F1, IndyCar, and NASCAR are three of the world's quickest motorsports. They are renowned for their thrilling races but also for the accidents that have altered the sport over time. Below, we will examine each in greater depth to determine which is the most dangerous.
There is no discernible difference in danger between F1, IndyCar, and NASCAR, as all three sports experience numerous accidents each year, some of which are fatal. In terms of total and recent deaths, IndyCar is the most dangerous series.
Although there have been numerous fatal and fatal crashes in each motorsport, it is the advancements in safety that have made them what they are today. These enhancements were shaped by earlier crashes, so it is worthwhile to examine them in further depth.
Dangerous Sports by Default
Auto racing is inherently dangerous. Because automobiles are such complicated machinery, they can rapidly become out-of-control missiles if they are not treated with sufficient respect. In the United States, there are more than 6 million car accidents every year, which kill thousands of people. These accidents can occur at relatively low speeds under normal conditions due to technical faults, human error, or simple stupidity and inexperience. On a racetrack, cars usually go faster than 150 mph and sometimes go faster than 200 mph. They are surrounded by other cars going the same speed.
Only in rare cases is the fatal
Even though the drivers in F1, IndyCar, and NASCAR are extremely competent and have extensive experience, it is remarkable that there are not more fatal accidents in each of the three motorsports. It may look like there is a collision in every single one of these situations, so the fact that there are so few deaths is a big deal for the industry.
Fatalities in F1
Let's look at the number of fatalities in each motorsport to see how dangerous it can be at its most dangerous.Beginning with F1, the most recent fatality occurred in 2015, whereas the accident happened in 2014. Following a crash at the Japanese Grand Prix, Jules Bianchi had severe brain injuries that threw him into a coma for months.
This was the first death in a Formula One World Championship race since Ayrton Senna's accident at Imola in 1994. It is important to note that we will be focusing on crashes and deaths that have occurred during the counting of races, i.e., races that were part of the championship season in each sport. Including additional accidents can make the data difficult to manage and locate.
There have been 52 deaths in F1, 32 of which occurred during championship races. Since 1950, there have been over 1000 races, resulting in a 3% fatality rate per race. This number is hard to understand without comparing it to numbers from IndyCar and NASCAR, so let's start with IndyCar.
Fatalities in IndyCar
Since the inaugural IndyCar race in 1916, 95 people have died in IndyCar races. The most recent death occurred at the Pocono Raceway in 2015, when Justin Wilson passed away. That was the fourth fatality in the sport since the death of the new millennium, a stark contrast to F1's solitary fatality in the 2000s. There have been over 1300 IndyCar races, resulting in a 7% death rate per race.
NASCAR Fatalities
As for NASCAR, there have been 28 deaths since the first in 1952, with the most recent NASCAR Cup Series death occurring in 2001 at the Daytona 500 when Dale Earnhardt died. Over the course of more than 2600 NASCAR Cup Series races, the fatality rate per race for NASCAR has been less than 1%.
Considering only the number of deaths per race, NASCAR appears to be the safest by a significant margin. With nearly the same number of deaths per race as F1 and less than half as many deaths per race as IndyCar, there are significant disparities between the three motorsports. But looking at these numbers since 2000 gives a lot more information and makes a lot more sense.
Recent deaths
NASCAR and F1 have had one fatality each in this century, whereas IndyCar has had four. We will shortly examine more specific safety measures, but based on the number of deaths in this century, NASCAR and F1 have had none, while IndyCar has had four. There have been significant safety advancements in all three sports over the past two decades, but it appears that IndyCar has been the most dangerous.
Other Ways to Think About Danger
General Crashes
Deaths are not the only metric to consider when assessing the danger level of F1, NASCAR, and IndyCar racing. The concept of danger could be understood in terms of the probability of crashing, irrespective of injuries or fatalities. At these speeds, just getting into a crash is a very dangerous thing, so it's important to think about crashes in general.
It may appear as if there are crashes in each and every race across all sports. At the time of writing, there has been at least one crash in seven of the ten races of the 2020 F1 season, with some races experiencing multiple crashes. Throughout the first decade of the 2000s, NASCAR experienced an average of 220 crashes each year, or six per race.
The Indy 500
IndyCar is not immune to this tendency, as the 2020 Indy 500 had seven yellow flags due to six crashes and one car on fire due to brake crashes, which scattered debris throughout the track. Therefore, in terms of crashes, all three motorsports contribute a great deal. Again, this is because of how fast they drive and how little room there is for error.
The concept of debris is significant since it relates to the concept of why drivers may crash in the first place. Some of the causes are shared by all three motorsports, while others are unique to one or more of the three.
Why Might A Driver Have An Accident?
Open Wheel Racing
F1 and IndyCar both utilize open-wheel race vehicles. These lack fenders and wheel covers, leaving the wheels exposed to the weather and everything the race may hurl at them. This means that they have little protection against flying debris or other drivers if they race too closely together. Not only are the wheels visible, but the drivers sit far lower to the ground compared to NASCAR drivers, reducing their visibility. The front and rear wings of F1 and IndyCar cars provide significant downforce to enable the cars to take extremely tight turns at high speeds. But this also means that they depend heavily on downforce for the whole race.
Dependency on Downforce
If the downforce suddenly disappears, as a result of foul air from a car in front or for any variety of other reasons, the driver can lose total control of the car. This was widespread in the 1970s, when cars utilized the so-called ground effect. Essentially, it was a means for the teams to regulate the airflow under the car in order to keep it closer to the ground, allowing them to do faster turns.
However, this meant that there were consequences for even small errors. Numerous accidents occurred owing to the volatile nature of the ground effect, or rather when it was abruptly broken, hence numerous measures were adopted to eliminate its use in F1. Even though the ground effect is no longer used, F1 cars can still crash because they don't have enough downforce.
Fragile cars
F1 and IndyCar cars are designed to be as aerodynamically efficient as possible, giving them the characteristic race car shape. However, this renders them extremely delicate, and even small impacts can cause significant car components to disintegrate or detach entirely. This may cause the driver to lose control or collide with other drivers in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Punctures are also a possibility when traveling at such high speeds, and due to the enormous amount of downforce generated by these automobiles, the tires are under tremendous pressure. Due to their construction, they are not as protected as NASCAR wheels and can be punctured in collisions or by debris. Consequently, they will explode if they are not frequently monitored and replaced.
NASCAR crashes
However, this does not imply NASCAR drivers are immune to punctures. Although they are more protected against sharp debris on the track than F1 and IndyCar drivers, they can still lose control of their car if struck by another driver or a piece of another driver's car.
NASCAR drivers are notorious for driving much closer to each other than F1 and IndyCar drivers. This is partially due to the fact that they can afford to bump into each other more than the more fragile open-wheeled vehicles, but it also renders them extremely susceptible to accidents caused by minor, high-speed collisions. There are also more vehicles on the track, which increases the potential that others will be involved in crashes.
The Big One
The Big One Due to the nature of the sport and the fact that there are 40 and 33 cars on the track, respectively, these crashes occur frequently. Because oval tracks are so much shorter than road tracks, they are more common on oval tracks than on road tracks.
The largest crash of this type in the modern era occurred in 2002 at Talladega Superspeedway, when 30 cars were involved, and just three finished on the lead lap at the end of the race. There have been numerous races with multiple big ones, including the 2016 GEICO 500. There were four big ones, and thirty-five of the forty vehicles sustained damage during the race.
The Origins of a Crash
Regardless of the form of motorsport under consideration, there are numerous causes of accidents. Some are attributable to driver error, while others are caused by mechanical failure. While some may be attributable to drivers taking unnecessary risks, others may be the result of a simple slip in concentration. In all motorsports, however, these crashes have become safer over time.
Security Measures in F1, IndyCar, And NASCAR
Various Safety Measures
Every sport includes safety precautions. Some are preventative, while others mitigate the effects of accidents. Due to the high speeds at which the drivers compete, motorsports are an exception when it comes to the safety of sports. Let's talk about a few of the many other safety measures that have been added after accidents. Before examining specific examples in each sport, it is important to note that, as a result of a series of accidents, a large number of additional vital measures have been implemented in each sport. These include things like seatbelts and clothes that don't catch fire. However, they have been around for so long that they are taken for granted when talking about safety measures.
Crash Barriers
If a driver crashes in F1, there are multiple tiers of crash barriers where they could land. After the death of Ayrton Senna, who was killed when he crashed into a concrete barrier at Imola, they were methodically rebuilt. Every collision has taught us a lot about how to make them safer and more effective. These barriers are crucial, and if they are broken and require replacement during a race, the session may be red-flagged so that the necessary repairs may be made before the race resumes. Similar safety improvements have been used in IndyCar. For example, the aeroscreen is used in the same way as the halo on F1 cars to protect the drivers from falling debris and barriers.
The halo
Although not exactly implemented as a result of a specific accident, this is an example of sports attempting to reduce the severity of accidents. The halo in Formula One may have saved countless lives, most notably Charles Leclerc when Fernando Alonso's car soared over his own car at Spa in 2018, striking the halo (but importantly, not him).
In recent years, NASCAR has implemented numerous safety measures, many of which are a result of Dale Earnhardt's untimely death. In 2001, he died at the Daytona 500 after he crashed into the wall on the final lap. Because of this, the sport had to require a lot of safety measures, like head and neck restraints and softer impact barriers.
Progressive Safety
The purpose of examining these specific safety measures is to demonstrate that although F1, IndyCar, and NASCAR are dangerous sports, they are becoming steadily safer with each accident. Thanks to these and other safety measures, the per-race collision rate can be in the upper double digits, and the death rate can be close to nil. Since 1916, there have been 95 deaths in the IndyCar series, the most of any of the three. NASCAR often has the most crashes per season, regardless of whether or not drivers are hurt or killed, but it is difficult to determine which motorsport is truly the most dangerous.
Each year, each sport becomes safer, and each accident puts pressure on the relevant sporting authorities to go one step further to guarantee the cars and tracks are as safe as possible, not only for the drivers, but also for the personnel and spectators who attend each event.