F1

[Tony Harrison]

Because I'm a winner. And Schumacher and Vettel have exactly the same attitude as me. f**k everyone else so that I win.

You're a winner? So that's what winning looks like...

[Pashley26]

You're a winner? So that's what winning looks like...

I don't very often lose at things

[Mark W]

Doesn't sound good at all, it surprised me how nobody really noticed it?!

My best wishes are with him and his family.

The directors/FOM specifically chose angles to not show how f**ked the car was, so apart from seeing the "BIA" bit on the car tracker being next to the "SUT" car, there was no real way of knowing. Everything pointed to it being Sutil who required the medical car so it was difficult for them to realise that Bianchi had gone off in the same place.

[AdamR28]

an almost identical tread pattern as a current F1 wet inter

[Duncy H]

This will probably be deleted soon, it's not a pleasant watch.

[Rusevelt]

Damn, the speed he was approaching that Digger.

[manuel]

I was just about to post, just seen the actual footage. Massive energy impact, taken to the head.

[Simpson]

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.............

Even worse green flags waved.... http://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-autosport/519448/Green-flags-waving-before-Jules-Bianchi-crash-Japan-Grand-Prix

[Duncy H]

I'm not so sure about the green flag deal. The angle of the pictures in that write up/story make it look like that Marshall stand is very close but other pictures look like it's a fair bit after which makes it a bit more reasonable to be waving green flags.

[Mark W]

The positioning was pretty borderline, but the important thing is that there were double waved yellow flags leading up to that point though, which is the area where drivers were supposed to slow down. It was green flag immediately after that as drivers were allowed to get back up to race speed.

I was chatting to JD about this earlier on, but I imagine that this is probably the point where they're going to introduce pit lane speed limiters/lap deltas for specific sectors when double yellow flags are waved. The rules state:

A double yellow, consisting of two flagmen waving yellow flags (or one waving two flags) at the same post, indicates great danger ahead. Drivers must slow down and be prepared to stop; no overtaking is permitted.

Charlie Whiting (F1 race director) told drivers that to him, a double yellow meant they just had to do 0.5secs slower than their personal best in that sector. That doesn't really tie in with the rule about being slow enough to be able to stop at short notice, although it is pretty symptomatic of the way he has no idea about anything (e.g. the FRIC ban-that-isn't-a-ban, the ban on pit-to-car radio then the backtracking and rule 'altering' immediately afterwards, etc.). There's a video on Youtube showing Bianchi's speed when he left the track, and he wasn't going much off full pace. If there'd been a time/speed limit set at that point due to the double waved yellows leading up to where Sutil's car was, it's possible that he wouldn't have had the speed to aquaplane, cover that much distance and then hit the digger with that much force. I'm not sure if dropping to the pit limiter is the best way (although it's how it works in Le Mans now apparently), but having a delta for that sector that drivers have to adhere to would be pretty simple and wouldn't mean too much of a sudden drop in speed.

They've got the technology/ability to implement something like that already, but they've been pretty slow - up until now - to do it. There was even talk a while back about the FIA controlling the car ECUs/displaying a lap delta on the steering wheel that would in effect mean they could have what they called a "virtual safety car", but when this was brought up to Charlie Whiting he just laughed it off.

[Duncy H]

Has anyone seen how he lost control? Was it just driver error/the conditions? Limiters could be an idea except I think it could cause scenarios where cars slow down suddenly in a place that's unusual to do so and then find cars hitting them from behind.

Is it only me that thinks using diggers/tow trucks seems a bit crude after all the safety measures in terms of car designs and safety barriers. I believe they need rethinking a bit, there was the case where that steward lost his life in Australia earlier this year somehow? I always cringe every time they come out.

Edited October 6, 2014 by Duncy H

[Mark W]

Wasn't that a guy who tripped over and fell underneath a crane as it was being driven? The crane driver couldn't see he was there so just ran him over. If they just had some kind of surrounds for the diggers/cranes so there's no overhanging sections like the digger in the Bianchi incident that would remove that potential, and then with improved safety car/double yellow procedures it would reduce the chances of it further whilst not having to scrap all the existing ones. It's weird how Martin Brundle almost hit the digger being used to recover a car at that exact same corner in Suzuka back in 1994, although he just avoided it but did end up hitting a marshal.

If there were waved flags at the same point that the limiter would be applied then I imagine drivers would know they'd be about to slow down/people in front would slow down too. Like I said, they do it for Le Mans/the World Endurance races and even with all the differing classes being alongside each other it still works fine. I'm not sure exactly how it's applied but it at least proves it works. I just had a quick look for info about it and it turns out they just call them 'slow zones' where drivers have to drive with the limiter, but they also have a thing called "Code 60" where instead of a safety car, at the time when they would normally have decided to deploy the safety car all cars out on track are dropped and limited to 60kph whilst still retaining their track position. It seems like a pretty good system in that it means that if you've built up a big lead you wouldn't instantly lose it should there be an incident, and with it being a faster way of limiting the speed the cars are moving at it means that if some shit's hitting some fans somewhere on track then the cars are going to be slow by the time they get there without having to form up behind the safety car first.

[Prawny Baby]

Apply said limiter on a straight, gps activated. No danger then in theory, everyone gets cut at the exact same, safe point.

Give full power back at the next safe place, again, on a straight.

I'm fairly sure all the technology required is already in place for something like that!

[JD™]

As Mark said during out chat about it though, you look at somewhere like Monza where cars were getting out of shape cutting down to limiter speed and there's a potential flaw. Personally I reckon a 'somewhere in between' approach is the right thing to do, if anything. Same theory, GPS activated, but automatically worked out and enforced to be halfway between pit limiter speed and the fastest time achieved in that sector during the race. That way everyone is going the same pace, but doesn't need to drop so dramatically.

[Tony Harrison]

That video is horrific. How much kinetic energy is there in that equation to make a big yellow crane like that bounce up in the air like a plastic toy??

[Mark W]

Apply said limiter on a straight, gps activated. No danger then in theory, everyone gets cut at the exact same, safe point.

Give full power back at the next safe place, again, on a straight.

I'm fairly sure all the technology required is already in place for something like that!

Indeedy. It's just the FIA saying that they don't want to meddle with rules, but then meddling with other 'rules' anyway (like the ones I mentioned before). Quite a few people had said it would take a serious accident for them to address it, and it looks like we've had a serious accident and they're going to have to address it. Just seems weird how all this seems to be retrospective when other motorsports have been coming up with and implementing better solutions already. So much for the 'pinnacle' of motorsport.

This amused me:

At Maranello on the Wednesday after Singapore, Fernando Alonso and Marco Mattiacci sat down for a meeting to discuss the future. Fernando went in there believing he held a strong hand. He, after all, had been flattering Ferrari’s form for years.

Widely perceived as the world’s number one, he was giving his all in the cockpit and just a few days earlier only the unlucky timing of a safety car prevented him from being the only vague threat to Lewis Hamilton’s much superior Mercedes. He had sacrificed some of the best years of his career to the service of the Scuderia which had consistently failed to provide him with a car to match the best.

Mattiacci, the corporate heavy, had other ideas about where the balance of power lay and that sotto voce exterior seems only the wrapping for a core of steel. As they took up their positions at the table, of the two men Mattiacci probably had a much clearer idea of exactly how this meeting was going to go. It’s said it was terminated by a furious Alonso telling the boss he was a son of a bitch and storming out.

So it seems that the whole thing did move faster than Alonso wanted, and the Vettel/Ferrari action was done to put him on the back foot. That'll learn him Full article is up here. I'd also like to think of it as Vettel giving him a little payback for his "It's the car not him, we'll see what he's like driving a shitter" type comments Alonso's come out with about him...

EDIT: Jules Bianchi update:

Yokkaichi, Japan

7 October 2014, 23.00hrs local/15.00hrs BST

The following statement is provided by the family of Jules Bianchi, in conjunction with the Mie General Medical Center, and is distributed on their behalf by the Marussia F1 Team.

“This is a very difficult time for our family, but the messages of support and affection for Jules from all over the world have been a source of great comfort to us. We would like to express our sincere appreciation.

Jules remains in the Intensive Care Unit of the Mie General Medical Center in Yokkaichi. He has suffered a diffuse axonal injury and is in a critical but stable condition. The medical professionals at the hospital are providing the very best treatment and care and we are grateful for everything they have done for Jules since his accident.

We are also grateful for the presence of Professor Gerard Saillant, President of the FIA Medical Commission, and Professor Alessandro Frati, Neurosurgeon of the University of Rome La Sapienza, who has travelled to Japan at the request of Scuderia Ferrari. They arrived at the hospital today and met with the medical personnel responsible for Jules’ treatment, in order to be fully informed of his clinical status so that they are able to advise the family. Professors Saillant and Frati acknowledge the excellent care being provided by the Mie General Medical Center and would like to thank their Japanese colleagues.

The hospital will continue to monitor and treat Jules and further medical updates will be provided when appropriate.”

Read more at http://www.marussiaf1team.com/news/1035/bianchi-family-statement#OwpQSiHfPvVyOXIg.99

Wikipedia states

Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is one of the most common and devastating types of traumatic brain injury,[1] meaning that damage occurs over a more widespread area than in focal brain injury. DAI, which refers to extensive lesions in white matter tracts, is one of the major causes of unconsciousness and persistent vegetative state after head trauma.[2] It occurs in about half of all cases of severe head trauma.

The outcome is frequently coma, with over 90% of patients with severe DAI never regaining consciousness.[2] Those who do wake up often remain significantly impaired.[3]

Other authors state that DAI can occur in every degree of severity from (very) mild or moderate to (very) severe.[4][5] Concussion may be a milder type of diffuse axonal injury.[6]

The major cause of damage in DAI is the disruption of axons, the neural processes that allow one neuron to communicate with another. Tracts of axons, which appear white due to myelination, are referred to as white matter. Acceleration causes shearing injury, which refers to damage inflicted as tissue slides over other tissue. When the brain is accelerated, parts of differing densities and distances from the axis of rotation slide over one another, stretching axons that traverse junctions between areas of different density, especially at junctions between white and grey matter.[2] Two thirds of DAI lesions occur in areas where grey and white matter meet.[2]

[Rusevelt]

Highlights of 1st practice session at Sochi

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/formula1/29040594

Live practice 2

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/formula1/29040594

Edited October 10, 2014 by Rusevelt

[JD™]

Absolute wrong move by Marussia to race one car this weekend, in my opinion. They are there to race, and they should do so – especially when they have a very important position to protect which was earned by Jules himself earning 9th place earlier in the season. I'd like to see Rossi in that car. The whole paddock is being respectful enough, and I don't believe that racing the other car would be in any way disrespectful – in fact it's probably exactly what Bianchi would want to see.

[Mark W]

Part of it might be a subtle cost-cutting thing. Not running the second car makes them seem to be being respectful, and also saves them money. The FIA could theoretically not pay them the $55m~ for their points in the constructors championship, but I'd imagine that they'd want to avoid "FIA fines Marussia $54.5million for being respectful to Jules Bianchi" headlines that that would attract.

Watching FP1 and FP2 gave a fairly good glimpse as to just how rinsed that run-off at the chicane's going to get at Sochi. With the 'creative' lines people are taking through the run-off it just makes you think they should have made those the real lines and made a faster, more flowing track. Which would also be harder for drivers to cheat on.

[manuel]

F1 committed to changing safety and on being a beacon of sportsmanship compassion and taste...

Horner: "a safety car would help us"

[Rusevelt]

Both Marussia and Caterham teams will miss US GP this weekend. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29770496

[monkeyseemonkeydo]

And now Marussia have gone into administration too... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-29784602

[Mark W]

...which in turn makes the prospect of at least a few 3 car F1 teams more likely, as well as making the fact that Alonso hasn't definitely left Ferrari yet all the more intriguing. Raikonnen, Alonso and Vettel in Ferrari for 2015?

[manuel]

With three cars do they nominate the non scoring car or is it just the lowest placed at each gp ? (That would be cool)

[Mark W]

I think they'd just do it on the lowest placing otherwise you'd have to basically pick a driver to score no points which I doubt they'd be too happy about, especially as the first three teams volunteered/nominated for 3 cars are Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren, with Mercedes being some kind of alternate.

I did see a thing where it said there was a possible ruling where the third car would have to be their reserve driver or someone they were developing rather than just picking a 3 driver dream team kinda setup.

I can see it causing a bit of hassle with the pits/paddock area where everything's currently set up to run 2 cars. You're basically going to have a part of the garage for the third car that's out of place compared to the first two (especially in terms of where the actual box is).