Who bore the blame when Montoya's car crashed into a track dryer/heavy machinery and burst into flames? Who would be at blame had Bianchi crashed into Sutil's car and a suspension arm from Sutil's car pierced his helmet? It's in our nature as humans to need to assign blame, but sometimes there is simply no way to foresee an accident. I'm certain there is a very good reason cars are removed from certain areas of the track...I would agree that in this case a crane with an extension arm operating from behind the barrier could be a better solution for that turn, but maybe the track workers would have been hit instead of a crane. There are tons of variables in this situation.
Wow, that video is horrible. Wow. That's not what I was expecting. It is truly a miracle he didn't die on impact. Mark
Absolutely. Sometimes it takes something like this for unforeseen problems to be addressed. If it happened once it can happen again.
The "good" news is that no other race driver has to say to himself, "I contributed to it". I haven't seen enough to speculate how fast or slow he was going, but if he had slowed a lot, he could have lost enough down force that his tires lost contact with the track. It seems it is time to change the rules to allow a change in setup for a wet race.
found something along these very lines (i have no idea about accuracy, i don't endorse nor condemn the linked site or the content, yada yada): https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/2ig1ga/jules_bianchis_crash_on_video_243/cl1vdz9 A frame-by-frame analysis estimates Bianchi's speed at 80kph=50mph right before impact.
OMG that's sickening. He's lucky to be alive right now. I'm sorry if this was covered but why is the flag men waving the green flag? What we want is a full recovery as quickly as possible.
I agree. However IMO it should be looked at in regards to the timing of the event, as in it getting darker, and obviously the regions seasonal weather (not that I mind a wet track), regards the time, I assume it is Bernie pampering to the European TV watching times.
Was on the F1 site and the family asked that no information be made public until they decide it's time for a press conference with the hospital.
I got creamed for saying that yesterday. I still hold by my conviction that the TV feed was a factor in this tragedy. It may not be all of it but I think there needs to be some transparency on the decision making that went on to assign this time originally, to not change it to an earlier time when the weather was obviously going to be a factor, and to not stop it earlier when the light faded.
Oh my god that was a devastating impact. I had stepped away from the TV only to return and see the race had been red flagged.
This is could be considered a case of when safety first, butts heads with Bernies circus show, and of course it all revolves around the ££££££££'s
When the medical car took the track we knew it wasn't good. When they didn't show the crash we knew it was bad. When they didn't show the scene we expected the worst.
Actually what brought it home for me was seeing all the cars going into pitlane. I have never seen that. Then I knew they are pulling the plug for ethical reasons. The show must not go on. Very rare in a dollar dominated world.
I'm sure he did. A sport that went on racing after Senna crashed finally called it quits. Worst omen.
... the helicopter is an important piece of safety equipment... why was it put on ignore... there have been races that were held up because the helicopter was not in position... it is an important instant response piece of safety equipment... yet was not able to be used because the weather was below safe operating limits... if the air ambulance can't fly, shouldn't the race be suspended until all safety equipment is in place and useable... Jules got ground transport to hospital at the expense of longer time... to early to speculate if time was critical... the point is how can the helicopter be waived at the whim of race officials... time can be extremely critical to a driver's health in case of an incident... the helicopter is an important medical emergency piece of equipment... if it can't fly, the race should be suspended... it would be a measure of conditions by world wide standard ( already in place by FAA ), that conditions are too severe for the helicopter to operate which would carry over to the drivers and shut the race down in interest of safety...
There are various potential reasons why it wasn't used...lets not jump to conclusions. And if you can't think of them, here's a sampler: unfavorable weather? increased altitude and air pressure might exasperate the head injuries? nearest hospital w the best surgeon able to treat such head trauma doesn't have a landing pad?
