53 Facts About Sid Watkins

Eric Sidney Watkins, known as Professor Sid or simply Prof, was an English neurosurgeon.

From 1978 to 2004, Watkins served as Safety and Medical Delegate in Formula One.

Sid Watkins then served four years in the Royal Army Medical Corps before specialising in neurosurgery in Oxford and later, in London.

Sid Watkins acted as a race track doctor at weekends which he continued at Sid Watkins Glen International when he was appointed a Professor of Neurosurgery at State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse.

At a meeting with Brabham team boss Bernie Ecclestone, he was offered the role as the FIA Formula One Safety and Medical Delegate, head of the Formula One on-track medical team, and first responder in case of a crash, a role which Sid Watkins performed for 26 years.

Sid Watkins is credited with helping save the lives of many drivers, including: Gerhard Berger, Martin Donnelly, Erik Comas, Rubens Barrichello, Karl Wendlinger, and Mika Hakkinen.

Eric Sidney Watkins was born on 6 September 1928 in Liverpool to Wallace and Jessica Watkins.

Sid Watkins worked for his father at the garage until he was 25.

Sid Watkins told his father that he wanted to become a doctor, an idea of which his father disapproved.

Sid Watkins graduated as a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Liverpool in 1956; during his time there he carried out research on the effects of heat stress on performance, finding that increased heat greatly affected intellectual performance.

Sid Watkins returned to the UK in 1958 to specialise in neurosurgery at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, and it was in 1961 when he took up his first motorsport event in a medical capacity at a kart race at the Brands Hatch circuit.

Sid Watkins took four members to the circuit and his own medical equipment due to the lack of supplies provided by circuit officials.

Sid Watkins returned to England in 1970 to act as head of neurosurgery at the London Hospital, and was invited to join the RAC medical panel the same year.

In 1978, Sid Watkins met Bernie Ecclestone, at the time chief executive of the Formula One Constructors Association, who offered Sid Watkins the position of official Formula One race doctor.

Sid Watkins had to pay airfares, hotel bills, rental cars and all incidental expenses.

Sid Watkins accepted, and attended his first race at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix.

Sid Watkins did not attend private test day sessions due to the large number of sessions held over the course of the year.

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.

Sid 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.

In 1982, at the Belgian Grand Prix, Sid Watkins went with the medical car driven by Roland Bruynseraede as it headed to the scene of Gilles Villeneuve's serious accident and placed a tube into his windpipe for ventilation with his heart in normal condition.

Villeneuve was airlifted by helicopter to the Gasthuisberg Hospital in Leuven and Sid Watkins spoke to Villeneuve's wife Joann who was in her home in Monaco when 1979 champion Jody Scheckter informed her of the news.

Joann and Sid Watkins both accepted the decision to turn off his respirator, and Villeneuve died.

At the Canadian Grand Prix later that year, Sid Watkins had to deal with the fatal accident of Riccardo Paletti on the first lap of the race.

Sid Watkins got to Paletti's car 16 seconds after impact and opened the visor of the helmet to see his blown pupils.

Sid Watkins had suitable clothing to prevent him from suffering serious burns but his hands were affected.

At the British Grand Prix in 1985, Sid Watkins received a silver trophy during the drivers briefing.

In 1986, Sid Watkins had the responsibility for caring for Frank Williams who sustained spinal cord injuries in a car crash on a public road.

Sid Watkins founded the Brain and Spine Foundation in 1992, a charity that aims to improve "the prevention, treatment and care of people affected by disorders of the brain and spine".

At the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, Sid Watkins had to attend to his close personal friend, three-time champion Ayrton Senna, following the accident which claimed his life.

Sid Watkins had concerns about Senna's mental state following two crashes earlier in the weekend that had injured Senna's countryman and protege Rubens Barrichello and killed Austrian Roland Ratzenberger, suggesting to him that the two leave the track, go fishing, and forget about the race.

Early in the race, Senna hit a retaining wall at nearly 140 miles per hour and Sid Watkins was the first to attend to the driver.

Sid Watkins reported that based on what he ascertained on arriving at the scene, that there was no chance Senna could have been saved, due to the graveness of the head injury he had suffered.

Sid Watkins said he noticed Senna sighed, and his whole body relaxed, and that, though he was not religious, he felt it was at that moment Senna's "spirit left his body".

The FIA Expert Advisory Safety Committee was set up in 1994 following the race and Sid Watkins was appointed as its chairman.

Sid Watkins was responsible for setting up a rally research group and karting research group in 2003.

Sid Watkins later argued that ephedrine had no effect on a driver's ability and that Formula One should not use exactly the same list as the International Olympic Committee in any case.

Sid Watkins arrived last and allowed the doctors to continue, restarting Hakkinen's heart twice.

Sid Watkins was awarded the Mario Andretti Award for Medical Excellence in 1996.

Sid Watkins acted in the defence for David Vissenga in an inquiry into practices into services of the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, where marshal Graham Beverige died after being struck by a wheel from Jacques Villeneuve's car in the 2001 Australian Grand Prix.

In 2002, Sid Watkins was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for recognition of his work in improving the safety of Grand Prix racing.

On 12 October 2004, Watkins became the first president of the FIA Foundation for the Automobile and Society, and in December of that year he became the first president of the FIA Institute for Motor Sport Safety, both created in honour of the FIA's hundredth anniversary.

On 20 January 2005, Watkins announced his retirement from his various medical positions in the FIA, but stated his intention to continue as President of the FIA Institute for Motor Sport Safety.

In July 2008, Sid Watkins was honoured for the award of "Most Outstanding Contribution to the Motorsport Industry" with the award presented by Martin Brundle at the House of Lords.

On 8 December 2011 it was announced that Watkins had stepped down as President of the FIA Institute, but would continue in an honorary role.

Sid Watkins himself delivered the inaugural lecture and again in 2007.

Sid Watkins wrote or co-authored a number of books on racing safety, including Life at the Limit: Triumph and Tragedy in Formula One.

Sid Watkins shared two stepsons, Matthew and Antony with his third wife Susan, a biographer and historian.

Sid Watkins had a passion for smoking cigars, drinking whisky, and fishing.

Sid Watkins's eldest son Sid, was a Consultant Paediatrician at Southampton General Hospital.

Sid Watkins's second son, Alastair is a former Media Delegate who worked for the FIA, Kirch Media and was the marketing director for British American Racing.

Sid Watkins's stepson, Antony, is a consultant neurosurgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow.

Sid Watkins died on 12 September 2012 at the King Edward VII Hospital in London.

Tributes to Sid Watkins were paid by many drivers who have competed in Formula One and other figures within the sport.