Inside Motorsports Vol. 1 2018/Q1 - Part I | Page 9

1970's: F1 becomes
r eal l y danger ous
"Deat hf act or y"
I n t he '70s, F1 went t hr ough a massi ve
r evol ut i on: f ast er car s, t hanks t o t he
aer odynami c devel opment s, sl i ck t i r es f or
bet t er mechani cal gr i p, sponsor s ever ywher e,
and t el evi sed Gr and Pr i x
weekends.
Unf or t unat el y saf et y was st i l l wel l behi nd,
and dr i ver s st ar t ed t o speak up: Jacki e
St ewar t , Ni ki Lauda, Emer son Fi t t i pal di bot h
f ought f or bet t er saf et y. Thanks t o t hem,
saf et y bar r i er s, medi cal f aci l i t i es got
i nt r oduced on t he ci r cui t s. Car s wer e st i l l
r eal l y danger ous, but some devel opment was
done: r ai sed chassi s behi nd t he dr i ver s head,
t o pr ot ect t hei r head, and seat bel t became
mandat or y i n ever y car ! Fr ancoi s Cever t 's
deat h on t he ot her hand showed, how f ar F1 i s
st i l l f r om bei ng saf e. He hi t t he bar r i er so
badl y, t hat he di ed i nst ant l y due t o head
i nj ur i es...