When The Drivers Became The Law: The Story of the 1978 Italian Grand Prix
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- In 1978, Ronnie Peterson was killed in an accident that was caused by a driver who had a bit of a reputation as being a bit too aggressive and/or driving without due care and attention. Five drivers, all of whom world champions at some point, took it upon themselves to say 'this is your fault, you should take a voluntary 1 race ban'. And it worked, but only because the team that driver drove for needed to play the long political game.
But it was also the race where the Professor Sid revolution started. A man who is a hero to all drivers, maybe more than Sir Jackie is.
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You never really think about safety measures until you need them. Prof. Sid was truly a life saver. That saved list is immense.
and even though is Ecclestone is quite the controversial character, who knows how long it would have taken for those safety measures to be implemented without him
@@fuzzy1dk Max Mosely need a bit of credit there too I think (despite being even more controversial). He had a big safety drive at the start of his tenure as FIA president, and I believe it gave a shot in the arm to road car safety too (EuroNCAP as well)
There’s probably a video just listing every single one and the crashes they had.
Prof Sid Watkins and Dr Steve Olvey have both revolutionized the motorsports safety industry to all new heights. When a driver dies now it’s a solemn day in every corner of the world now instead of that one series.
You should include Dr. Terry Trammel, the orthopedic surgeon who with Dr. Olvey set up the CART Safety Team and himself was responsible for saving the legs and feet of many drivers.
Damn the Ronnie Peterson tale is so sad. Not quite Roger Williamson sad, but nearly. In a time when death on the track was so common, those are the two that I think are totally avoidable.
Mario Andretti said that after he found out that Peterson had died during the night he held his championship trophy in his hands and he thought to himself, "what the hell am I supposed to do this trophy now?" Ronnie Peterson supposedly played more of a team role similar to Perez in 2021 and would have been given full support to try to become world champion the next season, similar to how Gilles Villeneuve played more of a team role to allow Jody Scheckter to become world champion in 1979 so that he would become champion in a later season.
Both drivers stepped back to let their teammates become champions so that they could themselves be champions after them.
It never happened for either of them.
@@CyanRooper kind of yes but also, andretti admitted that the team gave peterson worse equipment and tires etc. but that for the last couple of races he and peterson was going to race fairly to see who really wins (however if chapman would allow this is unsure i guess) and then in 79 i am sure peterson would have won the championship
@@leonsavojost7378 That reminds of a story I read on the Internet once about Barrichello supposedly talking to one or some of the guys from the engine department asking why his car couldn't keep up with Schumacher on certain tracks. To his surprise they replied that his engine was tuned down to produce less horsepower so that he could act as a "rolling roadblock" for Schumacher on power circuits like Spa, Monza etc.
It was a long time ago so I can't remember which article or website that story was from and as Abraham Lincoln famously said, "don't believe everything you read on the Internet" so take that with a massive grain of salt.
@@CyanRooper it is believable tho, large teams have history of chosing one driver over the other, like redbull with perez and mercedes with bottas
Ronnie Peterson's death has to be among the saddest in F1 history, having originally survived the accident in stable health.
Sid Watkins, what a legend.
It really grinds my gears that people complain about safety even today.
If you are coming to watch the race for deadly crashes, you don't enjoy racing.
You enjoy watching people suffer.
Whenever I see someone saying that F1 should still be dangerous with people dying, like the good old times, I tell them to go and say the same thing to Sir Jackie Stewart.
I have absolutely no patience for people who want giant fiery deadly crashes. This is motorsport, not gladiatorial combat. If you want to see blood spilled, go spill your own.
They want the danger but they're not the ones who have to tell a mother that her son's not coming home
or calling Halo unnecessary, ugly...
The whole Halo discussion is a prime example. By now it saved at least Grosjean, Zhou and Max, probably could have saved Bianchi as well. Saefty really should always come first.
Hearing about Bernie being an absolute chad by bringing in Sid and taking no crap from anyone feels weird. Chad behaviour has been disassociated from Bernie for a good few years. Also, Hunt was definitely at fault for the accident and his blame game shenanigans are pretty poor for someone so widely loved and the fact that Patrese still protests his innocence all these years later shows the ridiculousness of the "penalty".
Easier to pick on the "new guy"
Hunt was always a mixed bag, charming as all hell but a complete bastard to boot
Considering Patrese was later (rightfully) cleared of any wrongdoing and got apologies from some of the protagonists James Hunt's attitude was pretty poor form. Especially given it's quite arguable that Hunt himself was at fault for the accident. If you weren't man enough at that point to own up, at least have the decency to keep quiet. Shameful action from James Hunt there. Projection maybe? I guess we'll never know now.
@@woopimagpie The notion that any driver was at fault when the lights went green before they stopped for the grid is laughable horseshit.
@@alexisborden3191 Oh, I agree 100% with that. I've written a whole piece about that elsewhere in the comments.
And here's the weird thing - Peterson had signed a contract with McLaren for 1979. Considering that this was the period of massive downturn for McLaren don't think Peterson would've reversed their fortunes had he survived his injuries from his crash at Monza. However, what if he joined Williams for say 1980 in this scenario instead of Carlos Reutemann? Given that the FW07 was head and shoulders above the rest IMO Peterson would've been as competitive if not better than Reutemann. BUT he'd most likely had met the same issue as when he was Andretti's teammate in Lotus - playing the second fiddle to Alan Jones.
Maybe he would of signing for Brabham for 1981 to become world champion instead of Piquet. Were he almost did an Nigel Mansell. What do you think about that?
The saved lives list due to Sid has and will contue because of the systems he set up and are still providing the medical attention needed not only in formula one but many other classes of motor sport. A legacy that will prove to be the single most important factor in racing safety. The man should have been knighted.
Honestly a crime he wasn't, or even given an MBE. I'd say saving the lives of countless F1 drivers through medical practice is more of a contribution to "the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service" than winning world titles. Though, Stewart had also initiated a lot of reforms in F1 for safety.
Professor Sid was a legend within his lifetime and ever since. I definitely shed some tears on learning of his death, mercifully at a ripe old age, unlike Charlie Whiting, sadly.
Now there's a story for you to tell, Aidan! Like how the FIA had him shadowed a year or so before he retired to see what jobs his replacement should do. I believe they stopped counting at them needing three people to do his work...
While I always loved James Hunt, the fact he never apologised to Patrese and continued to blame him for the next decade is really sad. Listening to his commentary back then it's almost as if Hunt had to force himself to say anything remotely nice about him, and if Patrese ever made a mistake (or in some cases didn't) Hunt would throw as much dirt on him as he could.
I can only imagine, and this is only my personal opinion, because Hunt was the one who hit Peterson, he needed to blame Patrese or he'd have to admit that it was his contact that ultimately caused the crash that killed his friend.
The thing being who are they going to believe; the new kid or the ex-World Champion who helped Peterson out of the wreck... Everybody believed Hunt (the Shunt)
@@Enevan1968 I agree, I'm talking about afterwards when others admitted they were wrong but Hunt refused to back down.
@@MrSniperfox29 Hunt would always get a dig in at Riccardo even when he was truly excelling in the Williams-Renault later in his career. He was probably jealous because he wanted that drive for himself.
@@ElectoneGuy No, Hunt was digging at Patrese for years before Patrese went to Williams. It had nothing to do with Hunt wanting that drive, he simply hated Patrese for this accident
@@MrSniperfox29 I'm aware of him constantly berating Riccardo since the accident. Hunt tested the Williams-Renault at Paul Ricard looking for a drive in 1990. It must have really burned his ass that Patrese was already there.
Pretty sure i read in a bio years ago that after Peterson's death, Colin Chapman sacked a bunch of mechanics in the Lotus factory, as the reason Ronnie was driving the 78 in the first place was due to a strike at the factory (hence no spare 79 was available at Monza), and he believed if Ronnie was in the 79, he may not have broken his legs
È anche vero che la 79 c'era nel van a Monza ma era il muletto di Andretti. Chapman non volle darla a Peterson perché era arrivata la notizia che lo svedese aveva firmato un contratto per la stagione successiva con McLaren. Peterson fece questo perché ebbe la conferma da Andretti di continuare il rapporto con Lotus anche per la stagione successiva. Questo avrebbe voluto dire che avrebbe continuato a fare la seconda guida nel anno successivo.
I did hear a story a few years ago that during the 2005 US GP when the teams said they'd replace FIA supplied officials due to the tire scandal that Sid was approached to come back for the event as he was the only one they'd trust
Prof Sid was a legend, his book is a great read.
Don't forget that Arrows were not only the new boys, but had just lost a lawsuit because when designer/partner Tony Southgate left Shadow he'd taken some of his drawings with him, creating a car nicknamed the Sharrows because the DN9 and FA/1 looked almost alike. Arrows didn't want to stir the waters any further, so left Patrese hanging
Sid's books were always, still are, worth a read and then you had, around the same time as Sid, you had Steve Olvey/Terry Trammell of CART and their own crusade for safety in the States as well, which makes me wonder how much they took from what Sid was doing I wonder
Olvey's and Trammell's book reference working with Professor Sid on crash impact studies.
@@LightsOutLow Huh I dod't brl is not in the $PATH because apparently Solus makes /etc/profile a symlink to a file in /usr. We can sort of work around this by creating a /etc/profile.d/ directory and symlinking /bedrock/share/shells/include-bedrock to Been years since I read Olvey's book, but that's good to know. I didn't remember if that came up in either book, I mostly just remember bits and pieces of both books.I
James Hunt triggered that crash, 100%. When the smoke cleared and they asked "what happened?" Hunt immediately pounced on Patrese, because that's who he hit to trigger it plus, Patrese had already had a few incidents that year. Everyone else jumped on the bandwagon as they didn't really have the view of the crash that Hunt did. As has been stated, other drivers later apologized but not Hunt. Hunt went to great pains to criticize nearly EVERY aspect of Patrese's driving for the next decade. It didn't matter what it was, if Patrese missed a corner apex by a millionth of an inch, it was because he was such a horrible driver and shouldn't be there. Now, Hunt did tone it down a bit in his last few years, and I'd read that in those same years he had confessed to some people, Murray included, that he was the one caused that crash.
Great video as always, and yes I actually learned something. I've heard bits and bobs of this before, but having it all so consisely explained puts it all together for me.
The (incomplete) list of drivers saved by the safety measures implemented by Watkins is staggering and really puts it all into perspective.
More so when you consider the number of not only World Champions, but also the not inconsiderable number of World Championships between them!
@@CD-Gaming Well, just Hamilton and Schumacher account for a quarter of the championships since 1950 so...
There’s another slide there easily.
@@AidanMillward I think you made a good selection considering recensy, fame, infamy and severity. And in Grosjeans case i believe if any one of the measures implemented by Watkins wasn't present, he would have been on the slide with Senna and Ratzenberger.
@@charamia9402 He'd have had the same fate as Koinnig and Cevert. His head would have been literally taken off.
Monza was one of the first F1 races I saw and couldn't believe Ronnie had died the I came home from school the following lunchtime. Patrese got totally stitched up by the establishment and would not happen today. Hunt's attitude was a disgrace and the fact he never apologise to Riccardo, showed that the man never really matured. Hunt career and enthusiasm was on the decline in 1978 and had signed for Wolf for the following year. He begged Peter Warr to extract him from his contract for '79 after the crash, but Warr was having none of it. It lead to lacklustre drives and deliberately 'mistakes' by him to cause the car to fail and retired from the sport, through wanted to race for Ligier later that year, put quite rightly was blocked. I think Hunt was jealous, as Patrese was up and coming, whereas Hunt was fading away.
Another absolutely so well done video mate! Keep up the amazing and always super interesting videos
Hunt's witch hunt against Patrese is why I can hardly watch old F1 races. At least with Murray, whenever Patrese was brought up (for whatever reason), he tried to remain neutral, unless it was something egregiously stupid.
Hunt always made it out like Patrese was deliberately trying to murder everyone on track, even with the most harmless things.
lol when ... I'd love to see a longer more in-depth on Sid. thank you, this was great.
Hakkinen's crash at Adelaide may have killed him except that where he crashed, the marshalls post also had a doctor on duty and he did an emergency tracheotomy as he recognised that Hakkinen's wind pipe had been blocked by a fracture to the base of the skull when his head hit the steering wheel.
Brilliant video of a brave man and repeating the belated truth of the Monza accident. 👍😁
Sid's book "Life at the Limit: Triumph and Tragedy in Formula One" is an excellent read - it was first published in 1996 (when I got my copy) so I have no idea how easy it is to find now. But if you come across a copy, grab it with both hands and walk straight to the cash desk!!!
Wouldn't you rather spend your money on a profile of an engineer? It is F1 after all.
Another great video, sir, keep doing your thing!
Will do! Thank you so much!
It really hits you with just how much of a positive force Sid had on the sport, when you see the names of drivers in the modern turbo hybrid era like Max and Lewis on the list of lives he saved.
I hadn't been watching F1 for long when Ronnie was killed. I was a Lotus supporter back then, probably cos I smoked JPS !! Ronnie's death was a truly tragic event. May I suggest a video covering all those who Sid actions saved I didn't catch all the names (will pause on the rewatch). That would be an even bigger tribute to the late Professor Sid Watkins.
It's good to hear someone not claim that the Brabham fan car wasn't banned but withdrawn by Bernie. I recall seeing Dr Watkins at numerous times in the Medical car at races, quite often the car would be jeered with Syd responding with a single digit.
Over here in Sweden Patrese was in trouble before Monza. At Anderstorp Patrese was accused for blocking Ronnie and it was very much reactions in the stands. When Patrese was freed it was very little reported here. He got the blame.
It's funny how people still complain about "unneeded" safety, even to this day. Everyone complained about the HALO device, claiming it was ugly by drivers, teams, and fans. Niki Lauda said it distorted the essence of race cars. Meanwhile Jackie Stewart, unsurprisingly, phrased it, even going so far as to compare it to the introduction of seat belts.
And then people started walking away from very serious accidents where the HALO most certainly played a critical role in preventing injury. (For example, Roman Grosjean's shunt in 2020. A similar accident in the 1974 United States Grand Prix saw Helmuth Koinigg decapitated.) They all stopped complaining by that point!
My personal opinion on it was that I felt it impeded driver vision, and that the FIA should have used the aeroscreen variant. However, I never disagreed with its introduction. You look at older footage and see drivers narrowly avoid getting whacked in the head by flying objects and begin to wonder why it took so long to introduce such a system.
Completely agree . I think I ve seen Alonso nearly being decapitated twice . Don t even notice the HALO now
the "impedes vision" argument has been dead since the drivers admitted that they can barely even see the halo
@@unfortunately_fortunate2000 I assumed otherwise because you can't see around it in a simulator. Depth perception is a funny thing...
All I can think of in terms of the Halo is Roy Nissany submarining under Dennis Hauger at Silverstone last year. I remember it being introduced as a means of deflecting debris, which was worthwhile enough on its own even if I didn't like the looks of it. I never imagined, until I saw it for myself, that it could deflect a CAR.
How many times we read or hear "fans" saying the modern drivers are pussy's, and the men of the old days were real men?
Love your videos. Perfect blend of humor, serious, fact filled. Keep it up
Between Watkins in F1 and Trammel/Olvey in American open wheel racing, racing is as safe as it is today.
Great piece on an underrated legend of F1 and motorsport in general.
Hello Aidan: This was amazingly good. Thank you. I found the list of "saved" drivers at the end particularly moving. The current F1 grid would look a lot different without them.
Not even the full list 😨
Excelent work! Just one correction is in order: Peterson started that day at Monza in a Lotus 78 because his 79 was destroyed in the Warm Up that morning due to a collision caused by a brake failure.
Thanks!
May I just say your into/underlying music choice is an oasis of taste in an ocean of similar content...well, without a great deal of it. Ta Aidan!
People can knock Bernie for a lot of things but he got Dr Sid in there and backed him
Yes, More of this, Aidan!
An important story!
Watkins' book Life at the Limit really is a great read that every F1 fan should pick up.
Love your videos. Always so interesting
Not all heros wear capes, some are called Sid Watkins.
RIP Ronnie Peterson & Sid Watkins. As for James Hunt, he appears to have some culpability in the crash, hitting Patrese and Ronnie. It seems blaming Patrese was his way of disguising his guilty conscience over losing his friend Ronnie. And the worst thing is he never apologised before he too died.
One of best things Bernie ever did was bring Sir Sid in to make it safer. Bernie’s reputation may be shit for a lot of shady things he did ,but he did get this one right.
Rip Ronnie Petersson swedens best driver ever.
The Professor's books are great reads.
When people complain about Ecclestone and Mosley, never forget how many drivers would have lost their lives if they hadn’t been there
superb video as always
He’s the reason why i wanted to do neurosurgery. But i discovered that im more of a clinical guy, rather than a surgeon. So im trying to be a neurologist or a psychiatrist. Thanks Sid.
People always complain when new safety features are introduced in F1, the halo was just a repeat of it. Many people hated it, said it looked terrible, wondered why it was ever introduced. Then the Leclerc crash happened at Spa, and their minds were changed. Those who for some reason still didn't like the halo definitely changed their minds after the Grosjean crash. Next time a new safety feature is implemented people should look back in history and see how many lives were saved by new safety features and welcome them. But people don't know history and we'll go through this same thing over again.
Good job this was very good
The big gap between long beach and Monaco was due to the cancellation of the Japanese grand prix scheduled for 16 April.
Sid Watkins was the man - Quote of Jackie Stewart
We miss you Sid, you did a bloody good job. ♥️
The true legend of F1 ❤
Rest easy Sid
I wonder what Sid would've thought about the current lax way in which the FIA has dealt with saftey car calls and red flags recently
That list really made me think of some of the crashes referenced but I think I worked it out:
Laffite Brands Hatch 1986
Burti Spa 2001
Brundle Melbourne 1996
Hamilton Monza 2021? (first unsure)
Hakkinen Adelaide 1995
Max I'm guessing Silverstone 2021
Jos Hockenheim 1994 (fire in the pits with the rules on how to handle it)
Michael I think Silverstone 1999
Barrichello Imola 1994
Kovalainen I guess Valencia 2010
Grosjean Bahrain 2020 (the race I legit thought he'd been beheaded at first glance)
Berger Imola 1989
Piquet Imola 1987 (was never the same after it but still won title so Sid won him the title stopping him race)
Warwick I couldn't remember I got mixed up with Martin Donnelly but Monza 1990
Mansell I think Suzuka 1987?
Panis Canada 1997
Zonta either Brazil or Spa 1999
Kubica Canada 2007
Massa Hungary 2009
Wendlinger Monaco 1994
Button I had to think about this, Monaco 2003
Perez same as Button but Monaco 2011 in an identical crash almost
The comment, "caused by a driver who had a bit of a reputation as being a bit too aggressive and/or driving without due care and attention." Was just James Hunt's version of events. I suggest viewers watch the actual start of the 1978 Italian Grand Prix, which had Villeneuve in his Ferrari and Mario Andretti in his Lotus were the front row. The starter let them go before the cars even stopped and the grid was not actually stopped. The cascade of events then were the result of a botched start signal. Hunt could not see this back in 10th, but it is one reason why so many cars swarmed past him, including Patrese.
Watch the video. The starter should have been blamed that day.
All safety rules are written in blood.
Like him or not, on this point Bernie Ecclestone was really inspired when he appointed Prof Sid, and I'm surprised he listened to and trusted him this much.
Good job 🎉
others involved in the pile up wore Daly, Reutemann e Pironi
Who is/was Steve Olvey? I'm not familiar with that name
Lauda never excussed for anything as he thought to be the smartest guy...
Probably cos he wouldn’t admit to being wrong.
Patrese was wrongly blamed. Hunt’s denial made him so adamant
Nice!
Can you do an episode on Formula Easter be a good thing after the grand Tour that just landed
Hunt is an also-ran.
He stopped giving a shit after he won the championship
What a legend. Tangential: Whenever the stewards suddenly throw an SC or red flag I like to think (regardless right or wrong in hindsight) they likely decided “safety first” to avoid the likes of another Bianchi incident. I prefer the attitude “sorry for a dull moment” over “sorry this driver is dead”. We have come a long way over the years…
If anyone mentions the shocker of Japan 2022, yes, nearly seeing Sainz barrel into a tractor at speed in the misty wet was (imo) nearly on par with Grosjean’s fireball. Either could’ve been on the news ‘with heavy hearts’
That was needed.
They crucified Patrese, but the guy who switched the light green is the real cause. Without that, none of it happens. There isn't a Doctor alive or dead good enough to counter that level of incompetence. It's amazing only one driver died. History is full of mistakes, and that debacle with the lights is a big one.
Good to hear that Patrese was cleared of any wrongdoing, albeit somewhat later. At least they got that right. I hope the dude who buggered up the lights was never allowed to do that job again.
Talk about medical malpractice! Absolutely needless death.
Here's my weekly "you're the best" comment hoping to at least get a like from aidan.
This race must have taken its toll on hunt. It must have haunted him to pull his dead friend from his car.
I will say F1 can do more to enhance safety. Why they do not have multiple trained safety teams in vehichles at various points on the track is beyond me. Quicker response times should be the goal
The marshalls have fully-qualified and equipped medical staff and fire marshalls at each post, from what I understand. Not just first aiders, actual doctors and nurses, all of whom are volunteers. They're also highly trained as marshalls and each post is usually, if not always, within a few seconds of sprinting from the next, so there's always extra people on hand. The medical car sits at the front of pit lane and is driven by a highly-skilled and experienced racing driver, as should the safety car be. They can get to any point on the longest track within about 90 seconds (that's my guess at the furthest point at Spa), but as I pointed out, there will definitely be medical staff at those furthest posts.
Today's medical car isn't the problem. The problems used to be caused by non-official people like paparazzi and Italian coppers... Because Sid set it up the way he did, Grosjean was being helped out of the fire by the doctor, not the marshalls still trying to calm the fire down (they probably couldn't see him given their positions). IIRC he was there in less than 20s.
Edit: I will add that there should always be more done for the safety of everyone involved, including marshalls and crowd. The day we stop looking to make the world safer, let alone a race, is the day we lose our humanity.
@@y_fam_goeglyd That's exactly the problem though. They change from track to track and their is no guarantee of quality from track to track. Easily enough money in this sport to have a team of paid professionals who come to each race to do this work. An entire team that trains for this would be much more beneficial. We have seen some absolutely clueless marshalls over the years.
peterson crashed his 79 in practice.
so if patrese was not at fault...was hunt?
Just an accident, tbh.
Whoever set the green light before everyone was ready is the initial cause.
o/
first
ok maybe a little too early for all comments to come in
Patrese was the cause of the crash that killed Ronnie.
A imature and dangerous driver.....
Patrese was cleared by the courts, it even says in the video 😂
I recommend “Rapid Response” by Doctor Steve Olvey. It covers the evolution of Indy Car safety support.
Thanks!