Safety in Formula One Motor Racing from 1950 continued:

This section deals with the history of Formula One from 1950 especially in relation to safety; it does not cover the technical side of safety rather the organization and perception of safety as an issue.

It's a long, wordy section so I've tried to break it up into sections on different pages - hope you don't have too much trouble navigating this part, if so let me know.

For a brief history of this time period you may like to see the TIMELINE page. A table of fatalities that have occurred in Formula One spec' cars at either officially sanctioned races or during testing is also available - Table One.

In 1950 the FIA introduced the World Drivers' Championship. Drivers scored points based on the top six finishers from a set calendar of races. Previously races had been a haphazard affair with many being cancelled at the last minute or few competitors turning up. By setting a routinized calendar of events it made the sport much more accessible to spectators and media reporting.

It was the tragedy at Le Mans in 1955 that was to have the greatest effect on safety in all classes of motor racing in the 1950s and beyond. On 12^th June 1955 Pierre Levagh's Mercedes collided with Lance Macklin's Austin Healy and was catapulted into a spectator enclosure during the 24hour Sportscar race. Levagh and 83 were killed and 100 spectators injured. The race continued. One reason given for the race continuing is that it ensured emergency vehicles had easier access to and from the scene than if the race was cancelled and the 250,000 strong crowd left and blocked routes. However, it is also noted that the officials did not realize the scale of the accident. On first consideration this may seem unlikely given the scene was described by writers of the time as a 'battlefield' and there are a number of photographs showing the devastation but given that there wasn't enough official and medical personal present to deal with such a large accident and little communication, bar word of mouth, this ensures a high degree of confusion. Consider more recent public tragedies such as the Heysel Stadium riot and the Hillsborough tragedy - many people present have expressed how they were unaware of the enormity of the tragedy in front of them as close proximity to such an event can generate much confusion.

Eight and a half hours after the crash the Mercedes team withdrew their cars following direct orders from Mercedes headquarters in Munich. The fact the 'parent' of the race team issued a withdrawal notice highlights the importance and significance they placed on this tragedy. Indeed when Mercedes withdrew from racing at the end of 1955 citing resources were needed for production car research, Rendell writes:

"a feeling has ever since persisted that the Le Mans crash put the final seal on the decision".

(Rendell 1993:199)

Following the Le Mans crash safety became an increasingly prominent issue. Motor racing, including Formula One, was banned in France, Spain, Mexico and Switzerland - these bans were overturned in all countries bar Switzerland where racing remains banned to this day. The American Automobile Association withdrew their membership of the FIA - two new American associations were immediately formed, sanctioned racing and joined the FIA. The French Government ordered an official inquiry into the tragedy and the FIA conducted their own inquiry as did a number of national associations with reference to safety at their own countries' facilities.

Undoubtedly spurred by the Le Mans tragedy, safety became a more prominent issue for the FIA who took a number of actions including introducing a number of technical regulations aimed at making the cars safety (notably by trying to reduce speed which was deemed one of the main factors in accidents), the introduction of drivers helmets and overalls as mandatory and a system of on-track flag signals to relay information to drivers (e.g. oil on track, danger ahead). The FIA also took over responsibility for circuit safety inspections from the national associations which demonstrates the increasing level of bureaucratization of the governing on the sport as the implementation of FIA guidelines and regulations became increasingly centralized to the FIA.

  Next Page The Professionalization of Drivers/The Formation of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association

 Bibliography(or Go to my Book Reviews Page)

Ivan Rendell - 'The Chequered Flag: 100 Years of Motor Racing' George Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd. 1995 Buy this book at Amazon.co.uk Today!

(c)RH PR 2007