F1 Driver Felipe' Massa in cirtical condition.

[ProfessorPeppers]

I know this is a NASCAR forum, but I'm sure I'm not the only huge F1 fan on this website. Massa is by far my favorite driver and Scuderia Ferrari is by far my favorite team. My thoughts and prayers go out to Felipe' and I hope he can recover from this incident. God speed Felipe'.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/f1/news/story?id=4355374

Throughout the years quite a few drivers in F1 have lost their lives because of a tire, or spring, or other things hitting them in the head. I think it's time Formula 1 tries to fix the problem and either enclose the cockpit or find a way to hide the drivers head better. Last week F2 driver Henry Surtees was killed when a tire from a car that wrecked in front of him came up and hit him in the head. Today a spring from a car in front of Massa came up and hit him in the head causing his life threatening injuries.

Its also interesting to note that in the video of Massa's accident his head is moving quite a bit as he goes across the rumble strips and into the tire barrier. I know F1 drivers wear the HANs device, but it looked as if his may have broken or wasn't afixed properly. That looked like an awful lot of head movement for his HANs to have been working properly.

*EDIT* I removed the video link because apparently the FIA has had it removed from Youtube already.

[outlaw4]

I've tried to follow Formula 1 this year (pretty hard when live races are in the wee hours in the morning) so I was shocked to hear the news this morning. Hope for the best.

On a side note, I happened to bump into this article just now:

http://checkpoint10.blogspot.com/2009/07/case-for-closed-cockpit.html

Considering the design of a NASCAR stock car, debris seems a much bigger threat to the fans than to the driver.

[Scutty]

What a freakish thing to happen

[cptx]

At 29 seconds into the youtube video you can see the spring come up and hit him in the head.

...

This video is not available in your country due to copyright restrictions

[ProfessorPeppers]

...

That was quick. Although I love F1 racing, they are pretty closely guarded over videos of wrecks etc, it can be quite frustrating...goes to show that Eccelstone and Mosley are only out for themselves and anything that could cause a stir or make them look bad is immediately removed from the internet/media.

It isn't the first F1 video that they have had taken down due to "copyright infringements". There used to be a beautiful tribute video to Ayrton Senna on Youtube as well but F1 had that one taken down seeing as how in the video there was evidence that Sennas steering wheel sheared off in his hands (which F1 denies to this day, apparently no more copies of this particular video exist as F1 Management has had them all seized), not to mention in the video there was also a tribute to Roland Ratzenberger who was killed a day before Senna. The video clearly showed that Ratzenberger was dead before his car even came to a rest and the event should have been cancelled pending an investigation as stated by Italian law (since his death occured on the track and not in the hospital as F1 Management would lead everyone to believe, it has been stated F1 stood to lose over 32 million dollars had the even been cancelled), had the event that weekend in 94' been cancelled to fix the safety problems the F1 cars were having at that time then there would have been no race, and Ayrton Senna would still be alive.

My apologies man, I removed the link.

[cptx]

Damn. I didnt know all that. Thats some severe bullshit right there. I thought nascar was crooked lol

[Britneck]

The rumor circulating now is Michael Schumacher is going to come back and race Massa's car. There is a month till the next race so that gives him plenty of time to get ready and he has not stopped training since he retired.

[ProfessorPeppers]

The rumor circulating now is Michael Schumacher is going to come back and race Massa's car. There is a month till the next race so that gives him plenty of time to get ready and he has not stopped training since he retired.

I've read that rumor as well on a Scuderia Ferrari forum. I'd absolutely wet myself getting to see him race again, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Latest news is Felipe' is recovering nicely and his eye doesn't seem to be as damaged as first thought as he says he can indeed see out of it. Thats great news considering the doctor thought his F1 career may be over due to being blind in his left eye.

[zebrainz]

Damn. I didnt know all that. Thats some severe bullpoo right there. I thought nascar was crooked lol

They were also the first major sporting event in the world after 9-11-2001. Almost everything else was cancelled for that weekend. This is what happened in the race:

Alex Zanardi lost both legs above the knee.

[ProfessorPeppers]

They were also the first major sporting event in the world after 9-11-2001. Almost everything else was cancelled for that weekend. This is what happened in the race:

Alex Zanardi lost both legs above the knee.

Although Zanardi did indeed race in F1 twice in his career, the horrific accident that you are referring to happened while he was racing in CART (IRL now).

"Champ Car return and Lausitzring crash

The 2000 season was one of reflection for Zanardi. Out of a drive, he considered his options and began to plot a CART comeback. He tested for Mo Nunn and opted to sign to the team for 2001. It was not a successful return; for whatever reason he struggled to rekindle his past form. Then tragedy struck. In by far his most competitive race of 2001, he suffered a horrific accident which brought his single-seater racing career to a halt. It happened at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz, located in the southern part of the German state of Brandenburg, on September 15. It was the first major sporting event in the world after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Initial word was that it was to be canceled along with all other events, however it went on as planned, retitled the American Memorial 500.

The crash occurred while Zanardi was leading the race in the closing laps. After a late pit stop, Zanardi was attempting to merge back onto the track when he accelerated abruptly and spun into the path of Alex Tagliani, who was travelling at over 330 km/h (205 mph). With Tagliani given no chance at all of avoiding the collision, Zanardi's car was t-boned behind the front wheel, splitting the monocoque in half. The near-fatal collision amputated both of his legs above the knee. Zanardi lost a massive amount of blood, but survived due to the quick actions of the medical teams"

You can tell the difference in cars mainly, an F1 car an Indy car are two very different things. Also, ESPN has never covered F1.

[zebrainz]

You're right PP, I forgot how much overseas racing CART did during that time period. There were a lot of cross over drivers (back and forth) during that time period. Villenueve, Montoya, Zanardi, etc., makes it hard for me to remember who was driving where in what year.

[ProfessorPeppers]

No prob man. After looking that up, I had completely forgotten how much the CART series used to go overseas. If I'm correct Zanardi is into rally racing now. Good to see him not let his condition hold him down, he doesn't get enough credit for how he dealt with it and how he's overcome that injury.

[ProfessorPeppers]

The rumor circulating now is Michael Schumacher is going to come back and race Massa's car. There is a month till the next race so that gives him plenty of time to get ready and he has not stopped training since he retired.

I'm glad I didn't get my hopes up, because then I wouldn't be as giddy as I am now....

It's official, Schumacher will be returning to the track to fill in for Massa.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/f1/news/story?id=4363987

[Britneck]

I'm glad I didn't get my hopes up, because then I wouldn't be as giddy as I am now....

It's official, Schumacher will be returning to the track to fill in for Massa.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/f1/news/story?id=4363987

My pops is going to be pissed. He quit going to the Montreal race, when they were running that race, because he got tired of hearing the German national anthem every time. haha. Then when he decided to start going again, because the English have been doing well, they canceled the race.