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| Pastor Maldonado crashed in the same place in 2014/ |
With Fernando Alonso still in the hospital under observation and talk of his missing the final pre season test, McLaren's official explanations don't satisfy.
McLaren issued a press release blaming the accident on a sudden gust of wind and categorically denying there was any mechanical or electrical issues with the car. McLaren should have done this immediately after the accident rather than wait for people to come up with their own explanations.
Not that the official version completely satisfies all questions, especially since F1 teams are notoriously unreliable when it comes to admitting technical failures.
Sudden gusts of wind are indeed common at the Circuit de Catalunya yet the photographer who took the only know pictures of the crash said that at that moment the wind was not strong.McLaren said the wind gust blew Alonso onto the Astroturf (in a somewhat similar dynamic to Maldonado's practice accident last season) yet the same photographer claims the McLaren never put a wheel off on the outside.
Others are wondering why there is only one tire skid mark. Is that an indication of a possible brake by wire issue?If it was just a "normal testing crash", why did Alonso stay inside the cockpit for 20 minutes and had to be sedated?
If it was not a mechanical issue, why did McLaren stop Button who was scheduled for the afternoon?
The one guy who saw better than anyone was Vettel of course who was right behind. He saw Alonso just turn into the wall. "It was strange" he said.
Yes, strange indeed.
I wonder if F1 might consider mandating concrete walls be protected by Safer barriers as NASCAR did for Daytona's inside wall after Kyle Busch's crash. If a relatively slow speed hit in what might possibly be the safest racing car designed by man can put a racer out of commission then, perhaps, it's time to act.
Not saying it's just a normal crash. But about the one tire mark, when it hits the green bit (less grip) there are 2 marks. I'd say it's the wheel with less weight locked only, not uncommon on heavy breaking on the limit. And when there's less grip, then the other also locks. Could be just that. Or something broke. But we're not gonna get anywhere from that.
ReplyDeleteWhat is odd, is simply the unconsciousness, agitation, sedation... on this particular shunt/speed/place, on a 2015 car, with HANS, etc.
The Maldonado example is perfect, and even if Alonso hit it harder, remember Kimi in Silverstone 2014? Much harder side or 3/4 impact.
Also, there's all the hiding of the crash, marshals with canvas, and such. All made us think it was gory and serious, maybe they were just being over cautious on a non-racing event with no rush (no Live TV), maybe it's more serious (or unusual) that expected. But what?
We may never know...
That F.1 and McLaren are trying to bury what happened under a deep layer of sand doesn't surprise me. What I find very surprising is that nobody seems to be digging really hard to discover the truth. Autosport is acting like nothing happened, something they often do when British teams are involved. But the others?
ReplyDeleteCome on, how many journalists are in the paddock if you count all the international media? Do you think it's possible that none of them has a good contact, a mechanic, an engineer willing to talk and give some hints on what happened?
I'd say this speaks volumes about the sad condition of motorsport journalism nowadays...
"Also, there's all the hiding of the crash, marshals with canvas, and such. All made us think it was gory and serious, maybe they were just being over cautious on a non-racing event with no rush (no Live TV), maybe it's more serious (or unusual) that expected. But what?"
ReplyDeleteThis makes sense after the accident with Bianchi.
Without a doubt there is more, much more to this story than McLaren is releasing to the public. They need to dig out from that hill behind the barrier that Maldonado and Alonso hit in 2014 and 2015 and push that barrier back a good forty yards and protect it with a couple of rows of tires to soften the blow if a driver does lose it at that corner.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for Alonso, I think the guy did get shocked and I think he almost died. Driver error? No way, not on that corner and not during testing. Alonso is arguably the most talented grand prix driver in the world right now. I think the racing world almost lost another racing driver, and that should never ever happen. Just like refueling did nothing for the F1 show and it was just another added pit lane danger so are these imbecilic hybrid engines. They are insulting to real racing and real racers. We're not saving trees, we're not saving the polar bear, and we're not saving the lives of racing drivers. We're putting them at risk.
Shocked, gassed, simply concussed (not buying that) or what not, a 3rd night in the hospital is the only factual new bit of confirmed news.
ReplyDeleteAnd he's just been released:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/alonso-finally-released-from-hospital/
What is odd, is simply the unconsciousness, agitation, sedation... on this particular shunt/speed/place, on a 2015 car, with HANS, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe brain is a funny thing though. Any crash could have a more or less severe result on different people. There are reports that he went off at over 130 miles an hour and since nothing on the car absorbed much energy by breaking away then it's very easy to see that the force could have been transmitted into him at a level that would cause a consussion.
The Maldonado example is perfect, and even if Alonso hit it harder, remember Kimi in Silverstone 2014? Much harder side or 3/4 impact.
Kimi's car also completely disintegrated. Much more of the force was disipated than in this crash so comparing the two doesn't hold water. Alonso hit the wall side on and nothing on the car absorbed enough of the impact to even separate from it. The concussion is no surprise to me given the nature of the accident.
True, but then they said he wasn't even technically concussed as he had no swelling or bruising in the brain, but had the same symptoms. I guess maybe more of whiplash thing, with sudden different decelerations in different directions/vectors making him unconscious.
ReplyDelete