Massa crashes after being hit by heave spring

[ESPImperium]

From The FIA:

Press Release
FIA Safety Commission 27/07/2009
FIA President Max Mosley has asked the FIA Safety Commission to prepare a report on the recent debris-related accidents in the FIA Formula One World Championship and FIA Formula Two Championship.

The FIA Safety Commission, which is made up of medical and technical representatives from all areas of motor sport, will submit its report and recommendations to the World Motor Sport Council.

Preliminary findings suggest the helmet being used by Felipe Massa may have played a significant role in limiting the injuries sustained. The FIA 8860 helmet, which took eight years to develop by the FIA and FIA Institute, provides increased protection in all key impact areas.

Source: http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pr ... ebris.aspx

[jonathan189]

A sensible response from the FIA. I'm guessing helmets could be made even stronger as the technology progresses, and that this may well be what the FIA goes for in the end.

[i70q7m7ghw]

what about a windscreen like the caparo's...


look i don't want to get ripped apart, i know there would be issues with this, i'm just throwing it out there...

STOP THE SAFETY HYSTERIA! JUST STOP IT, NO INTELLIGENT IDEAS WILL BE CONSIDERED BECAUSE RACING IS DANGEROUS PERIOD!

As a matter of fact go outside and smash your road car's windsheild and rip it off because it is just a silly safety device that only protects you from freak accidents.

Sarcasm? I'm personally against enclosed cockpits, but the idea from the Caparo is not too bad. The idea is you create a raised wind screen but its far enough foward not to get in the way of getting in and out of the cockpit. Not bad, but I don't think it would have prevented Henry Surtees's accident, the wheel appeared to drop down on to him rather than come directly fowards at him.

[ESPImperium]

A sensible response from the FIA. I'm guessing helmets could be made even stronger as the technology progresses, and that this may well be what the FIA goes for in the end.

When speaking with my dad earlier this evening, he sugested Kevlar??? Could that be a runner??? I also think that the face mask areas are gonna get looked into, with them becoming larger, my guess is by 20% so the driver can see a bit better, but the mask material will become "military" spec material, so will the fixing joints, if they are gonna have any at all.

Helmet design will change allot over the next 6-12 months, im shure theres gonna be a large ammount of money invested in that area.

[dave34m]

In general the setup as is seems to be working pretty well. Massa got hit in the head by a metal spring at 220km and survived. It seems that the helmet did it job very well. Of course if it missed his helmet and hit directly on the visor it could have been a lot different.
Helmets will continue to improve as they aways will but it seems to have worked pretty well so far.

[ISLAMATRON]

If it was your family member laying in that bed you wouldnt be using words like "as is" and "pretty well"

If they thought it was "pretty well" 20 years ago Massa may not have survived. F1 is about constant improvement, and that should always include the safety of the drivers, crew & spectators as well.

[modbaraban]

A sensible response from the FIA. I'm guessing helmets could be made even stronger as the technology progresses, and that this may well be what the FIA goes for in the end.

I'd rather leave the helmets alone so far (they're pretty amazing already) and think about how to stop:
a) debris hitting the helmet
b) large objects (cars, wheels etc.) landing on it or hitting it.
An improved helmet wouldn't have saved Surtees. We're talking about head and spinal injuries here.

If it was your family member laying in that bed you wouldnt be using words like "as is" and "pretty well"

If they thought it was "pretty well" 20 years ago Massa may not have survived. F1 is about constant improvement, and that should always include the safety of the drivers, crew & spectators as well.

For once I fully agree with ISLAMATRON on something.

[dave34m]

If it was a family member of mine I'd be very happy that the helmet had done its job and they had survived.
I already said helmets will continue to improve as they should. I'm just saying the helmet saved his life.

[ISLAMATRON]

If it was a family member of mine I'd be very happy that the helmet had done its job and they had survived.
I already said helmets will continue to improve as they should. I'm just saying the helmet saved his life.

Just like helmets are better than nothing, and may have saved his life, something could augment the helmet and may have saved him from injury... constant improvement must be the mindset, if it wasnt then nobody would have improved on the initial helmets in the first place.

[majicmeow]

how about rules enforcing that the back end of the car (for one) be sealed except for exhaust openings and a-arm openings. No "short" body work which would allow a spring to "bounce out".

Where are the wheel tethers at this time? Are they right on the knuckle or are they on a control arm? Forcing the teams to tie the knuckles to the chassis may be a better solution?

To prevent wheels from falling off, what about a "locking wheel nut" where the nut is locked to the spindle via a mechanism internal in the spindle. The nut would be released when the wheel gun depresses the mechanism and allows the nut to come off normally... Surely that could prevent wheels from coming loose like yesterday Yea, it would be expensive to engineer and produce, but it could be a standard part designed by the FIA/FOTA and used by all the teams. Besides, being safe in a dangerous sport is expensive

[dave34m]

Geez Islamatron, he got hit in the head by a steel spring at over 220km and lived, and you complain that he got any injury at all, get a bit realistic about the whole thing.

Wasnt it you who said racing is dangerous

[ISLAMATRON]

Geez Islamatron, he got hit in the head by a steel spring at over 220km and lived, and you complain that he got any injury at all, get a bit realistic about the whole thing.

Wasnt it you who said racing is dangerous

Nope, it wasnt me who said that, Did you see Canada '07? Watching Kubica's accident live I would have sworn he would not have survived, but he did... why? Well i dont have all the answers but a good one I would choose is that the type of accident he had was been studied in the past and the cars redesigned to prevent injuries... did those design changes take away from the racing of F1? Not at all.

The way I see it, Just as something was done to protect him from having fatal injuries, something more can be done to protect from the injuries he did sustain.

I really dont understand why so many are so opposed to closed cockpits and higher safety standards, what's would be so great about watching open wheel cars when all the best drivers are constantly being hurt or killed. This was the case back in the 50's thru 70's. The cars now are faster than ever, so you would think that the safety standards would increase accordingly.

[Michiba]

Geez Islamatron, he got hit in the head by a steel spring at over 220km and lived, and you complain that he got any injury at all, get a bit realistic about the whole thing.

Wasnt it you who said racing is dangerous

Nope, it wasnt me who said that, Did you see Canada '07? Watching Kubica's accident live I would have sworn he would not have survived, but he did... why? Well i dont have all the answers but a good one I would choose is that the type of accident he had was been studied in the past and the cars redesigned to prevent injuries... did those design changes take away from the racing of F1? Not at all.

The way I see it, Just as something was done to protect him from having fatal injuries, something more can be done to protect from the injuries he did sustain.

I really dont understand why so many are so opposed to closed cockpits and higher safety standards, what's would be so great about watching open wheel cars when all the best drivers are constantly being hurt or killed. This was the case back in the 50's thru 70's. The cars now are faster than ever, so you would think that the safety standards would increase accordingly.

well the closed cockpit itself can pose a safety risk. You have failed to address this and thus stems your lack of understanding. Perhaps you can present an argument for the closed cockpit with this in mind and formulate a suitable argument for their use.

[PlatinumZealot]

Just make it a quick release, Or make it split in two and to the side.

If the car flips over (Very rare) the air box will tilt the car high enough to leave enough room for the driver to come out.

The helmets can be improved too, why not?

[ISLAMATRON]

Michiba, a discussion on how to incorperate a fully enclosed, or partially enclosed cockpithas already been started on this forum, maybe you would like to look thru them.

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