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RIP: Prof Sid Watkins


Andy_Bangle
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Sid Watkins 1928-2012 RIP -- Unsung hero and incredible man who put all his time and energy spent in to constantly improving the safety of F1 and saving countless lives. The use of the medical car at the start of the race was just one of his ideas that Sid implemented and has saved countless lives with his efforts.

The 83-year-old, who was a close friend of the late Ayrton Senna, served as F1 medical delegate from 1978 until 2004.

He played a major role in saving the lives of many F1 drivers after heavy crashes. Among them were Ferrari's Didier Pironi at the 1982 German Grand Prix, Jordan's Rubens Barrichello at Imola in 1994, McLaren's Mika Häkkinen at Adelaide in 1995 and saved Martin Brundle's left foot from being amputated.

At the 1995 Australian Grand Prix, Mika Häkkinen crashed heavily during the Friday qualifying session at the Brewery Bend at high-speed due to a puncture having been sustained by his car. Häkkinen was immediately rendered unconscious but did not hit his head aganist the surrounding wall or cockpit. Two volunteer doctors, Jereme Lockins and Steve Lewis arrived at the scene in 15 seconds with Watkins arriving last and took the action of restarting Häkkinen's heart twice and performed a cricothyroidotomy at the side of the track which he later described as his most satisfying experience during his time in the sport.

I read this article about The Prof at the weekend: Institute Quarterly If you have time it's a very interesting read.

Now he can finally go fishing with Ayrton.

Edited by Andy_Bangle
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Always remember him saying to Ayrton Senna to give it up and come fishing with him just before Senna crashed and died. A remarkable man. He will be sadly missed by many people including lots of drivers. His book is well worth a read. Say what you like about Ecelestone but he did implement most things that Sid Watkins asked him to do regarding updating safety.

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