Driver safety

 

During all Formula One history, regulations have changed drastically, always to increase the safety of the drivers and spectators. The following tables give an overview of the most important changes in the official FIA regulations from the very beginning of F1 until today.

 

The Full list of Formula 1drivers who died during some racing event is here.
Check my article about improvement in racing car safety year by year
Check my article about improvement in track safety year by year
Article abour general safety in Formula 1 you can find here

 

Drivers safety


1968: Recommendations on seat harnesses, fire-resistant clothing, shatter-proof visors.
Protective helmet and overalls obligatory.
1971: Max. 5 seconds for driver evacuation from *** No swearing ***.
1972: 6-point harness Drivers' Code of Conduct published.
1973: International medical card & examination for all drivers.
1975: FIA standard for fire resistant clothing.
1977: Helmets must be to FIA-approved standards.
1978: Licence qualification requirements.
1979: Life support system (medical air) obligatory.
1984: F1 "Super licence" required.
1989: Dope testing on IOC model, introduced.
1993: Severe end-of-race crowd control measures imposed.
1994: Approved helmet standards reduced to 3 most stringent (Sell/BSI/SFI). Ear - phones banned; weight 1800gr max. Check-tests made on clothing and helmets in use.
1995: 3-inch wide seat harness shoulder straps obligatory. F1 drivers Super licence criteria more stringent.
1996: Safety belt release lever must point downwards.
1997: FIA supervision of conditions for private testing.
1998: Two shoulder strap anchorages recommended.
Driver must be able to exit and replace steering wheel, in 10 seconds.
1999: Highly visible gloves recommended for signalling start line problems. "Marshal information Display" lights system to be fitted in cockpit. Seat belts must comply with FIA Standard 8853-98.
2003: Obligatory use of HANS

 

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Some useful links:

- f1technical.net, , a great site with a lot of technical information’s and explanations. Site is updated daily with news from F1 word.

 - autosport.com, This site is a legend. A bible for racing lovers. News from all around the word. Unfortunately, to get access to all news, interviews and to open the site completely you should be subscribed to Autosport magazine. Anyway, great read.

 - f1network.net, Good read. Fan’s from every team can find his team forum. For me, like Ferrari fan, forum is the best Ferrari forum, very visited, with great threads.

 - Ferrarif1forum.com is another great Ferrari site for Ferrari fan’s like me. Site is relatively new, but great fun, with great discussion, news and Ferrari F1 car Development topic. Twitter and Facebook are also there.

 - f1.gpupdate.net, Site with fresh news from Formula 1

 - planetf1, another site with many different articles, news and statistics. Biased toward British teams, but anyway good read.

 - gurneyflap.com, Great history site. You can learn a lot from this site. Pictures, cars and many many more. Great.

 - fia.com, La Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, representing the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. Head organisation and ruler in auto sport.

 - wikipedia.org, I don’t believe that I have to tell you anything about this site. It’s not about Formula 1 technology, but you can learn a lot about that too.

 - suttonimages.com. source of great images from autosport

 - carbibles.com, a great site for normal car users. Here you can find explanations of almost everything about your car and how it works. Technical reviews and explanations of some in-car gadgets.