Safety of F1: 1970-1980

The decade from 1970-1980 was quite a dangerous time to race in F1. Throughout this decade violent crashes claimed the lives of 13 people. One of the main causes for these crashes which resulted in death were the barriers, as they were made of either metal or concrete, and there was no tyre wall like what we have today which reduces the impact of the crash massively. The FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) recognised this danger, so during the 1970s they implemented double crash barriers, which protected the spectators watching and also reduced the impact of the cars.

Just like in the 50’s to 60’s era of the sport, fire was still an extremely dangerous hazard, drivers who were caught in a crash that involved fire often took a long time to get pulled out of the cockpit by the marshals. In 1971, to shorten the time taken to pull drivers out, the cockpits of the cars were built so that the marshals could rescue the drivers within five seconds. The FIA also decided to give the marshals fireproof suits so that they too, were not harmed by the flames.

One of the biggest safety changes that was made in this decade of racing was to the helmets the drivers wore. The change was to make them fireproof, and you can probably guess why if you’ve been following the sport for a while, or if you have watched the film Rush. However, if you have no clue what i’m talking about, in 1976, Formula 1 legend Niki Lauda suffered a life threatening crash at the Nürburgring circuit in Germany which resulted in him being severely burnt all over his face. He was in intensive care for weeks but miraculously he survived and shocked the world by competing in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza only 6 weeks later, to which he achieved an amazing 4th place finish. It was after this crash that the FIA implemented these helmet changes and also changed the cars so it would be more difficult for them to be set alight during a crash.

Racing Legend Niki Lauda sitting by his Ferrari