepared to die for their sport. I would suggest the representation of earlier drivers is often open to much embellishment.

The social construction of drivers' identity includes reinforcing these characteristics and their acceptance of pain, risk and injury. Accepting the risk of accidents is symbolic of gender ordering when equated with masculinity and thereby reinforces the norms of gendered characteristics.

As drivers have become increasingly professional the risk of injury affects their career and financial base, this may partly explain drivers increasing interest in safety matters. Drivers direct involvement with safety implementations raises a number of questions. Firstly the assumption by many people, including drivers themselves, that they must take part responsibility themselves and be actively involved. Jackie Stewart recalls many drivers did not wish to take an active role in the GPDA's campaigns - there may be a number of reasons for this: many drivers report being discouraged by team bosses who threatened sporting and economic restrictions if they 'rebelled'. I have already mentioned the growing time restraints on drivers which may affect their involvement in safety. There is also the psychological effect taking an active role in safety awareness may have. Taking an active involvement in safety subsequently raises a drivers awareness of the risks involved. Undoubtedly there is an acceptance of risk amongst drivers but what is rarely discussed is the fluctuating level of this acceptance and perception. Shortly before Ayrton Senna's death, Professor Sidney Watkins, FIA Medical delegate, wrote Senna had become increasingly anxious about safety:

"to a point where I got a bit worried about him".

(Watkins 1996:173)

Whilst Professor Watkins does not elaborate on his worries can we presume he worried Senna's anxieties may affect his driving abilities and judgement? It has long been postured that drivers become increasingly aware of the risks they take as they reach retirement, indeed such increased concerns may indicate it's time to stop. When retiring in 1999 Damon Hill made comment he feared he may be killed racing and this influenced his decision to retire. Martin Brundle, who attended circuit safety inspections as a GPDA representative in the mid-1990s, is quoted as saying:

"It doesn't do you any good mentally . . . to keep looking at all the places where you can have an accident".

(Tremayne 1996:147)

It is interesting to note that drivers can now see accidents in greater detail than ever before as the sport became increasingly televised and the use of this media in the pit scenario. Many drivers witness the accidents of others whilst in the pits preparing their own drives - is it not too much to presume this increases the stress of the situation? This is one aspect of driving which did not affect drivers of an earlier period. In the race report of Peter Collins' death in 1958 'The Autocar' magazine reports:

"Mike Hawthorn, following close behind, must have had the intensely distressing experience of witnessing the accident".

(The Autocar 9^th August 1958)

Drivers of this early F1 period therefore rarely witnessed televised coverage of accidents - may this have helped them normalize the risks they took? When Roger Williamson's was killed in 1973 John Richardson, a friend of James Hunt, recalls they saw the accident on the news and he notes Hunt:

". . . was absolutely appalled. It was horrifying to see a man burned to death".

(Donaldson 1994:89)

As the sport has developed drivers are increasingly exposed to coverage of both fatal and non-fatal accidents.

Drivers perception of risk can therefore fluctuate and may involve feelings of fear. Brundle eludes that many drivers equate these feelings of fear with undermining their masculinity. Worried it may undermine their status Brundle is quoted as saying:

"It's that macho thing. You don't . . . tell your race team:'Christ, I'm scared' . . . They'd look at you, look at each other and think: 'Maybe we need a different driver' ".

(Tremayne 1996:147)

This quote would suggest drivers and other participants may equate norms of masculinity with confidence in a drivers ability.

Next Page: The Formation the Formula One Constructors' Association

Back: The Professionalization of Drivers and the Formation of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association

  Bibliography (or Go to my Book Reviews Page)

Gerald Donaldson - 'James Hunt: The Biography' CollinsWillow 1994 Go to my Book Reviews Page for reviews of similar titles

Nigel Roebuck - 'Grand Prix Greats' Guild Publishing 1986 Go to my Book Reviews Page for reviews of similar titles

David Tremayne - 'Echoes of Imola' Croydon 1996 Buy this book at Amazon.co.uk Today!

Professor Sidney Watkins - 'Life at the Limit: Triumph and Tragedy in Formula One' Macmillan 1996 Buy this book at Amazon.co.uk Today!

The Autocar 8^th August 1958

(c)RH PR 2007