Thoughts and prayers for Jules Bianchi

[shay2nak]

terrible, just terrible. With all the advancements F1 has made with safety of the cars and the tracks, no way to prepare for freak accidents. I hope he will make it out alright.

[shay2nak]

Originally Posted by bayerische

Look at the video, the tower just at the place of the tractor is waving a green! flag???

WTH?

green flag meaning the track was clear.

[scottIN]

Originally Posted by shay2nak

green flag meaning the track was clear.

That's not a 'track is clear' green. That has to do with summoning safety crew if I remember correctly. That high up, a driver would never even see it.

I'm sure that this will start the whole closed cockpit debate again, same as it did after Wheldon's crash. As a racer myself (go carts, not F1), I understand that there are risks that cannot be mitigated. As someone else said, freak accident. A foot to the left or a foot to the right and he would have popped out of the seat and walked to the paddock. And there have been hundreds of crashes where being a foot to the right or to the left saved the driver. But they don't make the news. You can't plan for every situation.

[Challenger Deep]

He has, it has been confirmed that he has a Diffuse Axonal Injury. I had to look it up, but it is not good. I am deeply saddened.

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by Challenger Deep

He has, it has been confirmed that he has a Diffuse Axonal Injury. I had to look it up, but it is not good. I am deeply saddened.

DAI occurs often in extremely high G-force decelerations. Brain tissues experience these forces inside the confine of the skull, and because tissues are stretched and slide over each other, the "wiring" (axons) connecting the brain cells (neurons) can be sheared, thus "disconnecting" cells from other cells, and brain zones from other zones. Individual brain functions at the reptilian level can continue, but higher brain functions such as thinking and experiencing the external world can be disrupted. Over 90% of patients with severe DAI never regain consciousness. Brain cells do not regenerate or repair themselves.

As a longtime fan of Indy car racing, I've often wondered why F1 leaves disabled cars track-side or in gravel traps and allows cranes and emergency vehicles on the track without a full-course yellow. Certainly, F1 hasn't had a fatality since 1994, while Indy car has had several, but Bianchi's incident could have possible been avoided had the cars all been slowed down on the full course.

[BH13GMT]

Martin Brundle almost died in 1994 when he narrowly missed a recovery vehicle on the same track on the same corner in the same conditions in his Mclaren.

There was mention that Bianchi could not be heli lifted out because of the the limited weather window so the chopper was off limits.

It looks like several unfortunate events culminating in the terrible end result. The guy was being groomed for a Ferrari drive in the near future too.

[OmegaJJH]

Originally Posted by BH13GMT

The guy was being groomed for a Ferrari drive in the near future too.

Luca di Montezemolo has come out & said he is in with a shout of a 2015 Ferrari seat.

[vwpilot]

Originally Posted by shay2nak

green flag meaning the track was clear.

I cant see the video as its been pulled, so not sure exactly what is being seen with the green flag, but in general, when there is a local yellow you get the yellow flown one or two marshal stations before the accident.

The station immediately beyond the incident will then wave a green flag signifying that the track is now clear and past the incident and can resume racing speeds.

This is probably what you were seeing. Sometimes its within feet of an accident depending on where the marshal stands are, also with long tele lenses that tv cameras use, it can compress things to make it look like they're right next to each other too.

[Gaijin]

The medical care here in Japan is excellent. He is in good hands.

[zama]

Flags or not there should never in those conditions have been any vehicle on the track there should have been a pace car before any vehicle was on the track. This is not bad luck. I would be genuinely concerned if the rumours about the pressure to keep the cars running to get the race over before TV cut out proves accurate, I am sure that will be buried if that was the case. You dont need closed cars, the current cars are effectively immune to any form of injury other than massive deceleration injuries. In this case they were caused by a tractor being where a tyre barrier should be.

[BH13GMT]

Originally Posted by vwpilot

I cant see the video as its been pulled, so not sure exactly what is being seen with the green flag, but in general, when there is a local yellow you get the yellow flown one or two marshal stations before the accident.

The station immediately beyond the incident will then wave a green flag signifying that the track is now clear and past the incident and can resume racing speeds.

This is probably what you were seeing. Sometimes its within feet of an accident depending on where the marshal stands are, also with long tele lenses that tv cameras use, it can compress things to make it look like they're right next to each other too.

spot on

[topgear]

They should have deployed the safety car when the tractor is deployed to recover Sutil's car.

[BH13GMT]

Originally Posted by topgear

They should have deployed the safety car when the tractor is deployed to recover Sutil's car.

F1 needs to learn from Indycar/Nascar and United Sports cars which employ a safety car in theses circumstances, unfortunately F1 seems to think they can get away with running localized yellows thus allowing the racing to continue. This will also explain why Green flags were seen close to the accident location.

[lavaman]

I knew it was bad when the AMG Station Wagon went out at the same time as the AMG CLA Safety Car (and apparently out-paced it, CLA slid over to allow it past). Strangely the commentators ignored it.

As situation went on I kept flashing back to that horrible weekend at San Marino.

Very sad

(saw the pics later and I have to wonder: did he just aquaplane into the crane? I didn't see skids and the other driver clearly stated the corner was yellow-flagged). I know Seb was on the air saying (before the start) that he was aquaplaning at (est) 50mph

Just curious.


COTA has lit the tower (which is a copy of the F1 Driver's trophy) in solid red in tribute to Jules

[The Joker]

Some positive news for Jules. Says he is out of a coma, but still unconscious. And he has been flown back to France.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/30120317

[Kingair]

Hope he will be soon ok