Formula One is a potentially dangerous sport, though the last person to lose his life in it was Ayrton Senna in 2004, though 46 Formula One drivers had been killed in previous fatal accidents since 1952. A major contributor to the reduction in deaths is the car. Modern Formula One cars are far safer than those of Senna’s era and previously; they provide substantial protection for the driver even when the car sustains serious damaged.
There are still many accidents, and it is not unusual for drivers to sustain injuries, some of which have been serious, and some drivers seem to be accident prone. There are few things as competitive as driving in Formula One so it is not surprising that many drivers demonstrate what can appear to be ruthless aggression, but with some drivers this can exceed the bounds of reasonableness, and those drivers are consider by other drivers to be dangerous.
The latest driver to be described as dangerous by other drivers is Pastor Maldonado from Venezuela. He drives for the Williams team which he joined in 2011 and already he has taken one pole position and has won his first Grand Prix, the 2012 Spanish GP. This was the first Grand Prix that Williams has won since 2004. However he has also been involved in many serious racing incidents and has frequently been penalised. At the recent British Grand Prix at Silverstone he was summoned by the stewards for the third time in four races.
He received a 10-place grid penalty for colliding with Sergio Perez in the Monaco final practice; he pushed Lewis Hamilton into the barrier during the European Grand Prix as they battled for third place with just one lap remaining; at Silverstone he tangled again with Perez.
Maldonado is unrepentant; he believes that he is simply pushing and he does not intend to change his driving style.
But Maldonado is not the only driver to be branded as dangerous. The Formula One Championship winner Lewis Hamilton has also been described in similar terms. Certainly he had his fair share of accidents that could be attributed as over aggression. He is much calmer nowadays, but he is not willing as many races either.
Another was Jody Scheckter. He won the World Championship with Ferrari in 1979 and in his career won ten Grand Prix. Yet he was considered to be erratic, wild and prone to crashes that endangered the lives of other drivers. In fact he caused the biggest accident ever seen in Formula One at the 1972 British Grand Prix. He was described by the then reigning World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi as a madman.
Some drivers have deliberately caused accidents. Even the great AyrtonSenna deliberately took Alain Prost out of the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix thus taking the championship, and Michael Schumacher did the same to Damien Hill at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix; there are many other examples, all of which are potentially dangerous.
Many of the greatest drivers have at times been considered dangerous and a liability to others; perhaps that ruthlessness is simply an essential part of the basic nature of winners.
