2014 FORMULA 1 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX - LIVE THREAD

10/1/2014 | Chode

[Chode]

Suzuka

Race Date:	05 Oct 2014
First Grand Prix:	1987
Number of Laps:	53
Circuit Length:	5.807 km
Race Distance:	307.471 km
Lap Record:	1:31.540 - K. Raikkonen (2005)

[mabarker1]

Program Alert!

NBCS DirecTV CH220 @ 8:00 PM EST is: 1, a documentary made in 2013 about F1 History, Danger and Excitement.

Maybe PING Your list. Not sure if it is online or not.

[Lockbox]

Lewis Hamilton has signed a contract for next season to return to his old team McLaren and spear head their new era with old partners Honda. The Brit has been battling all season long with team-mate Nico Rosberg for this years World title and only one of them can win it. As it currently stands, Hamilton is first with a ten point lead over Rosberg in the championship standings.

http://www.f1today.net/en/news/hamilton-signs-for-mclaren-for-2015

Does this mean Fred to Mercedes Benz?????

[God luvs America]

don’t know if anyone’s seen this video yet but its the long version of the original footage...1) i didn’t realize how much the crane had backed up 2) notice the cameraman in the forefront with the green headphones...he saw what was happening and moved the camera instantaneously so FOG has footage...

http://vimeo.com/108126307

[WayneS]

The guy in the tower is waving a GREEN flag...

[cld51860]

How is Bianchi doing? I haven’t heard anything.

[God luvs America]

not good...not breathing on his own...

[God luvs America]

at the start (8s) double yellows are being waved...once Sutil’s car is on the crane and the crane is moving out of the way (1m) the green comes out- that’s the way it should be...Bianchi’s accident occurs 10 sec later (1.10)

a yellow does not enforce a certain speed limit; it means you have to drive slower in the yellow area this time around versus last lap...i dare say double yellow or green would not have made a difference...

[cld51860]

Prayers up.

[WayneS]

That corner should not have gone green until the crane was actually out of the runoff area. Moving out of the runoff area is not the same thing as being out of the runoff area. A few extra seconds can make a difference, and believe it or not, some racers do pay attention to the flags.

In any event, I certainly do not think that anyone screwed up badly enough that they should be blamed for the accident.

Tragic as it is, such things happen in motor racing.

Overall, F1 has an outstanding safety record.

[clintonh8r]

I’d still like to see footage of what caused Bianchi to go off track. I assume he simply carried too much speed for the conditions into the corner, but it’s possible his car made contact with another or there was a mechanical failure.

[bobby.223]

It is flat out incredible he survived that. Prayers up for his recovery.

[Kaosinla]

“How is Bianchi doing? I haven’t heard anything.”

He remains in ICU in critical, but stable condition...He was diagnosed with a Diffuse Axonal Injury, which is a somber assessment.

Here’s a good explanation by a former F1 Dr./neuro

http://formerf1doc.wordpress.com/2014/10/07/diffuse-axonal-injury/#comments

[cld51860]

Thanks for the update.

[God luvs America]

The FIA has said it is looking at improving safety in wake of Jules Bianchi's accident

"It is probably better to take the decision to slow down away from the drivers," suggests Race Director Charlie Whiting; Bianchi did slow for double-waved yellow flags but Whiting says "it’s a matter of degree"

The FIA has revealed more details of Jules Bianchi’s crash in last weekend’s Japanese GP and also promised safety improvements in the wake of the Marussia driver’s tragic accident.  As the Frenchman’s life hangs in the balance, the governing body held a press briefing in the Sochi paddock on Friday, attended by FIA President Jean Todt.

CCTV footage of the Bianchi’s accident at Suzuka’s Dunlop Curve, together with that of Adrian Sutil’s Sauber on the previous lap - which precipated his collision with a recovery tractor - was also shown.  With rain – which had been falling all day as Typhoon Phanfone approached – worsening in the closing laps, the cameras showed Sutil running off the drying racing line, causing his car to spin off.

Bianchi appeared to do the same thing the following lap. Unlike Sutil, however, he attempted to correct the slide, which pitched his car off the track nose first. His Marussia then collided head-on with the rear of the tractor recovering Sutil’s car, which resulted in the 25-year-old suffering a diffuse axonal injury to his brain.

Whiting denied that waving double yellow flags after Sutil’s crash – as opposed to bringing out the Safety Car – was the wrong course of action.

“We put double waved yellows out because we felt that the incident could be dealt with without using a Safety Car,” he said.

“The next stage up is a Safety Car, of course, but because the car was well away from the track against the tyre barrier, that’s the normal procedure for us to follow.”  Whiting, who is in the process of completing the FIA’s report into the accident, said that “not everybody slowed down” in response to the yellow flags but refused to specify how fast Bianchi’s car was travelling.

“There were some that didn’t slow down much; there were some that slowed down a lot,” he said. “I don’t think we need to go into details about how much he slowed down relative to others, suffice to say we do have that data.

“He did slow down, but it’s a matter of degree.”  this goes directly to my point in post #87

Whiting met drivers on Friday and will also meet teams on Saturday, when what he called “good, sound and well thought through ideas” will be discussed further.

One such is to add ‘skirts’ to recovery tractors but the main suggestion seems to be forcing drivers to lower their speed under caution by making them drive to a delta time.

It’s something they already do when the Safety Car is sent out and Whiting thinks it’s a better solution than using the so-called ‘slow zones’ seen in the World Endurance Championship.

“One of the most important things to learn here is that it is probably better to take the decision to slow down away from the drivers,” he said.

“What we could do is to effectively deploy the Safety Car but not actually send the Safety Car out."

more: http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/9511969/the-fia-has-said-it-is-looking-at-improving-safety-in-wake-of-jules-bianchis-accident

[God luvs America]

Jules Bianchi: concerns grow as family gather at his hospital bedside

• Father Philippe: ‘Jules is fighting as he always did’
• No update on Bianchi’s condition after crash in Japan

The family of the stricken Jules Bianchi have gathered by his bedside, according to an AFP report, intensifying the already grave concerns for the condition of the Formula One driver.

His brother and sister, Tom and Melanie Bianchi, arrived in Japan late Thursday and joined their parents, Philippe and Christine, at the Mie General Medical Centre in Yokkaichi, where the driver was taken following his high-speed crash in last Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka. Bianchi, 25, crashed his Marussia car into a recovery vehicle which was preparing to remove Adrian Sutil’s damaged Sauber.

“Jules is fighting as he always did, the same way as if he was racing. He is strong,” Bianchi’s father was quoted as saying by French newspaper Nice Matin.

Lorenz Leclerc, who is said to be Bianchi’s best friend, also joined the gathering. There have been no reports of any improvement in Bianchi, whose condition was described as “critical but stable” earlier this week following his diffuse axonal brain injury.

His team confirmed on Friday that they will compete in this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix with only one car out of respect for their driver.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/oct/10/jules-bianchi-marussia-japan-concerns-grow

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lot of ways to read into this.  While there is no silver lining here there is a good chance American driver Alexander Rossi is in the other Marussia for the US GP in three weeks...

[Chode]

Prayers up