Antoine Hubert's crash. R.I.P.

[Singabule]

How much maximum velocity and impact F2 safety cell is designed? Sadly we only know the fatal flaw after fatality.. Human really cant learn fast enough.

[Andres125sx]

I don´t think this can be prevented tough, the only way would be definitely close Spa, Suzuka, and any oval track btw.

Why not? What others mentioned with respect to runoff and barrier technology should be more than sufficient to mitigate this kind of incident. There is no reason for a car to be spat back onto the track after hitting barriers. The knowledge and technology are readily available.

Well the spa barriers they could invest in a bit more modern stuff. But also would be nice if drivers who leave the track know how to brake in this case he left the track and kept full speed when he hit the other car.

Barriers are designed to absorb impact energy and avoid injuries due to decelerations, not to trap the car

Well the way the side impact works on a formula car just failed horribly , that doesnt have to do with the track at all.
the car came back onto the track and was hit under an angle ripping away so much and leaving the driver exposed.
it seems the side impact structures are only tested straight on and not under angles

No it didn´t fail, side impact structures are tested at 70-80kmh, this crash was over 200kmh. There´s no way to make a survival cell safe for a 200kmh direct impact, if it´s resistant enough to not colapse then deceleration will kill drivers equally.


The only way to prevent this is: a) remove any track without huge safety zones from any calendar (Spa, Suzuka, any oval...). b) remove drivers from the equation (roborace)

[ENGINE TUNER]

How much maximum velocity and impact F2 safety cell is designed? Sadly we only know the fatal flaw after fatality.. Human really cant learn fast enough.

I think, the F2, Indycar, FE, and Super Formula Dallara chassis all comply with the F1 crash test regulations, but I could be mistaken.

[ENGINE TUNER]

The only way to prevent this is: a) remove any track without huge safety zones from any calendar (Spa, Suzuka, any oval...). b) remove drivers from the equation (roborace)

I wonder if instead of designing against these "t-bone" collisions, they should design the cars to slide up and over the other car rather than crashing into the side. With the halo, this might be a safer option now.

[nzjrs]

The only way to prevent this is: a) remove any track without huge safety zones from any calendar (Spa, Suzuka, any oval...). b) remove drivers from the equation (roborace)

I wonder if instead of designing against these "t-bone" collisions, they should design the cars to slide up and over the other car rather than crashing into the side. With the halo, this might be a safer option now.

I think that is a non-starter.

1) The consequences of a car jumping over another car, leaving the circuit airborne, and hitting the crowd or a marshal station are unimaginable
2) You can't really apply much braking force when airborne, so the next impact would be quite bad. As they say, it's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop at the bottom.

[ChrisF1]

The only way to prevent this is: a) remove any track without huge safety zones from any calendar (Spa, Suzuka, any oval...). b) remove drivers from the equation (roborace)

I wonder if instead of designing against these "t-bone" collisions, they should design the cars to slide up and over the other car rather than crashing into the side. With the halo, this might be a safer option now.

I think that is a non-starter.

1) The consequences of a car jumping over another car, leaving the circuit airborne, and hitting the crowd or a marshal station are unimaginable

This point here. F1 car hits F1 car, losing front wing and then does a Mark Webber @ Valencia. I hate to think how far it would travel in the air, but it wouldn't surprise me if they (in this accident) could have travelled into the spectator area at the start of the Kemmel straight.

[koalapower]

How much maximum velocity and impact F2 safety cell is designed? Sadly we only know the fatal flaw after fatality.. Human really cant learn fast enough.

I think, the F2, Indycar, FE, and Super Formula Dallara chassis all comply with the F1 crash test regulations, but I could be mistaken.

No, you're absolutely correct: "The new car, which complies with the latest F1 safety standards, features architecture typical of a modern F1 car and a 3.4 litre turbo-charged Mecachrome engine, which delivers 620 HP at 8,750 rpm."
From Dallara's website

Didier Perrin (the F2 Technical Director) also describes the car as complying with the latest 2017 F1 safety requirements back in 2018 when the car was unveiled (@2:30).

[Ringleheim]

Top tier motorsport has gotten so safe now, it takes a really unusual set of circumstances and quite a bit of bad luck to result in serious injury or a fatality.

On Saturday, a number of circumstances came together to create a deadly crash.

You will never be able to prevent every type of incident from occurring; the sport is too inherently dangerous for that.

RIP Antoine!

[Jolle]

Top tier motorsport has gotten so safe now, it takes a really unusual set of circumstances and quite a bit of bad luck to result in serious injury or a fatality.

On Saturday, a number of circumstances came together to create a deadly crash.

You will never be able to prevent every type of incident from occurring; the sport is too inherently dangerous for that.

RIP Antoine!

True, but... Radillon is known for high speed crashes because of zero tolerance. We've been lucky for years that drivers were able to walk away from crashes here.

[Andres125sx]

The only way to prevent this is: a) remove any track without huge safety zones from any calendar (Spa, Suzuka, any oval...). b) remove drivers from the equation (roborace)

I wonder if instead of designing against these "t-bone" collisions, they should design the cars to slide up and over the other car rather than crashing into the side. With the halo, this might be a safer option now.

A car using another car to make a jump at 200kmh doesn´t look like a good idea IMO, imagine if it goes to the stands

[AMG.Tzan]

Question for me remains...since Alesi lost it in one of the most dangerous and fast corners on the calendar...no double-yellow flags no nothing to warn the others that something happened up there??? I mean Correa came so fast like he didn't even brake before hitting Hubert...that was suicidal! I know everything happened so quickly of course and they are young drivers so they are pushing way too much to get to F1!

We have lost 2 great drivers in the last 5 years because of freak accidents! Giovanazzi lost it on the last lap at Spa and they didn't even bother to put out a VSC...had someone else for some reason lost it in the same spot and hit Giovanazzi, i guess we would have lost another one! But yeah the last lap drama of Leclerc vs Hamilton was too good to lose...

[void]

The only way to prevent this is: a) remove any track without huge safety zones from any calendar (Spa, Suzuka, any oval...). b) remove drivers from the equation (roborace)

I wonder if instead of designing against these "t-bone" collisions, they should design the cars to slide up and over the other car rather than crashing into the side. With the halo, this might be a safer option now.

A car using another car to make a jump at 200kmh doesn´t look like a good idea IMO, imagine if it goes to the stands

He just need to watch Mercedes crash in Le Mans in 1955 to understand

[carisi2k]

When I woke up to the news of Antoine's death I was devastated. Whenever this happens in motorsport it always takes me back to that weekend in 1994. I also remember watching Bergers accident in 1989 at imola and I wonder why the sport recently has gone to the tarmac runoff area.

I feel that removing the kerbs and tarmac while returning gravel will help this situation if not for any other reason then the drivers will be slower through this section of track because they won't be able to shortcut and/or take liberties on the exit. I certainly feel that gravel would have resulted in Alesi's car not returning to the middle of the circuit and forcing the mess that resulted in the death of Antoine.

Gravel being thrown in the air should also have alerted those following to slow down and I certainly don't believe that Antoine would have had as violent an impact with the barrier with gravel and certainly correa would not have been where he was if there was a gravel trap.

Some may have issue with what I say but you should know by many of my previous posts how much I dislike the asphalt runoff and why I think gravel should be bought back. We have even seen this year where the gravel is in place that it did a much better job of slowing cars down then asphalt.

You can also look at giovinazzi's accident to see how ineffective tarmac runoff is.

[thestig84]

I have to agree with you about Giovinazzi. The tarmac was not at all impressive there.

There is a video with the other views on youtube. I wont link to it. It seems Alesi is the hazard but he was further out the way than I thought. Still close given the speeds involved. Boschung brakes very heavily but isnt 'that' close to him. From looking closely to me it seems Huberts front wing then fails just before he avoids Boschung. If not that then it fails clipping Boschung as the frame before his first impact is definitely missing a front wing. This also explains why he goes of straight. I think he lost steering/fw after oversteer correction avoiding Boschung that put him on his trajectory .

So so unlucky. Very sad that this was just a rare case when all the pieces couldn't have aligned any worse for A.H.

[Starscreamer]

I have made a picture of Anthoine Hubert in Spa, unknown what happens few hours later R.I.P. #racingforanthoine