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Formula 1 Season 2020 |OT| Drive to Survive 2 - who drinks champagne from a shoe?

StonedRider

Member
Those replays are terrifying for sure!

Pierced right through the barrier and split in half. Absolutely unbelievable. Glad Romain is ok. Haven’t seen anything like that in F1 for 25+ years.

I did not see fire like this since Jos Verstappen infamous refuelling in 1994.
 

FunkMiller

Member
Jesus. The most memorable thing Grosjean ever did in F1. Bloody miracle he’s okay. Halo proves its worth completely in one single moment.

God was riding with that Haas.

The best science and engineering you can get. No god required thankfully 😋
 
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Business

Member
That was brutal. When I saw it live I thought it wasn’t as bad as it looked because I could see the back of the car bouncing away from the barrier and what looked like the center of the fire. But that was assuming the car was whole, I didn‘t image the back of the car we could see was split from the front and the front was stuck piercing the barrier in the very center of the fire. Spent what seemed like an eternity inside there, still amazed he managed to get out by himself.
 

Breakage

Member
Briefly heard about the crash on the radio, so had to YouTube it (I haven't watched the race yet). Seeing the car explode like that was shocking. You just don't expect to see that happen these days.

It's a miracle that Romain was able survive the impact in order to escape the fire with minor injuries. Imagine if he got KO'd in his seat.
 

JimiNutz

Banned
Terrible race for Racing Point

Edit: Well done to Alex as well. Hope he keeps his seat.
 
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StonedRider

Member
What the fuck happened? The barrier failed to do its job? Looks like the halo might have saved his life.
Yeah. the halo pushed steel rails of the barrier apart, if not halo, it would be Roman's helmet vs steel rails on high speed.
It looks like high speed crash in this place was not expected and this barrier was not designed for it. Car almost pierced through it, marshals were in great danger too.
 

Peter303

Member
Incredible to see how the safety cell punched through the barrier and burnt and is still intact.

_115692140_grosjean.jpg
 
Just got done watching the race after work. I'm in amazement that Grosjean survived or came out relatively unharmed, that was horrifying. Seeing that shot of him getting out while the flames were engulfing everything had me wondering what if he was knocked unconscious? Would anyone have been able to cope with diving into the intense burning heat and pull him out?

qF4g89X.jpg
 

TTOOLL

Member
That was the most absurd thing I've ever seen on live TV. I was truly scared. How did he not pass out after a crash like that? That's the craziest part if you think about it.

I don't think he'll ever race again, I certainly wouldn't. That was God giving you a second chance, go enjoy your life, family and friends.
 

GHG

Gold Member
That was the most absurd thing I've ever seen on live TV. I was truly scared. How did he not pass out after a crash like that? That's the craziest part if you think about it.

I don't think he'll ever race again, I certainly wouldn't. That was God giving you a second chance, go enjoy your life, family and friends.

The amount of g force during the initial impact with the barrier would have been insane. I still can't quite work out how he didn't get knocked out or maybe it was the amount of heat generated from the fire that kept him conscious?

Also despite it looking horrific (and being the primary cause of the fire), the car splitting in half like that would have helped reduce the amount of energy the survival cell would have had to endure, this ensuring it's structural integrity remained intact.

I also have no doubt that the cockpit being on its side when it came to rest in the barrier would have helped him to both have an easier escape and somewhat protect him from the fire. It will be interesting to get his account of things and how he got out once the dust has settled.



Basically everything that needed to go his way did. If I were him I'd see this incident as a sign and retire from being a driver, he has a family and can still remain connected to motorsports if he wishes to without needing to be a driver.

It was harrowing to witness live, I feared the worst when I saw the initial impact and they refused to show any replays. It's a testament to how far the sport has come that he's come away mostly unscathed.

I hope this is a lesson to everyone, when the FIA want to implement something in the name of safety, everyone should just STFU and let them do their jobs.
 
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hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
He really should think about his reckless maneuvers on the track first. That's the primary reason of this crash. God forbid him from moving to Indycar with his mindset, his career will be short.

Yep - he does have form for some stupid shit. Glad he survived, hopefully it'll wake up a few drivers to the importance of not driving like a dick.
 

StonedRider

Member
The amount of g force during the initial impact with the barrier would have been insane. I still can't quite work out how he didn't get knocked out or maybe it was the amount of heat generated from the fire that kept him conscious?

It's good that the barrier was not made of concrete. Cockpit pierced through steel barrier and pushed parts of it apart. I think, it played a role of a cushion absorbing energy and distributing loss of the momentum through a relatively long time period.

Edit: also, this:

Also despite it looking horrific (and being the primary cause of the fire), the car splitting in half like that would have helped reduce the amount of energy the survival cell would have had to endure, this ensuring it's structural integrity remained intact.
 
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Reactions: GHG

GHG

Gold Member
He really should think about his reckless maneuvers on the track first. That's the primary reason of this crash. God forbid him from moving to Indycar with his mindset, his career will be short.

From his on-board I understand why he decided to make the manoeuvre he did as there was a car to his left that needed to rejoin the track and there were 3 or 4 cars directly ahead of him on the left side of the track that had a worse run on to the straight than he did.

However the way he did it is where the problem lies. He didn't move across the track gradually, he did so almost instantaneously which would have caught Kvyat off guard. If he had decided to switch sides in a more controlled manner then Kvyat would have had enough time to see what was going on and take evasive action (slow down or move over slightly to give him more room).

Kvyat was in his blind spot for sure but that's why you're supposed to telegraph your intentions on a race track, so that just in case you've failed to spot another car, they can take the action necessary to avoid an incident.

It's good that the barrier was not made of concrete. Cockpit pierced through steel barrier and pushed parts of it apart. I think, it played a role of a cushion absorbing energy and distributing loss of the momentum through a relatively long time period.

Yeh I read somewhere yesterday that even the hans device might not have been sufficient if that kind of impact was into a concrete wall due to the g force it would have generated. The hans device works well in conjunction with all of the other safety measures (tecpro, tire barriers, car crumple zones, etc) but dependant on the circumstances it won't always be enough on its own.
 

StonedRider

Member
From his on-board I understand why he decided to make the manoeuvre he did as there was a car to his left that needed to rejoin the track and there were 3 or 4 cars directly ahead of him on the left side of the track that had a worse run on to the straight than he did.

However the way he did it is where the problem lies. He didn't move across the track gradually, he did so almost instantaneously which would have caught Kvyat off guard. If he had decided to switch sides in a more controlled manner then Kvyat would have had enough time to see what was going on and take evasive action (slow down or move over slightly to give him more room).

Kvyat was in his blind spot for sure but that's why you're supposed to telegraph your intentions on a race track, so that just in case you've failed to spot another car, they can take the action necessary to avoid an incident.

Roman reminded me of myself during my second day in driving school 25 years ago, trying to switсh lanes while not knowing mirrors exist. Driving instructor almost killed me afterwards, but everything had ended good. Not a scratch! I still remember the words of wisdom from my instructor "if you don't know what to do - brake, motherfucker!". Roman should visit him someday, the guy sounded very convincing.
 
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Reactions: GHG

FunkMiller

Member
One thing to note:

If a big crash is easily the most memorable thing that happened on the track, in a Formula One season that was sent topsy turvy by a pandemic, then you really do have a problem with what's going on during races.

This sport needs a kick up the fucking arse.
 

xrnzaaas

Gold Member
Damn, that's big news. I wonder if they'll contact Williams to give George a drive or pick someone like Hulk.

I'm curious how it happened though... the drivers left Bahrain instead of waiting there till the next weekend? And should the symptoms manifest so fast?
 
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Dream scenario Russell takes the Mercedes and mops the floor with Bottas.
I'd love to see it too, but it looks like it's going to be Vandoorne (do want), Gutierrez (meh), Hulk (yes please) or Russell (yes). In that order. Vandoorne is in Spain testing Formula E now, rumours are he's flying out tonight.
 

Peter303

Member
They'll pick someone slower than Bottas as they want Bottas to win and get maximum points to beat Verstappen to second in the championship.

Would be awesome to see George in the Merc though.
 

xrnzaaas

Gold Member
Vandoorne? oof... but I guess Mercedes isn't fighting for the championship anymore so they might just reward him for his simulator work
 

StonedRider

Member
Of course she already deleted the tweet, because it's easy to post accusations, but not easy to win an actual court battle. ;)

ljNBHjm.jpg

Young Mazepin is an asshole, but yeah, if you want to accuse somebody, you should present proof, otherwise it's a slander.
 

Fox Mulder

Member
Russell would be the romantic choice, but will probably be Stoffel Vandoorne or Esteban Gutiérrez though.

Williams will want to keep him as they’re still only 3 points behind Haas for last place. Haas is without Grosjean and will look like shit on the outer circuit with a Ferrari engine.
 

GHG

Gold Member


Looks like Palmer agrees with a lot of the things i said about why Grosjean made the move that he did which resulted in his accident.

Nice to see my race driver licence allows me to see things as I should even though I can't be on the track :(

Roman reminded me of myself during my second day in driving school 25 years ago, trying to switсh lanes while not knowing mirrors exist. Driving instructor almost killed me afterwards, but everything had ended good. Not a scratch! I still remember the words of wisdom from my instructor "if you don't know what to do - brake, motherfucker!". Roman should visit him someday, the guy sounded very convincing.

Yeh he's right, I was taught if in doubt brake. These guys in F1 don't always share that principle though because they are far more experienced and due to the fact that overtaking in F1 is so difficult (which needs to change) so they will take every opportunity they can get even if it's the more risky move.

If he legitimately couldn't see Kvyat in his mirrors due to blind spots then for a start those mirrors need to change or an electronic video mirror system needs to be implemented. The current mirrors in F1 cars are designed with aero in mind first and safety after which is wrong imo.
 
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hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
Having driven a racing car I can tell you now the mirrors are useless due to size and vibrations. Also I didn’t have the insane restraint with the huge side panels etc and even then it was hard to know where other cars but F1 cars have a dreadful seating position which basically makes it impossible to know who’s around you. It’s a miracle they do anything wheel to wheel frankly.
 
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