Most people reading this article will have been in some form of car accident. It could range from the classic ‘ran into the back of the suddenly stationary traffic’ to the full-blown ‘threw it in the hedge on a damp country lane’. Crashing stays in the mind of most drivers for perpetuity and makes them think every time they see brake lights up ahead on a motorway, or if they drive down that same country road again. It is a traumatic but, for almost all, thankfully rare experience.
By contrast, for racing drivers crashing is an unwanted, but nevertheless integral, unavoidable component of their careers. Certainly as they climb up the pyramid to the top levels of F1 or sports car racing, they would expect to crash several times a year as youthful exuberance often gets the better of mature decision making. But racing drivers also have to be able to compartmentalise and put the accidents away into a small box at the back of their brains labelled ‘learn from this and move on’.
Drivers of my generation are extremely fortunate that great drivers before us such as Sir Jackie Stewart and Jo Bonnier worked hard with the FIA to create a sport where the cars, helmets and equipment, plus the race tracks, are as safe as they are today. Brilliant designers such as John Barnard led the way with carbon fibre monocoques and those of us privileged to race since the late 1990s owe a huge debt of gratitude to them all.
