List of Formula 1 drivers that died racing
F1 deaths, the list below shows the names of F1 drivers that died because of a fatal crash or by their injuries caused by a crash during testing or racing in Formula 1 or other series, while being a F1 driver.
Some drivers didn't pass away in their car, but died a few days later or even months after the incident on the track or event.
The most famous driver that died is by far Ayrton Senna. The Brazilian driver died at the age of 34 after a heavy crash during the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994.
F1 Driver Deaths due to Racing
Driver | Date of incident | Event | Circuit | Car | Session | Cause |
Joe Fry | Jul 29, 1950 | Blandford hillclimb | - | Freikaiserwagen | Race | Crash |
Raymond Sommer | Sep 10, 1950 | Haute-Garonne GP | Cooper | Race | Crashed due to steering failure | |
Cameron Earl | Jun 18, 1952 | Test | MIRA | ERA | Testing | Car overturned |
Luigi Fagioli | May 24, 1952 | Monaco GP | Monaco | Touring car | Practice | Crashed died 3 weeks later on his injuries |
Chet Miller | May 15, 1953 | Indianapolis 500 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Kurtis Kraft | Practice | |
Charles de Tornaco | Sep 18, 1953 | Modena GP | Autodromo di Modena | Ferrari Tipo 500 | Practice | Rolled with his car and died of head and neck injuries |
Felice Bonetto | Sep 13, 1953 | Carrera Panamericana | - | Lancia | Race | Collided with a lamp-post |
Guy Mairesse | Apr 24, 1954 | Coupe de Paris | - | Practice | Crashed into a concrete wall | |
Onofre Marimón | Jul 31, 1954 | German F1 GP | Nürburgring | Maserati 250F | Practice | Lost control at the Wehrseifen curve |
Mario Alborghetti | Apr 11, 1955 | Pau GP | Pau Circuit | Maserati 4CLT | Race | |
Manny Ayulo | May 16, 1955 | Indianapolis 500 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Kurtis Kraft | Practice | |
Alberto Ascari | May 26, 1955 | Testing | Monza | Sports Ferrari | Testing | Lost control and crashed |
Bill Vukovich | May 30, 1955 | Indianapolis 500 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Kurtis Kraft | Race | |
Pierre Levegh | Jun 11, 1955 | 24 hours of Le Mans | Le Mans | Mercedes Benz 300 SLR | Race | Crashed into the other car |
Don Beauman | Jul 9, 1955 | Leinster Trophy | - | Crashed | ||
Louis Rosier | Oct 7, 1956 | Test | Montlhéry track | Crashed | ||
Ken Wharton | Jan 12, 1957 | Sports car race | Ardmore circuit | Ferrari Monza | Race | Crashed |
Eugenio Castellotti | Mar 14, 1957 | Test | Autodromo di Modena | Ferrari 801 | Test | Crashed |
Alfonso de Portago | May 12, 1957 | Mille Miglia | - | Ferrari 335 S | Race | Tire blow at 250km/h |
Keith Andrews | May 15, 1957 | Indianapolis 500 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Kurtis Kraft | Practice | |
Piero Carini | May 30, 1957 | St-Etienne event | - | Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa | Race | Crashed |
Bill Whitehouse | Jul 14, 1957 | Coupe de Vitesse F2 | Reims-Gueux | Cooper T39 | Race | Crashed |
Herbert Mackay-Fraserouse | Jul 14, 1957 | Coupe de Vitesse F2 | Reims-Gueux | Lotus 11 sports car | Race | Crashed |
Archie Scott-Brown | May 18, 1958 | Sports car race | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps | Lister Knobbly | Race | Crashed |
Pat O'Connor | May 30, 1958 | Indianapolis 500 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Kurtis Kraft | Race | Crashed |
Erwin Bauer | Jun 3, 1958 | Sports car race | Nürburgring | Ferrari sports car | Race | Crashed after finish |
Luigi Musso | Jul 6, 1958 | French F1 GP | Reims-Gueux | Ferrari 246 F1 | Race | Crashed |
Peter Collins | Aug 3, 1958 | German F1 GP | Nürburgring | Ferrari 246 F1 | Race | Crashed |
Peter Whitehead | Sep 21, 1958 | Tour de France | - | Jaguar | Race | Crashed as co-driver |
Stuart Lewis-Evans | Oct 19, 1958 | Moroccan F1 GP | Ain-Diab Circuit | Vanwall | Race | Crashed, died 6 days later on burn injuries |
Jerry Unser Jr. | May 2, 1959 | Indianapolis 500 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Kuzma | Practice | |
Bob Cortner | May 19, 1959 | Indianapolis 500 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Cornis | ||
Jean Behra | Aug 1, 1959 | Sports car race | AVUS | Porsche RSK | Race | Spun and crashed |
Ivor Bueb | Aug 1, 1959 | Formula 2 race | Charade circuit | BRP Cooper-Borgward | Race | Crashed |
Harry Blanchard | Jan 31, 1960 | Buenos Aires 1.000 km | - | Porsche sports car | Race | Crashed |
Ettore Chimeri | Feb 27, 1969 | Gran Premio Libertad | Camp Freedom military airfield | Ferrari sports car | Practice | Crashed |
Harry Schell | May 13, 1960 | BRDC International Trophy Race | Silverstone Circuit | Cooper T51 | Practice | Somersaulted & Collided |
Chris Bristow | Jun 19, 1960 | Belgian F1 GP | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps | Cooper T51 | Race | Car rolled over |
Alan Stacey | Jun 19, 1960 | Belgian F1 GP | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps | Lotus 18 | Race | Hit by bird in face and crashed |
Shane Summers | Jun 1, 1961 | Silver City Trophy | Brands Hatch | Cooper | Practice | |
Giulio Cabianca | Jun 15, 1961 | Test | Autodromo di Modena | Cooper T51 | Test | |
Wolfgang von Trips | Sep 10, 1961 | Italian F1 GP | Monza | Ferrari 156 F1 | Race | |
Ricardo Rodriguez | Nov 1, 1962 | Mexican GP | Autodromo H. Rodriguez | Lotus 24 | Practice | |
Gary Hocking | Dec 21, 1962 | Non F1 event | Westmead Circuit | Lotus 24 | Practice | |
Carel Godin de Beaufort | Aug 1, 1964 | Belgian F1 GP | Nürburgring | Porsche 718 | Practice | |
John Taylor | Aug 7, 1966 | Belgian F1 GP | Nürburgring | Brabham | Race | |
Lorenzo Bandini | May 7, 1967 | Monaco F1 GP | Monaco | Ferrari 312 | Race | |
Bob Anderson | Aug 14, 1967 | Testing | Silverstone | Brabham BT55 | Testing | |
Jim Clark | Apr 7, 1968 | German F2 race | Hockenheimring | Lotus 48 | 1st heat | Probably a deflating rear tyre |
Jo Schlesser | Jul 7, 1968 | French F1 GP | Rouen-Les-Essarts | Honda RA302 | Race | |
Gerhard Mitter | Aug 1, 1969 | Belgian F1 GP | Nürburgring | BMW | Practice | |
Martin Brain | May 25, 1970 | Non F1 event | Silverstone | Cooper | Race | |
Piers Courage | Jun 21, 1970 | Dutch F1 GP | Zandvoort | De Tomaso | Race | |
Jochen Rindt | Sep 5, 1970 | Italian F1 GP | Monza | Lotus 72 | Practice | Spun off |
Jo Siffert | Oct 24, 1971 | Non F1 event | Branch Hatch | BRM P160 | Race | Crash due to brake failure |
Roger Williamson | Jul 29, 1973 | Dutch F1 GP | Zandvoort | March | Race | |
Francois Cevert | Oct 6, 1973 | US F1 GP | Watkins Glen | Tyrrell | Quali | Crash |
Peter Revson | Mar 22, 1974 | Testing | Kyalami | Shadow DN3 | Testing | |
Helmuth Koinigg | Oct 6, 1974 | US F1 GP | Watkins Glen | Surtees | Race | Crash with badly fitted barrier |
Mark Donohue | Aug 17, 1975 | Austrian F1 GP | Östenreichring | March | Practice | |
Tom Pryce | Mar 5, 1977 | South African F1 GP | Kyalami | Shadow DN8 | Race | Hit by fire extinguisher |
Ronnie Peterson | Sep 10, 1978 | Italian F1 GP | Monza | Lotus 78 | Race | Crash right after start |
Patrick Depailler | Aug 1, 1980 | Testing | Hockenheim | Alfa Romeo 179 | Testing | |
Gilles Villeneuve | May 8, 1982 | Belgian F1 GP | Zolder | Ferrari 126C | Quali | Crash with backmarker |
Riccardo Paletti | June 13, 1982 | Canadian F1 GP | Gilles Villeneuve | Osella | Race | Fire after crash into stalled car of Pironi |
Elio de Angelis | May 14, 1986 | Testing | Paul Ricard | Brabham BT55 | Testing | Crash |
Roland Ratzenberger | Apr 30, 1994 | San Marino F1 GP | Imola | Simtek S941 | Quali | Crash turn 2 |
Ayrton Senna | May 1, 1994 | San Marino F1 GP | Imola | Williams FW16 | Race | Crash turn 1 due to steering failure |
Jules Bianchi | Oct 5, 2014 | Japanese F1 GP | Suzuka | Marussia MR03 | Race | Crash with recovery verhicle |
Latest Comments