Maria de Villotta injured in testing

[FW17]

Sorry, but you're being ridiculous.

This is the exact type of thought that led to F1 being neutered over the years.

It's racing and auto racing by it's very nature is dangerous.

Everyone who does it knows there are risks involved.

Fortunately we do not live in a society which tolerates injury for your entertainment.

Again it has NOTHING to do with entertainment.

Is auto racing by definition a dangerous activity?

Yes.

Your posts reek of the same knee-jerk crap that has come out of the FIA over the years.

"Oh no, it can't just be an injury in an inherently dangerous sport. WE MUST OVERHAUL THE ENTIRE THING TO PROTECT PEOPLE FROM LIVING LIFE!"

Get over it already.

Do you harp about safety in motorcycle racing?

Probably not would be my guess.

The question is can something be done about it or not.

[myurr]

The question is can something be done about it or not.

Yes something can be done - we could ban all F1 racing for a start. The question should be should something be done about it.

[element]

While i agree that closed cockpits may prevent some accidents, be clear that drivers will still always be at risk during any accident. In a crash the internal organs of a human body will be placed under massive stress. Aryton Senna was not killed by the suspension arm penetrating his helmet he was killed by the effect on the brain of the sudden deceleration. The impact caused massive injuries at the base of the cranium which in turn resulted in brain death.

Senna died because of the suspension arm, but that's another story.

[element]

I think is just being ridiculous discussing if security can improve in motor racing and is childish to give excuses about it, ask the drivers, they may have an opinion too.

[aral]

While i agree that closed cockpits may prevent some accidents, be clear that drivers will still always be at risk during any accident. In a crash the internal organs of a human body will be placed under massive stress. Aryton Senna was not killed by the suspension arm penetrating his helmet he was killed by the effect on the brain of the sudden deceleration. The impact caused massive injuries at the base of the cranium which in turn resulted in brain death.

Senna died because of the suspension arm, but that's another story.

Quite right, but that will not prevent some from trying to rewrite history. And as you say, it is irrelevant to this sad event.

[SeijaKessen]

The question is can something be done about it or not.

Yes something can be done - we could ban all F1 racing for a start. The question should be should something be done about it.

Agreed.

I've always said racing is not for the weak-minded.

It takes a large set of balls to do it successfully at the highest levels of the sport.

I cannot fathom what it takes to be able to drive a circuit such as Monza on the limit without lifting off the throttle in certain sections. I could not do it. That's why I don't race.

But, racing is not safe by any stretch of the imagination. I would say when you have little to no incidents over long stretches of time as F1 has since 1994, people tend to forget that racing is still dangerous no matter how much safety is implemented.

If anything, what happened to Maria --which was awful-- should cause people to respect how good the drivers on the starting grid are, that you do not even consider such incidents as what happened to her, to occur.

[stefan_]

Yes, something must be done, as in the people who watch F1 expecting to see drivers run around in 100% safe bubbles must go away. It is a sport where you have to have balls to do it, and if you don't have them, you must go and do something else, don't try to change the sport in order to diminish your fears. Back in the days, people were thrown off the cars, burned and crippled and still there were some brave enough to stay in line to drive those cars.

Decapitation? Excuse me, madame, but you are exaggerating big time. If we build something based on a bunch of "what ifs.." the we might as well forget about it.

i dont agree...and i sincerely hope this will never happen to one of your sons/daughters...that is a very ignorant statement. no one should waste their life like this. period.

I don't know if you understood what I was trying to say, in the spirit of my previous post.
I'm not saying that it is good for a sport to be unsafe, but some of them are like that by their nature and F1 is one of them. What would you do with ski athletes who die after falling on a down slope? It's the same thing with F1 drivers - they know what they are doing and they are doing it because they love it. Who thinks it is too unsafe and/or life-threatening is free to do something else.

P.S.: They added that carbon fibre extension on the top of the vizor to make it stronger (if I remember well), but you can't do anything to avoid what happened to Maria. It's one of those stiuations life "treats" you with.

[aral]

Yes, something must be done, as in the people who watch F1 expecting to see drivers run around in 100% safe bubbles must go away. It is a sport where you have to have balls to do it, and if you don't have them, you must go and do something else, don't try to change the sport in order to diminish your fears. Back in the days, people were thrown off the cars, burned and crippled and still there were some brave enough to stay in line to drive those cars.

Decapitation? Excuse me, madame, but you are exaggerating big time. If we build something based on a bunch of "what ifs.." the we might as well forget about it.

i dont agree...and i sincerely hope this will never happen to one of your sons/daughters...that is a very ignorant statement. no one should waste their life like this. period.

I don't know if you understood what I was trying to say, in the spirit of my previous post.
I'm not saying that it is good for a sport to be unsafe, but some of them are like that by their nature and F1 is one of them. What would you do with ski athletes who die after falling on a down slope? It's the same thing with F1 drivers - they know what they are doing and they are doing it because they love it. Who thinks it is too unsafe and/or life-threatening is free to do something else.

P.S.: They added that carbon fibre extension on the top of the vizor to make it stronger (if I remember well), but you can't do anything to avoid what happened to Maria. It's one of those stiuations life "treats" you with.

This post will probably be removed, but you do see to have a rather jaundiced view of motor sport, (and skiing). But this topic is about Maria, so why not concentrate on her?

[Raptor22]

Yes, something must be done, as in the people who watch F1 expecting to see drivers run around in 100% safe bubbles must go away. It is a sport where you have to have balls to do it, and if you don't have them, you must go and do something else, don't try to change the sport in order to diminish your fears. Back in the days, people were thrown off the cars, burned and crippled and still there were some brave enough to stay in line to drive those cars.

Decapitation? Excuse me, madame, but you are exaggerating big time. If we build something based on a bunch of "what ifs.." the we might as well forget about it.

If we allow your attitude to permeate, the insurers will kill F1 through escalating insurance costs for events and circuits. The costs jumped nearly 300% within 6months of Imola 1994 and increase each time someone is seriously injured.
F1 is supposed to be a spectator sport. People bring their children.
When Simoncelli had his accident even the marshalls (grown men) needed counselling. Senna's accident had a similar effect.

BTW, De Villota lost her right eye due to the accident. I guess you feel thats a worthy cost for woman to pay...

[Ray]

i dont agree...and i sincerely hope this will never happen to one of your sons/daughters...that is a very ignorant statement. no one should waste their life like this. period.

Hint for the future, claiming "who will think of the children" is going to get you laughed at in an argument. It's a silly and pointless position to take, stay away from it.

[Ray]

Fortunately we do not live in a society which tolerates injury for your entertainment.

We also don't live in a society where people who want to force their fears onto others can't railroad them and get their way.

[Callum]

I think that some people may be missing the point a little.

She is lucky to be alive and I think that is what we should be grateful for. Hopefully she will be able to live a full and happy life!

[Caito]

I see many people asking themselves what could be done to the car.

I'm really asking myself why was that lorry there. In F1 races they don't ussually get hurt because there are no trucks to hit.

The chance of a driver head(helmet) contacting directly with something before the car happens only when two cars mount.



Think what caused the problem, don't just patch a solution.

[Harvey]

Sorry to further the off topic-ness that has sprung up on this thread, but I agree with what some people are saying regarding mitigating risks and accepting others.
To continue the analogies: there is always going to be that rider that comes off his bike in a simple accident only to be hit by the bike behind, there will always be that skier that has a horrid tumbling (as opposed to sliding) accident leading to multiple broken bones, and there will always be that horse rider that suffers injuries from hooves in an otherwise minor off. There's no way you could change these respective sports (through personal safety devices or circuit/arena changes) to eliminate those risks. What you can do is implement safety devices that reduce the risk of injury to the most important areas of the body - eg, HANS devices to reduce basal skull fractures, inflating body armour in motoGP and horse trials. But that single freak accident could still happen. Nothing could stop 150kgs of hard charging bike and rider from causing serious injuries to your abdomen, or a horse crushing you, unless you change the fundamental elements of the sport. And then it's not the sport the spectators love, or the sport the competitors love.
A fundamental part of F1 is the open cockpit, and wheel, element. Without these, would it be F1?

But more importantly, those freak accidents outlined above happen in the heat of competition, when all are doing what they normally do in the arena they normally do it in. This Marussia crash did not happen in a normal F1 arena, during a normal F1 event. It is possibly the epitome of the freak accident. Instead of mitigating the risks born from budget test days by changing the design of the car, create legislation that will eliminate the track side processes that lead to this crash.

[strad]

Besides Stefan I must side with SeijaKessen. Some of you are being silly in my opinion.
I think perhaps if they feel the way they have stated, that some perhaps shouldn't even be watching motorracing.
If you keep watching, even with todays safety standards, you're gonna see someone die. You better stop now.