RIP Prof Sid Watkins

[Saint in Paradise]

A man who did so so much for safety in F1.

 

An interesting long article about him :- http://www.institutequarterly.com/IQ-ISSUE02-article-03.html

 

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[Lighthouse]

That man did so much to make F1 safer and drivers like Rubens Barrichello and Mika Hakkinen are just a couple who owe him their lives. He will be sadly missed.

[JackFrost]

http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Formula_One_fatal_accidents

 

Watkins was appointed medical delegate in '78 and you only have to look at the amount of fatal accidents before and after this year to see what an impact he had on improving safety in Formula 1. He wasn't the only one, others like Jackie Stewart were campaigning as well but apart from the driver's lives he did save at the trackside, there's no knowing how many lives he's ultimately saved as a result of his actions over the years. Drivers that have had enormous crashes in relatively modern Formula 1 cars and lived/walked away owe their lives to him as well I'd suspect.

 

A huge force behind dragging F1 from its dark days of the '70s into this ultra safe era. RIP Sid.