About F1

The medical car and medical centre

Every F1 race has a full medical team on standby, and the FIA sets out in detail what each circuit must provide. The idea is simple: a doctor should reach any crash within seconds, and an injured driver should get to a properly equipped hospital as fast as possible.

The medical car

The FIA medical car is a fast road car fitted with medical equipment, a roll cage and racing harnesses. It's parked at the end of the pit lane during every session. At the start of the race it follows the field round the first lap, because that's when crashes are most likely and when cars are most bunched up.

On board are:

  • an experienced professional driver, appointed by the FIA
  • the FIA doctor, who travels to every race and acts as an adviser
  • a local doctor, approved by the FIA, who has experience in trauma and emergency care and who leads the treatment

When there's a big crash, the medical car is sent out by race control and can be with the driver in seconds. At the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, when Romain Grosjean's car split in two and caught fire, the medical car was on the scene almost at once and the FIA doctor helped him over the barrier.

Extraction

If a driver can't get out of the car alone, or if there's any chance of a spinal injury, an extraction team takes over. These are specialist marshals and medical staff trained to lift a driver out without moving their neck or back.

F1 cars are designed with this in mind. The driver's seat can be lifted out of the car with the driver still strapped into it, so the seat itself acts as a stretcher. The team practises this regularly, and drivers take part in extraction drills too.

The medical centre

Every circuit must have a medical centre on site with resuscitation equipment, surgical facilities and specialist staff. Drivers who crash are usually taken there for a check-up, even if they walk away.

Every F1 car has an impact warning light that comes on if the car has had a heavy impact. When it lights up, race control or the FIA medical team can require the driver to have a medical examination straight away. In practice, drivers in big crashes are almost always taken to the medical centre, where doctors look for signs of concussion before clearing them to drive again.

The helicopter

A medical helicopter must normally be available at every F1 event to fly seriously injured people to hospital. If the helicopter can't fly, because of bad weather for example, a session may be delayed until race control and the medical team agree it's safe to go ahead using road ambulances with a police escort instead. Each circuit has to nominate hospitals in advance and say how long it takes to reach them.

This is why, now and then, you'll hear about a session being held up even though the track looks fine. The weather at the hospital helipad matters as much as the weather at the circuit.

Data that helps doctors

F1 collects a lot of information that helps the medical team.

  • An accident data recorder in each car records the forces in a crash, much like a plane's black box.
  • Drivers wear earpieces with built-in accelerometers that measure the forces on their head.
  • Since 2018 drivers have worn biometric gloves that send their pulse and blood oxygen level to the medical team during a session.
  • High-speed cameras in the cockpit film the driver's movements during an impact.

Together this lets doctors see how hard a crash was before they reach the car, and it helps the FIA design safer cars and circuits. See safety features on the car and driver safety gear.