F1's Most Horrific Crashes - Episode 2 | F1 Documentary

[Music] [Music] n my stre [Music] [Music] welcome back to f1's most horrific crashes a series where we shall be taking a detailed look into formula 1's most Infamous and horrifying incidents which involved Marshals Spectators and of course the drivers themselves in our previous episode we looked at some examples where the drivers were lucky enough to survive the crashes they were involved in in this second episode it is my sad duty to bring you those days in f1's history where drivers paid the ultimate price in their pursuit of speed and success you may have been watching these incidents on TV or perhaps you may have been watching from from the circuit itself either way the incidents that we're about to look into are still very much clear in the memories of those who sat and helplessly watched on as their Heroes were tragically killed on the racetrack but before we get into that let me just remind you that no driver is forced to drive an F1 car each of them dreamed of reaching the top step of motor racing and were very much willing to do anything to achieve that they loved motor racing and nothing else would bring them the joy they experienced whilst racing in a Grand Prix event they knew the risks and very much accepted that they themselves could possibly be killed in a racing car if they couldn't accept that fact it was time to pack your bags and go home and it goes without saying the following video contains footage of injury and death which some of you may find upsetting and disturbing so viewer discretion is advice [Music] the unsung heroes of any Motorsport event no doubt are the Trackside Marshals who ensure the safety of drivers and spectators at any circuit whilst at the same time being in the firing line if any accident takes place Medics firefighters and flag waivers are all part of this mainly volunteer run network and without them we would have no Motorsport to love I mentioned a moment ago that Marshals are in a firing line if any accident takes place and they have to ensure they can attend any incident as quickly as possible to ensure everyone's safety it was just a regular Grand Prix weekend as the F1 circus came to Monza for the 200000 Italian Grand Prix with M hackin leading the driver's Championship but Michael schumacker was hunting him down to take that lead away from him and he performed well in qualifying securing pole position in front of the expectant toosy crowd with mik haakan starting in P3 as the race got underway Eddie Irvine in the Jaguar was the first retirement at the first chicane but all eyes were on schumacker in the lead with Mika hackam following in second after a brilliant start the broadcast was still following Ed Irvine getting out of his Jaguar but cut away just in time to witness a huge accident going into the de roier chicane has obliterated the poar blocks rejoins last and M and Michael Schumaker is exactly where he wants to be and needs to be and it's Eddie Irvine in the Jaguar who is the first retirement and wow that's the two Jordans and a mega mega C that's try and and there's many cars piling in at the back terrible terrible accident there and uh of course the red flag will have to come out I can't see that they can handle that one under the safety car there look to be far too many cars involved in that two Jordans appeared to get together and then come into the back of the third and fourth place Runners safety car is deployed as the cars approached the chicane at approximately 190 mph Hines Howard fren's Jordan struck the left rear corner of his teammate Yano truli was also making contact with the Ferrari of ru barell forcing the three cars into a spin which also collected the McLaren of David card the four cars entered the gravel trap kicking up dust and debris into a cloud which left visibility extremely low Johnny Herbert and the other Jaguar was almost completely blinded by the dust cloud and was forced to slow down early to avoid any unsighted cars however the sber of Pedro dear Rosa crashed into the back of Herbert's Jaguar which sent the sber some assaulting into the air before coming to arrest upside down the rest of the field passed through unscathed despite the amount of debris spread across that portion of the circuit but it appeared that there were no serious injuries in the horrendous accident approximately 4 minutes after the first incident it became clear that somebody had been seriously hurt up on top of the first accident and now they're obviously attending to somebody down there I don't it it it's I if it's anybody it's going to be delosa it I'm just wondering whether it's the stretcher that I see with the red markings or whether it's a marshall it was not Pedro dear Rosa that was being attended to but instead a Trackside Marshall Paulo gizen berti If you watch the accident again you will notice a wheel spear off to the right hand side at very high speed this wheel struck Poo's upper body with tremendous Force when he was moving away from his post with a fire extinguisher in hand Trackside Medics began to treat poo with a heart massage before Professor Sid Watkins and Gary hartstein arrived on the scene to Aid in his treatment soon after poo would suffer a cardiac arrest and he was transported to San Gerardo Hospital via ambulance sadly giz Lin berti never regained Consciousness and was pronounced dead at a hospital at just 3 3 years old his autopsy released 2 Days Later revealed that he died from severe head trauma his funeral held just 5 days later was attended by several drivers and his coffin was draped with a Ferrari flag as he was a huge fan of the scootera the investigation later revealed that he had died instantly from the impact in response to this incident wheel tethers which are there to prevent Wheels coming completely disconnected from the car in an accident were to be made twice as strong for the 2001 season and Beyond unfortunately this did not stop further incidents with flying Wheels as just five races later at the season opening 2001 Australian Grand Prix spectator Marshall gr beverage was killed by another flying detached wheel this time coming from the B Honda of Jack vve after a severe highspeed collision with the Williams of Ralph Schumaker on the run towards turn three tou early actually they've got they've got to clear oh oh that was a terrific terrific blow despite the risks Marshals continue to put their lives on the line to make sure everyone has a safe weekend and we as fans very much appreciate everything they [Music] do Jill vilner is often regarded as one of formula 1's finest ever drivers and certainly Canada's greatest ever making his F1 debut with McLaren in 1977 in an older M23 his performances impressed the field so much with his sheer determination and skill behind the wheel he earned himself and moved to Ferrari at the end of that season replacing the outgoing Nikki louder Enzo Ferrari immediately took a liking to Jill who reminded him of the great Tazo newari who won the European Championship in 1932 and was confident Jill would bring Ferrari success once again despite an awful start to 1978 and with the Italian press calling for vve to be sacked Ferrari pressed on with Jill and eventually his form began to slowly improve the season was capped off in perfect style as vilner went on to win his first first race for Ferrari at the final race of the season the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal 1979 saw an even better season for V nerve where he secured three victories and seven podiums including another Podium at the Canadian Grand Prix this season also saw one of the finest moments in Jill's career and one of the best battles ever seen in Formula 1 history towards the end of the French Grand PR deson V nerve and the Renault of Ren aru were engaged in the type battle for second place towards the end of the race and uh I tried to finish second and he tried to finish second I finished third anyway for me it was my best rest because it was my best uh best friend too I remember Jill the person the guys and uh I remember at the end of the straight line I went inside the corner he was outside and I I I I move my my eyes and I see his eyes very short and I said he don't give me one half second and he said he says the [Music] same banging Wheels lap after lap the crowd cheered the two best friends on in sheer appreciation as both drivers would not give up on each [Music] other [Music] [Music] Jill only just managed to take take second place on the final lap with aru following very close behind vve would eventually finish Second That season Just Four Points behind his Ferrari teammate Jodi sha Ferrari then went on to struggle for the next two years with uncompetitive cars but vov had this unique ability to really push any car he had above and beyond its capabilities the sight of a sideways Ferrari reassured onlookers that Jill was in complete control this skill was best seen in Canada once again in 1981 where during a very wet race he had a minor accident which damaged his front Wing using only his peripheral vision to guide himself through the circuit as his forward Vision was blocked by the damaged front Wing eventually the front Wing would detach itself and he went on to finish third Despite All Odds being against him this legendary performance proved to everyone that he was never going to give up and would fight off for every Point available right to the very end tragically the end would come just 8 months later despite optimism ahead of the 1982 season Phil nerve would have a miserable start with two retirements and one disqualification at Long Beach California the San Marino Grand Prix would Fair much better for Ferrari after the two Renos retired of engine troubles V nerve led the race with teammate and friend did Peroni behind him in second eight laps until the end of the race Ferrari held out a slow pitboard to their drivers to instruct them to slow down to hopefully prevent a mechanical failure from either driver now there are many different views as to what happened next but vov saw this as an order to hold position until the end of the race whilst Peroni saw the order that they were free to race each other on that very same lap Peroni passed viler at a to of hairpin vve fought back but did defended with everything he had on the penultimate lap Vil nerve took the lead once again at toza and expected Peroni to remain behind him for the remainder of the race believing that Peron was simply putting on a show for the Italian crowd which had otherwise seen very little action that day on the final lap Peroni took the lead away from vve once again at TOA and despite vve attempting to regain the lead Peroni crossed the line Victorious with v nerve in second the podium celebration showed the world exactly how vinner felt Jill was enraged and felt completely betrayed by his friend vowing to never speak to Didier ever again during qualifying at a Belgian Grand prer Zelda just 2 weeks later Peron was a tenth of a second faster than vilner during the final session and Jill was eager to beat his time with 8 minutes of the session remaining shill approached the left-hander of turn six at high speed but found y mass in his March traveling a lot slower on the approach to the right-hander of tur LBX Mass had seen vov approach and moved off the racing line to allow xiel to pass unaware of yin's intentions vov also moved to the right hand side at the exact same time in order to pass the slow and mass and in an instant nothing could be done to prevent what was to happen next [Music] the resulting Collision set vilner Ferrari Airborne for approximately 100 m before it nose dived into the grass and somersaulted across the track before coming to arrest completely destroyed during the accident vilner was thrown from the car and laded in the couch fencing situated on the outside of the turam box approximately 50 m away from the wed Ferrari still strapped to his seat but without his helmet several drivers stopped to help including his best friend reney aru and medical teams were quickly on the scene his face was blue and he was not breathing but his pulse continued as doctors tried to keep him alive he was soon transferred by a helicopter to the university St Rafael Hospital while he was diagnosed with a fractured neck and thus put on life support while his wife traveled to the hospital to see him jville nerve passed away at 12 minutes 9 that same evening the Motorsport world was left in morning and one of the sports finest ever drivers was taken away far too early Ferrari withdrew from the race and Didia continued with the team until he himself suffered a horrendous accident at hackenheim in August that year which meant he would never drive in Formula 1 ever again shville n's Legacy still lives on and in 1997 his son jack won the Formula 1 World Championship of that year achieving the feat that his father never got a real chance of achieving XV nerve remains one of f1's alltime greats without doubt the best driver to never win the World Championship peron's twin Sons were born after didier's death in 1987 his girlfriend Katherine decided to name them Jill and Didier Peroni in honor of the two friends in 2014 Jill Peron joined the Mercedes F1 team and even stood on the podium at the 2020 British Grand Prix just over a month after the death of Jill vve F1 would witness another tragic event this time occurring at the start of the Canadian Grand Prix Ricardo PTI was in his first F1 season at 23 years old joining newella team was by his own admission still getting to grips with single seater racing but decided to step up after encouragement from his sponsor Pioneer despite the lack of experience PTI chose a different PA in his approach to F1 racing putting his Fitness and diet ahead of anything else this is Common Place in F1 now but back then not many drivers put their physical health seriously and certainly didn't feel it would help with driving performances petti had entered every race of the season so far but only managed to qualify for the San Marino Grand Prix largely due to only 14 cars entering and missed the ongoing FEA focer War which led several teams boycotting the race his first start in F1 came to an end on lap 7even with suspension failure and he would have to wait another four races until the opportunity to start another grand prix would come along again as he qualified 23rd for the Canadian Grand Prix filled with adrenaline and with his mother in a pit Lane watching his son become a professional F1 driver the Lights Went green and the race got underway however on Pole Position didot Peroni had stalled his Ferrari engine just as the Lights Went green which was too late for the organizers to abandon the start the rest of the grid were left with only one choice surviv the most dangerous part of the race and avoid a completely stationary car most of the cars passed the Ferrari safely with only minor contact being made with r buil which also collided with Yin mass and alicio Salazar sadly the same could be said for the young Ricardo pesi and now we wait for the red lights there's the red light now wait for the green and this is going to unleash the 26 car field there's the green lights the field and and peron's peron's in trouble Peroni hasn't moved the rest of the field goates the two Rena getting away and there's all sorts of trouble on the grid Peroni had stalled and several cars involved and one car uh it looks like one of the aelas has hit very hard the back of peron's car Peroni out of the Ferrari now going over to the stricken aella it's it was a huge impact the Ella crashed into the back of the stationary Ferrari at 110 mph completely crushing the front end of the car petti was left sitting Motionless in the Ella with his chest wedged against the steering wheel and then a truly horrifying sight played out in Montreal in the aella team and the car's on fire the car has burst into flames of course it's absolutely full of fuel because at the start of the race the tanks absolutely full and although these are safety tags the impact of pti's car when it hit the back of Peron obviously has ruptured the tanks there's petrol on the road the marshals there youve SE as doctors including FIA Dr Sid Watkins and fire Crews arrived on scene to assist and stabilize Ricardo the fuel tank suddenly ignited catching Everyone by surprise Medix fire Crews and Didia Peroni fought the Flames with any fire extinguisher they could f all the while PTI sat unconscious in director seta and his mother screaming out his name from the pit Lane in absolute horror when the fire was finally put out PTI was without a pulse and it took another 25 minutes to cut him out of the car as Sparks from cutting equipment threatened to reignite the fuel he was quickly transferred by a helicopter to the Royal Victoria Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at just 23 years old 2day shy of his 24th birthday where he was to celebrate with his [Music] mother PTI suffered a torn iort and fractures to both legs most likely due to the front of the car being pushed inwards and onto his chest track Dr Jac buard would later state that Pet's pupils had already dilated by the time they got to the scene and the extraction time made no difference to his survival chances as he was already dead before the fire ignited this accident highlights the dangers of cars stalling on the grid as the lights go out and we already looked at one severe incident in episode 1 which should never have happened in the first place if one wouldn't see another death occur until 1986 when ELO de Angeles was killed during testing at Paul rard and the last death during a race weekend until the 30th of April 1994 the late 1980s and early 1990s was an extremely popular time in Formula 1 after all some of the most iconic cars and drivers came from this era Alan Prost ieron CNA Nelson PK KK rosberg Michael Schumaker Nigel Mansel and geard Berger just to name a few v10s v12s V8s the noise the speed and the glamour was rif in F1 at this time but it was not without its faults we've already looked at some accidents from this era but none are more memorable than the events of the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994 it was the third race of the season and Michael Schumacher was already the Trailblazer with a beniton outfit while three time world champion and one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time Aya ton Cenna had switched to the William team from 1994 but struggled to get to grips with the fw16 with two dnfs already this season as they arrived at IMA IMA was and still is one of the most popular racetracks in the world and in these times it was even faster than what it is now most notably the high-speed Flatout left-hander of tamborello which would eventually feed into V nerve and the hair pin at toza in the past there had been some pretty horrendous accidents at this corner most notably the 1989 gear hard Burger crash which we have already covered in episode 1 regardless of the dangers drivers were still willing to race unfortunately alarm Bells started to ring fairly early as Ruben's barell then in his second year in F1 crashed heavily at the very an basa chicane he touched a curb on the highs speeded entry to the chicane which launched the car into the air and impacted the top of the the tire barrier at 140 mph in an impact force measured at 95g luckily rubben only suffered a sprained wrist and a broken nose and was able to return for the next race in Monaco it was now Saturday the 30th of April 1994 and it's time for qualifying 18 minutes into the session Senna was on provisional P when Al lone Sim Tech was on track hoping to improve his time the driver was 33-year-old Roland ratzenberger who is enjoying his debut year in F1 on the back of an impressive 11th Place finish at the Pacific gpri IA two weeks earlier despite the Sim Tech car being one of the slowest on the grid on his first flying run ratzenberger approached the V Nerf curve at approximately 200 mph when suddenly his front Wing failed and jammed itself under the front end leaving the car un steerable as it headed for the concrete wall get a real appreciation of how fast they're coming through that chicane on the TV and they carry a lot of speed oh and rats and burger had a heavy heavy shunt indeed we going just to see there's movement in the cockpit but that is a heavy impact on the leftand side of Roland ratsenberg and again Marshalls very quickly indeed and I suspect that's the same part of the circuit that we saw that accident in fact no this is not this is coming down the straight through the Viller curve and into tsah hen and he's gone off onto the left hand side of the track that is flat out 190 mph red flag once again all around the circuit doctors Marshals fire attendants and you can see straight away attention being given to Roland renberger the simtech hit the concrete wall at 195 mph with an impact Force measured at 500g the highest ever recorded in an F1 car the car continued to travel along the circuit disintegrating as it went before eventually resting in the middle of the toes of hairpin all the while Roland's head moved violently from side to side in the cockpit Medics were quick to the scene and Roland was transported to Maori Hospital despite attempts to save his life he was pronounced dead at 2:15 that same afternoon with millions of people watching all over the world and F1 had witnessed his first fatality since PTI in 1982 his injuries were so severe that an investigation revealed that he died instantly on impact this accident sensed shock waves across the world and the entire Paddock was left devastated by the news none more so than I at on Senna who is visibly shaken by the news and decided to take no further part in qualifying Professor Sid Watkins would write in his Memoirs that ion broke down in tears over the accident and he tried to convince the Brazilian to pull out of the race but Senna refused Sunday 1st of May 1994 it race day for the San Marino Grand Prix and Senna was on pole position with the Bon of Michael schumacker starting in P2 earlier that day Senna enjoyed breakfast with his former rival and now retired Alan Frost as they held a discussion about improving safety in F1 as it was clear at this point drivers were no longer safe they both agreed on working together on this problem and sener later gave a heartfelt message on radio to Alan when he did a demo lap in his Williams for French TV the race got underway but there was trouble almost straight away as JJ Leo stalled his Bon as the Lights Went Out Pedro ly in his Lotus failed to see Leo and crashed into the back of the stricken Bellon which threw DeBry and tires in all directions with a large amount traveling over the catch fencing and into the crowd injuring eight Spectators and one police [Music] officer [Music] the safety car was brought out and the surviving cars all lined up behind the opal Vectra which many believe was unsuitable for a safety car and Senna was visibly annoyed by the car's slow speed even pulling alongside at one point to encourage it to speed up eventually the safety car pulled in and the race got underway once again at the start of lap six with Senna leading and Schumaker following closely in second with the BBC commentators of Mario Walker and Jonathan Palmer remarking how quick the German simply was on lap seven Senna was still leading with Schumaker still hot on his heels and far ahead of the rest of the pack they both entered the fast torola curve at 190 mph suddenly the future of Formula 1 would never never be the same again as the young thinkable happened he was going to do that it really that would slow him down far more than his performance here looks and it looks that perhaps that was a venon smoke screen I'm not quite sure why they were so far off in the warm up but he is really not losing much to Center at all I would say basically he's right with him well we we are right with Michael Schumaker now and C my goodness I just saw him plunge off to the right and Center has joined Pedro ly and JJ l in a shattered motorc car you can see the debris on the right what on Earth happened there I don't know whether it was a sudden loss of downforce for some reason but Center is still in the car it means to say of course that schumacker has gone into the lead but the important thing is now how is eron CNA with the marshals already waving the yellow flags no passing yes this looks very severe indeed a on Center suddenly continued on in a straight line whilst negotiating the ex of tamborello and crashed head on into the concrete wall at 135 mph as sener had managed to reply the breakes but there was not enough time to sufficiently slow the car down sen Williams came to restr shortly afterwards with Senna sat Motionless in the car as the other cars negotiated through the debris at high speed soon after the red flag was shown and the race was stopped as Medical Teams rushed to send his Aid including his friend Professor Sid [Music] Watkins at 6:40 that same afternoon 2 hours after the end of the race it was announce anounced that the three time world champion Aon CA had [Music] died one of the greatest drivers that ever grac at tarmac was taken away in a matter of a few seconds as the autopsy later confirmed that Senna was killed instantly by flying debris from his front right tire and suspension which penetrated his helmet the actual cause of the accident is still to this day a talking point but the most accepted theory is that the steering column of Sen's Williams failed it was later discovered that the column had been cut and extended Before the Race upon Sen's own request to try and make the car more comfortable to drive to further add to what was already a weekend of horror Michel Alberto came in for a pit stop on lap 48 of the restarted race as he left his rear right tire came off his manard which struck four mechanics who required hospital treatment despite calls from Bernie eckl and Nikki louder to stop the race the race carried on I'm guessing but it wouldn't surprise me at all in view of the way this race has gone and the chaos in the pit Lane and the fact that there's uh a stretcher there to see the race stopped it's uh it's run the mandatory distance of three quarters in order to enable full uh World Championship points to be awarded although that is a bit irrelevant now too and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the red flags come out to stop uh one of the most unhappy races it's been my ill Fortune to watch in my entire Grand Prix viewing career as the dust settled in aftermath of one of formula 1's darkest weekends the news spread of Sen's death a true legend was now ripped from millions of people's hearts and at his State funeral 5 days later 3 million people lined the streets of sou Pao to Bid Farewell to sener and several drivers were also in attendance including his former rival Alan Prost the 1994 San Marina Grand Prix is one of the darkest weekends in F1 history and the deaths of two great drivers will never be [Music] forgotten ronand renberg's funeral was held on May 7th and when inspectors examined Sen's W Williams they found a folded Austrian flag Sena planned to display the flag upon completing the race in tribute to ratzenberger he never got the chance imla would also never be the same again as a circuit saw an extensive redesign from 1994 onwards which saw the installation of a chicane at tamborello another chicane at the VF curve before you have the TOA hairpin and a complete redesign of the aqua mineral sequence the accidents would also lead to a huge Improvement in the safety aspects of Formula 1 cars which saw a dramatic change in the overall look of car designs from then on sidewalls were heightened to protect the driver his heads cockpit safety cells were also reinforced barge wars were made larger and the front ends were extended to protect driver's legs for the next 20 years F1 would not witness another tragic event and it was widely believed that F1 was so safe that it would never see a driver killed ever again then came the 5th of October 2014 [Music] the Japanese Grand Prix is often hailed as one of the best races of the Season which has taken place at two of the finest racing circuits on the planet the Fuji Speedway located at the foot of the famous mountain and the Suzuka circuit which has some of the best corners in all of Motorsport from its first inclusion on the F1 calendar as the final race of the dramatic 1976 season the Japanese Grand Prix has seen some equally dramatic races in the years to follow such as the two Prost and centa incidents in 1989 in 1990 kimy reenan Sensational win in 2005 and the rain soaked 2007 Grand Prix at Fuji Suzuki in particular is no stranger to severe accidents and in 2002 Alan mcnish who was driving for Toyota at the time crashed heavily at the notorious 130r which is normally taken flat out out at nearly 200 mph Allan was extremely lucky to escape uninjured however the following year Moto GP Rider dairo K was killed in a heavy crash after Kato had gone wide going through 130r he touched the grass on the outside leaving the bike completely unstable before crashing into the barriers at the entrance to the Casio triangle chicane the Japanese G Prix is also known for its extremely unpredictable weather conditions and this was to be the case in 2014 as the race got underway behind the safety car due to how wet the track surface was it was the first season of the Turbo Hybrid era of F1 and fans enjoyed a fierce battle for the title between the two Mercedes drivers of Nico rosberg and Lewis Hamilton which had already seen some dramatic incidents throughout the season in a saga whereby friends became enemies another driver who is enjoying a successful season was a 25-year-old Frenchman X bian born in 1989 je enjoyed a successful Junior career which began with carting when he was around 3 years old his talent behind the wheel was evident from the start and Ferrari were quick to take Jew under their wing when Luca bedor was struggling in the second Ferrari seat after Felipe Mass's accident in Hungary in 2009 je was one of the drivers link to replace him the seat eventually went to Jan Carlo forella but bian's involvement with the scooter was only just beginning and he was signed up to become the first driver in the new Ferrari driver Academy in December of 2009 clearly Ferrari had an extremely talented driver in their wings and it would only be a matter of time before he would eventually be seen in a Formula 1 race seat this would finally become a reality in 2013 when he joined the relatively new Maria team for That season whilst the Maria M2 was one of the slowest cars on the grid he proved himself to be a very capable of handling the Formula 1 car and out qualified his teammate Max Chilton on numerous occasions he ended the season as one of the best rookies on the grid only beaten by vry botas who scored Four Points with Williams that year after a decent first year in F1 he signed for Maria once again for 2014 at the Monaco Grand Prix that year bian scored not only his but Maria's first ever points in F1 by finishing in ninth and it was clear at this point that bian's skills were only just getting better days before the Japanese Grand Prix he declared that he was ready to take the Ferrari seat if he was required to by the scooter air as it was likely that Fernando Alonzo would leave the team at the end of 2014 on lap 40 of the race A Series of Unfortunate Events would begin to take place at Suzuka after a period of relatively dry weather the rain once again began to pour in Japan and the s of Adrian ctil was C out into the wet conditions and spun off at the Dunn up curve his race was done and a recovery vehicle went out to take the shrien Saba away a couple of laps after this incident the safety car was deployed but this didn't seem unusual due to the awful conditions however speeding in front of the safety car was the medical car on its way to the Dun Up curve the appearance of this car gave the impression that this seemingly small accident was actually more serious than it first appeared and the medical car as well and I wonder we've not seen Adrien sule too much after that accident got out of the car didn't he yeah is the medical car just going off to make sure he's okay and give him the once over the medical car indeed parked up by Adrian suel saber uh hope there not uh with Marshals or something up there with the the truck going backwards yeah you wonder what's happened yeah something's not good up there but if we're thinking that this is an incident post sutil going off with a marshall perhaps I don't know David is that what we're I think that's the information we're getting at the moment early as it is then that doesn't actually affect the removal of a car and sorry gavid yeah go I'm just going to say I can see the doctor and I can see uh some Marshals and a stretcher uh being used uh for whom I I I'm not sure uh and I haven't I don't think it's Adrian sule I can see Adrian sule by the steps just to the left as we look at that lamp post so I assume it's for a marshall down at that incident after a few more laps of confusion as to what was going on the sky commentary team of David Croft and Martin brundle spotted a small detail amongst the confusion which revealed the worst possible outcome because there's a Marisha there sh biank is out of this race and i' just seen a piece of Marisha Bodywork and Confirmation there uh that it is biani in that incident now had biane just gone off when Adrien Su then went off as well or or did he hit the car afterwards as he hit the as he hit the truck I I just wonder but certainly Z bian involved in that incident at the Dunlop curve one lap after Su spun off at Dunlop zulian spun off at the exact same location at32 mph and headed directly into the path of the recovery vehicle whilst live TV viewers didn't see the incident take place itself spectators at the circuit were fortunate to witness the crash firsthand in the aftermath of the race footage of the accident taken by fans spread around social media which revealed the sheer horror of what [Music] [Music] occurred oh my [Music] God xianke collided with the recovery truck at very high speed the unders side of the heavy recovery vehicle was dead in line with bian's roll hoop and the two collided at 76 mph with an impact force of 254 G whilst the truck did not make contact with Jew's head the sudden and violence deceleration was simply too much for his body to handle sh bian was instantly knocked unconscious upon hitting the vehicle and mari's attempts to communicate via radio came back silent okay sorry I'm about that's okay very Steep Hill uh there wasn't any they asked him Jules you okay obviously we haven't heard that team radio message they didn't hit back doesn't mean anything just let you that that information okay thanks Ted for that one the race was red flagged on lap 46 and was not restarted with Lewis Hamilton being declared winner the accident however overshadowed what should have been a joyous occasion and a quiet Podium celebration was held out of respect to the injured jeel shul banke was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition he was later diagnosed with diffuse axonal injury which is one of the most severe types of brain injury and he was placed into a coma shortly afterwards his condition remained critical but stable as he was taken out of his coma in November and began to breathe unaided once again this brought hope that Joel would eventually make it through sadly this was not to be and Je never regained Consciousness on Friday the 17th of July 2015 sh's family released a heartbreaking [Music] [Music] statement one of the best young talents the sport had seen in a very long time was cruy taken away and sent the wider Motorsport world into deep shock and mourning which is still felt today and remains in many fans memories and hearts for the first time in 20 years a driver had been killed during a Formula 1 race the biggest question was why the safety car wasn't deployed earlier when su's car was being recovered after all in 1994 Martin brundle crashed near the same spot in his McLaren and hit a Trackside Marshall who's helping to recover another stricken car breaking his leg even before the race had started the late Charlie Whiting then f1's permanent race director suggested to organizers that the start time be moved to an earlier time to avoid the heavy rainfall expected from the approaching typhoon Fanon a category for storm his pleas were rejected by organizers and Honda the owners of Suzuka also rejected the play senior FIA officials also rejected his plan because they didn't want worldwide television coverage to be disrupted this was an accident that simply shouldn't have happened and in 2022 we almost saw history repeat itself when during heavy rainfall Pierre gazley narrowly missed another unsighted recovery truck attending to cardos signs promoting a huge amount of criticism from both drivers and fans alike what is this right there on track oh B to like this unacceptable remember what's happened can't believe this for 2015 onwards the virtual safety car was introduced inspired by the full course yellow using the World Endurance championships when deployed all cars on track are made to drive at a reduced Pace no matter their position on the circuit until it is safe enough to resume race speeds and F1 finally introduced a cookit protection device in 2018 known as the Halo discussions regarding this device were well underway already after the events of fipe Masa and Henry certies in 2009 but bian's death left the FIA no choice but to do something regarding this issue whil it's initially unpopular with fans and drivers alike the Halo has since proven itself to be capable of protecting drivers heads including Roman gron in 2020 Lewis Hamilton in 2021 and Ro Nan during the silver SL feature race in Formula 2 in 2022 another driver who managed to escape injury thanks to the Halo is charir sh bian's godson sh had helped him rise up the junior ranks throughout his early life which ended up cementing his future F1 career which continues to this day with Ferrari and despite some bad luck in recent months remains one of the best drivers on the grid and in the 8 years since his passing sh has stated on many occasions that if it wasn't him sh would be in that Ferrari [Music] seat Ronnie Peterson was a rising star in Formula 1 having entered the sport in 19 70 in a privately owned March before moving to the March team itself for 1971 where who had finished the season in second after scoring five podiums including four second place finishes these impressive performances earned the super swed and moved to one of the best Formula 1 teams at the time team Lotus for 1973 Peterson will be partnered with defending Champion Emerson FY but the season would be reasonably disappointing as the Lotus 72 was to show its age despite Ronnie winning his first Grand Prix in France and would go on to win three more races that year it was clear at this point F1 had a future champion in the making however things were quickly start to fall apart for Peterson and Lotus as the team struggled to develop a suitable replacement for its previously successful 72 design and culminated in a 13th Place finish in 1975 with only six points to show for despite Colin Chapman's efforts Peterson would leave Lotus and return to March after the first race of 1976 but once again struggled with the March car although he did manage an impressive victory at the Italian Grand Prix that year he would again struggle in 1977 this time with the successful troll outfit but would only have seven points come the end of the season surprisingly the following year he would rejoin Lotus as I had finally designed a competitive car the Lotus 78 and later the lotus 79 with its revolutionary AO design and its ground effect capabilities Peterson would once again partner up with his friend Mario and Drey and the pair went on to share a friendly rivalry with both drivers occupying first and second in the championship after 13 Rounds peton was undoubtedly the fastest driver on the grid and if it wasn't going to be 1978 another year would see Peterson become Formula 1 World Champion admits growing rumors that he was to move to McLaren from 1979 onwards with three races to go and only 12 points behind andreti the grid would arrive at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix Peterson had a tough weekend but eventually would qualify fifth on the grid despite using a spare loaded 78 after his 79 was severely damaged during practice the cars began to line up on the grid to begin the race pittson was eager to make up for poor qualifying and hopefully close the gap on andreti as heck reled his first Formula 1 World Championship this dream would end just moments later a complete stop again right Jackie yes there's a light system nowadays it's not a flag and the when the cars absolutely come to a stop and one car is going straight into the pits Patrick Tami is going into the pits but the cars must come to a stop then a red light goes on they're under starters orders and then only then will a green light show that's the second row you're looking at right now all right here's the first row with Mar andred in the black car on the pole number five next to him is V in car number 12 Viller gets it on the start the green light on they are racing at MOS vov the Ferrari has the lead and ready a second Peterson is dropping back in the field as they head for that there's an accident there's a big crash there it looked like a c in the central the field it could have been a black p it could have been running P aad one it's a big accident these cars are full of fuel the beginning of this there's a driver looks like James Hunt running to the car that's grounding there he's running to that fire the word Jackie is it's Peterson Peterson in the burning car number of other cars involved we'll pick them up as we can but that is bad it's very bad he's still in the in that car and you can see oh this is terrible they're fighting the fire they've got very quickly onto it there's there's James Hunt there's another driver Patrick deay is in there and they're getting him out of the car he's he's out the car now thank goodness for that they're getting the fire under control car yes the car is running Peterson's car the drivers themselves getting runny out of the car there's a lot of other cars involved here the Lights Went green and there 24 cars raced towards the first chicane suddenly a huge explosion erupted on circuit and Flames enveloped several stationary cars people were running around trying to extinguish the Flames while also trying to rescue drivers from the fires Ronny Peterson was dragged from his wrecked Lotus and had severe leg injuries but was otherwise conscious and was able to talk to his Rescuers Victoria brilla was also severely injured as debris had struck his head during the pilot and was considered to be in worse condition in Peterson in the chaos the newly appointed FIA doctor Professor Sid Watkins was prevented from attending the scene by Italian police leaving the drivers and other Marshals to sort the situation out themselves until Watkins and his medical teams were finally allowed to attend to the drivers 20 minutes after the accident had taken place eventually Peterson was flown to a nearby hospital where he was to to have surgery to stabilize his bones after an x-ray had revealed 27 fractures in his legs but he was expected to make a full recovery sadly however his condition suddenly and rapidly worsened as he was diagnosed with fat embolism which led to a full kidney failure by morning he would not recover and at 9:55 in the morning after the race Ronnie Peterson had passed away Formula 1 had just lost one of its most talented drivers long before his best was yet to shine through whilst the young recardo P try was initially blamed for the accident later investigations showed that this was another case of a completely avoidable accident all F1 races begin with a standing start and this was meant to be the case for this race as the cars lined up the race director Giani rtii gave the green light far too early as cars at the back of the grid were still rolling into their grid positions meaning the cars at the back of the grid were faster than those at the front creating a huge constantina effect as they headed into the first chicane as all the guards were bunched up with little room to move an accident was bound to happen and it did when Petra made a move on James Hunt who had to ve slightly left to avoid Petra but made contact with peton in doing so which sent the Lotus spinning out of control the Lotus then hit the barriers hard severely damaging the car which ruptured the fuel tank and thus causing the huge Fireball Ricardo Petra received some pretty harsh treatment from fellow drivers after he was blamed for causing the accident with drivers even threatening to boycott if he continued racing he was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing by an Italian Court in 1981 but hunt continued to believe he was to blame right up until his passing in 1993 since Peterson's passing races must always start after all the cars are completely stationary on the grid with the signal to begin the start procedure shown by a green flag at the back of the grid to ensure injured drivers can be attended to as soon as possible a medical car would follow the Grid on the opening lap from the US G Prix on Woods which would pull into the pit Lane after the first lap providing there was no incident on track as for Ronnie who knows what he could have achieved but once again formula 1's mistakes were costing lives which is something that comes up Time After Time the further back you [Music] [Music] go without a shadow of a doubt f1's most violent period was between the early 1960s and mid 1970s during a time where the cars became faster and faster as each year went by but the circuits weren't being upgraded to cope with the increased speeds drivers of this time accepted the fact that they may very likely be killed at any moment during a race weekend it seems absurd to think like that now but back then it was very real and for the remainder of this video we shall focus on this most brutal era Monaco is one of the world's most famous racing circuits since the 1920s the world's greatest drivers passed through the narrow streets of Monte Carlo in front of the wealthiest people in the world the jewel in the crown that is Formula [Music] 1 however Monaco is also one of the most dangerous circuits due to its narrow circuit design one of the smallest mistakes could lead to to catastrophe and Monaco has seen its fair share but the most horrific came on May 7th 1967 this season was the second year of the 3 liter engine regulations which saw a huge increase in car speeds the previous year which already saw some awful accidents with nicknames such as the bathtub on wheels or the coffin and wheels the cars of this era were the most dangerous in F1 history with very limited safety features aimed at protecting the driver often built with as little components as possible to reduce weight these tiny cars could travel up to 190 mph but would almost completely disintegrate in even the smallest of accidents whil drivers were surrounded by fuel in the cockpit which could literally ignite at any moment the driver's helmets barely covered the entire head and Fire protective ovals were still in its infancy speed first safety very much last Ferrari fielded their 312 for the second year running and was slightly improved for the 1967 season with Lorenzo Bandini and Chris Amon taken the wheel for what was hoped to be a successful season as they seek to beat braam and Lotus Lorenzo Bandini was a highly experienced driver making his Formula 1 debut in 1961 and had driven for Ferrari since 1962 he was also a successful sports car driver winning the 1963 24 hours of lore the 1965 tar floro and earlier that year won the 24 Hours of Daytona for the scootera so Bandini was seen as one of the more successful and competent drivers on the grid and arrived at Monaco hopeful that Ferrari would go one step further than the previous season and win the championship boosted by Bandini qualifying second for the Grand Prix on May 7th 1967 as the race got underway Paul sitter Jack braam retired with a blown engine on the first lap which promoted Bandini into the lead however however on the next lap Bandini would slip on an oil patch left behind by Batman's engine and eventually Denny hm would take the lead in the second half of the race Lorenzo's race was going well as he chased home through the streets of Monte Carlo chasing his first mono Grand Prix victory in his career lap after lap H was in Lorenzo's sights and everyone expected the Ferrari to catch the BAM and perhaps go on to take a deserved lead and the leader still Dennis Hol lenzo Bandini second Chris Aon third and Graham Hill fourth now bini bini's crashed good Lord look at that the car it looks like it's upside down Phil tremendous fire this is gasoline remember they use in these automobiles terrible fire and that is one of the other cars going through the race is continuing there there's somebody coming out there are firemen stationed around the course here nobody to the wreck is yet I don't see Bandini fell I don't see him might a drone out either that is still in the aut the harbor chicane or the newv chicane is now a slow speed tight left rander which leads onto the straight before tback but back in 1967 the chicane was more or less just a simple Gap in the wall which could be taken nearly flat out if you were brave enough if you veered slightly to the right you would crash heavily into the straw barrels and brick walls and if you ve slightly left it would also crash into a wall with the added danger of being thrown into the mono Harbor which is exactly what happened to Alberto escari in 1955 and Paul Hawkins 10 years later Lorenzo bandini's Ferrari clipped the wall on its left hand side which set the car into an erratic spin at high speed the Ferrari collided with the adjacent straw Bells which also contained a hidden moing head resulting in bandini's car being overturned and continued to slide down the Straight Upside Down the Sparks caused by the accident ignited the fuel igniting both the car and a large portion of that circuit in a fierce fire with Bandini still trapped underneath it took Rescuers several minutes before the fire was extinguished before they were able to turn the Scorch Ferrari right side up and pull Bandini out from the wreckage the fire reignited once again but Bandini was already out and being transferred to a nearby hospital all the while the race continued almost as if nothing was happening he sustained third degree burns to 70% of his body as well as 10 chest fractures 3 days after the accident Lorenzo Bandini passed away aged 31 years old in response to the accident straw barrs were banned from F1 immediately as a stra merely acted to make the fire worse than it had to be these were replaced by an extended guard rail for the following year in a dark case of foreshadowing Bandini acted as an adviser for film director John frankenheimer during the making of the 1966 classic Grand Prix as they explored potential sites for a crash scene during the Monaco segments Bandini recommended the harbor chicane and this location would thus be used as a location for the scene who would have known that a year later this was to be the exact site for lenzo own death [Music] making his debut at the 1957 Argentine Grand Prix forgang Von trips was a relatively unknown German driver who entered Formula 1 age 28 for the next couple of years he would have pretty good results for Ferrari securing a third place f finish at Italy and another at the French Grand Prix at Rams the following year fast forward to 1961 and Ferrari had a car which could win championships the Ferrari 156 is one of the most recognizable F1 cars of all time with its distinguishable Shar no air intakes equipped with an impressive 1.4 L V6 engine which put out 188 horsepower Richie gther Phil Hill and Von trips set out to almost completely dominate the season gaining four wins in six races by the time the Italian Grand Prix came around with two races left of the season the championship battle was between Von trips and Phil Hill with the German leading the championship by four points after qualifying Von trips had the advantage as he took pole position with Phil Hill only managing fourth the huge Monza crowd was about to witness an epic battle for the title between two fantastic drivers but on the second lap Joy would turn into a horrifying nightmare as their field race towards the parabolic and the horror that unfolded would resemble that of the infamous lemon disaster just 6 years [Music] earlier font trips was just ahead of the lotus of Jim Clark who was Keen to get ahead of the Ferrari as the two were driving nose to tail suddenly Von trips would Veer slightly left making contact with the Lotus which sent the Ferrari spearing off to the left at high speed and straight towards the fence line packed tightly behind the was high fence was thousands of people Keen to watch a good motor race one Trip's Ferrari went up the embankment and went straight into the crowd the impact sent the car into an Airborne spin as the lotus which had also gone up the embankment and into the fence passed underneath when the Ferrari landed Von trips was ejected and thrown across the track and landed onto the tarmac hard before coming to rest on the side of the track four gang V trips was killed instantly 15 Spectators were also dead after the Ferrari had hit the ground line unless you were in that area there was no announcement of the the tragic event and the race was not stopped due to fears that the exiting crowd would block ambulance Crews trying to get to the Circuit Phil Hill was also not made aware of the severity of the accident and he eventually went on to win the race and claimed the championship with One race to go the crowd celebrated his achievement and he was seen on the podium celebrating just like any other completely unaware of the death of his friend Ferrari decided not to enter the next race at Watkins Glenn for the United States gu Prix this accident would go down in history as one of the worst accidents in motor racing history but thankfully organized had learned their lesson and worked hard to make changes from 1962 onwards whilst the famous monser banking had nothing to do with the accident it was decided to ban it from Formula 1 events in an effort to slow the cars down furthermore new safety walls barriers and better fences were installed in response despite some other huge accidents that have taken place in monzo over the years the scene unfolded on the 10th of September 1961 has never been repeated in Formula 1 no one should ever attend a motor race and never come [Music] home in modern F1 experimental cars competing in Grand Pre races is almost Unthinkable but in the past when regulations weren't so strict experimental F1 cars was a fairly common site notable examples include the brabon bt46 fan car the six wheeel till p34 the gas turbine powered Lotus 56b amongst many others a somewhat forgotten experimental design appeared at the French Grand Prix in 1968 the white and red Honda R32 Honda was in its fourth season in Formula 1 and had enjoyed decent amount of success by 1968 with two wins and a Podium finish at kyami in 1967 for 1968 Honda entered the ra 301 a successor to the brilliant ra300 design the previous year however it was a disaster and it retired from the four after the first four races that he had entered in 1968 with the experienced John CS at the wheel the experimental 302 was designed to replace the poor performing 301 and was also personally ordered by sairo Honda who is Keen to develop an air Cod engine for their F1 cars the new Honda design featured an aircooled 3 l V8 and magnesium skinned body design compared to the water cooled 3 l V12 and conventional aluminium chassis and body of the earlier 301 this design was built not only to be more reliable but also lighter due to the significant amount of magnesium used which would have given it slightly more speed John CES would think otherwise and after initial testing at Silverstone refused to drive it again labeling the 302 unsafe at a potential death trap due to its severe stability issues this left Honda in a tricky situation as the French gr Prix was just weeks away and they had put in a heavy marketing campaign to to showcase the 302 at that race weekend not wishing to risk a potential marketing disaster Honda instead decided to enter the 302 under the Honda France brand complete with its own team and driver that driver was a 40-year-old debutant Joe schleser was he may have been inexperienced in F1 Joe was a capable sports car driver who took part in seven leamon 24-hour races over a 10-year period and made free appearances in NASCAR in 19 64 Joe was no stranger to Open Wheel racing either as he had previously Taken part in non-championship F1 events in less a powerful F2 cars and took part in both the 1966 and 67 German Grand PRI whilst driving a Matra F2 car as both F1 and F2 races took place at the same time at a nurburging despite his age Joe lesser was delighted to be offered the chance of taking part in his first ever Formula 1 championship event in a gr pre car the venue was the Ruan Lear circuit situated in Northwest France and was one of the fastest circuits on the calendar at the time especially its near Flatout downhill sequence from Turn 1 to four which had the nickname The Sea flare or the six brothers however it did have a reputation for severe accidents and just a year prior French touring car driver Jean Claude bernos scone was killed in an accident whilst negotiating this dangerous sequence of fast corners throughout practice schester struggled to get to grips with the 302 and could only qualify 16th and second to last while C in the older 301 managed seventh on the grid the race got underway on Sunday the 7th of July and the opening two laps were rather an eventful affair with the Ferrari of Jackie X leading as the pack came around to begin the third lap and tackled the Fearsome 6 for Section once again the excited crowd watched on as another fantastic Formula 1 race unfolded in front of them on this third lap the excitement was shattered and replaced by one of the most horrific scenes in F1 history John 30's earlier prophecy had just become a [Music] reality Joe schleser approached the extremely fast right-hander towards the end of the Fearsome downhill section he suddenly lost control of the unstable Honda and spun right off the circuit at approximately 130 to 140 mph which seems fast but was actually slow for most F1 cars as Joe took the first part of the race cautiously to get more used to the car the Honda rode up the embankment injuring five Spectators standing close behind the fence line the impact flipped the Honda upside down and in doing so ruptured the fuel tank which had almost 200 L of fuel Ste inside in doing so as soon as the fuel touched the hot components of the car the 302 almost literally exploded in midair spreading Flames across the entire area the car landed upside down with Joe schleser trapped inside as the field came across the developing disaster they were met with a fearsome Firestorm with the Flames reaching as high as 30 ft and other drivers having no choice but to drive straight through the wall of Fire Fire Marshals eventually arrived on the scene and worked quickly to extinguish the blaze equipped with regular water hoses the quickly discovered that the water did nothing except make the fire worse do you remember what I mentioned earlier this car had magnesium skinned Body Work magnesium is a highly flavorable material which can burn up to 3000° C and is almost completely resistant to water so much so the material was used in the manufacturer of incendiary bombs during the second world war and is still used as an igniter for thermite the Fire Marshals were unaware of this extremely serious situation and the fire continued to erupt with more violence every time they poured water onto the Blaze and they were not equipped with any equipment to deal with chemical fires even their fire retardant uniforms weren't enough to Shield them from the extreme heat which stopped any attempt to try and pull Joe out of the car eventually the fire was out which revealed the true extent of the violent scene Joe slesser was finally pulled from the car but it was too late Joe slesser was dead having suffered the unimaginable pain of being trapped inside a burning car Joe's wife Annie schlisser who had been by his side throughout his racing career was also in attendance that day and was extremely excited to witness her husband achieve his dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver she was prevented from seeing the horrific sight of Joe's heavily burned body when he was brought back to the paddock and he was completely disturbed by the incident and spoke about suicide that very same evening which she thankfully didn't go through with despite all of this the race carried on as if nothing had happened and was never stopped shaki X won his first ever Grand Prix for Ferrari in what should have been an incredible achievement for the Belgian driver but all the drivers saw what had happened and celebrations simply weren't possible died at the French Grand in 68 I won he he was probably 38 or 39 years old he was driving for the first time the new uh Honda formul one he killed himself in a one of the high speed corner and uh it was uh only sadness only sadness Joe seser was the fourth F1 driver to die in 1968 two-town world champion and one of the greatest drivers of all time Jim Clark was killed during a Formula 2 race at hackenheim in April after spinning off at high speed and collided with the trees deep within the Old Forest section Mike Spence who was driving for brm in F1 that year was killed during practice for that Year's Indianapolis 500 and Ludo Vios garti who had been an F1 driver for Ferrari and Cooper since 1963 including winning the Italian Grand Prix in 196 6 was killed during a hill climb event in Germany this would prove to be the final nail in the coffing for the Ruan Lear circuit which would never host an F1 race ever again and after numerous accidents and economic issues the circuit finally closed in 1994 with most of the old circuit including the sight of this tragic accident now just sleepy French Countryside roads Honda faced most of the blame for the accident and a black mark stained the popular Japanese brand undeterred they continued to try and convince John certies to drive the car the Italian Grand Prix later that year which he rightfully so refused Honda withdrew from F1 at the end of that same year in disgrace and wouldn't be involved again in F1 until 1983 when it became an engine supplier which began arguably the most successful era for the company when it began to supply engines to Williams until 1987 and McLaren from 1988 Honda eventually returned as a team once again in 2006 and what has happened since could be a video in itself Joe lesser had a nephew Jean Louise schleser who would go on to revoke his uncle's Legacy by becoming a highly successful sports car driver finishing second behind the jagar of Martin brundle in his first season with Salo Mercedes he won the world sports car title in 1989 and 1990 sharing a second title with teammate Maro Baldi and in his last season in 1991 was teammates with a young new star in the making Michael schumacker Jean Louie also made two appearances in F1 with the second beer in the 1988 Italian Grand Prix where he was famously involved in an accident which took Aon CA out of the race which single-handedly prevented McLaren from winning every race that year before his death Joe shared a dream of a sports car teammate and best friend that dream was to start a car company which would have a simple reputation of making good cars that friend was Guy lier who retired from racing soon after Joe's death lier then worked hard to achieve the dream that they had both shared and formed lier cars lier would eventually become a successful Formula 1 team between 1976 and 1996 establishing themselves as one of the most iconic manufacturers on the grid with the beautiful blue and white cars especially during their most success uccessful season in 1980 where they finished second in the championship with the lier JS 11-15 the two letters in the car's name being the initials of Joe slesser every single one of Li's cars begin with the same two letters before the number in tribute to G's Year's late friend who never got the chance to achieve that ambition this tradition continues to this day which ensures the memory of Joe schleser will never ever be [Music] forgotten the only Welsh driver to ever win in F1 race and the only Welsh driver to lead a championship Grand Prix Tom Price had an exciting career ahead of him he made his F1 debut at the 1974 Belgian Grand Prix with token racing in a car which could only qualify him in 20th and would actually enjoy a decent race until lap 66 when Jodi sha crashed into him forcing him to retire this would not deter onlookers though and he joined Shadow who are already an established Midfield team and partnered up with Jean Pier jarier at his first race with Shadow at the 9s 1974 Dutch Grand Prix he qualified 11th but would retire on the opening lap after being hit by the hesketh of James Hunt who was Keen to make up for a poor start despite these mishaps pricewood score his first points in F1 at that Year's German Grand Prix as the seasons went by he would score two podiums for the team at Austria in 1975 and Brazil in 1976 he also won the 1975 Race of Champions at BR hatch being his only victory stre in an F1 event whilst also qualifying in pole position at the 1975 British Grand Prix he was clearly a dri with a lot of talent that was yet to be exploited if only he had a car that was capable of securing victories Lotus had even tried to sign him before in 1975 as he was viewed to have the same skills as Ronnie Peterson but would cost the team less money a deal was never reached but Lotus continued to pay close attention to Price's progress and and were keen on him partnering up with Mario andreti for 1978 as his shadow contract ran out at the end of that year this would have most likely come to be a reality if it wasn't for the events which took place at the South African Grand Prix on the 5th of March 1977 Tom Price had a difficult qualifying session which only secured 15th from the starting grid despite being the fastest driver on Wednesday practice as the race got underway price had a poor start and was running Last by the end of the first lap his unique skills behind the wheel were in full show once again as he passed multiple cars over the next few laps and was running 13th Place by lap 18 on lap 22 Shadow teammate Renzo zi pulled off to the left hand side of the main straight after an engine failure just after the brow of the Hill he which the straight passes over two track marshals on the other side of the straight were needed to assist zie who took some time before ating the Shadow with one of the marshals equipped with a large fire extinguisher to tackle the small fire on the shadow as cars passed by at 175 mph the two Marshals rushed across the circuit to the stricken [Music] Shadow I'll stop the footage there cuz I simply cannot bring myself to show show you what happens next some of you have seen what happens next and the images of what follows is surely burned in your memories and for those that haven't seen it I will warn you it is one of the most horrific scenes you will ever see in a Formula 1 event the footage is available on YouTube but if you decide to watch it I will warn you once again it truly is a horrific site the first Marshall made it across the circuit with the second following close behind the second Marshall was 19-year-old Jansen van veren who was also carrying an 18 kgam fire extinguisher as the march of hand stook went over the brow of the Hill stook managed to see the two Marshals just in time to Swerve right to avoid them price was close behind the March and as stri moved to the right van veran was dead in line with the shadow there was absolutely no chance that Tom Price could swerve to avoid them and Tom hit the Marshall at 175 mph killing the 19-year-old instantly sending his body up into the air and landed in front of zor's car this in itself was a horrific accident that's only half of the story after the impact Tom Price's Shadow continued down the straight at high speed and Full Throttle it carried straight on through the first Corner before hitting the barriers and impac him with the lier of Jac Le feat sending both cars into the catch fencing enraged having been taken out of the race sha lefi got out of his lier and went to front on price he walked up to the Shadow and discovered there was not much left of him the 27y old Tom Price was already dead the 18 kg fire extinguisher that van vuran was carrying when he was hit by the shadow smashed into Tom's head which would have most likely killed him instantly meaning Tom was already dead as his car traveled down the straet yansen van Vin's body was so badly mutilated he was only identified when the race director summoned all of the race Marshals and Jansen was the only one missing as usual for the time the race carried on and Nikki lder won his first race since his accident at the nurburg rig initially delighted over what he described as his best victory of his career but louder was told on the podium that price had died and his mood changed instantly stating there was no joy after that price was buried in St Bartholomew's Church in atford Kent the same church where he married his wife Nella just 2 years before the finest driver ever to come from Wales taken way before he reached his [Music] Peak and now we have come to the final accident in this video and this incident had the 1973 Dutch Prix is probably formula 1's darkest moment the 25-year-old Roger Williamson was in his first year in Formula 1 having won the 1971 and 1972 British Formula 3 championship titles he clearly was a driver who had a lot of talent and a bright future ahead of him after rejecting brm he joined March where he made his debut at the ninth RAC of the 1973 season at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix he qualified to second which was pretty good going for debutant but the race was a disaster as he ended up being involved in the infamous nine car pileup at the end of the first lap Williamson and the rest of the drivers evolved were all thankfully unhe hurt but his March was a wreck and was unable to make the restart the next race was at zamort for the Dutch Grand Prix the circuit had just seen some major safety upgrades which included new barriers a new control tower the track was resurfaced and the layout was slightly revised with a titter right-hander at Panorama box Williamson would enjoy a slightly better qualifying as he managed to place his March 18th on the grid ahead of names such as Chris Amon and Mike hailwood and just behind the embassy of GRA hill by the time the race got underway and after a handful of incidents had taken place Ronnie Peterson was leading in the Lotus and the race began to settle down but by the end of the eighth lap people in those grand stands would start to see a large bloom of black smoke billing from a location which was unclear at the time what they or the organizers knew at the time was that it was actually a car Roger Williamson passed through the Flatout 's at honden V at very high speed before a sudden Tire failure caused his march to spear off into the barriers at the right-hander which led onto the straight preceding the Flatout tunel Corner the March was catapulted over 200 M down the short straight and its fuel tank ignited during the time when the car was traveling it eventually came to rest upside down in flames and with Roger Williamson unheard they're still trapped [Music] inside [Music] [Music] close friend David plyy who was just behind Williamson when the accident occurred immediately stopped to help save the life of his friend he rushed across the track and ran straight towards the burning March desperate to save Roger's life David tried to push the car right side up and get him out but nobody was helping him two Marshals came to the scene but did nothing except stand there and watch as David was forced to grab a fire extinguisher himself to attempt to put the fire out which did nothing to control it it is worth noting that none of the marshals were wearing fireproof clothing neither had they been trained or equipped to deal with such accidents their main concern was getting David pearly away from the fire who still continued to try and save his friend who was heard screaming for help from within the burning March all the time this was going on the race continued and David even tried to get other drivers to stop and help but none of them did as many of them believed that the burning car was D David's and not Williamson's in a video that's playing for you here it doesn't take much to see the amount of pain that David pearly went through in these moments and he was in complete and utter despair it took Emergency Services 8 minutes to arrive on scene to put the fire out but by the time the fire was eventually extinguished Roger Williamson was already dead having died of [Music] asfixiation the car was writing a blanket thrown over the remains and the race carried on as if nothing had happened despite all the changes they had made Formula 1 had another fatality on his hands but this time it was seen a lot differently than the rest for many people F1 had failed to save the life of Roger Williamson whereby if there was adequate marshalling on hand to assist Williamson would have had the chance of surviving instead we witnessed safety Marshals just standing and watching Jackie Stewart won the race and was told by a team owner Ken Turell about what happened when Jackie pulled into the pit Lane after the cool down lap Williamson's dead there's no lap of Honor quiet presentation the pain seen in the eyes of Jackie Stewart franois SE and James Hunt on the podium was clear to all who are watching more efforts into safety had to be done and after this horrifically sad incident properly trained and equipped Fire Marshals would be stationed at every Grand Pre [Music] event David ply was also awarded the George medal for his attempt at saving Roger Williamson's life in an act of great bravery pearly continued in Formula 1 and also survived a huge accident at the 1977 British Grand Prix where the impact was registered at 180 GS after hitting a wall because his throttle was stuck wide open this would be the highest GeForce impact ever survived by a human being until Carl ventling survived a 360g impact during the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix David never returned to F1 racing again and later took up aerobatics where he unfortunately would die in a plane crash in 1985 close to his home in Bogner Regis West [Music] susex and now we have reached the end of this extremely sad episode it hurt a lot to make and I'm sure for a lot of you it hurt to watch and that's understandable you are human after all but why does it hurt is it because we'll never know how good some of these drivers could have been or we'll never get another opportunity to meet them in person or perhaps it's the one ful and sometimes funny stories that come from their careers like when Gard berer set off a fire extinguisher in Sen's Adelaide hotel room at 3:00 in the morning why because he thought it was funny it could have been for many different reasons that we miss these men but somehow it doesn't always have to be dark we as fans were extremely lucky to even get to see them in action and as fans we shared common ground with these drivers a love and passion for Formula 1 so I don't want to end this episode on a sad note I want to end remembering the good times the times where we got to see them doing what they did best racing in Formula 1 Roland quickly there's a telephone call for you hello who is this right hamburger hey de and uh you know we had so much fun you know just outside the track you know competing this one you know playing tennis you know it was the same thing you know we're just trying to kill each other you know [Music] on the team's 64th attempt Marisha finally beat katrum to score their first Formula One points hi Jes this is Young Mighty job mate Absol Mindy I I think we P9 I think we we have P9 very good r have point I'm so [Music] happy I think the tactic should have been for Center to go for T it's going to be too late wheel tohe stuff look at this they're almost touching [Music] [Applause] [Music] Center is getting cl to and Center is get a challenge for the lead as C has got the [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] lead

Channel: Motorsport Madness

Views: 555,937

Keywords: f1, formula 1, documentary, f1 documentary, f1 crash, f1 crashes, f1 crash documentary, ayrton senna, roland ratzenberger, paolo gislimberti, gilles villeneuve, riccardo paletti, roger willamson, ronnie peterson, wolfgang von trips, lorenzo bandini, tom pryce, jules bianchi, jo schlesser

Id: b50JoItY2fU

Length: 98min 15sec (5895 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 09 2023