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The Formula 1 2014 Season |OT2| Louder Than Formula E

Dead Man

Member
https://twitter.com/JennieGow/status/518727888992862209
BzLkRDXCcAAsVQ0.jpg

Considering I was worried about a near decapitation earlier, I'll take that. Still could be absolutely terrible though, hope for some good news soon.
 

Ding-Ding

Member
I just don't think that that's the case. Nobody at all said that the rain was similarly strong to the beginning, apart from you. The drivers said it was fine, Massa excluded.

And from what we saw on TV, it didn't look anywhere near as heavy as it was at the start.

Apart from me?

Well thats strange, as the commentary team I was watching were talking about how the heavy rain was comparable to the start and that included a report from the pits.

The issue you seem to be avoiding is Massa's and Sutil's interviews.
Massa said:
"I was already screaming on the radio five laps before the safety car that there was too much water on the track, but they took a bit too long and it was dangerous. So we saw that there were some crashes at the end."
Sutil said:
I had aquaplaning in Turn Eight. The rain was increasing and the tyres were going down, the light was going down. It was hard to see.

The warnings were there, plain & simple. This was avoidable
 

Ark

Member
Wow. Doesn't look like there's any direct damage to the helmet, but we can't see the left side.

Really hope he pulls through :(
 

Mohonky

Member
Apart from me?

Well thats strange, as the commentary team I was watching were talking about how the heavy rain was comparable to the start and that included a report from the pits.

Rain isnt inherently a problem, its when water starts to build up and create standing pools and its not something that happens immediately, and if the cars are going round something that takes longer to happen as even the intermediate tyres will displace large amounts of water from the track just by the drivers going around. So for rain to start becoming a factor, it actually needs to be heavy rain over a prolonged period if it occurs during race conditions.

The issue you seem to be avoiding is Massa's and Sutil's interviews.



The warnings were there, plain & simple. This was avoidable

Standing water on a track is always an issue with rain and while Massa and Sutil might feel it was getting worse, they and every other driver on the track were still running the intermediate tyres, even as the rain was picking back up everyone was still opting for those tyres as opposed to the full wets, Ricciardo himself was in the pits right before or even during the incident putting on new inters, so there is nothing to suggest the conditions were so bad that the cars were undrivable. Even at the start when it was supposed to be at its worst, Button pulled in immediately for the intermediate tyres and promptly went about lapping much much faster than the rest of the field. So there is little to indicate there that a red flag was necessary. Especially as the race was in swing and the cars were staged all over the track at that point displacing much of any water building up.

This was just an unfortunate event. Many of the drivers still maintained after the race that the conditions werent out of the ordinary and many drivers commented they had raced in worse conditions. Malayasia a few years ago was probably the worst I can recall seeing as even the underpan of the cars werent clearing the water levels. That race was rightly red flagged, had this one been red flagged I am sure many drivers would have had a quizzical look on there faces as to why; actually some of them were commenting that they were unsure of why the race had been red flagged initially, it wasnt until they heard about the incident they understood, the idea that the traxk had become undrivable wasnt a concern they had.

Long story short: there was nothing today that indicates anything out of the ordinary, until Bianchi hit the JCB, this was a pretty standard run wet race.
 

dakun

Member
New pic, Bianchi clearly visible in the cockpit along with damage to the car.

Link: http://autosprint.corrieredellosport.it/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/01.jpg

just saw the picture somewhere else and i have to say this is even worse than i thought it was when i first saw the car.. basically Bianchi was "lucky" not to be decapitated there.

It would also suggest to me that this was a highspeed crash since the impact was big enough to completely shave off the top part of the car which is not that weak at all. I have the feeling that even though it was a double waved yellow Bianchi might have been too fast through the corner. Of course i don't know the facts but the pictures show how violent the impact must've been and that's the conclusion i draw from that without knowing much else.

EDIT: and i am wondering.. there doesn't seem to be any significant place on the rescue car for a F1 car to fit under?? am i missing something here? The place on the back of the car seems to narrow for an F1 car to go through.
 

hadareud

The Translator
Apart from me?

Well thats strange, as the commentary team I was watching were talking about how the heavy rain was comparable to the start and that included a report from the pits.

The issue you seem to be avoiding is Massa's and Sutil's interviews.



The warnings were there, plain & simple. This was avoidable

The commentary team that I was listening to didn't. And Massa stands alone with his opinion.

Of course you can have aquaplaning when it's wet. But the fact that several drivers went into to pits to get inters rather than wet tyres strongly suggests that the rain wasn't that bad. Of course when your inters are worn down you're likely to be in trouble when there's fresh rain, but racing is an outdoor sport.
 

Ding-Ding

Member
Looking at the start of the race, the track was like a swimming pool, why was it allowed to go ahead?

The rain had eased off enough to allow the race to start under the SC. In turn, the full wets used for the SC period started to displace the water, hence the reason why we started to see cars come straight in for inter's.

At the end though it was stupid. Rain was heavy, standing water was building up and the majority of the field were still on inter's, so the water wasn't displacing.

The top teams probably wasn't that concerned because their aero packages were good enough to counter the areas of the track where standing water was building, so I'll bet the FIA and F1 management wanted to see out the remaining few laps. The lesser cars were having major issues though and it defies belief that they attempted a recovery around a area where cars were beginning to aqua-plan without a safety car (at least)
 

NHale

Member
just saw the picture somewhere else and i have to say this is even worse than i thought it was when i first saw the car.. basically Bianchi was "lucky" not to be decapitated there.

It would also suggest to me that this was a highspeed crash since the impact was big enough to completely shave off the top part of the car which is not that weak at all. I have the feeling that even though it was a double waved yellow Bianchi might have been too fast through the corner. Of course i don't know the facts but the pictures show how violent the impact must've been and that's the conclusion i draw from that without knowing much else.

EDIT: and i am wondering.. there doesn't seem to be any significant place on the rescue car for a F1 car to fit under?? am i missing something here? The place on the back of the car seems to narrow for an F1 car to go through.

Or he aquaplanned like Sutil and as a result he gained speed without having the ability to brake...
 

dakun

Member
Or he aquaplanned like Sutil and as a result he gained speed without having the ability to brake...
Is that how momentum on water works? You gain speed on water when you have aqua planning?
Serious question because i have no facts

I would have thought that you slowly lose speed not gain it
 

Ding-Ding

Member
The commentary team that I was listening to didn't. And Massa stands alone with his opinion.

Of course you can have aquaplaning when it's wet. But the fact that several drivers went into to pits to get inters rather than wet tyres strongly suggests that the rain wasn't that bad. Of course when your inters are worn down you're likely to be in trouble when there's fresh rain, but racing is an outdoor sport.

Cars going back onto inter's were cars with excellent aero packages, so that attempt at an excuse is just bollocks.

But lets take opinions out of this and deal with facts...

Rain was increasing, standing water was increasing.
Car aquaplans into the barrier on a circuit with very few large run off areas.
Recovery team including a mobile crane sent inside the perimeter under only yellow flags.
Raining and standing water still increasing.
2nd car aqua-plans, hitting the mobile crane.

Sorry but thats fucking reckless behaviour full stop
 

Fox Mulder

Member
The top teams probably wasn't that concerned because their aero packages were good enough to counter the areas of the track where standing water was building, so I'll bet the FIA and F1 management wanted to see out the remaining few laps. The lesser cars were having major issues though and it defies belief that they attempted a recovery around a area where cars were beginning to aqua-plan without a safety car (at least)

crazy they would recover a vehicle so quickly in the rain, but it seems to be the norm. Been watching old races and the 2007 nurburgring race had 6 or 7 cars go off one by one in turn 1 due to rain, one almost hitting the safety car as it was coming out and stopping in the gravel right before slamming into the recovery vehicle.
 
Another win for the brain dead FIA/Bernie in running this race during a fucking tornado. They give so little a shit about safety that they don't think that maybe they should do their best to ensure choppers taking anyone injured to hospital might need to be able to fly? Really?

Think before you drive Bernie? Fuck off you decrepit old cunt.
If they didnt care about safety we wouldnt have had so many laps under the safety car at the beginning with everyone screaming to get on with the race. We started this GP on inters, remember, when it could have started on full wets.
The issue here was a car hitting a piece of heavy machinery extracting another car from the scene of an accident.
 

itsgreen

Member
Cars going back onto inter's were cars with excellent aero packages, so that attempt at an excuse is just bollocks.

But lets take opinions out of this and deal with facts...

Rain was increasing, standing water was increasing.
Car aquaplans crashes into the barrier on a circuit with very few large run off areas.
Recovery team including a mobile crane sent inside the perimeter under only waved double yellow flags.
Raining and standing water still increasing.
2nd car aqua-plans crashes, hitting the mobile crane.

Sorry but thats fucking reckless behaviour full stop

Well if you only want to present facts, get them straight and stop steering them.

For one: Sutil got out unscafed at that track with very few large run off areas

Rain was increasing but read the Autosport article, most felt it wasn't very particular heavy or excessive. Making claims about problematic, avoidable, blamable standing water on the track seems without too much base.

There is no need to down play double waved yellow flags, it is clear what they mean and what you should do, like Lewis said post race: "You should lift off significantly". Be prepared to suddenly change your line, or stop.

For the record: yellow flags were also waved in the corner before the accident, so it wasn't shown at a single corner.

To speculate about the cause of either crash seems premature.

Claiming that within 1 minute 30 the rain increased seems also quite searching for things to point your pitchfork at. Things happened quite quickly after each other.
 

Ding-Ding

Member
crazy they would recover a vehicle so quickly in the rain, but it seems to be the norm. Been watching old races and the 2007 nurburgring race had 6 or 7 cars go off one by one in turn 1 due to rain, one almost hitting the safety car as it was coming out and stopping in the gravel right before slamming into the recovery vehicle.

I think thats what is so scary, is its the norm with F1, until someone see's sense, which only happens as the result of a bad accident.

It took Jim Clark's death to start a shift toward safety (though it was driver's only trying to get things changed).

It took Roger Williamson burning to death for authorities to think it maybe a good idea to train and equip track marshals (only Purley tried to even help him)

It took Senna & Ratzenberger's death for inreased car & track safety.

Maybe this will make authorities think that its not a good idea to send recovery teams inside the track perimeter, with only waved yellows when cars are aqua-planing
 
I think thats what is so scary, is its the norm with F1, until someone see's sense, which only happens as the result of a bad accident.

It took Jim Clark's death to start a shift toward safety (though it was driver's only trying to get things changed).

It took Roger Williamson burning to death for authorities to think it maybe a good idea to train and equip track marshals (only Purley tried to even help him)

It took Senna & Ratzenberger's death for inreased car & track safety.

Maybe this will make authorities think that its not a good idea to send recovery teams inside the track perimeter, with only waved yellows when cars are aqua-planing

Great post, always room for improvement where safety is concerned, sadly it usually takes someone getting badly injured or worse for these reviews to take place: Clark, Williamson, Senna, Surtees etc...
 

itsgreen

Member
crazy they would recover a vehicle so quickly in the rain, but it seems to be the norm. Been watching old races and the 2007 nurburgring race had 6 or 7 cars go off one by one in turn 1 due to rain, one almost hitting the safety car as it was coming out and stopping in the gravel right before slamming into the recovery vehicle.

Don't forget that leaving a car in front of the barriers is also quite dangerous. That's why they want to remove the car as fast as possible. So time with additional risks is as short as possible.

That said, I remember my heart skipping a few beats in that race and the 2003 Brazil race where there was a near miss of these vehicles... I think we won't be seeing them in this form.
 
That latest update seems to a positive one. I'll never understand why they don't bring the safety car out in those conditions when they need the assistance of a foreign object that shouldn't be on a race track. Yeah most times nothing will happen, but it just makes too much sense to take that precaution.
 

Ding-Ding

Member
For one: Sutil got out unscafed at that track with very few large run off areas

Please tell me are not serious?

One car hit an armco barrier, designed to absorb energy from a crash.

The other hit a mobile crane sent in to recover the 1st car.

Thats the whole point. When one car aqua-plans, history tells us its not long before another does the same thing in the same spot. Tracks with large run off's allow the driver to recover the car hopefully before another car aqua-plans along the same trajectory.

Aqua-planing into a barrier on a narrow track will nearly always require a recovery team. Sending a team on with only waved yellows on a track that was getting wetter was a gamble that risked driver & marshalls safety.

Was it really worth the risk for only a handfull off laps left racing?
 

itsgreen

Member
Thats the whole point. When one car aqua-plans, history tells us its not long before another does the same thing in the same spot. Tracks with large run off's allow the driver to recover the car hopefully before another car aqua-plans along the same trajectory.

Aqua-planing into a barrier on a narrow track will nearly always require a recovery team. Sending a team on with only waved yellows on a track that was getting wetter was a gamble that risked driver & marshalls safety.

Was it really worth the risk for only a handfull off laps left racing?

Within 90 seconds the FIA should have known that the cause of Sutil's crash was standing water and thus the race should be neutralized? And not just some random driving error.

I didn't infer the causality in your list of points. But you are right. A recovery team was needed when he hit the barrier, but I don't see how that is more the case when there is less run off area. They always do that if the car is stuck at a dangerous area.

I think the best thing in the future is for the FIA to mandate as much large cranes as possible (the ones behind fences that actually lift the car over the fence without the need for heavy material in the run off area).

I think it is stupid to mandate a safety car every time a marshall goes in front of the fence when it is raining. We shouldn't run races if that is the case, because it wouldn't make sense. There won't be any racing left during a race. It would safety car session after safety car session. And yes, when there is aqua planning that would be a great reason to stop the race. But I don't see how the FIA could have reacted faster when the rain wasn't exceptional.
 

DieH@rd

Banned
Someone needs to be fired over this. As per above, the safety is compromised if a heli can`t take of

Absolutely not. This race was organized well, and what happened to Jules was just very bad driving incident. He crashed under double yellow flags far after Sutil was outside of the car. We don't know why he crashed, but double yellows mean "extreme danger, be prepared to stop".

As for need to move the race, I think that was unnecessary. We had many races before with stronger rain.


F1 is still incredibly safe sport.
 

olore

Member
No, someone needs to be held accountable if someone actually is accountable.

The severity of the injury does not necessarily mean that someone is responsible for it.

It's racing and accidents will happen.

That's taking nothing away from how horrible this is.

Hopefully someone somewhere launches an investigation. Is someone accountable? We`ll see.
 

itsgreen

Member
Absolutely not. This race was organized well, and what happened to Jules was just very bad driving incident. He crashed under double yellow flags far after Sutil was outside of the car. We don't know why he crashed, but double yellows mean "extreme danger, be prepared to stop".

As for need to move the race, I think that was unnecessary. We had many races before with stronger rain.


F1 is still incredibly safe sport.

Completely agree, but his point was that if the Heli couldn't take off, he had a damn valid point. The Heli could take off but they rather chose to not use it and instead use the ambulance (for what ever the reason might have been).

Something went wrong in the procedures if the heli couldn't take off. And if someone is to blame for that, i.e. not continually checking if conditions were still ok, conclusions should be drawn from that.
 

DieH@rd

Banned
No comment from Charlie Whiting why he didn't deploy the safety car?

I would not have deployed SC after Sutil's crash. Double yellows should have been enough to protect marshals and drivers, but one lap later, Bianchi spun out.

Accidents sadly happen. Who knows, maybe his car failed.
 

olore

Member
Absolutely not. This race was organized well, and what happened to Jules was just very bad driving incident. He crashed under double yellow flags far after Sutil was outside of the car. We don't know why he crashed, but double yellows mean "extreme danger, be prepared to stop".

As for need to move the race, I think that was unnecessary. We had many races before with stronger rain.


F1 is still incredibly safe sport.

Yes, the *sport* is safe. But what if the surrounding facilities is subpar i.e. heli can`t take of because of the weather? Isn`t that protocol and the regular modus operandi compromised?

I sincerely hope Bianchi pulls through
 

RoKKeR

Member
Thankfully was able to get some sleep last night after feeling sick about the accident. Unfortunately not waking up to any good news, but at least operations are underway.

Such a terrifying situation... pull through Jules.
 

itsgreen

Member
Yes, the *sport* is safe. But what if the surrounding facilities is subpar i.e. heli can`t take of because of the weather? Isn`t that protocol and the regular modus operandi compromised?

I sincerely hope Bianchi pulls through

That wasn't the case as far as known. They made the choice not to go by air.
 

DieH@rd

Banned
Yes, the *sport* is safe. But what if the surrounding facilities is subpar i.e. heli can`t take of because of the weather? Isn`t that protocol and the regular modus operandi compromised?

I sincerely hope Bianchi pulls through

According to some reports, Bianchi was transported via ambulance because of the request of the medical personnel on the site. I don't know why they chose that. It could be because of the weather, because nearby hospital in Suzuka City did not have helipad [Nagoya is 70km away], because doctors feared that if chopper goes high it could worsen condition of Jules [lower air pressure = changes in the state of blood vesels inside his injured brain], or even because they thought that ambulance quickest and best way of reaching hospital.

And F1 cannot be responsible for the state of hospitals around the tracks. They can provide best possible transport, and on-site doctors who can decide what needs to be done with injured people.
 
He's managing, for now. All things considered I'm shocked his condition is this good.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/29499545
Marussia driver Jules Bianchi is out of surgery and breathing on his own after suffering a severe head injury in a crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Governing body the FIA said he was unconscious as he was taken to hospital and was operated on before being moved to intensive care.

In wet conditions, Sauber driver Adrian Sutil firstly spun and hit the tyre barrier as rain intensified in the latter stages of the race.

While recovery vehicles were lifting Sutil's car, Bianchi lost control, travelled across the run-off area and hit the back of the tractor.
 

Aiii

So not worth it
Not to be a pessimist or anything, but breathing on his own means nothing in regards to the severity of brain damage he could or could not have.
 

Pimpwerx

Member
I deleted a much longer post just now. I have some strong feelings on this sport and what it has become. I'll just say this. If you watch a sport where people can die, you can't be surprised when people die or get hurt badly. It's not suddenly grounds for rules changes. What happened yesterday seems a fluke. Until further info comes out, I think the ideas of cockpits and safety cars are simply reactionary. PEACE.
 
I deleted a much longer post just now. I have some strong feelings on this sport and what it has become. I'll just say this. If you watch a sport where people can die, you can't be surprised when people die or get hurt badly. It's not suddenly grounds for rules changes. What happened yesterday seems a fluke. Until further info comes out, I think the ideas of cockpits and safety cars are simply reactionary. PEACE.

I think you needed to write that longer post...
 

Pimpwerx

Member
I think you needed to write that longer post...

No. Brought back too many bad memories. I lost my favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt. I've been gutted by my sport, but I'll never stop watching, because I am a petrol head. I understand the risks, and the sport is already much safer than when I began watching. Grief can lead to irrationality, and I think that's what's happening with some of the reactions and suggestions so far. PEACE.
 
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