GPDA to request changes to Barcelona

[ShiftingGears]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67026

Hang on...the tyre wall did its job! :s

Too bad for the fans who want to see the cars.

[MAX_THRUST]

Take away tyre barriers and put in safer barriers. No car is going under them.

[Powered by Cosworth]

Eurgh, chances are a crash like this won't happen for another decade. Even if it happened again, the tyre wall and car did their job and Heikki is fine.

[ShiftingGears]

Take away tyre barriers and put in safer barriers. No car is going under them.

Not designed for head on impacts. G-forces would be significantly higher.

[Hawkmoon]

I suppose the they better get the construction crews to start knocking down buildings at Monaco to increase the run-off areas there. Oh, wait a minute! Having concrete barriers surrounding the circuit at Monaco doesn't count because all the rich folk want to be entertained. Besides, nobody's going to have a car failure at Monaco now are they? :rolleyes:

[wedge]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7371456.stm


The problem with Heikki was that he went in at a nasty angle.

The conveyer belt system, which keeps the tyres together, works very well for a slightly different angled contact because it is supposed to cushion the whole thing and keep the tyres intact as well.

F1 cars are like a pencil and it meant he went under and penetrated the conveyer belt.

It is a nasty angle as it is like being in a sled and with the amount of pressure that comes along the top of the chassis the next thing exposed in the forward section is your head.

It doesn't matter if it was 10 rows of tyres or 20 rows - it was going to happen at that angle.

[janneppi]

I read somewhere that the tyre walls at that corner had sections that were dug into the ground some 15cm lower than other tyres to prevent cars sliding under them.
Is that common practise or just a good idea by the marshal there?

[MAX_THRUST]

As much as a solid wall hurts when you hit it, in some respects the nearer the walls is to the accident the safer the driver is on impact.

Example being imagine Heiki's accident where on the edge of the tarmac racing part of the track there was a solid wall. He wouldn't have gone far before he hit the wall, and then would have slid along to a stop, using the wall as break. Yes the car would be damaged yes he would have felt it, but traveliing acroos a huge sand trap that doesn't slow you down, then asists burying you beneath tyres is any less dangerous.

[ShiftingGears]

Being buried beneath tyres is not nearly at all as dangerous as the increased g-forces on impact with a closer wall.

[Powered by Cosworth]

Being buried beneath tyres is not nearly at all as dangerous as the increased g-forces on impact with a closer wall.

The problem with sand traps is that they don't slow you down. They launch you in the air and potentialy flip you over. The risk of additional G-Forces is preffered i'm sure to flipping end over end, potentially flinging debris into the spectators also.

[JSH]

How about instead of fixing the band-aid, fixing the problem at it's source!

In other words, Heiki wouldn;t have crashed if the stone hadn't machined his wheel to pieces.

So two suggestions to prevent this type of crash :
a) Introduce asphalt runoff close to the track(to prevent stones getting on track due to "minor" offs, and/or
b) Mandate a minimum clearance between brake rotors and wheels. The minimum clearance to be larger + safety factor than the gravel size used on F1 approved circuits.