History of Motor Racing 1894 - 1949

This section outlines some of the main developments in the early history of motor racing as background to the later pages on safety in Formula One motor racing from 1950. I've concentrated especially on safety issues in this period. For a more in-depth look at motor racing history please see the references at the end of the page.

The greatest influence on the early automobile industry of the late nineteenth century was undoubtedly the invention, circa 1885, of the internal combustion engine by German engineer, Karl Benz. Early car designers also experimented with steam power. The automobile became particularly popular in France where there was an excellent network of roads, originally built to deploy Napoleon's armies and no speed limit as in Great Britain.

It was in France that the first car trials were held. These were not 'first to finish' races, but reliability trials. On 22nd June 1894 Le Petit Journal, a Paris newspaper, organized such a reliability trial to be run from Paris to Rouen. The winner was to be the automobile judged to be the easiest to handle, reliable and cheap to run. However, public interest revolved around which automobile was the quickest. In view of this a number of the Paris-Rouen trial competitors and representatives from newspapers and the French motor industry met to organize a trial where the fastest car would be deemed the winner. The committee drew up a short list of rules and the event was sponsored by wealthy patrons including Gordon Bennett Jr., the American publisher of the New York Herald. Twenty-one competitors entered the event which was won by M.Koechlin driving a Peugeot though the fastest competitor was actually Èmile Levassor who was relegated to second due to a rule infringement.

At the end of 1895 the first national governing bodies of motoring were formed including the American Motor League on 1st November and the Automobile Club de France, ACF, on 12th November. These associations were formed to discuss and publicize all aspects of motoring - not just sporting competition.

The ACF organized many races on closed public roads, often sponsored by wealthy patrons such as aristocrats, entrepreneurs and newspaper groups. Events were often reported in newspapers and a number of specialist motoring publications were started - evidence of the growing public interest in motor racing.

On 1st May 1898 the first fatality in a race occurred. The Marquis de Montignac and two riding mechanics were killed at a race in Perigueux, France. In Rendell's book 'The Chequered Flag:100 Years of Motor Racing' (1995) there is a photograph of the accident site which shows onlookers viewing the wreckage which demonstrates the interest generated by the accidents and fatalities.

In July 1898 the first international race was organized by the ACF to be run from Paris-Belgium-Amsterdam-Paris. Following the fatalities at Perigueux there was growing public concern for both spectator and competitor safety. M.Bouchet, the Paris police chief engineer, insisted he examined all the cars to be entered and subsequently disqualified the majority of entrants. To overcome this the organizers moved the start to Villiers which was outside of Bouchet's jurisdiction as he threatened them with arrest on their return. They returned to Montgeron, once more outside Bouchet's jurisdiction but a large crowd had gathered at the planned finish at Versailles. A number of competitors were persuaded to go on to Versailles so as not to disappoint the crowd - though present, Bouchet did not make any arrests as he did not want to be seen arresting the public's new found heroes.

In 1900 Gordon Bennett Jr. financed an international event, the inaugural 'Gordon Bennett Trophy Race' to be held in France and organized by the ACF. Each country's national motoring association was allowed to enter up to three cars entirely built in their country, the winner's national association would be responsible for hosting and organizing the following years event.

The Gordon Bennett races were marred by many competitor and spectator deaths leading the French government to ban motor racing many times though these bans were quickly overturned as the French motor industrialists exercised there growing influence on government. In 1905 the ACF withdrew their substantial support of the event, frustrated at being limited to a maximum of three entries. Without the ACF the Gordon Bennett trophy races were discontinued in 1906. In 1906 the ACF organized a new event - the ACF Grand Prix to be held at Le Mans. Purpose built pits, spectator grandstands and barricades were used for the first time though the race was still held on closed public roads. The ACF provided marshals to help the police with crowd control.

By this time the cars were no longer 'on the road' production cars. The cars were now stripped of all non-essential parts to decrease the weight and increase the speed. Special features to enhance the cars speed were designed - this is evidence of motor racing developing as sport.

In 1910 the Association Internationale des Automobiles Clubs Reconnus, AIACR, was formed as the international motoring governing body including the overseeing of international motor racing.

Racing was halted during the First World War. The first post-WW1 race was organized by the ACF in 1921, German entries were not invited until the following year, their exclusion presumably on political grounds.

During the 1920s purpose built motor racing circuits were built as racing on closed public roads became increasingly criticized by the media, police and politicians, on the grounds of spectator safety. The majority of people believed competitors knew the risk they were taking when racing, it was the safety of spectators that was paramount in public debate. Purpose built circuits had two main advantages:


 spectators could be more effectively policed and protected by in-built safety features such as catch fencing and safety ditches
 spectators could be charged an entrance fee.

Indeed, when 28 spectators were killed at the Monza track in Italy in 1928 the public reaction (notably through the media), whilst expressing grief, was not as fierce as after spectator deaths that occurred at the closed public roads races. One possibility for this may be that people viewed these deaths as sad and unfortunate but were content that all possible safety measures had been taken and therefore it was unlikely to happen again.

The global economic depression of the 1930s meant motor racing was downgraded as materials became scarce and constructors had to try and adapt old technology. One notable exception at this time was in Germany where a fund of 450,000 Reichmarks (UK£45,000) from Adolf Hitler, in his role as German Transport Minister, was to be shared amongst the Grand Prix car manufacturers with bonuses paid for winning races. Generally, Hitler had a very low view of sport but he believed motor sports was an excellent international forum to show Germany's alleged superior technical and engineering expertise. This shows how motor racing can be perceived as both a sporting and technological showcase.

Racing was halted during the Second World War. Many European circuits were taken over by the militaries and left in an unfit state to be used as race tracks after the war but the many abandoned WWII airfields made excellent sites for the construction of new circuits. After the war, making do with whichever cars had survived the war, many races were held as fund raisers for war veterans' charities.

In 1946 the AIACR reformed as the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA, as the world governing motoring body. The motor sports commission of the FIA introduced a new class of single seater racing with a set of technical rules which reflected the limited resources available. The new class was to be called Formula A but quickly became known as Formula One.

Part 2: Safety in Formula One Motor Racing from 1950