This Saturday, December 24, Philippe Streiff died at the age of 67. In 1989, the former Formula 1 driver survived a terrible accident on the Rio-de-Janeiro circuit.
The world of Formula 1 is in mourning. This Saturday, December 24, the communication organ of F1 announced the death of Philippe Streiff at the age of 67. “It is with sadness that I learn of the death of Philippe Streiff. He showed incredible courage and determination throughout his life. The way he overcame his accident and rebuilt his life has been an inspiration. We all send our condolences to his family at this sad time.”reacted Stefano Domenicali, the president of Formula 1. Born in 1955 in La Tronche, he started motor racing on the circuit in the 1970s.. French Formula 3 champion in 1981, he raced in F2 then in F1 with the Renault team at the Portuguese Grand Prix.
Philippe Streiff then joined the English team Tyrrell, with which he competed in most of his Grands Prix (48 out of 53). On March 15, 1989, the driver suffered a tragic accident on the Rio-de-Janeiro circuit where he was testing tires before the Brazilian Grand Prix. In a bend, he lost control of his car at almost 200 km/h. His single-seater then glided upside down before crashing 80 meters from the first impact. After this accident, Philippe Streiff had been taken to the hospital for fractures of the right clavicle and the left scapula, a dislocation of two cervical vertebrae and a compression of a dorsal vertebra. Operated very quickly, the Formula 1 pilot was, since, quadriplegic.
Philippe Streiff: a committed man
In 1991, Philippe Streiff opened an indoor kart track, S-Kart, in Paris. From 1993 and for several years, the former Formula 1 driver organized at the Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy, a karting competition with the best active drivers and several motor sport personalities. In 2002, Philippe Streiff became technical adviser to the interministerial delegation for people with disabilities, under the supervision of the Ministry of Health, then technical adviser to the Ministry of Transport, within the Road Safety and Traffic Department (DSCR). The Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, reacted to his death: “After his F1 career and his accident, he had fought on all fronts to ensure that people with disabilities could live as normally as possible, including behind the wheel, with ingenuity, and as a pioneer.
