#f1 safety

[makegeorgealesbian63]

just like an open call to george fans, and honestly any other fans of f1 invested in driver safety, I just watched a great video on George’s motorsport.com article about safety. Also features an excellent rant about parasociality in in f1 and the rampant misogyny and homophobia in the sport as it relates to george and others.

Also in an F1 youtube landscape so full of straight men (especially outside of podcasts) it's really refreshing to see a queer woman who's been watching since the 90s weigh in on things.

[loverofviolets]

hey, so I haven’t moved on about what happened during quali

Sure it was a single yellow flag at first so all George needed to do was lift, but that single yellow was turned to a double yellow seconds later. Drivers should know that if you see a crash, you have to slow down. Maybe how the rules are written it was technically “OK” but this is setting an extremely dangerous precedent.

Genuinely, during qualifying I believe that if someone crashes it should be red flagged. during quali drivers are pushing their cars to the absolute limit and going as fast as they possibly can, what if they were to lose control of their car and then hit a car that was already crashed going at full speed? Cause I believe George maybe wouldn’t have lifted so little if that wasn’t his last chance at a lap. if they said “red flag the session you’ll get one more chance at a lap once we come back” I don’t think he would’ve done that. And unfortunately, I believe it will take a flag/risking a penalty for some drivers to think about the dangerous possibilities their driving could cause.

but idk this morning was crazy, and I think out of principle his lap should not have counted but alas here we are.

[vega-alphalyrae-hip91262]

For all the people that are saying that social media + the fact that we haven't seen a grave accident in F1 in many years, makes people say inconsiderate stuff, and make jokes about wanting to see the drivers crash into each other, I want to tell you just how off the mark you are.

My grandmother, who saw Jackie Stewart race (so yes she'd have been a fan around the time of Cevert's crash), was always raving about the most dangeours tracks and loved the races with most crashes and high stakes. When new safety measures where implemented she said that people (presumably including her) would complain enormously and say the sport was getting too sanitized.

I'm not saying it's okay, or that I want to see the drivers die (much less at the rates of back then) but this IS part of the sport, has always been. Many drivers from the 90's said that they worried people would still care about the racing if it was too safe.

Actually the tension between drivers wanting a safer sport and the ones complaining that it was killing the essence of it go way way waaaaay back.

People clamoring for adrenaline, crashes and risky driving have always existed, if anything it's less people saying those things now that the drivers are sooo well known and so followed on social media.

Also. I think at the core the simple thing is that we the fans don't love McLaren's approach to the competition. I support Piastri and still I am super frustrated at his lack of "want" and competitiveness. This is why we watch sports, I don't want people getting along and giving car positions. Fierce competition is literally the heart of the matter but nice PR and being "marketable" absolutely kills that aspect and it just makes it all kinda meh. So yes, people are yearning for that adrenaline which is no being communicated in other ways, is it really so weird that they'll call for crashes?

[beechicory]

Seb vs. sausage kerbs, an important battle in the war of Seb vs. the FIA, for driver safety.

HELL YES.

Another major point of discussion in Friday's [driver] briefing was the baguette kerbs in use at several corners at Paul Ricard, with Sebastian Vettel among the most vocal on the matter.

The German pointed out that several drivers in junior categories have been injured after their cars took off over such kerbs, reminding those present of incidents at Austin last year, which led to the kerbs [in Austin] being removed.

[Also, the kerbs were only removed bc Seb literally told Masi they wouldn't race until the kerbs were gone, lol]

He also noted that the white line rule provides a sufficient deterrent to abuse of track limits. The FIA explained that the kerbs were required for the Porsche event.

However, after considering the matter overnight Freitas explained in his latest notes that "the deterrents ("baguette kerbs") adjacent to the track at the exit of T5 and T15 have been removed."

That's SOMETHING, at least!

Seb is co-director of the GPDA, and does his job advocating for driver safety.

(Maybe him storming out last briefing was useful 🙃)

We need to get rid of sausage kerbs.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-drivers-frustrated-by-pit-limiter-zone-change/10342084/

[petit-papillion]

The onboard camera retrieved from the Alfa Romeo after Zhou Guanyu’s 2022 British GP crash.

📸 Ian Parkes

Wishing all drivers a safe race at Silverstone, without any crashes.

Would also like to take a moment to acknowledge the massive advances in F1 safety (from HANS device to halo to techpro barriers to marshalls with swift red flags) that allowed not only Zhou to walk away from his terrifying crash, but also protected Alex from more severe injuries and helped drivers avoid running over track invaders, all within the first lap of the 2022 British Grand Prix. I love so many of the current grid's drivers dearly, and I would be devastated to see them hurt (or worse). With the loss of Dilano van 't Hoff last week, we are once again reminded that this is a dangerous sport, where severe injuries and death would still be a regular occurance if it weren't for all the work done towards making the sport safer.

So thank you to each and every person who has helped or continues to help to make Formula 1 safe(r) for our drivers. 💕

[f1yogurt]

[il-predestinato]

Elle, hi!🥰

I have a question. So this rule is very vaguely worded. It says "requirement to not wear any jewellery, in the form of body piercing or metal neck chains or watches". But nothing on rings, I thought rings were a bitch to remove, especially if there's some swelling. Wouldn't they also interfere with x-ray and stuff? Or are they not as "dangerous" as other things?

I mean, there's also nothing on bracelets, they are not watches. So it would take half of Jonathan Weatley to reduce this rule into dust.

But yeah, nothing makes sense. Why not just ban everything?

Hi Stacy!

Yes those types of jewellery you mention would absolutely interfere/be problematic for reasons of snagging, swelling, affecting image quality (artifacts on MRI and CT). I think the FIA should be more clear and specify more types of jewellery because exempting rings and watches can make it seem like the rule is targeted. I think it’s a good idea to ban piercings and necklaces, but they should include the other types of jewellery as well.

[race-week]

JM beautifully showing off the SAFER barrier at Zandvoort.

SAFER (Steel And Foam Energy Reduction) barriers are really good at dispersing a lot of energy quickly, and are especially suited for shallow collisions.

They aren’t used a whole lot on F1 tracks, but they are very interesting especially for areas where you can’t really have a big run off.

They are similar to the TECPRO barriers but more effective as the car can’t displace the barrier or get stuck underneath it.

They are used a lot on Indy and NASCAR tracks and have served their purpose especially on ovals, which makes sense with them being on the Zandvoort banking.

They provide a good reduction in force but stay intact and don’t bounce the car or debris back onto the track and they are perfect for tight situations.

I wouldn’t expect to see them on more F1 tracks just because F1 has more space available and these aren’t the best solution for street circuits either as they need to be secured to a concrete wall.