That might well be the last time he'll be in an F1 car on race day. Can't imagine he'll be passed fit before the last race in 2 weeks. The impact was measured at 53G!
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2020 Formula 1 Season Thread
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Surely that can’t be right? 53G has to be more than the human body can survive, doesn’t it? I mean, I have no idea, I’m just thinking out loud. Jeez....
It’s even more miraculous he came out of it so well.
David Purley survived a 178.8G impact in 1977 in an F1 car. I had to look that up but remember it being huge.
Kenny Brack has the highest recorded G-Force a human. 214G at Texas Motor Speedway.
Ralf Schumacher's crash in the 2004 United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis was measured at 78G. Don't wanna try this myself, that's for sure!
Burti’s was a big one for sure. Ralph Firman had one of the biggest I have seen in a Jordan when his rear wing failed. I can’t remember the circuit though.
Well my flabber is gasted !!
How the heck did we evolve to survive that. It means I could theoretically survive over 16 tonnes of force....which I'd like to bet I actually couldn't. I hurt myself doing a yoga exercise whilst lying down on Saturday!! 😂
Admittedly, I was never fan of the HALO from a purely aesthetic perspective. I remember the GP in Japan when Bianchi died, and Massa getting beaned by a flying part on the track, so my adult mind understood the need or purpose. But yet, the HALO still stuck out/sticks out like a sore thumb. When I look at an F1 car my eye can't help but be drawn to it.
After watching what happened to Grosjean, I don't care how ugly it is, I'm just glad it's there. I saw a reference to a comment from Niki Lauda about how the HALO tainted the DNA of the F1 cars, and am kinda surprised that after his near-death experience he would dis any safety feature, anything to keep his fellow F1 pilots alive. Mad respect to Niki and all the best to Romain. Hope he's healthy enough to race next season, and that we go a LONG time without seeing something like this again.
After watching what happened to Grosjean, I don't care how ugly it is, I'm just glad it's there. I saw a reference to a comment from Niki Lauda about how the HALO tainted the DNA of the F1 cars, and am kinda surprised that after his near-death experience he would dis any safety feature, anything to keep his fellow F1 pilots alive. Mad respect to Niki and all the best to Romain. Hope he's healthy enough to race next season, and that we go a LONG time without seeing something like this again.
I wonder what the take-aways will be from this accident... I'd guess:
- Thank God for the HALO! Don't even want to think about a driver's head impacting an armco barrier.
- There are few safe spots on a racing circuit. Anything that's an acute angle to the direction of the track is still a potential impact point.
- The design of that race marshal access point wasn't ideal. Instead of the access point protruding inwards and being flush on the outside, it protrudes outwards (possibly to avoid blocking the narrow roadway inside the barrier). This didn't cause the crash, but it meant the barrier was closer to the track than it needed to be, and the angle of impact was more 'square on'.
- I don't know if anything can be done about the construction of the barriers to avoid being pierced like that - the energy of that impact was massive. Is it feasible to 'ban' bare armco barriers at any high-speed sections of the track, and protect them with tire walls?
- Thank God for the HALO! Don't even want to think about a driver's head impacting an armco barrier.
- There are few safe spots on a racing circuit. Anything that's an acute angle to the direction of the track is still a potential impact point.
- The design of that race marshal access point wasn't ideal. Instead of the access point protruding inwards and being flush on the outside, it protrudes outwards (possibly to avoid blocking the narrow roadway inside the barrier). This didn't cause the crash, but it meant the barrier was closer to the track than it needed to be, and the angle of impact was more 'square on'.
- I don't know if anything can be done about the construction of the barriers to avoid being pierced like that - the energy of that impact was massive. Is it feasible to 'ban' bare armco barriers at any high-speed sections of the track, and protect them with tire walls?
I expect we will see something like tire walls with the "conveyor belt" outer contiguous rubber sheet so that way it should prevent the nose from piercing the tires yet still be able to dissipate the impact energy and not breach the armco.
There is an argument that the halo could have had a hand in splitting the armco barrier horizontally, which may not have happened without it.
In addition to the HALO, the other piece of tech that amazes me is whatever material is used for the fuel cell bladder. The fact that it was not punctured or otherwise ignited is totally amazing to me. If that fire was fed only by the petrol in the fuel collector, I shudder to think about the size or intensity of the blaze had ~110 kilos of race fuel gone up. 😵
Instant death. It was truly a testament to all the safety improvements over the years.
Yeah I’m glad the halo was there in this case.
It’s weird because my favourite form of motorsport is road racing and a massive draw of that is the danger. One mistake and it’s often death. You just accept watching it and those taking part also accept there is a fair chance someone will die at some point during the event. With F1 it’s a totally different mindset and we support everything possible to make it safe for the competitors. I suppose one is a modern form of racing and the other is racing in its purest form. Both exciting in their own ways.
It’s weird because my favourite form of motorsport is road racing and a massive draw of that is the danger. One mistake and it’s often death. You just accept watching it and those taking part also accept there is a fair chance someone will die at some point during the event. With F1 it’s a totally different mindset and we support everything possible to make it safe for the competitors. I suppose one is a modern form of racing and the other is racing in its purest form. Both exciting in their own ways.
For a second, I thought it was going to be announcing his retirement or decision to leave Mercedes!Hamilton has decided to give everyone else a chance after all.
Seriously though, hope he’s ok with it.
I’d like to see Russell drive it to be honest as he’s a Mercedes development driver. Is it 10 or 14 days in isolation? If I catch it it’s 14 days currently under our rules, not sure for F1 drivers though? lol
With the championship won, this is actually quite exciting.
Give the seat to Verstappen so we can see what he can do in a Mercedes!! 😂😂
Give the seat to Verstappen so we can see what he can do in a Mercedes!! 😂😂
May have had a part in it, but in order for the Halo to even reach the barrier the nose would obviously have already penetrated the barrier substantially (or been completely crushed, including the driver's legs). And thankfully it was the Halo - and not the driver's helmet - impacting the barrier.