Three of Formula One’s most devastating pile-ups have all taken place on the same date, which coincidentally finds itself placed one day before one of the most tragic dates in world history.
To date, Formula One has hosted eight races on Sept. 10 (all at Monza), and has seen the passing of 17 people as a result of a pile-up on that date – 15 of which occurred during the same crash, and only two of which were drivers.
The 1961 Italian Grand Prix on Sept. 10 saw the crowning of the only American-born Formula One World Champion to date: Phil Hill. However, it also saw the death of Hill’s teammate and championship rival Wolfgang von Trips, whose Ferrari went off course entering the Parabolica on the opening lap after contact with Jim Clark’s Lotus.
Von Trips Ferrari crashed into the spectators and was thrown from his car. Both the driver and 14 spectators were killed.
It took until 1972, 11 years later, for Monza to finally add chicanes, slowing the cars down and reducing the frequency of fatal crashes at the circuit. Emerson Fittipaldi took his Lotus to the newly-configured Monza circuit to win the ’72 title… on Sept. 10.
Sept. 10 1978. The first lap multiple accident at the start of the Italian GP which claimed the life of Ronnie Peterson.
There was still a long way to go in improving the safety of Formula One cars however, as discovered on Sept. 10, 1978 on the opening lap of that year’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Ronnie Peterson succumbed to injuries a day later, after a fiery pile-up on the opening lap of the race crushed the ‘Super Swede’s’ legs and stranded him in a burning cockpit until drivers James Hunt, Clay Regazzoni and others helped pull him out.
Fortunately, despite heavy crashes such as John Watson’s in 1981 (which tore his car in half) and Derek Warwick’s opening lap shunt and flip out of the Parabolica in 1990, Monza has never seen the death of a Formula One driver since 1978.
At the Variante della Roggia in 2000, however, Formula One was given a sobering reminder to the danger of the sport.
On Sept. 10, 2000, a pile-up took place heading into the second chicane on the opening lap. A wheel flew off of one of the Jordans during the wreck and struck Paolo Gislimberti, a nearby fire marshal. Gislimberti was later pronounced dead, marking the first Formula One-related fatality since Ayrton Senna’s fatal crash in 1994. It also marked Michael Schumacher’s 41st career Formula One win, causing him to break down in the post-race press conference after being reminded he had tied Ayrton Senna’s record.
A similar crash occurred at the Australian Grand Prix the next year, where a collision between Jacques Villeneuve and Ralf Schumacher led to a flying wheel that struck and killed Graham Beveridge, a nearby track marshal. Bar the death of Mark Robinson, a track marshal who was ran over by a recovery vehicle at the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix, no death has occurred as the result of a Formula One crash ever since.
