Who is the most hated driver in the history of Formula One?

There are drivers I don't like and I get it that you can want to see drivers you dislike not succeed. But there is a difference between that and seeing them in a violent F1 crash in that period.

During the 80's and early 90's plenty of crashes resulted in serious injuries. Many career ending and some fatal. It's this fact that means it's not comparable to a football tackle.

F1 has seen a few crashes at tamburello and I can't remember one where the driver had zero injuries and just jumped out of the car and was totally fine.

You are right that people still walked away from some major shunts then. It was also fairly common for them to not though. It was certainly not rare. Here is a list a managed to dig up of crashes that resulted in injuries from 1980- 1994

1980 Testing, Hockenheim, Patrick Depailler (FRA), Died after hitting the wall. 1980 South African GP, Kyalami, Alain Prost (FRA), Missed the race after breaking his wrist. 1980 South African GP, Kyalami, Marc Surer (SW), Two broken ankles. 1980 Austrian GP, Osterreichring, Jochen Mass (GER), Rolled and injured his neck in practice. 1980 United States GP, Long Beach, Clay Regazzoni (ARG), Spinal Injures, Paralysis, now confined to wheelchair. 1980 Canadian GP, Jean-Pierre Jabouille (FRA), Broken leg, career ending accident.

1981 San Marino GP, Imola, Miguel Angel Guerra (ARG), Broke his ankle in his first GP race start.

1982 South African GP, Kyalami, Marc Surer (SUI), Broken leg. 1982 Belgian GP, Zolder, Gilles Villeneuve (CDN), died of massive trauma. 1982 Canadian GP, Montreal, Riccardo Paletti (ITA), Died after a startline accident. 1982 German GP, Hockenheim, Didier Pironi (FRA), Shocking career ending injuries to legs.

1984 South African GP, Kyalami, Piercarlo Ghinzani (ITA), Missed the race after suffering fuel burns to his hand. 1984 Monaco GP, Monaco, Patrick Tambay (FRA), Hurt his leg and missed races, but made a full recovery. 1984 United States GP, Dallas, Martin Brundle (GB), Foot and ankle injuries. 1984 British GP, Brands Hatch, Johnny Cecotto (VEN), Severe leg injuries.

1985 Belgian GP, Spa-Francorchamps, Niki Lauda (AUT), Missed two races after sustaining hand injuries.

1986 Testing, Paul Ricard, Elio de Angelis (ITA), Fatal accident after a firey accident. 1986 British GP, Brands Hatch, Jacques Laffite (FRA), Broken Leg.

1987 San Marino GP, Imola, Nelson Piquet (BRA), Concussion, Damaged Ankle. 1987 Monaco GP, Monaco, Adrian Campos (ESP), Collapsed after a Saturday crash, missed subsequent race. 1987 Japanese GP, Suzuka, Nigel Mansell (GB), Neck injuries, missed Japanese and Australian GP’s.

1988 United States GP, Detroit, Ivan Capelli (ITA), Crashed in practice and broke his ankle. 1988 Japanese GP, Suzuka, Bernd Schneider (GER), Did not start the race following a practice crash.

1989 Testing, Rio, Philippe Strieff (FRA), Paralysed below the waste after breaking his neck. 1989 San Marino GP, Imola, Gerhard Berger (AUT), Burns to hands, returned three races later. 1989 Australian GP, Adelaide, Piercarlo Ghinzani (ITA), Minor ankle injuries after crashing into Piquet.

1990 Portuguese GP, Estoril, Alex Caffi (ITA), Hurt his legs after an incident with Aguri Suzuki. 1990 Spanish GP, Jerez, Martin Donnelly (GB), Broken leg, burst arteries, damaged organs, six-week coma.

1991 Japanese GP, Suzuka, Eric Bernard (FRA), Compound leg fractures, made a return to F1 in ’94.

1992 French GP, Magny Cours, Christian Fittipaldi (BRA), damaged vertebrae, complete recovery. 1992 Belgian GP, Spa-Francorchamps, Erik Comas (FRA), Bruising and concussion after Friday morning accident.

1993 Belgian GP, Spa-Francorchamps, Alex Zanardi (ITA), Huge accident at Eau Rouge, chipped tooth.

1994 Testing, Silverstone, JJ Lehto (FIN), Broke veterbrae but made a full recovery to race for Benetton. 1994 Testing, Silverstone, Pedro Lamy (BRA), Broken neck, made a full recovery. 1994 Testing, Mugello, Jean Alesi (F), damaged vertebrae, Temporary paralysis, full recovery. 1994 San Marino GP, Imola, Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Suffered concussion and a broken nose. 1994 San Marino GP, Imola, Roland Ratzenberger (AUT), died from injures. 1994 San Marino GP, Imola, Ayrton Senna (BRA), died after an accident at Tamburello. 1994 Monaco GP, Monaco, Karl Wendlinger (AUT), Head injuries, induced into a coma by paramedics. 1994 Spanish GP, Barcelona, Andrea Montermini (ITA), Unconscious, ankle injuries.

You can say what you want about attitudes at the time, but when big crashes happened it was always a somber atmosphere because you just didn't know if the guy was alright or not. You are right that racing was different back then but that does not mean people were blasé about big crashes. If anything people were more concerned when a crash happened than they are now because of the high risk. Anyone following the sport during that time should have seen enough to know not to cheer big crashes.

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