Formula 1

(05-10-2014 12:18 )Fernandez Esperenda Wrote:  Hope he gets better but it is a dangerous sport and this is the risk the drivers take

I doubt finding 10-12 odd tonnes of solid steel parked where a soft-impact barrier should be would be deemed an acceptable risk by modern-day drivers.

On Sky sports news there is statement issued by Bianchi's family...

(07-10-2014 08:07 )The Silent Majority Wrote:  60kph wouldn't be nearly slow enough for that sort of impact. The rear 'bumper' on the machine, where the car hit, is a solid counter-weight for the lifting boom on the front. It could easily weigh 2 tonnes on its own.

To my mind, it was a very bad call by the marshals to put that recovery vehicle out there at all, in those conditions, in direct line of fire, on a corner where one car had already aquaplaned off. Once Sutil was safe his car should have been left there and Bianchi would probably have walked away from his crash, even if he hit Sutils car instead of the tyres.

This is point where the accident happened. Post 12 is where you could see the Marshal correctly waving Double Yellows, then changing to Green when the Snatch Vehicle was clear of his post when recovering Suti's car.

It's worth noting that if you watch the broadcast footage, Bianchi's car is in front of Sutil when the Sauber goes into the barriers so there was almost 2 minutes before Bianchi arrived at that spot again...In those conditions, the Safety Car should have been deployed immediately.




Some reports suggest that Bianchi's car skipped over the gravel trap on the right as it went in. At 60 kph he would have been beached long before he got anywhere near Sutil's car. Even if the gravel wasn't there the car would have been slowed enough to regain some grip and avoid the accident. He was driving on Worn Intermediates at the time...

As for the Marshals, they didn't make any sort of call to deploy the Snatch Vehicle. That call comes only from the Race Director, Charlie Whiting. Leaving a crashed car in situ is not something that is done often and only in circumstances where it would be very unlikely for another car to go off there.


I'll be very surprised if the FIA don't introduce a version of Code 60, possibly implemented via the Pit Lane Speed Limiter. A lot of very well informed people are already calling for it and it was mentioned immediately after the crash by Martin Brundle who had a very similar accident there in 1994, with a Marshal suffering a broken leg.

I think F! has to look again at the scheduling for the season to go from Japan to Russia is a bit of a tight travelling schedule Maybe it would be better if Japan was the first race of the season rather than towards the back end

(10-10-2014 04:57 )babelover48 Wrote:  I think F! has to look again at the scheduling for the season to go from Japan to Russia is a bit of a tight travelling schedule Maybe it would be better if Japan was the first race of the season rather than towards the back end

Why is it a tight schedule? The track in Russia is relatively close to Japan in global terms and the teams while under some pressure will be prepared for two races in two weeks. It makes sense from a logistical point of view. They will have packed up on Sunday and will have travelled to Russia a day or two later. If they have a longer gap then the teams would all go home before going to Russia, meaning even more travel and disruption.
If you are suggesting that Japan starts the season, then is Australia the 2nd race? In that case the teams would have an equally 'tight' schedule getting from Japan to Australia.

(08-10-2014 19:33 )Tumble_Drier Wrote:  As for the Marshals, they didn't make any sort of call to deploy the Snatch Vehicle. That call comes only from the Race Director, Charlie Whiting. Leaving a crashed car in situ is not something that is done often and only in circumstances where it would be very unlikely for another car to go off there.

I still think it was a bad call in those circumstances, whoever made it. But you're right, they were traveling too fast under the safety car.
The problem with a standard 60k limit under the safety car is, F1 cars aren't designed to travel that slow for any length of time and I suspect overheating could be a problem. Yes, extending the pit-lane limiter technology to the rest of the track could be the answer, though, if it was under Charlie Whiting's control, to be used at his discretion.

They really do need to take a look at how the cars are recovered as well, though. For instance, telescopic boom machines are readily available that could have reached over the barrier and picked Sutil's car up without ever being on the track.

Marussia have decided to run just one car in Sochi (Max Chilton), out of respect for injured driver Jules Bianchi.

The obvious solution would be Mobile Cranes behind the barriers as at Monaco but there would still be areas that they can't reach or even park. As an example, Luffield Corner at Silverstone has not only a huge gravel trap, but there is nowhere behind the fence to park a Crane as the Spectator terracing is there. Any attempt to move the Spectator areas even further back would only annoy fans even more as it already feels like you're a mile from the Track at a lot of Circuits.

The FIA have announced that they're going to look at a system which automatically slows the cars down when cars are being recovered. The Drivers will be warned before it is used.

This shouldn't be too difficult to implement as the Standard McLaren ECU is used in all F1 cars.

I think Marussia have done exactly the right thing too, by not only running a single car, but having the replacement car sitting in what should be Bianchi's Garage.

Vettel has gone out in Q1. It goes to show that it's the car and not the driver who wins the GP.

^ It was actually Q2. He qualified in 11th place.

EDIT: Magnussen received a 5 place penalty so Vettel will start 10th.