RIP Professor Sid Watkins
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Just found out…
Such a shame. The work he did to make F1 such a safer environment, and to save so many lives, will always live on through the cars and never be forgotten.
R.I.P SidI cant find any reports of this, only a few twitter posts.
If its true then its a shame that someone who did so much has died.
BBC 5Live have tweeted it, I don’t believe they’d tweet something that wasn’t.
So sad to here the news about Prof Sid Watkins… A true gentleman and incredibly generous with his time, experience and knowledge… RIP
— BBCF1 (@bbcf1) September 12, 2012
I dont doubt that, and yet BBC news hasnt mentioned it, Reuters havent mentioned it. No one has, only twitter. Even the biggest corperations get caught out in hoaxes. Even with that in mind, I hope thats what this is, a horrible hoax.
Yeah, the fact that you google professor sid watkins and nothing comes up to suggest he’s dead, makes me doubt it for now.
If it is true, then that is truly sad indeed. The man is intrinsically linked with F1 for the last 35 or more years. Legend.
Some excitable “journalists” were on about this on Twitter (maybe they got it from Lewis Hamilton). Sadly Gary Hartstein, his successor as @f1doc has been paying tribute as well. Some nice words emerging from some of his former patients too, and other drivers.
I’ve lost count of the number of times Nelson Mandela has died on Twitter, and for me the Prof’s pretty much right up there with him.
Sadly it does seem to be true. There isn’t an official confirmation yet but the reports from those close to him such as Gary Hartstein are credible. Dreadful news. He may not have driven one of the fast cars but that didn’t make him any less of a hero.
rip professor
edit:
his wikipedia page has been updatedIn 1978 he met Bernie Ecclestone, at the time chief executive of the Formula One Constructors Association, who offered Watkins the position of official Formula One race doctor.[9] Ecclestone had checked in for a medical problem and offered Watkins $35,000 a year for the entire season. Watkins had to pay airfaires, hotel bills, rental cars and all incidental expenses. Watkins accepted, and attended his first race at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix. Outside of the Grand Prix weekends, he remained in his position as a neurosurgeon in London. His first day as the Safety and Medical Delegate, was at Brands Hatch to introduce himself to the drivers.[10]
Initially, his appointment was met with hostility by some of the racing circuits, who saw his appointment as a way of monitoring their performance. At the time, medical facilities would sometimes consist of nothing more than a tent. At the 1978 Italian Grand Prix, Ronnie Peterson crashed heavily on the first lap, with the car catching fire. Fellow drivers Clay Regazzoni, Patrick Depailler and James Hunt pulled him from the wreckage but by the time Sid Watkins arrived at the scene, Italian police had formed a human wall to prevent people from entering the area. Watkins was initially stopped from assisting with the treatment and there was a long delay of approximately 18 minutes before an ambulance arrived to take Peterson to hospital, where he died the following day. Following the race, Watkins demanded that Ecclestone provide better safety equipment, an anaesthetist, a medical car and a medical helicopter (Medevac). All were provided at the next race in the USA. In addition, it was decided that the medical car containing Watkins would follow the racing cars for the first lap of the race in order to provide immediate help in the event of a first lap incident.
RIP Prof Sid Watkins, and thank you. Thank you for all the lives (and heroes) you’ve helped save in Formula One. :'(
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