Bahrain GP

[Filo]

Horrific crash by Roman Grosjean, how he got out of that fire after hitting that barrier at 53g is nothing short of a miracle, if he gets knocked he he dies and burns to death

[Filo]

And another pic

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Was watching it live on the TV football on the laptop never miss either so had both on.  I was almost speechless watching it soon as it happened it was shocking. Ultimately amazing to see the safety they have these days.

[Donnywolf]

Damn - now you tell me - I just didnt brain that out !

I often have telly on with say a Box Set and Laptop on my knee watching Footy but I just never gave it a thought.

I swithched game off the instant whistle went - saw crash on Sky News and thought get it on now - might have been a long Red Flad and they were only on Lap 11 so not too bad in the end
Best bit of course Romain Grosjean relatively well after that crash and fireball

[IDM]

Not so many years ago he would have been toast..

Normally I watch the race highlights but I didn’t bother after hearing about the crash..  thankfully he’s ok..

[keyser_soze]

Not so many years ago he would have been toast..

Prior to the introduction of the Halo in 2018 he would have been dead on impact as the car separated the barrier and the first solid thing the top section hit would have been his head. I can think of 4 or 5 examples where lives have potentially been saved by the Halo in those three seasons. So lucky not to get trapped in there too. Grosjean has lost his drive for next season, what a way to end what will now very likely be his final race.

[TommyC]

I can think of two historic examples of F1 cars piercing the barriers. Both happened in the early 1970s at Watkins Glen in the USA. Francois Cevert in 1973 and  Hulmut Konig in 1974 and both drivers were decapitated by the armco as the car passed through/under it. It is absolutely without question that the same would have happened yesterday were it not for the "halo" device protecting the driver's head. I like many others were critical of it for spoiling the aesthetic of the cars and muttered about it spoiling the purity of what should be an open cockpit formula. "Our drivers should be like Gladiators", "they know the risks", "the sport is for wimps these days" etc etc. I don't think anyone is saying that after seeing what happened yesterday.

In another eery and unpleasant echo from the past, the trackside martial running across the track with a fire extinguisher and nearly being collected by Lando Norris was similar to the Tom Pryce accident from 1977. Whatever you do don't Google that one as it is incredibly disturbing viewing.

It all goes to show that no matter how sanitised and safe F1 may seem these days, there is always that element of danger lurking there somewhere. Thankfully the dark days of the 60s and 70s where we'd loose two or three drivers a season are a thing of the past. But be in no doubt that it will never be completely safe and it's a matter of when not if we lose another driver. Nobody saw Imola 1994 coming. Nobody foresaw the freak set of circumstances that led to Bianchi's accident. If history teaches us anything it's that F1 has a habit of shocking us all back into reality when we least expect it.

 

[Filo]

That Tom Pryce incident when hehit the marshall running across the track, the Marshalls fire extinguisher hit Pryce on the head and the strap on his helmet decapitated him, the fire extinguisher was found in the car park

[Donnywolf]

... and yet that Marshall ran across the "live" Track yesterday to see to Sergio Perez's car . Didnt see if he was carrying a Fire Extinguisher though but probably wont be asked back

Probably "torn" trying to help a fellow human but the Training I guess will be stay where you are - do NOT cross a track 

[keyser_soze]

... and yet that Marshall ran across the "live" Track yesterday to see to Sergio Perez's car . Didnt see if he was carrying a Fire Extinguisher though but probably wont be asked back

Probably "torn" trying to help a fellow human but the Training I guess will be stay where you are - do NOT cross a track 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/IdPEmZGGIUk

I hadn't realised how close that was, yikes.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Lando is great entertainment though, do like his radio messages.

[Glyn_Wigley]

You might have seen this, but if you haven't it's a great documentary about the struggle to improve Grand Prix driver safety over the years.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7onslp