Just how dangerous is Formula One?

Formula 1 is a high risk activity. However, the controls that are in place in terms of car engineering and track design make serious injury unlikely. If you don't believe it is dangerous, get rid of the control measures which are now in place and see how many deaths occur.

Chris, I don't think that you'll find that Senna was killed instantly. Professor Syd Watkins who was the chief medical officer of F1 and a friend of Senna's attended to him at the scene. Senna passed away on his lap. Watkins was instrumental in the push for greater safety.

Modern F1 is not dangerous at all. I remember Montoya being interviewed once saying that it was all romantic nonsense about 'the danger of F1' and that you are more likely to get injured playing tennis than driving an F1 car. Whilst the danger is still real in many other forms of racing, particularly motorcycle racing and high speed oval racing such as Indycar, in F1, you are more likely to be injured or killed driving TO the track, than you are at the track.

Not an issue for V8 supercars, DTM, WRC or Le Mans prototypes, which are the closest thing to closed top F1 cars.

"According to the Formula One directory, there were over 25 fatal deaths alone in the 1950s. Engineering was starting to dominate the sport. The teams had only just found out about aerodynamics, mid engines and big rear wings." I think you're mixing your decades, Francis. You'd not find a Formula One car with wings on it until 1969. I know you're talking about motorsport as a whole, but I'll point out that Jim Clark was killed in an F2 race, not an F1 event. But motorsport is inherently dangerous. Nobody is ever going to get into one of those cars and feel completely safe. Regardless of strict safety tests and regulations there are inherent dangers in traveling in any way at 300km/h+. It'll never be safe.

Can't see how closed cockpits would help in that event of an engine failture. Fire would leave the driver trapped inside.

Bob, I think the closed cockpits or some kind of screen or something is definitely being discussed for F1, not sure of any time frame though or how realistic it is. I think the more that the sports self police and strive to improve, the less opportunity opponents have to try and call a halt to proceedings.

I am going to politely disagree. An accident like Senna's would likely see the driver walking away now. Even Senna's own accident could have seen him walking away if it were not for the terrible luck that he had with the front suspension impacting his helmet. It's not the impact he had with the wall that was the killer, but the impact his suspension had with his helmet.

I'm a fan of Indycar racing, particularly on ovals. I hate the way the series is going with less and less ovals, but the argument is that the drivers (some of them) are scared to race on ovals. F1 is arguably safer without ovals, but there's nothing like open wheel oval racing. Perhaps both series should look into a closed cockpit for driver safety. I hope the do-gooders don't ban motorsports like they are doing with everything else. Adults who want to do it should be allowed to.

Senna's death initially surprised a lot of drivers because the impact was not the type that would normally seem serious. Michael Schumacher who was following saw the accident and expected to see Senna standing by the car next time around. Senna was unlucky because the impact hit the right front tyre and a suspension part came into the cockpit and pierced his visor, killing him instantly. From that day on Max Moseley and the FIA worked non stop to make the sport safer but Motorsport by its very nature will still have deaths. They just have to make sure everything can be done to limit the chances of something happening.

Think you right Simoc, these guys are literally on the ragged edge and the margins are tiny, they just happen to be exceptionally good and usually keep it on the track. There have always been guys that have pushed it just that bit further, looking for something beyond the usual and sometimes it unfortunately goes badly wrong. Front on impact you right at that speed is almost certainly fatal, internally humans just can't take that kind of impact but at least F1 has gone a long way to make the sport generally far safer.

A crash like Sennas would kill again. Front on impact in excess of 300kph will kill anyone everytime. Comparing drivers of different eras is not smart. I have seen Clark, Senna, and Jochen Rindt (another casualty) appeared to be a faster driver. There is no doubt that they produced extreme drives to win races which sets them apart. Vettel did the same in a Torro Rosso.

I think F1 is far far safer than it ever was but there will always be dangers given the speed involved and it's impossible to get away from that. I think bringing up Massa's injury is very pertinent because one of the issues that keeps coming up now is that of open cockpits. It seems hard to imagine not having open single seat race cars but there is a growing voice for some kind of further protection to the simple open environment we currently have. There have been countless near misses also with cars bouncing over others and I seem to recall Mark Webber going airbone upside down a few years ago which was very scary. Certainly in Indy Car, their safety regulations seem to be completely inadequate for open seater racing and one would hope they take their cue from F1 who take safety so incredibly seriously nowadays.

But by the same token, he did hit a 1kg spring at 280km/h. That is an absolutely colossal impact, and reflects well on efforts to protect the drivers.

79 F1 drivers have died. None for 20 years since 1994, clearly mid 90's it's got safer, and better technology.

Modern day technology has made F1 a lot safer, but it's only 4 years ago that Brazilian Felipe Massa nearly died after suffering a fractured skull. Any Motorsport is dangerous.