“One person makes a mistake and this happens. You [shouldn’t] have to get
killed if you make a mistake. It was madness. Formula 1 is not like that
anymore and it is still quite exciting.”
Scheckter’s comments echo those of Mark Blundell, another ex-Formula One
driver, who earlier today said Wheldon’s
death was a disaster waiting to happen.
“It was inevitable in many ways,” Blundell said. “Having driven these
cars myself for five years it’s a very tough environment, the speeds are
very high, they’re much faster than Formula One cars and when you’re only a
couple of inches away from each other side by side doing 220 mph, when
things go wrong they go wrong in a big way.
“The biggest point is these that kinds of cars should not be running on
these circuits. You saw today, 15 cars wiped out 40 per cent of the grid and
we’ve had a fatality and that’s not acceptable.”
Three other drivers were injured in the sport’s first fatal accident since
American rookie Paul Dana was killed in a practice session five years ago.
Before the race, drivers has voiced concerns about the speeds being achieved
during practice sessions and Mexico’s Adrian Fernandez tweeted: “I was
with Dan Wheldon and Tag in his trailer before the start and many others on
the grid and none felt comfortable I could feel their fear.”
Wheldon himself had warned that, besides having problems with his car, he was
prepared for anything to happen in the race as he sought to challenge for
the $5million prize from the back of the starting grid.
In his final blog for USA Today, he wrote: “Everybody in our garage is trying
their best, and they’re going about it methodically and professionally, step
by step, trying to get to the bottom of it.
“It’s obviously something significant, because I’m so far off the pace. If I
can be fast enough early in the race to be able to get up there and latch
onto those two Dario Franchitti and Will Power], it will be pure
entertainment. It’s going to be a pack race, and you never know how that’s
going to turn out.”