Fifty-two drivers have died from incidents that occurred at a FIA World Championship event or while driving a Formula One car at another event. Cameron Earl was the first in 1952. Thirty-three of these drivers died from incidents during Grand Prix race weekends which formed part of the World Championship. Six died during test sessions, and thirteen driving Formula One cars during non-championship Formula One weekends or vintage/historic events.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has seen the most fatalities, with seven drivers dying there during the time that the Indianapolis 500 formed part of the world championship. The Indianapolis 500 was held to AAA regulations rather than Formula One regulations during this period. Fifteen drivers died in the 1950s; fourteen in the 1960s; twelve in the 1970s; four in the 1980s and two in the 1990s.
Following the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna at Imola on consecutive days in 1994, no driver died during world championship events for more than 20 years. This period ended with Jules Bianchi's death in 2015, from injuries sustained during the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. Three drivers died in the intervening years while driving former Formula One cars in vintage racing and other events not associated with World Championship Grands Prix.
Two Formula One Champions have died while racing or practising in Formula One: Jochen Rindt in 1970, and Senna in 1994. Rindt was not a champion at the time of his death, but won the 1970 championship posthumously, the only driver to have done so.
Safety standards have improved since the first World Championship Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1950. At that time, there was no medical back-up nor safety measures in case of an accident. Helmets were not made mandatory until 1952, and these were simple cork-lined helmets with no visors. Robust full-visor helmets were made mandatory in the 1960s, along with fireproof overalls, and the FIA assumed responsibility for safety at the circuits.
Steps were taken to improve the safety of the Formula One car in the 1970s; the cockpit opening was enlarged allowing the driver to escape more quickly in the event of an accident and outside mirrors became mandatory. The 1980s saw further improvement in the structure of the Formula One car, with the monocoque being made out of carbon fibre instead of aluminium, increasing protection upon impact. Following the death of Ayrton Senna in 1994, a number of measures were introduced in an attempt to slow the cars down, including bodywork aerodynamic limitations, a pit lane speed limit and temporary circuit modifications such as extra chicanes. Grooved tyres were introduced in 1998 instead of racing slick tyres to reduce cornering speed. Safety measures continued to be introduced into the 21st century, with a number of circuits having their configuration changed to improve driver safety.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.