F1 Safe,not death Proof

Its different from IndyCar,which is held on oval tracks and hence is dangerous, says Force Indias German driver Adrian Sutil. F1 is very safe. There have been no injuries in the recent past. With speeds going over 300kmph,its always a bit dangerous,but we are fortunate to have very safe cars. A motorcycle race is quite a different sport and dangerous too.

Indeed,statistics back his claim that safety standards in F1 have come a long way. Forty-five drivers died in the first 44 years of F1,as compared to none in the last 17.

Of course,besides the obvious good fortune,a lot of credit for that goes to the emphasis International Automobile Federation FIA has put on safety since Imola 1994,when both Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger died during the San Marino Grand Prix.

The attitude appears markedly different from IndyCars,where a few contentious decisions by its governing body might have contributed to the Wheldon incident. Like in F1,IndyCar is a single-seater,open-wheel category of car racing. But the cars in Indy are of similar capacity,running at NASCAR-style oval tracks. Narain Karthikeyan,who has also raced in NASCAR,explains the difference.

In Indy,a large number of cars are travelling in close packs on oval tracks,and on extremely high speeds consistently, Karthikeyan,the Hispania driver says. They hardly slowdown. So the chances of them crashing against each other and going airborne are much higher.

In Wheldons case,he had an added reason to go full throttle: the 5million bounty announced by IndyCar boss Randy Bernard should he have won the Las Vegas race a publicity stunt.

Indy,F1 worlds apart

While insisting that F1 is worlds apart from the American series when it comes to safety,Karun Chandhok says a driver knows all too well the occupational hazards of a career in motorsports. Events like that Wheldon and Simonchelli are unfortunate. It leaves you with a sense of perspective, says Team Lotuss Chandhok.

But I am a purist when it comes safety and motorsports. One of the attractions of our sport is also that its so dangerous. When something goes wrong with someone on the track,it does leave you deeply affected. But then as a driver,its something youve chosen. After all,nobody is holding a gun to your head and saying that you have race, he adds.

While Sutil and Chandhok havent been involved in any serious accidents on the job,Karthikeyan has. Indias first F1 driver recollects his horrific crash in his Jordan,six years ago in Shanghai. It shook me to the core,and I was lucky to have walked out without a career-threatening injury, he said. In motorsports,career-threatening injuries means fatal or near-fatal.

Thankfully,the cars we have in F1 are much safer. Except for Felipe Massa being knocked out by a stray spring in 2009,I cant remember a life threatening incident involving a driver in recent times, Karthikeyan says.

But the 34-year-old is quick to point out that safety in F1 is not about securing the drivers alone. An F1 pit crew member or a track marshals job is arguably one of the most dangerous in the world,he says. In fact,the last fatality in F1 was at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix when a steward died after being hit by a loose wheel.

Says Karthikeyan: When projectiles fly at 300 km per hour,it does become very dangerous out there. But then thats what motorsports is its dangerous. And its written at the back of your ticket and on the signboards around the circuit.