A regular reader, Jim Woodward, raises a point about an episode in the TV series, CSI Miami. Part of the plot centred on a member of a motor racing pit crew who was engulfed by flames and died at the circuit, though it was given out that he died on his way to hospital. Jim asks whether this is a regular occurrence.

Not having seen the programme, I can only guess that the mechanic's death was postponed through considerations of insurance or of local law. It has certainly happened in Formula One and I am not speaking of current allegations surrounding two doctors who attended the marshal, Graham Beveridge, who died during the 2001 Australian GP.

In that case, it would appear that two professionals are being made scapegoats. As pitpass has pointed out, the moment of death is not always clear. My own father-in-law had a massive heart attack and 'died'. At the time he was visiting a hospital for a check-up, jump leads were applied and he is still alive, ten years after his 'death'.

Jochen Rindt was killed immediately when his Lotus 72 crashed at Monza during practice for the 1970 Italian GP. The ambulance which picked him up drove right by the circuit's medical unit to a local hospital and he apparently died in the ambulance after it had left Monza.

Had he been declared dead at Monza, the holding of the race would have been put in jeopardy. It was not the only time that a driver's death was postponed until the ambulance was clear of the circuit.

While driving in the Mille Miglia, Alberto Ascari had a torch shone into his face by some lunatic. Ascari hit some spectators and killed a popular local doctor. Charges of manslaughter hovered over him for some time.

When 'Fon' de Portago's Ferrari crashed in the 1957 Mille Miglia, there were twelve deaths: de Portago, his passenger and nine spectators, five of them children. It was alleged that de Portago's tyres, made by the Belgian company, Engelbert, were not up to the job and charges of manslaughter hovered over Enzo Ferrari himself for five years. They were dropped in 1962 soon after Ferrari had brought back the World Championship to Italy, though that must be coincidental.

It is generally accepted that there were deaths in the Mille Miglia during the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini but they were hushed up in contravention to Italian law. The exception was an accident in 1938, again involving child fatalities, which led to the traditional Mille Miglia format being banned, though it was revived post-war.

The year following Rindt's death a Monza saw no entry from Team Lotus Ltd., and though there was a works Lotus 56B (the gas turbine car) for Emerson Fittipaldi it was entered by an outfit called World Wide Racing. The subterfuge was necessary because the magistrate charged with investigating Jochen's death could have impounded any car entered by Team Lotus.

Also in 1971, the Ferrari F1 and sports car driver, Ignazio Giunti, was killed during the Buenos Aires 1000 Kms. Jean-Pierre Beltoise was pushing his Matra back to the pits, which was against the rules, and Giunti's Ferrari ploughed into it. Beltoise was blamed by the Argentine authorities, who had ignored his infringement for laps, and had his licence suspended by the French authorities for three months and then it all blew over.

It is nearly ten years since Ayrton Senna died at Imola and I believe that the case has still not been finally closed. Italy follows the French pattern in having an investigating magistrate, but it is noticeable that charges are more often threatened than are ever brought to court.

Riccardo Patrese was blamed for starting the accident which led to the death of Ronnie Peterson at Monza in 1978 and was suspended for one race. Patrese was a newcomer whose forceful driving had ruffled a few feathers, but he was an innocent party in the pile-up which was actually caused by James Hunt, as James later admitted. Patrese was no more than a convenient scapegoat.