Spins, tangles and crashes are part of motor racing. They happen every race weekend, whether it is on a superspeedway, a Grand Prix track or a street circuit in Europe.

Although extremely spectacular to watch, thankfully crashes are often harmless these days. The usage of new, composite materials issued from the aerospace field, helps to produce race cars fitted with survival shells that protect the driver extremely well from injuries, even in the most breathtaking accidents.

Bit and pieces that fly in all directions in a crash are in fact designed to break in order to absorb large quantities of energy during the impact.

Of all the photos shown here, no drivers were seriously injured. Most of them just walked away from the site of the accident, shaken but in good condition, which is a testimony to the amazing strength of modern race cars.

Danny Ongais, Indy 500, 1981

GP2, Monaco, start, 2008

Yuji Ide, Formula Nippon, Suzuka, 2008

Kimi Raikkonen, Hockenheim, 2003

Fernando Alonso, Renault F1, Indianapolis US GP, 2004

Stan Fox, Indianapolis 500, 1995

Jarno Trulli and Alex Wurz, Canadian GP, 1998