The accident began when the cars of Wade Cunningham and JR Hildebrand made contact with each other in the middle of the pack. The initial crash left a field of debris and pall of smoke that obscured the view of passing drivers. As they tried to negotiate the initial accident site, other cars made contact, exacerbating the problem. Dan Wheldon, traveling at an estimated 200 mph, hit the car of Paul Tracy and went airborne. Wheldon's car hit the catch fence at the edge of the track and the roll hood, designed to protect the driver, was sheared off. Despite being airlifted to hospital, the sad news that he had passed away came a couple of hours later.
I have seen the footage of the accident replayed on the news today and the accident can only be described as chaos. As a long-standing fan of Formula 1, however, something stood out for me and that was how, in the blink of an eye, such a relatively minor incident snowballed into something horrific. Compare this with some of Formula 1's most serious accidents of the past few years - the accident involving Sergio Perez at the Monaco Grand Prix this year, springs immediately to mind - and what strikes you is how much safer Formula 1 is.
In the 61 year history of Formula 1 there have been only 47 driver fatalities, with 15 of those in the first decade, only two fatalities in the last twenty years and a total of 6 fatalities behind the wheel in the latter half of the sport. The last driver fatality in Formula 1 was the great Ayrton Senna at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994. Roland Ratzenberger also died that weekend during qualifying; it was only his third F1 race. In response to those deaths, Formula 1 worked to ensure that similar accidents would not result in fatalities in the future.
The Indycar Racing League has only been in formal existence since the mid-nineties, with a six year hiatus in between, yet there have been four fatalities with three of them since the sport restarted ten years ago. Crashes in Indycar are more frequent and more violent, and, while no-one wants to witness the death of a driver, there is a school of thought that suggests it is the spectacular crashes that blood-thirsty audiences come to see. There may be some truth to this, but that shouldn't make it acceptable.
Of course, the comparison between F1 and Indycar is somewhat spurious. Indycar is a sport in its relative infancy, enjoying only a few years of active racing to develop technology and improve safety. But it is a sport that, like F1 before it, must learn from its past. Already the critics of the sport are calling for a ban for being 'too dangerous'. I will never be a supporter of a ban on Indycar, or any other motorsport, however, the sport has a duty to make itself safer.
Improving driver safety doesn't necessarily mean eliminating accidents (although reducing speeds and making cars more stable at high speed would probably be a part of it). When you look at this particular accident there are two things that would have made it both less serious and more survivable. The initial contact caused both debris and smoke - a deadly combination to vehicles traveling at speed. Had there been less debris, perhaps there would have been fewer cars
involved and had there been less (or no) smoke, perhaps Paul Tracy would not
have had to slow or if he had, perhaps Wheldon might have seen him
slowing and avoided the impact. F1 cars are now designed to sustain damage to certain areas while cocooning and protecting the driver. Similar developments to Indycar could have prevented much of the debris and also limited fire and therefore smoke, and I am convinced that the roll hood of an F1 car would never be damaged like that of Wheldon's car, and this alone might have been enough to save his life.
While researching this blog post, I came across a quote that really puts the attitude of Indycar into the spotlight. Prior to the start of the race, Dan Wheldon signed a multi-year deal to replace Danica Patrick driving for Andretti Autosport, as she makes the move to Nascar. Following the accident, Michael Andretti said, "But it's part of our sport. He knew the risks; we all know the risks when we get in the car. It probably touches me a little more because of everything that was going on. It's a terrible thing, but unfortunately in our sport we've had a lot of days like these. They suck, but that's the way it is."
It's absolutely right that the drivers know and accept the risks of motorsport when they get in the car - the same is true for all branches of motorsport - but that doesn't make fatalities any less tragic or any more acceptable and it worries me that American motorsport seems to accept fatal accidents as an inevitability.
Dan Wheldon died aged just 33. In a motorsport career spanning ten years, he celebrated 16 victories and a further 27 podium finishes. He won the Indycar championship in 2005 driving for Andretti Autosport, and achieved two highly coveted Indianapolis 500 wins, including the 2011 race. Before today, few Brits will have known his name, but he was born in Emberton in Buckinghamshire. He lived in Britain for over twenty years, before moving to the States in 1999 to pursue a professional motorsport career. It was only a matter of finance that saw him cross the Atlantic; in slightly different circumstances, he could have been competing alongside Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. He is survived by his wife, Susie, and two sons, Sebastian and Oliver. My thoughts and sympathies are with his family and friends today and it is my hope that his death will eventually be the catalyst that improves the safety of his sport. But for now, lets celebrate a bright career and a life spent doing what he loved. Whether you agree with my thoughts or not, one thing is certain: Dan Wheldon would not wish this accident to be the used to call for a ban.
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