F1 2015 Testing

[psychoazubi]

The mercs are scary.

Pretty sure the other teams are scared of its true pace.

I'm scared that this still was not their true pace.

 

[Kenocar]

Plot Twist: The Mercs are powered by rockets.

 

[GTPorsche]

Alonso suffered a concussion in his crash today, will remain in hospital overnight.

https://twitter.com/GPUpdate/status/569571966514032640

 

[Kenocar]

Good, I hope its a minor concussion, he needs to be in Australia, in a few weeks.

 

[Whodoyouthink]

Jeez, tough break for Alonso. I'd hate for a worse case scenario in that 1.He misses Melbourne 2. Ferrari is faster than Mclaren 3. Both Mclarens DNF.

Happy for Merc though. I still like the team and wouldn't mind seeing Nico win the championship. I still wish the best for Alonso, but I think his team switch must be seen as an investment, one in that it will not show its true potential this season. Still, I believe something good will come from it this season.

Also had Merc even run anything softer than Mediums yet?

 

[GTPorsche]

It's just a concussion.. it's not going to linger for a month.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Rosberg hit a 1:24 on mediums . Lotus has the fastest time with supersofts.

I laughed at this to, because it seemed from what I've read an easy effort with some left in the bag. People should be nervous.

With lack of anything really about what happened to Alonso, or why it makes me wonder if the idea that he was shocked somehow is true. Along with images of the crew pulling him out with rubber gloves and supposedly people at the track verifying this I wonder if the interwebs are right about this. I mean past incidents of issues with McLaren in this years testing have given quick insight into what the issues are and a time table of the fix, not so much the case this time.

 

[GTPorsche]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117789

McLaren say the strong winds were at fault for Alonso's accident.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117789

McLaren say the strong winds were at fault for Alonso's accident.

Was about to link it too, no fault of the car says McLaren

 

[marco89IT]

That accident is obscure to say the least, they're clearly hiding something.

The car looks fine, only a broken front wing and a deflated rear tire. Vettel was behind him and reported that Alonso was around 150 km/h before the "strange crash" (Vettel words). How is it possible that this touch on the wall caused Alonso's temporary loss of consciousness, abnormal agitation (he's been sedated while he was in the car according to his physiotherapist) and the hospitalization that is still going on?

The good thing is that Alonso seems to be ok, but McLaren explanations are pathetic.

 

[catamount39]

What could have caused a concussion though? The car would be pretty knackered to hit something with enough force to concuss him. I mean the suspension should be torn apart if it hit the wall that hard (along with a lot more)...these things aren't exactly durable...

This entire thing makes no sense.

 

[TRGTspecialist]

I'd agree it's strange circumstances but I don't think I could agree to the "oh it's a cover up" theories. He crashed into what looks like a solid concrete wall at a not-insignificant speed. The car appears largely undeformed too which could suggest Alonso himself bore the brunt of the crash (plausible if it were a side impact, say). I'm no doctor but if someone told me that that could knock you out and cause concussion, I'd believe it. Just because McLaren communicated this poorly (either by choice or inadvertently), that doesn't make a conspiracy theory imo.

And if it is true that something else happened, well surely McLaren would only keep quiet to respect Alonso's privacy.........and whilst there's nothing wrong with speculation, personally I'd rather follow that lead than do what you can see on a certain other forum - forensically disect every track photo, lap up all the probably made up clickbait from unknown journalists, and conclude that he must have either had a heart attack or been electrocuted........

 

[catamount39]

I totally agree. I'm just confused as to how the car is pretty much intact...but a sidepod impact could explain it.

Anyway...just going to wait for Mclaren's response now.

 

[Fryto]

The car looks fine, only a broken front wing and a deflated rear tire. Vettel was behind him and reported that Alonso was around 150 km/h before the "strange crash" (Vettel words). How is it possible that this touch on the wall caused Alonso's temporary loss of consciousness, abnormal agitation (he's been sedated while he was in the car according to his physiotherapist) and the hospitalization that is still going on?

The good thing is that Alonso seems to be ok, but McLaren explanations are pathetic.

The agitation may be caused by the concussion. It wouldn't be abnormal.
And a 150km/h hit into a concrete wall is a very good reason for a concussion. The more intact the car is, the more chance that the driver absorbed the impact. Side impacts are always the worst, even though they don't always seem that spectacular (e.g. Allan Simonsen's crash).

 

[psychoazubi]

The agitation may be caused by the concussion. It wouldn't be abnormal.
And a 150km/h hit into a concrete wall is a very good reason for a concussion. The more intact the car is, the more chance that the driver absorbed the impact. Side impacts are always the worst, even though they don't always seem that spectacular (e.g. Allan Simonsen's crash).

auto-motor-und-sport (who are very good informed in most cases) report that they measured up to 30g on the impact and >15g over a time of 50ms..this is a pretty hard impact and more than enough for a concussion and getting knocked out.

 

[marco89IT]

I'm definitely not a fan of "conspiracy everywhere" either.
Of course in the case of a flat, perfectly parallel crash with a wall, the car can look almost fine from outside, because the force is distributed into the whole side of the car instead of a single point. But there's a big difference between a GT car (Simonsen's case) and an open wheel car. The less the car absorbs the impact, the more of the impact hits the driver. There's not a lot of stuff absorbing an impact on the side of a GT car like the Aston that Simonsen was driving. There's just the unbelievably stiff chassis, and a roll-cage adding even more stiffness. An F1 has both suspensions absorbing the impact firstly, and we know how easily F1 suspensions collapse. Montreal's "wall of champions" gives lots of examples.
So, Alonso's problems explained by a huge impact obviously makes sense. What doesn't make sense in my opinion, is the condition of the car's suspensions after a >15G side crash.

 

[MonSpaNur]

That McLaren did not crashed, not even near, at 150km/h.
And that crash did not generated 30g*, that I`m absolutely sure.

Or McLaren managed to build the strongest F1 ever...

*Massa`s crash at Montreal 2014 generated 27g, as a example.

 

[psychoazubi]

That McLaren did not crashed, not even near, at 150km/h.
And that crash did not generated 30g*, that I`m absolutely sure.

Or McLaren managed to build the strongest F1 ever...

*Massa`s crash at Montreal 2014 generated 27g, as a example.

You can't compare those crashes, if the impact is 100% sideways on a hard surface, the tires and suspension will not be damaged as easily because they cannot absorb the forces and therefore the damage is not as visible as in Montreal in 2014. Perez' crash generated 80g in Monaco in 2011 and I wouldn't say his car looked worse than Massa's from Montreal.

 

[Dotini]

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/alonso-to-stay-in-hospital-a-third-night/
Fernando Alonso will stay in hospital for a third straight day after his accident during testing at Barcelona.

The McLaren driver was hospitalised on Sunday after suffering concussion as a result of his heavy crash against the concrete wall at Turn 3 of the Spanish circuit.

His manager Luis Garcia Abad said on Monday the Spaniard would stay in hospital for as long as needed to recover fully.

"He will remain here for as long as we need to be sure everything is right and he gets out of here and back to normal life," said Garcia Abad.

"The impact was quite hard. We have to be sure everything is fine, so I can't say if it is one, two or three days more."

Edit:
http://www.pitpass.com/53339/Alonso-to-remain-in-hospital-for-third-night
Luis Garcia Abad has told Spanish media that theMcLaren driver will remain in hospital for as long as needed in order that everyone can be sure that all is OK.

"The impact was quite hard," he is quoted as saying. "We have to be sure everything is fine, so I can't say if it is one, two or three days more."

All of which appears to be in stark contrast to claims that he was "fine" and "uninjured" on Sunday.

Whilst McLaren's statement yesterday insisted that the crash was due to the strong winds at the track, particularly at that corner (T3), speculation continues, and the Spanish driver's prolonged stay in hospital is not going to help the situation.

 

[Furinkazen]

Alonso to spend another night in hospital. Hmmm.

 

[Dotini]

It is hard to reconcile a wind gust blowing the car off course when Vettel, virtually the only witness, reportedly said it was "going slowly and turned right."

My friend Harvey suggests that during the precautionary trip to the hospital, a previously undiagnosed medical condition may have been uncovered by the docs.

 

[marco89IT]

Jordi Vidal, photographer who saw the accident, on Twitter: "I don't want controversy. I started taking pictures at turn 1, at the end of the straight. The sun was behind me and it was really windy. Same thing at turn 2. Then I moved on, outside the track, and I stopped at turn 3. At that point the sun was behind me and there wasn't wind. I was there taking some photos, that's the reason why I took the moment (the accident). Right now I'm looking at the sequence of photos, including two of them while Alonso is on track. He doesn't touch the green area (astroturf) with any of his tires, the car hasn't anything strange, the only thing I noticed is that he was going slowly. Vettel was just behind him, in the sequence he overtakes Alonso while Fernando was close to the wall, Vettel was going a lot faster than him. And in the photo sequence I notice that neither the first nor the second skid marks on the tarmac are from Alonso's car. I repeat, I'm not an expert. The impact didn't seem heavy, but I repeat that I'm not an expert, I'm an humble worker with the hobby of photography. The last thing I say is that McLaren called me to show them my pictures, their chief engineer was there. Nothing more. I repeat, I'm only reporting what I saw."

 

[GTPorsche]

It is hard to reconcile a wind gust blowing the car off course when Vettel, virtually the only witness, reportedly said it was "going slowly and turned right."

My friend Harvey suggests that during the precautionary trip to the hospital, a previously undiagnosed medical condition may have been uncovered by the docs.

If that's the case, that undiagnosed medical condition could most likely have been the reason he went off track.

All I know is that McLaren's story doesn't seem right at all.

 

[catamount39]

Intriguing....something else is definitely is going on here. Mclaren's story is definitely just filler as they figure out what's going on themselves.

 

[mustafur]

Look at the wall, it's concrete this isn't like a tyre barrier.

My guess is he hit side on and got concussed from the G.

 

[catamount39]

Look at the wall, it's concrete this isn't like a tyre barrier.

Exactly...but if he hit it that hard there'd be some pretty good damage to the suspension and tires too wouldn't there?

 

[mustafur]

Exactly...but if he hit it that hard there'd be some pretty good damage to the suspension and tires too wouldn't there?

We would need to see the accident tbh, I got a feeling he hit it diagonally and the font wing hit made the car move alongside the wall keeping the front tyre in place.

 

[catamount39]

We would need to see the accident tbh, I got a feeling he hit it diagonally and the font wing hit made the car move alongside the wall keeping the front tyre in place.

Yeah the pics right now aren't really helpful...it's just that something just doesn't feel right about this accident...

What's bothering me a skosh is no tire marks along the wall.

 

[Dotini]

One odd fact is that "the car slid down the wall for about 15 seconds before coming to a halt."

Does this mean no brakes, or something else?

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2015/2/16832.html

 

[Furinkazen]

We would need to see the accident tbh, I got a feeling he hit it diagonally and the font wing hit made the car move alongside the wall keeping the front tyre in place.

Yeah the pics right now aren't really helpful...it's just that something just doesn't feel right about this accident...

And the suspension was fairly undamaged. A F1 car is fragile, a 90mph hit of any kind would totally buckle or sheer a wheel. The car has minimal front damage and the pictures show more of a glancing blow from what I recall. Something isn't adding up.