And now Stroll is upside down. Time to call Bahrain a day before someone actually dies.

 

 

 

 

Im so glad that Romain is out of the car, walking and ok. That’s hands down the worst crash I’ve ever seen in F1. Halo, something Romain railed against, undoubtedly played a role in saving him today. Bet he will have changed his tune now!!

 

Lowkey shocked that KMag and Kvyat made the restart. Both looked haunted during the red flag period and quite understandably so. If I was either of them I’m not sure I’d have got back in the car

horrific accident, incredible he's alive when the car split into 2 and then exploded :(

 

felt bad for Perez, he had done incredibly and then the car gave up so close to the end

Quite a lot of people online are saying it's a miracle that Grosjean survived which I find frustrating. I get that it may be a turn of phrase but it does a huge disservice.

 

It was not a miracle at all. It was testament to decades of hard work and tears. Accidents like those of Bandini, Rindt, Williamson, Lauda, Peterson, Villeneuve, Senna and Bianchi all forced people like Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Max Moseley, to take direct action and they and others all contributed to what we saw today. An example of how the sport has improved.

 

It is almost certainly the worst F1 accident I've seen since the 80s. Certainly the worst of it's kind since Ronnie Peterson and several drivers have died since in much less serious ones.

 

Of course the work is never done and further lessons will be learned from this one but we should not fall into believing it was blind luck, fate or the work of some unknown force and c=should celebrate the strides the sport has made in the last 50 years.

 

Having said that, every marshall should be made to sit down and watch the footage of Tom Pryce's crash

Edited November 29, 20204 yr by Severin

I agree. Fireproof racing suits, medical car trailing the pack on lap 1, the safety cell, seatbelts, and the halo are the reasons Romain walked away from that. Personally I think the Halo is the most pertinent of them compared to if this had happened any other time since the turn of the millennium. I know there is an argument that it hindered Nando"s escape from the cockpit in Melbourne but today no one can be of any doubt about why it is necessary and how it far outweighs any aesthetical daftness in its performance as a safety device.

I agree. Fireproof racing suits, medical car trailing the pack on lap 1, the safety cell, seatbelts, and the halo are the reasons Romain walked away from that. Personally I think the Halo is the most pertinent of them compared to if this had happened any other time since the turn of the millennium. I know there is an argument that it hindered Nando"s escape from the cockpit in Melbourne but today no one can be of any doubt about why it is necessary and how it far outweighs any aesthetical daftness in its performance as a safety device.

Absolutely, had the HALO not forced the top section of the barrier upwards, Romain's head would have been the point of impact and they'd have found his helmet on the floor with his head still in it, Just like Francois Cevert and Helmut Koenigg. The discussion over the device is now beyond redundant.

@1333133591014993920

 

 

Update from Haas on Romain, and it is some fairly good news. Hopefully the burns heal well and swiftly. Think he is probably out for the rest of the season now though which would be a shame.

 

 

 

There is also this:

 

@1333099312797130755

 

He got my vote, glad to see the F1 Fan Community felt the same way. Think if it was possible, the Medical Car would have got it this round but if it must go to a driver I am glad it went to Romain.

Absolutely, had the HALO not forced the top section of the barrier upwards, Romain's head would have been the point of impact and they'd have found his helmet on the floor with his head still in it, Just like Francois Cevert and Helmut Koenigg. The discussion over the device is now beyond redundant.

Completely agree. Sans Halo, a car vs barrier like that just doesn't bare thinking about.

 

 

 

I know it is a straight section of track, but we have had a couple of very nasty barrier vs car on straight accidents in the past decade and a question needs to be asked why a barrier of this kind is still sitting at the edge of a race track. If it isn't a solid sheet then it needs to be behind a techpro/tyre barrier imo.

horrific viewing it felt like i was watching a 70s recap

 

so glad he's ok. the commentators were talking about how the drivers rehearse this kind of escape and it on average it takes 10 seconds. the way grosjean bolted out of there was phenominal.. 5 seconds at most? imagine if he'd knocked his head... woulda been fatal

 

how he even found his way out amongst other things is a true miracle

Halo, something Romain railed against, undoubtedly played a role in saving him today. Bet he will have changed his tune now!!

Actual quotes from Romain Grosjean -

 

 

'I am against every Halo or Shield or whatever, it is not F1.' - 2017

 

'I think it’s the greatest thing that we’ve brought to Formula 1' - today

 

 

Can't say I blame him though.

Edited November 29, 20204 yr by Severin

I could not believe my eyes when I saw that crash and subsequent explosion. That's not what I'd ever expect to see in the modern era. Initial comparison was that of Gerhard Berger Imola 1989, think that was the last time anything remotely comparable occurred.

 

Agreed with Severin on the 'miracle' comments. Despite the crash my gut feeling was that the driver would be alright BECAUSE of how incredible the safety measures are nowadays. When they didn't show any replays or anything I was a little nervous but thankfully Grosjean escaped with relatively minor injuries. It was only when I saw his monocoque literally embedded between the barriers that I realised how unbelievable that escape was even with the halo/modern day safety etc. So in that sense it was a miracle I guess. And remember, as good as the halo is, it still likely wouldn't have saved Bianchi. The next step is to investigate those barriers and understand how a car can just become engulfed in flames like that.

 

Another talking point that is being overlooked is a different aspect of safety with marshals on track. This has happened at the last 3 races now. Stroll was so close to marshals in Imola, Norris had to avoid a man on track yesterday then in Istanbul you had the ridiculous situation of the cars being let out in Q2 with a tractor still on track on an extremely slippery track. That's probably the worst of the 3 with the Bianchi incident in mind but this needs to be looked into just as much as the Grosjean incident.

 

And yes that was so gutting for Perez, never had back to back podiums in his career before. And that podium all but saves Albon's Red Bull seat. Fair play for that after his FP2 disaster...

Edited November 30, 20204 yr by Dobbo

Pietro Fittipaldi will replace Grosjean for the next race, don't think he has enough points for a superlicence.

Callum Ilott has announced via social media that he has missed out on a Formula 1 drive for the 2021 season having being linked with Haas.

 

The Ferrari academy driver was shortlisted after Haas decided not to renew the contracts of either Romain Grosjean or Kevin Magnussen for the next Formula 1 campaign.

 

thinking back about the race, Bottas was once more horrible, he started 2nd but finished 8th behind the 2 McLaren, an Alpha-Tauri and Ricciardo,

he is totally incapable of passing much slower cars.

 

 

Bottas checked out for the season after Nurburgring. Seriously think Max will pip him to second in the standings...

Bottas checked out for the season after Nurburgring. Seriously think Max will pip him to second in the standings...

Slightly in his defence the Merc is designed purely for outright pace and to lead from the front. The car handles poorly in traffic and Lewis himslef has sometimes struggled in traffic.

 

That being said, Valtteri struggles more than he should and really hasn't performed in races. His qualifying isn't too bad. He's never too far off Lewis' time (although I still believe Hamilton has lost some of his outright pace in the last 18 months) but like Giancarlo Fisichella, he just can't maintain it over a multiple laps.

And he's had so many races this year where the car has supposedly had problems that it's beginning to look like making excuses. his reputation as a solid wingman for Lewis is disappearing fast. I'd drop him for Perez any day

I think the Fisico comparison is a little harsh on my sweet baby Giancarlo. The Renault was never the fastest car in 2005 or 2006 tho it started out both seasons that way. He did a far better job in our back to back seasons than Bottas has ever done at Merc

I think the Fisico comparison is a little harsh on my sweet baby Giancarlo. The Renault was never the fastest car in 2005 or 2006 tho it started out both seasons that way. He did a far better job in our back to back seasons than Bottas has ever done at Merc

I'm not suggesting they're similar in any other respect and I've just realised I was actually thinking of Jarno Trulli! Although the point is somewhat applicable to both. Trulli was known for being blindingly fast over a qualifying run but not for longer periods. Bottas has that tendency too and whilst on the subject of Fisi, he had his moments but he was almost never able to match Alonso for sustained pace, although he was more of a fighter than Bottas has been for the last two years, I agree. (And oddly I always tend to think of Fisichella as a Jordan driver first and foremost, then Benetton, then Renault)

Edited November 30, 20204 yr by Severin

Slightly in his defence the Merc is designed purely for outright pace and to lead from the front. The car handles poorly in traffic and Lewis himslef has sometimes struggled in traffic.

 

Yet the only time this season Lewis did have to carve his way through the field he did just that in Monza.

 

Speaking of which Lewis will miss this weekend's race due to Covid :o that's a big shame as he would have had the chance to break his record of wins in a row (which somewhat surprisingly only currently stands at 5!)

 

HUGE opportunity for someone else now to step into a dominant car (I expect Vandoorne is most likely).

wow, Lewis has covid? sure he'll miss the 2 races

maybe they can bring Hulkenberg in, Vandoorme don't think he's up tp the job

or ask Russell even if that's not very likely

He should only miss one race. He’ll have to do 10 days isolation which would take him to Thursday next week and as long as he tests negative then, he should be fine to do the Abu Dhabi weekend I would imagine!