Formula 1 is faster and safer than ever — but its history is written in danger. Since the World Championship began in 1950, at least 52 drivers have lost their lives at the wheel of a Formula 1 car, either during races, qualifying, practice, or official test sessions.
The deadliest period was the 1950s–1970s, when flimsy cars, unprotected circuits, and minimal safety standards turned crashes into inevitabilities. Entire generations of fans grew up expecting tragedy as part of a Grand Prix weekend. Names like Jim Clark, Jochen Rindt, and Ronnie Peterson still echo as reminders of how cruel that era was.
The modern era is different. Since Ayrton Senna’s death at Imola in 1994, only two drivers have died during a Grand Prix weekend: Jules Bianchi, who succumbed to injuries from his 2014 Suzuka crash, and Anthoine Hubert, who was killed in a 2019 Formula 2 race at Spa (not F1, but within the Grand Prix weekend). The introduction of the HANS device, Halo cockpit protection, and relentless safety reform have saved countless lives.
The drivertalk take
Formula 1 will never be completely safe — it’s still men and women hurling themselves at 300 km/h inside machines built to dance on a knife’s edge. But the grim roll call that once defined the sport has slowed dramatically. Today, when we talk about danger in F1, it’s no longer with the resigned certainty of the past, but with the knowledge that everything possible is being done to stop history from repeating itself.
