A trivia question

[52Paddy]

Having been watching some retro motorsport clips lately, a question crossed my mind:

Who was the latest the competitor in F1 to have passed away from reasons not related to racing or road accidents? (Or injuries succumbed from them)...

I have the answer, or so I believe, but would anyone fancy hazarding a guess? Forgive me if this is all a bit silly but I was curious to see how many consistent years of living drivers do we have not counting those that passed away doing what they love best. I hope I'm not being too crass or tasteless with this one.

[S griffin]

A bit of a morbid question, but I guess Adrian Campos, who died this year was the last driver to compete in F1, who didn’t die in a racing or road question

[chillibowl]

Johnny Dumfries a month or 2 back. The big C iirc.

[thetool]

I assume the questions relates to them dying whilst they still had an active career in Formula One. You could possibly count Graham Hill, who died in late 1975. Whilst 46 at the time, he had competed in the Argentinian and Brazilian GPs earlier that year.

[chillibowl]

That makes more sense.

Plane crash right? Was there another driver in it as well?

[E.B]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

That makes more sense.

Plane crash right? Was there another driver in it as well?

Tony Brise was an active driver and died in the crash as well, but more recent than that was Carlos Pace in 1977. He died in a light plane crash, having competed at the South African GP (where Pryce died) a couple of weeks before. He was also a GP winner having won the Brazilian GP in 1975. Interlagos is now officially named in his honour, the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.

[chunterer]

There's Gunnar of course. He died in his prime.

[steve_r]

Wow. What a bizarre idea for a thread. I know it is quiet on here at the moment, but...

[52Paddy]

Yes, apologies for the morbidity. Too much time on my hands this week...

But S Griffin got the answer I had in mind, Adrian Campos. Followed closely by Johnny Dumfries - both recent passings too.

And from the other mentioned perspective, Gunnar Nilsson's death in 1978 from cancer was the last of an active driver in the sport from health-related circumstances (and non-driving related).

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by 52Paddy

Yes, apologies for the morbidity. Too much time on my hands this week...

But S Griffin got the answer I had in mind, Adrian Campos. Followed closely by Johnny Dumfries - both recent passings too.

And from the other mentioned perspective, Gunnar Nilsson's death in 1978 from cancer was the last of an active driver in the sport from health-related circumstances (and non-driving related).

If the answer is former drivers - then the most recent (AFAIK) is the passing of Sir Leslie Marr:- competed in two successive British GPs (1954 and 1955), and passed away on 4th May.

Working back, you would also have Bobby Unser (2nd May) since Johnny Dumfries.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

If the answer is former drivers - then the most recent (AFAIK) is the passing of Sir Leslie Marr:- competed in two successive British GPs (1954 and 1955), and passed away on 4th May.

Working back, you would also have Bobby Unser (2nd May) since Johnny Dumfries.

Good thinking and logic there. Cant get much more up to date than this month.
I was red herringed onto active drivers passing but overlooked Gunnar Nilsson I am embarrassed to say.

[52Paddy]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

If the answer is former drivers - then the most recent (AFAIK) is the passing of Sir Leslie Marr:- competed in two successive British GPs (1954 and 1955), and passed away on 4th May.

Working back, you would also have Bobby Unser (2nd May) since Johnny Dumfries.

Not quite the inflection on the question I had in mind. Adrian Campos was the most recent F1 competitor (raced last in 1988) to have died from non-driving related circumstances. Plenty of examples pre-88 of course due to age or whatever.

In Nilsson's case, he was the last driver to have passed away from non-driving related circumstances while still a competitor in the championship (1978). All other after that had retired from F1 at least.

Interesting info from your side of the coin nonetheless.