Felipe Massa

[jdc]

After a crash during qualifying in this weeks F1 race in Hungary Felipe has undergone surgery for a serious head injury, he is described as serious but stable. Shows how dangerous this sport is. My best wishes go to him and his family for a full recovery.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/8168807.stm

[Welshwatchman]

Seems like he fractured his skull after being hit by a flying piece of Barrichello's rear suspension whilst doing 120 mph.

Just a week after the incredibly sad death of Henry Surtees in a similar, though more serious of course, accident.

I just had to look at the Surtees incident on Youtube.

Freaky.

[Sweramic]

Here you can see the spring that caused the injury. I wish him and his family all the best.

[Goodwatch]

It shows for the compassion our members have! Due to stringent safety measures and intrinsic safety enhancing features in the design of the cars and the HANS device the number of fatalities is drastically reduced. I think the next step must be two small roll bars alongside the cockpit to protect the driver's head because that seems to be the most vulnerable part now.

I would like to be given the chance to pilot an F1 car for a few laps around Zandvoort, this is one of my long standing boyhood dreams. Yesterday I say a small feature about a Dutch female TV presenter to do just that in a Renault F1 car. She started her practice in a Renault F3 car and worked her way up to the real thing. As soon as the engine of her car was started and she had to drive up to the starting line the engine stalled. It happened to all those who got the same chance, like Richard Hammond.

After her run she was completely hyper and couldn't speak for minutes. Her top speed was 229 Kmph. What an experience. Yes, it must be: zero to 100 Kmph in 2.4 seconds!

[swatty]

Thats shocking, hope he is OK

[Lowflight]

I watched it....that was screwed up.

[Saxon007]

Ferrari says Massa is stable and will update his condition tomorrow morning. I know his dad is at every race, must be pretty tough on him. Hopefully Felippe will be okay and can race again.

Originally Posted by Goodwatch

I would like to be given the chance to pilot an F1 car for a few laps around Zandvoort, this is one of my long standing boyhood dreams.

Here is the next best thing.

http://www.iracing.com/newsEvents/index.php

[Latrodectus]

I have not seen it, normally I watch all events. I hope he will be OK after this! Very sad!

[idk01]

Heres hoping for a speedy recovery, thank god for the safety barrier!!!!!!!

I've watched that video a few times now, just can't believe how hard it was too see before the slo-mo, no way you'd see that while concentrating behind the wheel.

[rainman_16]

I can't believe similar events happened in the same week (Surtees and now Massa). I really hope Massa pulls through this quickly and recovers fully. Speculation is that it was a torsion bar that struck his helmet. If that's the case, I'd love to know how this could have happened in the first place.

He looks understandably scared in those photos... Godspeed Felipe!

[Watchdog]

Sad story. It's so strange in auto racing how drivers walk away from the most spectacular wrecks, but the more mundane crashes seem to seriously injure or kill.

[larsr]

I don't think Massa is "scared" in the picture: he is in shock. Nor would I call getting hit on the helmet/visor by a 800 gram piece of metal at 100 mph plus a "mundane" crash.

Massa is lucky to be alive. The real question is whether he will ever climb into an F1 car again. Time will tell whether his eye sustained sufficient damage to allow him to compete at the highest levels of motorsport. One can only hope he will recover fully, with no lasting neurological deficits.

Amazingly bad luck for both Surtees and Massa.

[rainman_16]

More about the accident here: http://axisofoversteer.blogspot.com/

[Saxon007]

Originally Posted by rainman_16

More about the accident here: http://axisofoversteer.blogspot.com/

Holy crap, I can't imagine Schumi getting back in the car.

[Yume-sama]

That is *really* bad luck...

Call me crazy but that's why I hate convertibles, and motorcycles. Once had a rock go directly through the top of my windshield (somehow it didn't shatter the whole windshield... yay for engineering?), from a semi. Could have been my head! Of course I wouldn't be doing 260km/h, but I wouldn't be wearing a helmet, either...

[rajurama]

Freak accident something for which the race drivers are least prepared for... hopefully he ll get well soon... I truly enjoy F1 not just because of speed but because of its latest technology and advanced safety for the drivers. With this incident I hope they design better and more efficient helmets along with other safety features.

[Jimbits76]

Sad.

Get well soon Felipe!!!!!!

J

[ob1]

Get well soon Fellipe!!! He is my favourite driver, and I hope that he recovers soon. The cars are so much safer than a few years ago, but its a dangerous sport, thats for sure

[jdc]

Better news, Felipe Massa's condition is severe but not critical. There are doubts wether he will ever race again, but the main thing is that he is starting his slow recovery
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/8169915.stm

[ob1]

Great news. Heres hoping he make a full recovery and his eye injury doesn't end his racing career. I doubt very much that we'll see him race before the end of the season, but I'm sure his pregnant wife is just happy that he's alive.

[swatty]

Thanks for the update Martin, glad he's getting better,

[Lol-x]

I wish him the very best, that was a very sad incident indeed