Formula 1 crash right after start
An evening pause: This short analysis of a spectacular race track crash right at the start of a Formula 1 race illustrates well the sophistication of modern technology, not only in protecting the driver’s life but in providing the information for reconstructing the cause of the accident. And it all happens during an ordinary sports broadcast.
You’ll probably want to watch this more than once to catch how one car gets flipped over on its back.
Hat tip Tom Wilson.
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…one tap ….
The driver looks hardly the worse for wear at the end, from a crash that would have brought a helicopter a few years ago, and hearse not so long ago. And some credit to the gaming industry for the hardware/software development that makes the sims possible.
I’ve been gravitating to F1, though I spent formative years in NASCAR country.
My reaction is that the gap between the large barrier and the netting behind it is potentially dangerous. The car fell into it semi-inverted, apparently trapping the driver. What if there had been a fire?
Ray, that isn’t netting, it’s a chain link fence, and that is the last line of defense for protecting the spectators in the stands. Its very rare for the cars to go over the tire barrier. The construction of the car and fuel cell manages the risk of fire pretty well. You basically have to cut the car in half in order to rupture the fuel cell.
Blair, all the footage you see in this video is actual camera footage, not simulation. Although the drivers do train extensively in simulators that kind of technology is not used in television broadcasting to my knowledge.
Despite what the announcer said in the video, the roll hoop didn’t do its job. It’s the piece behind the driver’s head that is supposed to provide more clearance between the driver’s helmet and the track while upside down, but it snapped off the moment the car came down on it. F1 is reputedly looking into this car’s hoop and how it was made to see if they need a change in the rules to make them a bit sturdier. Fortunately, the halo did its job and allowed Zhou to walk away from a very dramatic crash.
Bucket, very true the roll hoop did fail. Thank goodness for the Halo. To demonstrate what it takes to puncture a fuel cell in an F-1 car we need only look back to the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2020 and Romain Grossjean. Its amazing he survived this horrific crash, and fire, with some burns to his hands. In fact, I will see Romain up in Portland, Oregon here pretty soon as he drives in Indy Car now and they will be testing there in a couple of weeks and racing on Sept 2nd-4th. Warning on these vids, graphic images and language . . .
https://youtu.be/7YMjw2sjXqU
https://youtu.be/ZQ7_En2xEm4
That easily could have been a decapitation
To show you the progress that has been made, consider motorsport’s darkest day, June 11, 1955, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJg09Gu79Mc
55 LeMans was a different era, just have to go back to May 1994 when Senna and Ratsenberger were killed.
That’s when the current safety trend really got started. Various racing bodies F1, IndyCar, NASCAR etc started cooperating more and sharing data.
The “halo” is the latest major safety mod (along with the clear screen on indycars) and it has really proven itself.
So amazing Zhou and Grosjean came out of those crashes without serious injuries, particularly Grosjean:
“FIA publishes findings and recommendations after investigation into the causes and consequences of Romain Grosjean’s horrific Bahrain GP accident last November; Grosjean suffered 67G impact and spent 27 seconds in the blaze before escape”
More on the Halo saving lives (this was written before Zhou’s crash) for those curious:
https://racingnews365.com/five-times-the-halo-has-saved-a-driver-from-injury
O/T
The Teton event returns?
https://www.boslough.us/blog/incoming-1972-2022
https://www.boslough.us/blog/ufo-tetons
https://www.sltrib.com/news/2022/08/13/officials-explain-likely-source/
https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2022/08/09/cneos-2014-01-08-sampling-the-interstellar-meteor/#comments
“Grosjean suffered 67G impact and spent 27 seconds in the blaze before escape”
Holy Mother of Light. He should have died twice. Seven lives left, I guess.