F1 Season 2020.

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

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.
View attachment 6018
Here's the part that broke off - basically everything not in the survival cell.

View attachment 6019


That's exactly what the car is designed to do.

It looked like it on the original images, but having looked again, you are right. It did it's job.

 

[domalino]

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 cars are specifically designed to split in two like it did for exactly this reason, if another car goes into you at 90 degrees, the driver doesn't take the full force, the car will shear in two.

 

[cleavers]

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.

I watched it live, and I thought he was dead. There were quite a few minutes before there was any news at all, which didn't help, then they showed him sat in the medical car talking, what a relief that was, then there was the footage of him climbing out of the flames.

 

[domalino]

It looked like it on the original images, but having looked again, you are right. It did it's job.

I think the investigation will focus on the track - why did that armco split, and that's something they need to resolve before next weekend because there are miles of armco barrier at every circuit.

 

[cleavers]

The cars are specifically designed to split in two like it did for exactly this reason, if another car goes into you at 90 degrees, the driver doesn't take the full force, the car will shear in two.

The armco also did it's job to a degree, the angle and speed he hit it at parted it enough to take a lot of energy too, but didn't let him through, if the armco had disintegrated completely there was a ditch and bank behind it, goodness knows what damage that might have done.

The armco in that position isn't really there to take an impact like that, it was there more for protection for those behind it marshalls and stewards, it's a very unusual crash site basically on a straight, well after a bend in an acceleration zone, the chance of a car hitting it like that must be extremely small.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

I think the investigation will focus on the track - why did that armco split, and that's something they need to resolve before next weekend because there are miles of armco barrier at every circuit.

It was an usual point of contact with the car going into the barrier at approximately 90 degrees. It would have been more natural for a collision to be a glancing blow. The commentators on Radio 5 Live got it wrong saying it was a 45 degree collision thst should have deflected the impact. That’s not an excuse for the barrier failing, I’m just trying to add more context.

The TV pundits have said the barrier might have been weaker at that point because it was near the gap for media access etc. I’m not sure if they would have weakened the barrier through.

 

[Bluemoon dan]

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.

F1 cars don't have brake lights so it won't have been that (the red lights on the back flash when its harvesting power for the batteries). Spot on about the halo. Had that not been there there would have been a very different outcome.

 

[1.618034]

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.

Brake lights???

It was an usual point of contact with the car going into the barrier at approximately 90 degrees. It would have been more natural for a collision to be a glancing blow. The commentators on Radio 5 Live got it wrong saying it was a 45 degree collision thst should have deflected the impact. That’s not an excuse for the barrier failing, I’m just trying to add more context.

The TV pundits have said the barrier might have been weaker at that point because it was near the gap for media access etc. I’m not sure if they would have weakened the barrier through.

It wasn't anywhere near 90 degrees, mate. Not even 45...

 

[trumpton]

And to think, all the furore in F1 when the halo cockpit came in. It's ugly etc.

Saved his life today.

 

[ultimateharold]

Brake lights???

It wasn't anywhere near 90 degrees, mate. Not even 45...

View attachment 6020

They're not brake lights but do come on if a car is slowing.. Fair assumption/mistake to make.