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Celebrate over sixty years of F1 - your memories, experiences and opinions.
#249978
Thankfully we did not have to findout right?


:confused: We did find out exactly what happened to Massa, which is what i alluded to. Even before these upgrades the visors were capable of astonishing impact resistance qualities.

You missed my point which was it was a good thing the spring did not squarely/directly impact the visor, it hit his helmet.
#250033
Watched it on the TV. We must be so thankful that things have improved so much, so the sport we love is also a safer one. :)

Some of those scenes made me so angry. :nono:
#250830
The show now is available through the usual surreptitious Internet sources.

Everyone is waiting with baited breath to watch "Senna". I've seen it and think "The Killer Years" is much more compelling. The footage of all those long-gone drivers is priceless.

Whenever you see Sir Jackie, you should remember it was he who stood before of all F1 and willingly took all the slings and arrows from the FISA and the motoring press and the promoters so the sport might advance beyond this barbarism. It made him a pariah for some time and I think some (like His Bernieness) still hold him an obsessive safety crusader. But largely because of The Mod Scott, the sport have gone from one where drivers considered it safer to be hurled from a crashing car to one where they can walk away from a somersault like Webber's in Valencia.

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#250880
Indeed. That accident is a true testament to how things have improved;

* Luciano Burti - Hockenheim 2001 and Spa 2001
* Allan McNish - Suzuka 2002
* Jenson Button - Monaco 2003
* Ralph Firman - Hungaroring 2003
* Felipe Massa - Montreal 2004
* Ralf Schumacher - USA 2004
* Jarno Trulli - Silverstone 2004
* Robert Kubica - Montreal 2007
* Felipe Massa - Hungaroring 2009
* Mark Webber - Valencia 2010

These are all examples of huge accidents which would have had very different stories, if they had occurred a matter of years earlier...
#250911
Thankfully we did not have to findout right?


:confused: We did find out exactly what happened to Massa, which is what i alluded to. Even before these upgrades the visors were capable of astonishing impact resistance qualities.

You missed my point which was it was a good thing the spring did not squarely/directly impact the visor, it hit his helmet.


I think you missed my point too...
#250919
Thankfully we did not have to findout right?


:confused: We did find out exactly what happened to Massa, which is what i alluded to. Even before these upgrades the visors were capable of astonishing impact resistance qualities.

You missed my point which was it was a good thing the spring did not squarely/directly impact the visor, it hit his helmet.


I think you missed my point too...

No I did not and what I'm trying to point out is the spring's initial impact was on the helmet and not the visor.
#270890
I have just watched this program on the BBC iPlayer, it's shocking to see how many drivers were killed and how completely unequipped the marshals were; watching drivers burned alive while marshals stood around helpless; one small fire extinguisher in the vicinity as all the other drivers carry on like nothing happened, it was really shocking to watch!

If you are in the UK or have access to a UK Proxy, I recommend you check it out; a very different time in Formula 1!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/z8v18/
#270892
The fact that world champion Stewart asked them for minor changes and they told them all they should be knitting without sharpened needles.......


People say things like The drivers are such wimps aka Korea 2010, but will be the first to moan if a driver goes and kills themselves doing such...


Unfortunately a death is way overdue as callous as that sounds to remind people of just what kind of sport this is, you cant fault drivers for not wishing to kill themselves when they know better then anyone what its like to drive blind at 200 mph. You only need to look at Webber in Valencia or Kubica in Montreal or even his rallying to see how close to death theyve often come, all webber had to do was land upside down and skid into that barrier and it might of killed him.

Thankfully theyve done wonders in terms of safety to the sport and Senna was the last, and fittingly one of the best to make safety a priority rather then an afterthought.

Cifferts crash was horrible by the way, roasted alive in that magnesium car. Cant begin to imagine the pain.
#270897
Seen the documentary before. This thread should be merged with the old discussion (viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10241).

With regard to the documentary... David Purley - what a hero. It's the most awful scene I've ever witnessed in F1 (Roger Williamson's death). :(

Massive respect also to Jackie Stewart... brilliant man.
#270951
Seen the documentary before. This thread should be merged with the old discussion (viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10241).

With regard to the documentary... David Purley - what a hero. It's the most awful scene I've ever witnessed in F1 (Roger Williamson's death). :(

Massive respect also to Jackie Stewart... brilliant man.

I managed to completely miss the original thread... :eek:

But yes, David Purley is indeed a hero; you could see his disgust with the other drivers as he beckoned them to stop, it really was a different world back then!
#270952
Seen the documentary before. This thread should be merged with the old discussion (viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10241).

With regard to the documentary... David Purley - what a hero. It's the most awful scene I've ever witnessed in F1 (Roger Williamson's death). :(

Massive respect also to Jackie Stewart... brilliant man.

I managed to completely miss the original thread... :eek:

But yes, David Purley is indeed a hero; you could see his disgust with the other drivers as he beckoned them to stop, it really was a different world back then!


I worked out a long time ago after countless incidents where i dont see drivers get out their car for others huge accidents or even speak on radio about it, that the best thing for the other drivers to do is just carry on, this is not to mention that Williamson incident was what? the fourth fatality that year already? It was so commonplace back then, stopping your car and risking another crash and thinking too much about it whilst in car could prove fatal.

I can never imagine what its like watching an upside down fireball like that knowing someones burning to death underneath it and you cant help them, even worse, the people round you wont help either.
#270957
In the olden days, the only genuine piece of safety kit the drivers used, they carried between their ears. They had to be keenly aware of their own limitations because often there was very little room for error, and no second chance. Their mantra was, the accelerator pedal works both ways. But when something broke on the car or something unexpected happened, disaster too often followed.

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