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Formula One (F1) is the highest class of open-wheeled auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which all participants and vehicles must conform. The F1 World Championship season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, held usually on purpose-built circuits, and in a few cases on closed city streets. The results of each race are combined to determine two annual Championships, one for drivers and one for constructors.

Safety standards have improved since the first World Championship Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1950, where there was no medical back-up or safety measures, in case of an accident. It was not until the 1960s these were first introduced, as helmets and overalls became mandatory and the FIA assumed responsibility for safety at the circuits. Steps were taken to improve the safety of the Formula One car in the 1970s; the cockpit opening was enlarged allowing the driver to escape quicker in the event of an accident and outside mirrors became mandatory. The 1980s saw further improvement in the structure of the Formula One car, with the monocoque being made out of carbon fibre instead of aluminium, increasing protection upon impact. Following the death of Ayrton Senna in 1994, a number of measures were introduced in an attempt to slow the cars down, including the prohibition of traction control systems. Grooved tyres were introduced in 1998 instead of racing slick tyres to reduce cornering speed. Safety measures continued to be introduced into the 21st century, with a number of circuits having their configuration changed to improve driver safety.

This list includes drivers who have died during a FIA World Championship race weekend, and those who have died while driving a Formula One car outside of the World Championship. Track marshals and other race attendees who have died as a result of these accidents are not included in the list. Forty-nine drivers have died driving a Formula One car, with Cameron Earl being the first in 1952. Thirty-two of the drivers died during a World Championship Grand Prix race weekend, six during a test session and eleven during a non-championship Formula One event. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has seen the most fatalities; seven drivers have died there during the course of the Indianapolis 500. Fifteen drivers died in the 1950s; fourteen in the 1960s; twelve in the 1970s; four in the 1980s and two in the 1990s. No driver has suffered a fatal accident since 1994,^[A] making this the longest period in F1 history without a driver fatality. Only two Formula One Champions have died while racing or practicing in Formula One, Jochen Rindt in 1970, and Ayrton Senna in 1994. Rindt is the only driver to win the championship posthumously.

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The 2012 Singapore Grand Prix (formally known as the 2012 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix) is a Formula One motor race that took place at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore on 23 September 2012 as the fourteenth round of the 2012 season. The race was the thirteenth time that a Singapore Grand Prix has been held, and the fifth time it was a round of the Formula One World Championship.

Lewis Hamilton started the race from pole. Sebastian Vettel won the race, his second of the season, after Hamilton's gearbox failed early in the race.

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Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open-wheeled auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which all participants and vehicles must conform. The F1 World Championship season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, usually held on purpose-built circuits, and in a few cases on closed city streets. The results of each race are combined to determine two annual championships, one for drivers and one for constructors.

A red flag is shown when there has been an accident or the track conditions are poor enough to warrant the race being stopped. The flags are displayed by the marshals at various points around the circuit. Following a red flag being shown, the exit of the pit lane is closed and cars must proceed to the starting grid slowly, without overtaking. From 2005, a ten-minute warning is given before the race is resumed behind the safety car, which leads the field for a lap before it returns to the pit lane. Previously, the race was restarted in race order from the penultimate lap before the red flag was shown. If a race is unable to be resumed, "the results will be taken at the end of the penultimate lap before the lap during which the signal to suspend the race was given." If 75 per cent of the race distance has not been completed and the race cannot be resumed, half points are awarded. No points are awarded if the race cannot be restarted and less than two laps have been completed.

Since the first World Championship Grand Prix in 1950, red flags have been shown in sixty-three races. Twenty-six were restarted on the first lap. Thirteen races, nine stopped because of rain and four due to accidents involving drivers, were not restarted. Three races were stopped due to incidents that resulted in fatalities: The 1975 Spanish Grand Prix was stopped on lap twenty-nine and not restarted after Rolf Stommelen's car crashed into a spectator area, killing five people. The 1982 Canadian Grand Prix was halted on the first lap after Riccardo Paletti was killed when his car collided with the back of Didier Pironi's Ferrari. The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was red-flagged on lap five following the fatal accident of Ayrton Senna, in which his car crashed into a wall at the Tamburello curve.

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The 2012 Formula One season was the 63rd season of the Formula One World Championship, a motor racing championship for Formula One cars recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) — the governing body of motorsport — as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The season was contested over twenty rounds, which started in Australia on 18 March and ended in Brazil on 25 November. The 2012 season saw the return of the United States Grand Prix, which was held at the Circuit of the Americas, a purpose-built circuit in Austin, Texas. After being cancelled in 2011 due to civil protests, the Bahrain Grand Prix also returned to the calendar.

The early season was tumultuous, with seven different drivers winning the first seven races of the championship; a record for the series. It was not until the European Grand Prix in June that a driver, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, won his second race of the year, and with it, emerged as a championship contender. Alonso maintained his hold on the championship lead for the next seven races, taking his third win in Germany and finishing on the podium in the United Kingdom, Italy and Singapore. However, costly first-lap retirements in Belgium and Japan allowed his rivals to catch up, and defending World Champion Sebastian Vettel — like Alonso, a two-time winner — took the lead in the sixteenth race of the season. Vettel, too, encountered difficulties throughout the season; contact with a backmarker left him to finish outside the points in Malaysia, while alternator failures at the European and Italian Grands Prix cost him valuable points and exclusion from qualifying in Abu Dhabi led him to start from the pit lane. Vettel entered the final race of the season with a thirteen-point lead over Alonso. Alonso needed a podium finish to stand any chance of becoming World Drivers' Champion, but in a race of attrition that finished under the safety car, Vettel finished in sixth place, scoring enough points to win his third consecutive championship, becoming the third driver to do so. In the World Constructors' Championship, Red Bull Racing secured their third consecutive title when Sebastian Vettel finished second at the United States Grand Prix.

In addition to seeing seven drivers win the first seven races, the 2012 season broke several records. The calendar for the season included twenty races, breaking the previous record of nineteen, which was first set in 2005. Six current or former World Drivers' Champions — Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Räikkönen, and Michael Schumacher — started the season, breaking the record of five established in 1970.

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