10. Wolfgang Von Trips: 1961 Italian Grand Prix
On the second lap of the 1961 grand prix 2 cars collided sending one car to a spinning hault and the other off the track and into the fans. 15 fans were killed and so was the driver who was hurled from the car amidst the incident. Oddly enough the race continued and crowned a winner under such terrible circumstances. These events were mainly attributed to the lack of safety F1 had only 11 years post its founding in 1950.
9. Max Verstappen: 2021 Italian Grand Prix
In the heat of the very dramatic and contentious 2021 season Max Verstappen was in the hunt for his first F1 championship while Lewis Hamilton was fighting for his 8th. At Monza Max was desperately trying to make a move on Hamilton as he was running out of time so he got destrit. Max is known as an aggressive driver but this move was one of his worst as he threw his car into the first chicane attempting to overtake Hamilton as Hamilton closes the gap and Max’s car goes flying overtop. This incident was extremely crazy because it took the championship leader out of the race with one simple over aggressive move. No one was injured thanks to the halo over the cockpit but Hamilton was left with tire marks on his helmet as a reminder of how dangerous the sport really is.
8. Zhon Guanyu: 2022 British Grand Prix
The first of 3 Alfa Romeo crashes on this list, Zhou Guanyu’s crash was the most recent and
definitely alarming to watch. Zhou was hit in the first 5 seconds of the race sending him spinning sideways causing him to flip upside down. His car stayed sliding upside down across the track into the gravel and finally flipped over the barrier and almost into the stands but was stopped by the chain link fence. Luckily no one was injured here as well but it goes to show how far engineering has come to protect fans and drivers from such dangerous events.
7. Charles Leclerc: 2018 Belgium Grand Prix
The 2018 Belgium grand prix began with one of the largest crashes ever seen. Into the first
corner of the race Maclaren’s Fernado Alosno was rear ended sending him right into rookie and highly touted Ferrari prospect Charles Lecerc. The Mclaren was hit so hard that it jumped Leclerc’s car and nearly crushed him if not for the modern creation of the halo that has saved so many drivers lives.
6. Marcus Ericsson: 2018 Italian Grand Prix
At Monza known as the “temple of speed” in the 2018 Italian grand prix Marcus Ericsson going upwards of 220 mph on the home straight in a qualifying session suddenly shot sideways and sent him flipping down the track. It was speculated that the cars DRS system that reduces drag on the straights for extra speed didn’t re-engage when Ericsson went to brake when approaching the chicane at the end of the straight. No one was injured thanks to modern designed cars but it resulted in a completely ruined car and a very shocked driver.
5. Ayrton Senna: 1994 San Marino Grand Prix
Senna’s crash in 1994 was quite unexpected as he was going around a fairly smooth corner and lost control and went straight into the wall. Only one side of the car was left after the crash showing how hard of an impact the crash was. Senna was one of the greats and was a huge loss for the F1 community.
4. Roland Ratzenberger: 1994 San Marino Grand Prix
In the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix Roland Ratzenberger suffered front wing damage during a qualifying lap. Instead of slowing down he continued to drive fast with the damage to his car leading him to lose control and hit a wall as he approached a turn. Just like Senna he passed away because of his injuries. The cars of this era though were all fiberglass and didn’t protect the drivers near as well as 2023 standards.
3. Niki Lauda: 1976 German Grand Prix
Niki Lauda’s 1976 German grand prix crash is one of the most widely known crashes in all of motorsports. Lauda lost control amidst the race going into the wall and bursting into flames. He was unfortunately pulled from the flames too late because suffered immense burns around his body. This was a turning point for him though because he retired to driving 6 weeks later and went on to win two more world championships after his life-threatening crash.
2. Jules Bianchi: 2014 Japanese Grand Prix
A crash early in the 2014 Japanese grand prix had a tracker out to remove the wreckage while all the other drivers were on track. When Jules was coming around that very same turn he lost control and went straight into the tracker causing him fatal injuries and the most recent death in F1. He was also the godfather of another driver on this list, Charles Leclerc.
1. Roman Grosjean: 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix
Roman Grojean’s 2020 crash named the “Man on Fire ” incident was the most jaw dropping
crash of the 21th century. As a grand prix begins it isn’t uncommon for crashes to occur but
mainly on the first couple turns. After the first half of lap one at the Bahrain grand prix Grosjean still in the mix of pretty thick traffic lost control and collided straight into an odd shaped barrier splitting his car in half and exploding the fuel. After 23 seconds of enormous flames and firefighters trying to put out the fire Grojean walked out of the fire on his own power without help. He sustained minor hand burns and that was it for the “Man on Fire”.
