Senna's and Kubica's accidents

Thank you very much for posting this information.

 

Good thing they use cf suspension pieces now that shatter instead of steel or aluminum rods that can pierce you like what happened to Senna.

 

I don't understand why a wall (any wall, for that matter) that distance from the track has to be concrete. With all the money/technology going into F1, I can't believe that a better impact cushioning surface or system cannot be achieved.

 

Hamilton’s flight over the gravel trap could have ended very badly had the tire barrier not been there.

 

Bad luck played a part I am sure with senna but with advances made after that race and probably because of that race the cars and tracks became alot safer.

And in particular I believe the HANS device definitely has played a big part in reducing injury.

Racing is a high risk sport.

But then so is horse riding..

 

There is a photo somewhere out there of Senna before he was loaded into the ambulance and it was pretty apparent that the suspension that pierced his visor didn't do most of the damage. The bleeding from the nose, mouth and ears is pretty consistent with basal skull fracture injuries. There was no significant bleeding from his forehead.

 

Can you post a link to the article?

 

I'm certain it was real. Just looking at a photo of his helmet let you know it was bad. I left a key word out of my post though; the suspension didn't do most of the "outward" damage.

Very tragic day for fans of F1...it was such a freak accident.

 

Indeed it was - as was, some say, Jimmie Clark and Joichim Rindt, among many others. Probably not many would have thought D. Earnhardt's crash was really so deadly just on first glance.

I for one thought the very worst when I saw the Kubica footage during the race. And he practically walked away from it.

 

What were these 3 different times? First one might be hitting the wall, but the other two ones....?

 

Kubica accident in 3D: http://youtube.com/watch?v=WPeRJbfX_R4

 

Didn't he hit another car standing in the grass before hitting the wall?

 

Remember - it's not only F1 races that take place there. So with all the money going into racing IN GENERAL...

 

It seems no one believes that the safety improvements implemented since 1994 (amy as a direct result of Senna's death) did not contribute to Kubica surviving the incident. I don't mean to dispute that he was lucky, he was. But to me some of that "luck" is the fact that the cars are built to be more safely, Hans Device, wheel/tire restraints, higher driver envelope, etc.

 

First of all the gravel trap was the main difference between LH's (minor) accident and both of these ones.

Second, LH was only doing ~240 km/h compared to over 300 for both the others.
Pete

 

Simply changing the angle of the wall would have made bigger differences.

Even in Kubica's case the wall angle is unfortunate and just wrong. It should be parallel to the track on the fast side and not on the slow side (of the hairpin). This should be rectified before anyone is allowed to race there again.
Pete

 

I guess anyone can believe what they want. Of course technology played its role here - no doubt about that. After seeing numerous replays of the crash though one can't help feeling he had some kind of luck to walk away from that practically unscathed. Now some will say it was just luck, some that it was a divine intervention.
If I'm not mistaken you mean "miracle" as in act of God, right? I remember being linked from some forum to an article, where the Polish Church claims God saved Kubica there. Now to be honest I don't recall hearing anyone use the word "miracle" in that sense (or at least didn't put enough pressure on the godly part for it to be evident) over here - I found about all this from English boards. It would fit many foreigner's image of Poland as a country led by religion, which in some (maybe even large) extent is true but I find somewhat misportrayed in other countries. Don't know... maybe the Church here is looking for attention and tried to use the situation knowing how religious Kubica is (although I don't doubt many REALLY believe it was a miracle)? Hard to tell..

 

some say it was the late Pope John Paul 2 who saved Kubica. it seems, Kubik did have a pic of the late Pope on his helmet? can anyone confirm this?

 

He has John Paul II written on the side of his helmet, yes. Did he save him? Who can tell without a doubt? It's only a question of whether one is reilgious or not. If someone is - they're likely to believe. If someone isn't then they probably won't.

 

Thanx for the confirmation, Marek. Kubik probably put the late Pope's name on his helmet either because they're from the same country, or, he's religious.

i do know, however, Trulli is trulli religious, as he's interview with this month's F1 racing mag

 

..or both