Formula 1 is a dangerous sport. The cars are the fastest that have ever been built by human beings with an average of 187 km/h in a race. Formula 1 over the years have seen some huge crashes that sometimes took the lives of drivers and the marshals on the circuit. But no matter how dangerous the sport gets there are some drivers who are just too throttle happy and make friends with the barriers every now and then.
Here is a list of 5 most accident prone drivers of F1 history:
1. Romain Grosjean:
Just ask any driver on the current grid, what they find most dangerous in Formula1 and their answer would not be any circuit or any corner but Romain Grosjean. Such is the reputation of the French driver that most racers try to avoid racing him on track and with good reason. Grosjean served a race ban in 2012 when he took out Hamilton, Alonso, Perez. The crash also caused Maldonado to spin and Kamui Kobayashi also got damaged which demoted him to last place. But arguably the accident that cemented his place in F1 history as one of the most dangerous drivers has to be his crash at Baku in 2018. He crashed into the wall behind the safety car, came on the radio to his engineer and said “Ericson hit me”. But unfortunately for him Ericson was nowhere in the picture and Grosjean was left embarrassed in front of the watching fans.
2. Jody Scheckter:
It might be surprising for some to know that 1979 world champion Jody Scheckter was considered to be the most dangerous driver in F1 early in his career. In fact, his career was full of crashes in the beginning. During the 1973 French Grand Prix, Scheckter hit Fittipaldi, forcing him to retire. After the race, the Brazilian world champ was furious and said:
“This madman is a menace to himself and everybody else and does not belong in Formula One.”
A week later during the 1973 British Grand Prix, Scheckter provoked one of the biggest car pile-ups in F1 history. He spun during the first lap forcing 10 cars to retire. The race started over without the cars involved in the accident. Following the incredible crash in the 1973 British Grand Prix, Scheckter collided with Cevert in Canada weeks later. Despite his reputation in F1, teams saw talent in Scheckter. He then joined Ferrari in 1979 and won his first and only championship. His title would be the last one obtained by Ferrari for almost 20 years until Schumacher won the championship in 2000. Jody Scheckter is proof that a young, inexperienced, crash-prone driver can transform into a respected World Champion.
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3. Pastor Maldonado:
He is undoubtedly the king of crashing. He has mastered the art of disheveling the engineering marvel, i.e., a formula1 car. He has a career filled with crashes not just in Formula1. Before entering the pinnacle of motorsport, he almost killed a steward in the Monaco Grand Prix in 2005 Formula Renault 3.5. Fortunately, Maldonado comes from a wealthy background so his father paid off the medical bills of the injured steward. When he entered F1, he made a habit of voluntarily crashing into the drivers and sometimes into the walls just by himself, made evident by his crash in the final laps of the opening race at Australia 2012. He again famously crashed into Perez at the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix.
Then started a streak that made Pastor famous and recognized for eternity. He crashed during the Canadian Grand Prix, he crashed into Hamilton during the European Grand Prix, he crashed another time in Hungary. He then managed to get 3 penalties in a single race before crashing into Timo Glock at Spa. He had a streak of 7 races with crashes, penalties or various incidents. There are just too many crashes to count. Unlike other drivers on this list, there is not one major incident that comes to mind but so many at once.
4. Andre de Ceasaris:
Most Race Without a Win: 208
Total Retirements: 148
Consecutive Retirements: 18
Most Retirements in a Single Season: 14 (out of a 16 races)
Above mentioned are some of the records that are held by Andre de Ceasaris that are very unlikely to be broken. He has been called the most accident prone driver in F1 history. Andrea De Cesaris started his F1 career during the 1980 season at only 21 with Alfa Romeo. In 1981, he switched to McLaren in replacement of Alain Prost. He managed to break 18 chassis that year earning the nickname “Andrea De Crasheris”. The team even withdrew him from the race because they feared he would crash again. De Cesaris went to Ligier in 1984. During the 1984 Zeltweg Austrian Grand Prix, De Cesaris had a big crash and rolled over several times. He was slightly injured and walked back to the pits where he was immediately fired by team boss Guy Ligier who said:
“I can no longer afford to employ this man”.
During 1990, he again did some incredible things such as crashing in the first lap in Imola and Interlagos. He nearly took out Nigel Mansell’s Ferrari while being lapped by him during a race.
5. Timo Glock:
Timo Glock had a relatively short career in F1, one filled with crashes. The Timo Glock crashes are very famous among F1 fans. He notably crashed in 2008 during the German Grand Prix, in 2009 during the Japanese Grand Prix, in 2008 in Australia, in 2010 in Belgium. You get the idea. There were a lot of crashes for a relatively short career in F1. Timo F1 career started in 2004 when he replaced Giorgio Pantano at Jordan following his accident. He then came back in 2009 for 5 seasons: 2 with Toyota, 2 with Virgin and 1 with Marussia. People remember him for his crashes and not for his driving skills and that is unfortunate.
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