Formula 1 governing body the FIA has confirmed that a marshal has died following an incident with a mobile crane at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on Sunday afternoon.
The 38-year-old marshal, who is yet to be identified, was aiding the return of Esteban Gutiérrez's damaged Sauber after the conclusion of the Canadian Grand Prix, but he tripped while attempting to pick up his dropped radio and fell under the wheels of a recovery vehicle at the pit lane exit, with the driver of the crane unable to see him.
Having suffered serious injuries, the marshal was taken to the medical centre at the track, before being airlifted to the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur in Montreal. But despite the persistent attempts to save his life, he succumbed to his injuries in the evening.
It is the first fatal accident in Formula 1 in over 12 years. At the 2001 Australian Grand Prix, marshal Graham Beveridige was killed when a wheel slid through a gap in the trackside barriers following Jacques Villeneuve and Ralf Schumacher's clash. In 2000, Paolo Ghislimberti died after being hit by a wheel of Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
The last driver to die during a Grand prix weekend is Ayrton Senna, who crashed at Imola on 1 May, 1994. A day earlier, Roland Ratzenberger was killed at the same circuit.
No comments:
Post a Comment