US GP Discussion

Apparently the track stewards decided it was better to leave a broken car with an injured driver in the middle of the track for a few minutes while they figured out what to do. The other alternative was to wave a five dollar red flag to stop the race. I don't know about F1 but in most forms of the sport a waving red flag means stop where you are and wait for instructions. There was no reason for allowing the race to continue other than the stewards feeling safety was secondary to putting on a show. They should be banished from F1 and sent down to the go-kart league.

 

O my! Tell me it wasn't 6 mins! I thought it was 2!

 

Dan - I understand the politics behind the sport, however, we are talking about an injured driver here. If Christiano jumped out to help Ralf and he were to get reprimanded and fined - so be it. He would be considered a hero in a jury of public opinion. Do you honestly think there should be a second thought given to potential penalties and fines where a driver's life could be hanging in the balance?? We're talking about a life here and NO sport is bigger than that! That being said - it is easy for us to be arm chair critics. Alot happened quickly and I am sure many wish they had an opportunity to do things differently.

 

When timed out, I hear it is actually 3 minutes and 17 seconds before the medical team arrived at Ralf's side. An embarassment for everyone involved. Thank god Ralf is ok and that no one else got injured by the horrible officiating rule to not red flag the race at that point.

Another point to consider: what if JPM had been the one to lose the rear tire and hit the wall? Especially after the FIA knew he was disqualified but did not tell Williams and let him race his heart out only to blakflag him. Imagine the chaos that would insue. I hope this teaches a lesson to the FIA and they can start officiating a race as it is supposed to instead of letting the politics come into play.

 

I agree with you totally. And a big part of the grandstands are always empty for the GP. They hold something like 250K plus people and the largest Formula One crowd at Indy was around 175K, and it has declined since then. Even still, the Indy F1 crowd is the largest F1 crowd in the world by a long shot, I think.

John

 

If Christiano helped Ralf out of the car and off the track and Ralf ended up paralyzed... then Christiano would be ruined for life, sued for every penny he owns, and possibly in jail for a while.

Some of you are forgetting something... the drivers aren't trained medical personnel. Neither are corner workers / marshals. They can operate a fire extinguisher... but Ralf wasn't on fire. They can guide a stunned driver off the track most quickly... but Ralf wasn't going anywhere. Look how long it took the medical pros to figure out what to do with him and do it... in a situation like Ralf's, you don't help Ralf unless you are trained for that.

With all that said... I am making certain assumptions. For example, I know Ralf communicated to Williams team to some degree. Hopefully they confirmed that he was not bleeding externally. That would be something the untrained could help Ralf with. They clearly confirmed he was breathing and wasn't on fire. They surely told him to stay there and wait for help. Beyond that, there's really not much that any non-medical people could do... other than risk their lives by getting in the way.

The drivers driving by would have to assume that there's nothing they can do to help that the corner workers / marshals wouldn't already be doing if it was needed. Unless one of the F1 drivers is a trained doctor or paramedic... in which case, I'd salute them stopping.

Methinks you've seen too many movies with cars flying 100's of feet into lakes where no corner workers could get to quickly but a racecar could. Ain't Hollywood grand!

 

I must say Brian, while I 100% agree with you and have thought exactly that, wouldn't it have been fantastic if MS had stopped and gone to his brothers aid. That would have been the best thing MS could have done to make him human and likeable chap again (if he ever was).

While I agree that he would not have been able to help other than emotional support for RS, it would have bought the house down and looked so bloody right.

Pete's getting emotional and intouch with his femine side

 

Jeffrey,

I totally understand what you're saying, but I think Brian's point is important. Everyone has a function and a job. Christiano is not a medically trained individual, and could have possibly made the situation worse. Now if the car was on fire, im sure no one would have paraded by no matter WHAT the rules said.

The medical staff and marshals have been trained to respond with a certain timeliness and knowledge in order to CONTROL circumstances as much as possible and avoid further complication (which a driver jumping out could have created). The blame lies entirely on the piss poor job of the marshals / medical staff of Indy.

--Dan

 

Actually, the Indianapolis curcuit can fit 500,000 spectators, and last weekend's GP had the highest number ever for F1 there; over 220,000 people (according to Martin Brundle).

 

I thought F1 provides all marshall/safety/medical duties at all venues -- not true?

 

Pete, Brian - Good call. I think some folks here need to see "The Quick and the Dead" narrated by Stacey Keech (sp?). THAT was how things used to be in F1 and it was a complete disaster.

At Indy the right people got to the scene based on the circumstances. Ralph was then assessed and removed. Had the situation turned sour (fire, further accidents, etc.), the corner workers would/would not have intervened based on the events. The rules state 2 min. max response and apparently they met this requirement. There are also rules about when it is acceptable for a Marshall to come onto the track. I know everyone thinks this was a total cluster, but everyone followed the rules.

I was sitting way down in Stand H desparate to find out ANY info since they were not saying much on the Indy track radio. I called my wife at home to see if the the SpeedChannel guys had any information. Bottom line is that it is human nature to want to help - to do SOMETHING, because we all felt the same helpless feeling. Ralph had been on the radio with his team, who notified the rescue guys (who had already contacted the team). Running pell-mell into a rescue situation only gets more people hurt or killed. That is what used to happen in the 60's and even into the 70's. The rules are in place to save lives.

Jim