bluethrunthru
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I think rather than F1 patting itself on the back tonight F1 has to analyse the accident and work out how it makes things even safer tbh.
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I think rather than F1 patting itself on the back tonight F1 has to analyse the accident and work out how it makes things even safer tbh.
Alan Harper's Tash
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Of course they need to aspire to constantly improve, but the fact Grosjean has survived a car splitting in half and encompassing him in flames for 30 seconds and come out with ”minor” burns to hands and feet shows how far they already have come. The only thing they could have improved on here is better fire retardant gloves/boots. Hopefully graphene will be the answer to that.
It’s miraculous that he’s ok.
Trevor Morley's Tache
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The team certainly have to investigate why the integrity of the safety cell was compromised.
Gray
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That barrier was not in line with the track, it was heading towards it at about a 45 degree angle. That is why it ended up being a head on collision. Somebody needs to sort that out quickly.
Alan Harper's Tash
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I was only eluding to car safety, but yeah, circuits and their barriers definitely can be better.
bluethrunthru
Well-Known Member
Tonights headline should be " father of 3 young boys survives horrendous crash relatively unscathed"
cleavers
Moderator
Pretty much in 3 really, the front went through the barrier and broke up, leaving the cockpit wedged in the barrier, and the back half further down the barrier, the front two wheels ended up about 100m apart either side of the track.
It looks like the "halo" actually parted the armco so he went through it, amazing that he actually walked away, I doubt he would without the cockpit and the halo.
cleavers
Moderator
I'm sure there will be a huge investigation, but to be honest I suspect the disintegration helped save him by disapating some of the energy. When you think the car was accelerating before it hit the other cars wheel, and it wasn't breaking when it hit the barrier he had no time to gain any control, most F1 crashes are cars slowing down.
The safety cell was not compromised.
The problem here is the armco barrier. It should not split apart, but it did. If the armco does it's job, the car's nose gets crumpled and bounces off, the kind of crash you see every few weeks.
Because of the fault with the armco, Grosjean's car went through the barrier, the halo protected his head, which saved his life, and then when air intake hit the barrier the car split in two - Engine and rear on one side of the barrier, Grosjean in the safety cell on the other side.
This is a 2014 safety cell diagram - pretty much identical to today's minus the halo.
Here's the part that broke off - basically everything not in the survival cell.
That's exactly what the car is designed to do.
Trevor Morley's Tache
Well-Known Member
I think I saw the brake light come on a split-second before impact. Not sure how fast he was going. It looked quick.
It looked like a pretty head-on impact, and all the energy (weight of the engine and gearbox) was thrown forwards, forcing the cockpit through the barrier. Just shows how strong the halo is, as that barrier could easily have decapitated him.