Sidepodcast

F1 Safety - The Accident Process

• Length: 4:18 
• Size: 4.0 MB 
• File: safety5.mp3 
• Transcript: safety5.pdf 
• Torrent: safety5.torrent 

Welcome to Sidepodcast, this is the fifth episode of our miniseries F1 Safety. We’ve looked at the safety of the cars, what circuits do to help, and the medical facilities in place. Today we’re going to put them all together and run through the accident process.

Starting at the very beginning, to have an accident, first you need drivers. To participate in an F1 weekend, you need to have an FIA superlicence, and these are granted based on good results in some of the feeder series, or perhaps another exceptional circumstance. If a driver is not well before the weekend begins, he can be replaced by the teams third driver, and substitution is acceptable up until the start of qualifying. Otherwise, the team will just have to run with one car.

Once a session is underway, then the cars will head out onto the track and do what they do. If a mild incident occurs, such as a driver running wide and having to regain the track, then the marshals will wave a single yellow flag. This is an indication to other drivers that there is something to be wary of and they need to reduce their speed. Overtaking is also prohibited under yellow flag conditions. Double waved flags are for a slightly more serious incident, as it tells approaching cars that they need to be prepared to stop if necessary. If the danger is easily removed, ie the off-road car regains the track and continues on it’s way, then green flags will be waved to show that it is all clear.

If the danger is too great, then the red flag is waved. This can either mean that an accident has left a car in a precarious position, that there is too much debris on track for conditions to be safe, or that the weather is too harzardous to continue. The red flag means the session is instantly stopped. Cars must return to the pit lane unless the race has begun, in which case they head to the main straight to wait further instructions.

Whilst we’re on the subject of flags, there are a few others to be aware of. The blue flag is waved to tell a car that it needs to move out of the way of a faster car behind it – this occurs during a race when the leader is lapping back markers. A black flag means a driver’s race is over, and this is usually because he has been driving without due care.

This often occurs if a car leaves the pitlane when the light is red. A white and black diagonal flag is a pre-cursor to the fully black flag, a sort of warning for bad behaviour. A black flag with orange circle indicates to a particular driver that his car is dangerous and needs to pit, whilst a flag of red and yellow horizontal stripes means the track surface is slippery and due caution is required. This is commonly shown after an incident leaves oil on the track.

Finally, a white flag occurs if there is a slow-moving vehicle on the track, for example one of the rescue vehicles – however this is rarely seen as the safety car or a red flag situation has usually been employed at this point.

Moving on to the safety car, then, the Mercedes-Benz will be deployed during a race if conditions are hazardous and require cars to slow down, but it is not quite severe enough to bring proceedings to a complete halt. The Safety Car will pull out from it’s position at the end of the pitlane, pick up the race leader, and guide the train of cars round the track at a controlled speed, taking whatever safe line avoids the scene of an accident. It has been known for the cars to have to navigate through the pitlane, if an accident has occurred on the main straight. Behind the safety car, there is no overtaking, and drivers are tasked with making sure their tyres stay warm for the restart. It is the Safety Car drivers responsibility to make sure speeds are low, but not so slow that tyre temperatures become dangerous themselves.

Bernd Maylander has been behind the wheel of the Merc since 2000, having progressed through the ranks of karting, Formula Ford and DTM. He is in charge of the car through the entire weekend, including the support series as well. Bernd also attends the drivers briefings to be aware of any specific safety worries for the weekend. There are two safety cars, and two mechanics are employed to make sure they are in tip top condition.

Peter Tibbetts is the co-driver in the car, and both men are in contact with Race Control and Race Director Charlie Whiting throughout the Safety Car period. The Safety Car has flashing lights on top of it, and when the track conditions are safe these will go out to indicate to the F1 drivers following behind that it is returning to the pitlane, and the racing can restart.

That is it for today’s episode of F1 Safety. We have covered most of the aspects of modern safety in Formula 1 now, so for the next couple of episodes we’ll look at how things have changed and improved.

Theme music: Headway, Safety.

Days that Shook the F1 World - 1955 Le Mans Disaster

• Length: 3:29 
• Size: 3.2 MB 
• File: day14.mp3 
• Transcript: day14.pdf 
• Torrent: day14.torrent 

Hello, we have reached the end of our second foray into Formula 1 history, picking out the days that have shaped the sport we know and love today. This last edition picks out a specific date from the 1950s – June 11th 1955.

Although not strictly a Formula 1 race, the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1955 had an enormous impact on all categories of motorsport, for the worst possible reason. June 11th is known as one of the blackest days in racing history due to the terrible crash that took place.

In those days, most current F1 drivers would be taking part in the endurance event, and the battle at the front was between Hawthorn, Fangio and Pierre Levegh. Levegh was driving for Mercedes, along with Stirling Moss and Fangio.

The race started well, but after about two hours, the accident happened. Levegh’s Mercedes came into contact with the Austin-Healey of Lance Macklin, and due to the ramp-shaped rear of the car, was launched into the air. The Mercedes hit the mound of earth designed to protect the spectators, and was somersaulted over the top and directly into the crowd.

The car had a high magnesium content, and as the fuel tank split and ignited, the entire thing burst into intense flames. Levegh had already been thrown from the car and killed, and many, many spectators suffered the same fate. When rescuers attempted to put the flames out with their water extinguishers, it made things worse as it met the magnesium fuelled flames. By the time the fire was out – two hours later – over 80 people had died. It was a horrific accident.

Organisers decided to let the race continue to prevent a rush of panic in trying to leave the circuit. They wanted the roads as clear as possible for the ambulance traffic. Mercedes had let their other two cars continue in the race, and were now holding a comfortable lead. After word of the death toll reached head office in Stuttgart, however, the order filtered through to the track for the cars to be withdrawn. Mike Hawthorn went on to win the race, but there was no celebrating to be done.

Although it was eventually classed as a racing incident, the effects of the accident were far reaching. France, Switzerland and Germany immediately placed temporary bans on racing, meaning the French Grand Prix was cancelled. Switzerland went on to make the ban permanent, allowing drivers to only participate in time trials, and not side by side combat. This restriction was only recently lifted in 2007.

The Formula 1 season continued just a week after the accident. Although there were many complaints about this decision, the Dutch Grand Prix organisers felt they had to continue as planned. Mercedes won the remaining three rounds of the season, and afterwards announced their intention to withdraw from circuit racing. They didn’t return for another three decades.

The only thing the accident doesn’t seem to have affected is safety. It clearly highlighted a series of weaknesses for spectators, which were mildly addressed by increasing the gap between the viewing areas and the track. However, driver safety, fire precautions, and better track facilities were all left for the next generation to deal with.

That’s all for this episode, and this series, of Days that Shook the F1 World. I hope you’ve enjoyed visiting the history of Formula 1 with me. If you have any ideas, suggestions, or feedback, please feel free to let me know at Sidepodcast.com. Thanks for listening.

Theme music: Causeway, Change in My Lifetime.

Apparently His Luck Translates to Two Wheels Too

Whilst we were sleeping, Mark Webber was hard at work participating in his annual Tasmanian Challenge, but unfortunately today that came to an abrupt end. Mark was hit by a car whilst cycling through one of the stages suffering injuries that required him to be airlifted to hospital.

Thankfully, after undergoing surgery on a broken right leg, he appears to be okay. Other than that, sources say he is in good spirits, and Red Bull have issued a statement saying they expect him to be fully fit in time for Melbourne.

Of course we wish Webber a speedy recovery, but it would be remiss of us not to wonder what this means for his team and the upcoming season. He'll have to sit out a vast majority of off-season testing which could be especially costly given the significant regulation changes and the switch to slicks.

Vettel will no doubt be doing a lot of the hard graft for the team in terms of on-track action, but last year those Red Bull guys covered a lot of mileage during the winter, and it won't help Webber to miss out on it.

Nevertheless, as long as he is safe and well, that's all that really matters. Lady Laney raises an interesting question about whether Mark will be allowed to compete in the same challenge next year over on The Red Bullog. Mark is no stranger to the dangers of cycling, however, after his friend Morris Denton was caught up in an uncannily similar accident Monaco this summer.

We've seen Webber on two wheels face to face when he participated in the Milk Race at Goodwood in 2007. That day he finished behind Chris Hoy, who next month will cycle his way around Wembley stadium at the Race of Champions, an event Mark will now sadly have to sit out.

Refuelling and Pit Lane Fires

This article was originally written for BellaOnline, but is republished here for posterity.

At the Hungarian Grand Prix we saw a few unexpected fires up and down the pit lane. The fuel rig used during pit stops for each team is a standard FIA approved rig, meaning they are all the same.

There are several theories for the small fires we saw, including the heat in the pit lane or a uniform malfunction of the rigs, but as yet we have had nothing confirmed.

The only official word on the phenomenon is from Williams and Toro Rosso who both say that it wasn't a fuel rig failure, but they don't clarify exactly what the problem was. Toro Rosso have confirmed that they have solved the problem and it won't happen again, so I imagine we should assume the rest of the teams have done the same.

This isn't the end of the story, though, as the problem has caused some serious worries about pit lane fires. The mixture of heat, fuel, and hurrying to be as quick as possible can cause errors which lead to fires, and these can sometimes be very dangerous and terrible. Luckily we only saw small fires that were easily controlled by the extinguishers, but David Coulthard in particular has spoken out.

Coulthard was a test driver in the days when refuelling during the race was banned, and so although he hasn't raced under such conditions, he believes the competition would be better off for it. Obviously the safety aspect would be improved dramatically, but he also says that refuelling has made the races boring and predictable.

Coulthard retires at the end of this year, but says he would like to see the racing return to the non-refuelling regulations. He says the extra weight in the car means drivers have to work harder to preserve their tyres for a whole race distance, and the 70 or so laps are more about craft than flat out speed.

It would be interesting to have the emphasis more on tyres, as we have already seen this year that some drivers fare better with their Bridgestones than others, and adding another element to their drivers craft can only be a good thing. Whether this idea will catch on or not remains to be seen, but with the banning of traction control, and a return to slick tyres, it wouldn't be the first time the regulations have returned to previous ideas.

The Accident Process

This article was originally written for BellaOnline, but is republished here for posterity.

Heikki Kovalainen suffered a major accident at the Spanish Grand Prix this past weekend, but luckily escaped with only a concussion on his list of injuries. The process of attending to an accident and getting medical attention swiftly to whoever needs it has been narrowed down to a fine art by the organisers of Grand Prix, so I thought it would be worthwhile to run through what steps can be taken.

On Track
When an accident occurs and the car is in a dangerous position on or near the track, the safety car is deployed. This slows the remaining drivers down and tries to ensure there will be no further accidents whilst the current one is being dealt with. In cases where the driver appears to be injured, or needs attention, the medical car will be despatched along with the safety car, and will drive around the track until it reaches the site of the accident. Fans, commentators and the pit crew will all be watching the TV screens for movement from within the car, and the universal sign is a thumbs up to let us know that everything is okay, even if the driver is in some pain.

Medical Centre
When a driver is injured or his status is unknown, he will usually be extricated from the car – there are mechanisms in place to make it easy to get the driver out – and stretchered to a nearby ambulance. The ambulance then takes the driver to the medical centre – a building usually somewhere near the paddock complex. The medical centre is equipped to administer first aid, set any broken bones and clear drivers if they are okay. Any accident above a certain force requires a driver to visit the medical centre, even if they walk away from it. Lewis Hamilton has already fallen foul of that rule this year, by returning to the pits after an accident instead of visiting the doctors.

Hospital
If further checks are needed, as in the case of Kovalainen, or if things are more serious, there is a helicopter on standby to airlift the driver to hospital. Kovalainen was taken to a nearby hospital in Barcelona for further scans, was kept overnight for observation, but it was confirmed that everything was clear, and the only injury was concussion.

Clearance to Race
Before a driver can return to the track, he needs to be cleared to race by an FIA appointed physician. This is so that he can confirm there is no chance of further or repeat injuries if another accident should occur. When Kubica was involved in a heavy crash in Canada last year, he was not allowed to race in the following event, even though he appeared to be fine. This was the FIA doctor’s decision, as a safety precaution, and Kubica was allowed to return the race after. All drivers want to return to action as soon as possible, but it’s always down to the FIA’s discretion whether they are allowed to race.

Days that Shook the F1 World - Monaco Qualifying, 2006

• Length: 4:07 
• Size: 3.9 MB 
• File: day5.mp3 
• Transcript: day5.pdf 
• Torrent: day5.torrent 

Welcome to Sidepodcast’s Days that Shook the F1 World, a series sharing some of the more pivotal moments in F1 History. Today, the 27th May 2006.

Michael Schumacher had already won twice in 2006, but was still struggling for form against defending champion Fernando Alonso. In the back of his mind he might have known this would be his last season and therefore his last race in the principality. Desperation may be been starting to set in.

Qualifying began as it always did, with the first of the three sessions. Notably, Felipe Massa crashed out in the sister Ferrari, causing red flags and plenty of chaos. Whatever help Michael may have expected from Felipe was immediately out of the window, and Ferrari’s race strategy was further compromised because Massa would likely start last in Sunday’s Grand Prix.

The second session passed without event, and the majority of the third session evolved predictably.

As the session drew to a close, Schumacher began his last attempt at a flying lap, but he lost two tenths somewhere in the middle sector. Aware that he could not make up that kind of deficit in the remainder of the lap and aware that his closest rival was behind him on the track, he got out of shape around the hairpin at Rascasse, pulling to a stop inches from the barrier.

The Ferrari was stuck in a dangerous position, so marshals had to wave their yellow flags, ensuring that a following Fernando Alonso had no choice but to slow down and abort his lap. How convenient.

The big question was: did Schumacher do it deliberately or was it merely a mistake?

Ferrari absolutely denied the former. It was an accident, a pure racing incident with no malice intended.

The entire pit lane rallied against this claim. How could it be an accident? The man was a master at Monaco, he missed the barriers by inches, meaning Alonso’s lap was ruined while the Ferrari suffered no damage. Surely an act of evil genius?

The stewards investigated, ruled Schumacher had done wrong, and pushed him to the back of the grid meaning both Ferraris would start from the back row, making it the teams worst ever qualifying position. During the race, Schumacher wowed everyone by fighting his way through the traffic and ended up in the top eight. No one denied the man could drive.

But that didn’t matter. The event caused a reaction completely unprecedented in the F1 World. Previous attempts to disrupt the course of a GP weekend by Schumacher and/or his team were now viewed in a new light. How could you believe that his accidents with championship rivals Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve in previous years, were simply mistakes? Fans were instantly reminded of his other misdemeanours, and now excuses were much less credible.

If he did do it on purpose, it revealed an enormous amount about Michael Schumacher’s character. Being a seven times world champion clearly wasn’t enough, and even though he claimed to always want to win everything fair and square, a little underhand technique every now and then wasn’t completely out of the question.

Prior to Monaco ‘06, when an incident occurred where questionable tactics had been used, the pit lane traditionally stayed quiet, had some time to think about it, and then responded via press releases and lawyers. After this event though, no one was backwards in coming forward. The entire pit lane erupted with scorn and derision, crying “cheat” and demanding action. Of course, they got what they wanted, and a new precedent was born. If you have an opinion on any subject, better to share it immediately, loudly, and to anyone who cares to listen.

Most importantly though, this event took place as fans were becoming more vocal too. Bloggers were just waiting for a controversial event to get their teeth into, and Michael Schumacher well and truly delivered. Everyone had an opinion, whether for or against the German, and now everyone could have their say.

Coverage of Formula 1 was changing, and this was the first major event to have everyone call it – cheater, evil genius or genuine mistake?

That’s all for our fifth important date. Join me tomorrow for another Day that Shook the F1 World.

Theme music: Dylan in the Movies, Better Days and Causeway, Change in My Lifetime.

Days that Shook the F1 World - Ground Effects Banned, 1982

• Length: 4:03 
• Size: 3.8 MB 
• File: day4.mp3 
• Transcript: day4.pdf 
• Torrent: day4.torrent 

Hello everyone, welcome to Days that Shook the F1 World, a series from Sidepodcast that takes a look at some of those important days that left the sport reeling, never to be the same again. Today we’re looking at the 3rd November 1983.

Whilst advocating safety at every opportunity, the majority of people involved in Formula 1 also want more speed. That’s the aim of the game, after all - to maximise speed and beat your rivals because they haven’t found that edge within the regulations like you have.

Ground effects was one of those things.

The basic theory behind the ground effect is to create as much downforce as possible, enabling a car to go faster around corners. By making the sides of the car as low as possible, the air pressure underneath the chassis is lower than that above, which basically glues the car to the track.

Lotus were the first team to introduce the concept to the Formula 1 back in the 1970s. They were helped along by the use of a wind tunnel, which resulted in longer sidepods and consistent ride height, creating a reasonable inverse wing effect.

This effect didn’t necessarily help on the long straights, but when it came to cornering, it left the old style cars in its wake. When Lotus introduced their car in 1978, it won 8 out of 16 races, proving that the new developments would revolutionise the sport.

Other teams began to sit up and take notice and it wasn’t long before the ground effects principal was becoming ubiquitous. By 1982, there were no cars without the technology. Fast races, fantastic cornering speeds, all great stuff.

Except, the cars were inherently unstable.

The forces created by the ground effects were all well and good, if the car managed to stay stuck to the circuit, but once the effect was broken, it had potentially devastating consequences. A wing would then act as a wing should, rising up and literally flying the car off the track.

It wasn’t long before serious accidents started to happen. Drivers were often struggling to keep their cars on track during high speed cornering, and incident after incident culminated in the death of Alfa Romeo driver Patrick Depailler in Germany. Although a lack of safety fencing was deemed the reason for his death, there was no denying that the speed carried through the bend had something to do with it as well.

During this time, the two rival governing bodies the FISA and FOCA were at war, and ground effects was one of the big catalysts for their arguments. After Depailler’s death, the FISA finally forced through a new rule, stating that, whilst in the pits, cars had to have at least 6cm of clearance between their skirt and the ground. Teams very, very quickly got around this, by running their cars close to the ground out on track, and simply raising them up on hydraulics when it came to measurements in the pits. Given the ingenuity of the teams, or the uselessness of the rule, the FISA soon revoked their ruling, and allowed skirts to return to the cars.

Big mistake.

Accidents continued to occur, and although they were excused by other circumstances, they could almost always be traced back to the lower sides on the cars. Then came the tragic death of Gilles Villeneuve, and an accident later in Germany that saw Didier Pironi break both his legs in multiple places. The cause of those accidents could not be brushed aside and it was obvious something had to be done.

In November 1982, ground effects were officially banned with a more explicit rule, stating that from 1983 flat bottoms were required for F1 cars from the trailing edge of the front wheels, to the leading edge of the rear wheels.

Since then, the sport has never looked back. There’s no denying the fact that it was a brilliant piece of engineering, to get the idea off the page, out of the wind tunnel and onto the cars. But the dangers and speeds involved were just too great, and there is no question that banning the principal was the right thing to do.

That’s all for this episode of Days that Shook the F1 World. Please visit Sidepodcast.com to leave your comments and feedback about this and the other shows in this series.

Theme music: Dylan in the Movies, Better Days and Causeway, Change in My Lifetime.

Kubica's Crash Shows Safety Improvements

This article was originally written for BellaOnline, but is republished here for posterity.

Whilst I don’t want to dwell on what was an awful crash, there’s no denying that if it had happened just ten years ago, Robert Kubica would definitely not have been walking away with a simple sprained ankle. The driver’s are constantly striving for improvements to safety, and whilst it can sometimes seem as though they are whining about what is genuinely a dangerous sport, they have obviously been doing a good job.

First, let’s take a quick look at what actually happened in the crash. Kubica was trying to overtake Jarno Trulli, and hit the back wheel of the car, launching him into the air. He skipped over the grass, just missing an already parked Toro Rosso and marshal. He collided with the wall, which spins him back onto the track, literally in a circle a couple of times. The car rolls across the track, missing several other drivers who are negotiating the scene. Finally, Kubica smashes into the opposite wall and comes to rest on his side. All this at 180 mph.

The most important device to keep Robert Kubica relatively safe was the HANS device (the head and neck device). This basically keeps the driver and his helmet all tucked into the cockpit and safe, instead of letting his neck roll with the car and cause all kinds of problems.

Another noticeable thing about the car was how the area that the driver sits in – known as the tub – was completely intact despite the destruction of the rest of the car. The wheels had come off, and front and rear wings were detached almost immediately. But when Kubica was on his side, he was still safely inside the cockpit, and the cockpit was completely whole.

And of course, the most important area of safety is that the marshals were on the scene within 20 seconds of the crash starting. Luckily Kubica had crashed at the point of the circuit nearest to the medical centre, but even so, you couldn’t ask for a quicker response time than that. The safety car was instantly on track as well, to make sure that Kubica and the marshals was kept safe from the other cars and that they wouldn’t stray off course and cause anymore damage.

The crash has brought up concerns about the plans for more street circuits in the future. If accidents like this happen on a specially designed track, they are more easily controlled and handled. If a track is shoehorned into an existing street circuit, it takes a lot more planning and perhaps some sacrifices to safety. All we can do at the moment is be grateful that Kubica is okay.

F1 Guide (Part 6) - Safety

• Length: 3:09 
• Size: 3.0 MB 
• File: guide6.mp3 
• Transcript: guide6.pdf 
• Torrent: guide6.torrent 

Welcome to the Sidepodcast Guide to Formula 1.

It’s all about going as fast as you possibly can and beating your opponents at all costs. But at high speeds, and with such delicate equipment, safety is an important part of the sport. From the basics of a helmet and gloves, to specifics like fireproof underwear are all there to protect the driver when things go wrong.

Your driver is sitting in the cockpit, often referred to as the tub, or survival cell. This is because the basics of a driver’s survival starts here. Constructed of carbon fibre, it is both light and strong. Crash structures are built into the front and rear of the cell along with the roll hoop whose job it is to protect the driver if the car rolls, hitting the ground before the driver’s helmet.

Keeping the driver in his seat is more than your average seat belt. It comprises of four belts joined by a central buckle, shoulders and hips, to ensure the driver is fixed securely. His most vulnerable part is probably the head and neck. Aptly, this is protected by then HANS system – head and neck support system. It’s a device that joins the driver’s torso to his helmet and it’s goal is to reduce the loadings to a driver’s head and neck during the rapid deceleration caused by an accident.

Moving away from the driver to the car, you’ll find on each wheel a restraint system, which prevents the tyre from flying off uncontrollably. As well as protecting the driver, this also protects marshals and spectators, as do run off areas and tyre walls. These are in place for when a car loses control and leaves the track. Smashing into a tyre wall greatly reduces speed and impact, and run-off areas provide a safe haven for an out of control car.

Before a car can even take to a track, it has to pass a number of mandatory FIA crash tests. These are similar to the crash tests your average road car goes through, to ensure that the structure can absorb a certain amount of force on impact. This guarantees a minimum level of safety for the driver.

Now we understand how a driver is protected, the last thing to cover in the area of safety, is what happens immediately after an accident on track. If the accident is relatively inconsequential, marshals will be asked to wave a yellow flag, indicating that drivers must slow down around the affected area. If the accident is more serious, the safety car can be deployed. During a race, the safety car is constantly on standby. So, a car may be stranded in a dangerous position on the track, in which case a safety car will be deployed to slow down the remaining racers. With the safety car deployed and the cars slowed behind it, marshals are able to clear an accident in relative safety so that the race can continue without further disruption. Cars remain queued up behind the safety car until stewards deem the course safe again, at which point the safety car peels into the pits and the cars resume racing when they reach the start / finish line.

Although it may seem quite a convoluted process, it’s important to keep your drivers running safely throughout the season.

Having covered all the basics of Formula 1, the last topic in our series will be how you can get to a race.

Theme music: Cedar Falls, Car Crash.