Many Formula One drivers have been labelled as accident-prone over the years.
Some people were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, but others caused the majority of their own issues.
Drivers like Jody Scheckter entered the sport with a reputation for being unstable, but over time developed into proficient, speedy drivers.
Others, like as Taki Inoue, never got the opportunity to mature—which, in his situation, was probably a good thing.
Here are five well-known examples of such drivers, together with a film depicting their most renowned off-track escapades.
Many drivers may have made this list at different stages of their careers.
Looking at the current crop of F1 talent, Romain Grosjean stands out.
Mark Webber described the Frenchman to Sky F1 as the “first-lap nutcase,” and his first-corner blunder in the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix earned him the distinction of being the first man to be banned from a race for reckless driving since Eddie Irvine in 1994.
Fortunately, he is no longer that guy.
Lewis Hamilton’s 2011 season is also worth mentioning. He ran across his teammate in Canada, Kamui Kobayashi in Belgium, and Felipe Massa on multiple occasions.
Massa has had his moments, too.
Going back further, we have a well-known world champion whose early-career nickname suggests he might be considered. But it was James Hunt’s experience in the lower formulae that gave him the nickname The Shunt; by F1, he had largely straightened out his issues.
Jody Schecker won the world championship in 1979, defeating his prodigiously skilled teammate Gilles Villeneuve.
However, such a result would have been inconceivable at one point in his career, and it is this period that merits him a place on this list.
Scheckter began racing in his home country of South Africa, and Formula1.com reports that he was black-flagged for unsafe driving in his debut race.
But during his incident-filled ascension through the lesser formulae, Scheckter’s innate skill was recognized. McLaren gave him his Formula One debut at the 1972 United States Grand Prix, when he finished ninth following a spin.
He led his third race, the 1973 French Grand Prix, before colliding with defending champion Emerson Fittipaldi and crashing out. The Brazilian was enraged and later stated (according to motorsportretro.com), “This madman is a menace to himself and everyone else and does not belong in Formula One.”
And in the following race, the British Grand Prix, he spun at Woodcote on the first lap, taking out nearly half of the field. The race was halted and restarted, sans Scheckter and the ten other vehicles he had assisted to destroy. A video of the incident is seen above.
Under pressure from the Grand Prix Drivers Association, McLaren decided to rest their driver for four races. Upon his return, Scheckter crashed with Francois Cevert and retired.
However, it was a far more terrible incident involving Cevert at the following race in the United States that inspired Scheckter to become the world champion he would ultimately be.
Jody was the first man on the scene of Cevert’s deadly accident. He stopped his automobile to assist, but nothing could be done. Scheckter remarked of that day (via Formula1.com): “From then on, all I wanted to accomplish in Formula One was preserve my life.”
The following year, under Ken Tyrrell’s tutelage, he finished third in the championship with no self-inflicted retirements.
The new Scheckter retained many of the characteristics of the old one, and he continued to make the occasional foray into the gravel throughout his career.
But his story is the clearest example of what even the most dangerous of drivers can accomplish if they set their minds to it and dial back the hostility a notch or two.
Vittorio Brambilla, dubbed “The Monza Gorilla” due to his aggressive approach, was a close buddy of the barriers.
He made his Formula One debut in 1974 and rapidly established a reputation as a fierce, uncompromising racer who frequently drove the car too far.
When he stayed on the road, Brambilla was clearly fast. He started on pole for the 1975 Swedish Grand Prix in an unfancied March, and a few rounds later, he won his first and only F1 race, the 1975 Austrian Grand Prix.
