Jules Bianchi passes away following accident at 2014 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix

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No, I meant the stories of there being no helicopter were alarmist. Even if there is a helicopter at the circuit, the race cannot take place if it cannot take off. Safety is taken extremely seriously by the FIA, so there is no way they would have let the race take place without it

I'd say you need better sources.
 
prisonermonkeys
No, I meant the stories of there being no helicopter were alarmist.
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Probably, but understandable how people put 2&2 together to make 1, given the weather. And when you look back on tragic days, there is often something which makes you scratch your head, and wonder how it was overlooked. Lets hope there wasn't in this case, wait for the investigation report, and wish him a speedy and full recovery.
 
A practice session at COTA for F1 last year was delayed because the helicopter could get to the track on time due to fog. The FIA aren't that daft...
 
I think a lot of people calling for FIA blood are being a bit presumptuous, really.

As far as I can tell... they made only one mistake: They let the safety car out after the recovery operation began. And even then, it was still only happenstance that Bianchi would have that off under yellows... and even if the safety car had been released, there's no guarantee nobody would have slid off into that area before catching up to it.

As it is... it's apparent the wrong thing was done. But where to go forward from here is the trickier part. You can't go full-course SC for every single incident... but there are some incidents that don't warrant a full-course SC that require much more than just a double-yellow. I'd go for the automatic limiter, myself.
 
I can't understand at all how the car crashed into the tractor and sustained the damage it did because all the angles don't make sense without video. It's good to hear that his condition is improving.

I remember that race when it was pouring and loads of car's skidded off in the same place and one nearly hit the safety car which has come to rescue another car, then they red flagged the whole thing. What race was that?

Also are there any real videos of the crash?, every single one on YouTube is fake.
 
Robin.
I can't understand at all how the car crashed into the tractor and sustained the damage it did because all the angles don't make sense without video. It's good to hear that his condition is improving.

I remember that race when it was pouring and loads of car's skidded off in the same place and one nearly hit the safety car which has come to rescue another car, then they red flagged the whole thing. What race was that?

Also are there any real videos of the crash?, every single one on YouTube is fake.
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I think the race you're thinking of is the 2007 European GP, and I'm pretty sure that, so far, the FIA are the only people with footage of the crash and that it may never be released.
 
otakukid96
I think the race you're thinking of is the 2007 European GP, and I'm pretty sure that, so far, the FIA are the only people with footage of the crash and that it may never be released.
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Yeah that was the one, watching back that video Liuzzi tapped the back of a tractor even in those days. So this was a concern years ago! They have a heavy metal tractor going for recovery when the possibly of more cars spinning off is high :ouch:

2007 European GP, Skip to 1:11...

 
Also let's not forget a Marshall getting ran over and killed by a tractor during last year's Canadian Grand Prix.
 
I can't stop thinking but it's surprising to see there were barely any damage done to the tractor but the Marussia was completely obliterated on all sides of the car by the impact. It raised the question of did he hit something first before finally meeting the tractor?
 
^

Makes sense but I expect at least some dents on the tractor though. But now I noticed the rear right wheel of the tractor is a little off camber than the right one. But anyway, has the investigation been handed over to the Police (like has been reported yesterday) or it's still under the FIA?
 
GTPorsche
Well...

One is large and made of very thick, heavy steel.

The other is made of lightweight carbonfiber and other exotic lightweight materials.
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This really.

About 8 years ago, I had a head on collision at over 50mph with a farm lorry carrying a full load of potatoes, as the driver did not see me coming when crossing into another field. My car ended up being one third shorter afterwards, meanwhile the lorry suffered a few inches of scratched paint and nothing more, not even a dent. The lorry driver said he didn't even feel the impact, but he certain heard the sound of my car's metal crunching in an instant.

SPM_A0401.jpg
SPM_A0419s.jpg
 
Prince.M5
^

Makes sense but I expect at least some dents on the tractor though. But now I noticed the rear right wheel of the tractor is a little off camber than the right one. But anyway, has the investigation been handed over to the Police (like has been reported yesterday) or it's still under the FIA?
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Japanese law requires that any accident investigation is handled by the police, so the police are handling it.

The F1 car doesn't have the right materials to put any damage into a large tractor.
 
niky
I think a lot of people calling for FIA blood are being a bit presumptuous, really.

As far as I can tell... they made only one mistake: They let the safety car out after the recovery operation began. And even then, it was still only happenstance that Bianchi would have that off under yellows... and even if the safety car had been released, there's no guarantee nobody would have slid off into that area before catching up to it.

As it is... it's apparent the wrong thing was done. But where to go forward from here is the trickier part. You can't go full-course SC for every single incident... but there are some incidents that don't warrant a full-course SC that require much more than just a double-yellow. I'd go for the automatic limiter, myself.
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No, you can't bring out the safety car for everything. But this IMO 100% needed a safety car. This wasn't someone's front wing endplate sitting off line somewhere. Sutil hadn't just made a stupid mistake and binned it, or been punted off the track, or pulled off to the side somewhere with a mechanical failure or something. He just plain aquaplaned off the track. And it wasn't a slight wobble and then he couldn't keep it on the black stuff, he flew off the track backwards at significant speed. With the light getting worse with each lap, and the rain still coming down, and with that particular part of the track, someone else going off at the same place wasn't all that unlikely. And if someone went off there coz they took the same line and hit the same patch of water... they were going to head in a very similar direction to Sutil.

The conditions were still ok for racing IMO. Drivers going off and into the barriers is one thing. The barriers and cars are designed to take the impact and protect the drivers. But with that recovery vehicle out there (not to mention the workers on the ground), it all changes. The crash structures in the car won't do anything if they're not the parts of the car receiving the impact, and the back of that recovery vehicle wasn't designed to receive a high speed impact.

Robin.
I can't understand at all how the car crashed into the tractor and sustained the damage it did because all the angles don't make sense without video.
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From what I understand, and from what I've seen, his car basically went under the back of the recovery vehicle. If the sidepods can take some of the impact they'll do their job... but if he went under the back of the vehicle sideways, a vehicle that rides a lot higher than an F1 car... that'd basically leave the airbox/hoop structure and not much else to protect the driver. And while that roll hoop structure is designed and tested to take a hit... as far as I know it's not designed for that kind of hit.
 
Robin.
I can't understand at all how the car crashed into the tractor and sustained the damage it did because all the angles don't make sense without video.
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Adrian Sutil saw the crash and said it was identical to his own off. I'm guessing Bianchi lost it halfway through the corner and tried to catch the car, but got caught out by the access road on the outside of the corner that links up the eastern loop. He's put the power down in precisely the wrong spot and has been pitched onto the grass at the wrong angle, and at that point, he was just a passenger.
 
The spin can happen 100 times and each time there can be a different result depending on factors like steering input, braking, acceleration, marshal positions.

The odds were low for this accident to happen but life is all about chance

A few degrees of steering could have sent him a few meters from the truck or even prevented him from spinning.
 
Prince.M5
I can't stop thinking but it's surprising to see there were barely any damage done to the tractor but the Marussia was completely obliterated on all sides of the car by the impact. It raised the question of did he hit something first before finally meeting the tractor?
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If the telehandler/tractor is anything like a forklift truck (which i imagine it is). The rear would be made of thick cast steel, to counter the lifted weight. Cast steel wouldn't dent.
 
I actually missed the race last night, but caught the late replay. Even then, it was 1:00am, so I went to bed about ten laps from the end.

Anyway, I finally saw coverage of the crash about 20 minutes ago, and it was a weird place for Bianchi to end up. The car actually needed to be highlighted to pick it out. He stopped with the tractor between his car and the track. So from the looks of things, he's gone off backwards, slammed into the armco, and that has pitched him around into the tractor. That first impact is probably what saved him because it would gave shaved most of his speed off.
 
Sky News have just confirmed that contrary to some reports Bianchi has only had one operation and is still using a respirator to breathe. So not as good as previously thought.
 
In regards to the helicopters etc. My understanding (read from a reputable interview from someone from the FIA I think, or someone medically involved) was that the helicopter was able to fly just fine, but they decided the ambulance would be better due to the medical attention he required on the way.

I even saw somewhere that the helicopter went with them anyway? Not sure on that bit though...
 
Polish TVN24 is rumouring that FIA is ( once again ) thinking about closed-cockpits in f1 cars.

They even teased how prototype of this car can look like
07443766-4c99-11e4-bf67-0025b511226e.jpg


You know I think i've already saw this car
 
If they do introduce closed-cockpits the spirit of F1 will be killed
 
A closed cockpit would not make much difference when you run into a tractor. Might actually make it more difficult to extract the driver.
 
I don't see how a cockpit would've helped Jules in this crash. If the tractor was solid enough to tear off the whole rollhoop and everything behind that point a canopy would also be removed fairly easily. Where the canopy would be useful is when wheels come lose and are left bouncing on the circuit like in Henry Surtees' crash.
 
I'm actually not so sure if a closed cockpit would prevent drivers from getting seriously injured in an accident like that. If you see how the roll hoop got destroyed by the impact, I suppose the same would happen to a canopy structure.

It's like these accidents where regular cars get stuck underneath a truck. It doesn't really matter in these cases for the unfortunate driver of the car whether he has a roof or not. It gets totalled anyway.

Canopies are more useful for preventing debris or car parts to directly hit the driver's head, but if it's up against a dozer like that, I'm not so sure...

Maybe crash cushions on tractors/lifts/dozers can help? (Would look silly, but who cares?)

Edit: Partly tree'd by Gotmaxpower & jimipitbull ;)
 
Robin.
I remember that race when it was pouring and loads of car's skidded off in the same place and one nearly hit the safety car which has come to rescue another car, then they red flagged the whole thing. What race was that?
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I know you've already got the answer you were looking for, but Brazil 2003 also fits that description.

 
Marussia F1 Team
With sincere appreciation for the huge outpouring of support for Jules, we'd like to share with you our latest external communication. Please link to our website, where you will find this and other communications from the Team > http://mf1te.am/30ZIdt

MEDIA ADVISORY │ 6 October 2014
Jules Bianchi Accident, 2014 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix

Yokkaichi, Japan
6 October 2014, 16.00hrs local/08.00hrs BST

Following the accident involving Jules Bianchi during yesterday’s 2014 Formula One Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit, the Marussia F1 Team would like to acknowledge the huge outpouring of support and affection for Jules and the Team at this very difficult time.

With regard to the communication of information concerning Jules’ medical condition, we will respect, and be guided by, the wishes of the Bianchi family. Together with Jules’ care, they will remain our highest priority. Therefore, we would ask for patience and understanding with regard to further medical updates, which will be communicated in conjunction with the Mie General Medical Center in Yokkaichi, where Jules is being treated, when they feel it is appropriate.

Representatives of the Marussia F1 Team and Scuderia Ferrari will remain at the hospital to support Jules and the Bianchi family.
 
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