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Ferrari's Felipe Massa Narrowly Escapes Death

3K views 59 replies 13 participants last post by  Teutone 
#1 ·
This was freaky. During this morning's Formula 1 Hungarian GP qualifying, Rubens Barrichello lost a spring from the rear of his car about the size of a spray paint can, but obviously heavy stuff. Seconds later, and without Barrichello in view, Massa was on a hot lap when the same spring was still bouncing down the track. In a freak accident, the spring hit him in the helmet at what must have been over 150mph, stunning him instantly. He was barely conscious enough to lock up the brakes before the fast turn 2 left hander, and went straight off into the tire barrier at high speed.

He was attended to immediately, and air lifted to a hospital where they performed emergency surgery on his fractured skull. He remains on a respirator in an induced coma, so the story says, in serious but stable condition.

Reports at the track were that Massa was conscious at the scene, and was sedated as he was apparently very agitated. Brazilian drivers are, erm, intense on-track at the best of times, I can't imagine how he would have been having been knocked silly and suffering a broken head.

This follows the death of a GP2 driver last week, who was hit in the head by a severed wheel assembly due to a crash ahead of him.

Massa has surgery after freak Hungary crash - CNN.com
 
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#5 ·
More details. Massa had fractures above his left eye, and at the base of his skull, which is disturbing.

The Associated Press: Massa crash leads to calls to re-examine F1 safety



Massa crash leads to calls to re-examine F1 safety

By PAUL LOGOTHETIS (AP) – 3 hours ago

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Racing figures called on Formula One to re-examine safety procedures after Felipe Massa sustained life-threatening skull injuries in a high-speed accident during Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying.

The 28-year-old Ferrari driver was in stable condition in the intensive care unit of a military hospital following surgery on Saturday.

Massa slammed into the protective tire barriers at Hungaroring at a speed of about 120 mph after being struck in the helmet by a loose spring. The common car part had fallen out of the rear suspension of Rubens Barrichello's Brawn GP car.

It was the second accident in six days where track debris struck a driver in the helmet to cause an accident. F2 driver Henry Surtees died in an incident last Sunday.

"Things happen for a reason and I think this is the second message. Imola was a message," said Barrichello in reference to 1994's San Marino GP, where three-time champion Ayrton Senna died from a nearly identical accident as fellow Brazilian Massa.

Barrichello was knocked unconscious at that race after a dramatic crash that flipped his Jordan car.

"It is not a coincidence that something happened right now. In the (drivers' meeting) we talked quite a lot about it (on Friday) and something needs to be done," the 37-year-old Brazilian said. "Yes, absolutely."

Surtees, the son of former F1 champion John Surtees, died after being struck in the head by a tire from another car, causing him to lose consciousness and drive into a barrier.

"From what's been seen last weekend and this weekend we need to have a proper study. There's a need to do something," Brawn GP team principal Ross Brawn said. "We need to digest what's happened and understand it properly."

A worrying concern for F1 medical staff will be that Massa suffered a fracture to the base of his skull as well as the front. The impact ripped out the visor, and left a long dent on its side, while blood was seen above Massa's left brow.

Since 2003, F1 has made it mandatory for drivers to wear the Head and Neck Support system (HANS), a carbon fiber device that is supposed to keep drivers from suffering skull fractures in high speed crashes like Massa's.
For former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya, the medical response time was "shocking."

"It was incredible. We always complained when I was there," Montoya told The Associated Press at Indianapolis. "It was kind of shocking."

Criticism emerged last year after the FIA needed nearly 10 minutes to pry Heikki Kovalainen from his McLaren car after it slammed into a tire wall at about 80 mph.

Massa's incident also came while several drivers were critical of Toro Rosso's promotion of Jaime Alguersuari to a race seat for the Hungarian GP, even though the 19-year-old Spaniard had never driven an F1 car before.

Brawn said calm should rule since F1 has always taken safety issues seriously, even as the ban on in-season testing means that more inexperienced drivers would likely be coming into the series in the future.

"If there's a need to react, Formula One will react very promptly. Let's just make sure we don't do something to make the situation worse," Brawn said. "We need to understand what happened and then we can react accordingly tomorrow."
 
#6 ·
According to German TV news, Massa's hit by the spring at 230 km speed equaled being hit by a 1 ton weight. He was hitting accelerator and brakes at the same time, supposedly had swallowed his tongue, and a incision into the esophagus had to be made.
The operation to remove a bone splinter from behind his left eye took 2 hours.
This should be available at DW TV (Deutsche Welle) English Home | Deutsche Welle
 
#9 ·
Schumie ruled it out immediately.

However, one very interesting suggestion I was reading on Yahoo's F1 news out of the UK suggested the possibility of seeing Alonso in Massa's seat for the next race in Spain. Renault is suspended for one race due to his tire mishap, but the drivers themselves are not suspended. This leaves the door open for Alonso to drive a Ferrari this season, at least for a race, if Briatore isn't against it and Ferrari will allow it.

I'd provide a link, but the netnazi's at work cut off access to sports sites.
 
#10 ·
Would have been cool to see Schumie give it a go, but he has no super license and at 40 probably isn't keen to get one.

Interesting rumor about Alonso. He's generally assumed to be going over to the red side anyway, but I suspect Flavio would choke on his baguette if asked.
 
#11 ·
Sounds like Massa may not be back this year, if ever, but is coming out of the woods.

Doctor says Felipe Massa's life no longer in danger - BostonHerald.com

Doctor says Felipe Massa’s life no longer in danger

By Associated Press | Monday, July 27, 2009 | Home - BostonHerald.com | Auto Racing

BUDAPEST, Hungary — The neurosurgeon who operated on Felipe Massa said Monday his condition was no longer considered life-threatening, although damage to his eye and other injuries could prevent him from returning to Formula One.

Robert Veres said Massa was in stable condition and remained sedated "to protect his brain," which had experienced some swelling. Massa has been woken up from time to time for tests, and his motor skills seemed to be functioning properly, Veres said.

However, he said Massa would definitely not return to the track this season, and that his long-term future in the sport was in doubt.

"I don’t know (if he can return)," Veres said. "It’s too early to say anything concerning his future, regarding the race."

Veres was one of three surgeons who operated on Massa’s multiple skull fractures Saturday, following his high-speed crash during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Massa was struck by a loose part from another car that bounced up and hit him in the helmet, concussing him and sending his car into the protective tire barrier.

Several fragments of bone from the skull had to be removed during the operation, Veres said.

Doctors were particularly concerned about injuries to the 28-year-old Brazilian’s left eye, but Veres said they didn’t yet "know the quality of this damage."

"We don’t know exactly because without operation it’s very hard to evaluate function," Veres told reporters from the AEK military hospital, where Ferrari president Luca di Montezemelo was also visiting Monday.

Veres said no more operations were planned at the moment, but couldn’t rule out further surgery in the future if his condition deteriorates.

"Anytime can be worse because of the complications, the nature of these injuries," he said. "He has a brain contusion. It’s fine now. A focal contusion because of the impact of the metal piece."

Veres remained hopeful that Massa would walk again, as he was slowly recovering his motor skills and responding to doctors requests to move limbs. He remained on a respirator and would be sedated until his condition improved further.

Di Montezemelo said that Ferrari’s first priority was Massa’s health, but that the Italian team doesn’t "want to wait too long" to decide on finding a driving replacement.

"Our first priority is Felipe’s recovery, Felipe’s progress and so on," said di Montezemelo, who was accompanied by team principal Stefano Domenicali, hospital director general Istvan Szilvasy and chief surgeon Lajos Zsiros. "Felipe’s been an important member of the Ferrari family for many years, since he arrived as a kid. We all hope that he can come back soon."

Di Montezemelo said that Domenicali would remain with Massa and his family — which included pregnant wife Anna Rafaela — on Tuesday.

"Domenicali has to think and make good proposals for the future," Di Montezemelo said. "We don’t want to wait too long for Felipe. First priority now is to find out about Felipe, only at that moment will we take a decision."

Massa will remain in Budapest for at least several days, although he could be moved within a week depending on his progress.

F1’s governing body is investigating the crash, which comes amid a string of safety mishaps, including the death of an F2 driver last weekend after he was struck in the head by a loose tire from another car and crashed into a barrier.

No F1 driver has died on the track since Ayrton Senna’s crash at Imola 15 years ago. The three-time champion died from head injuries after a violent crash.
 
#14 ·
The guy is still in incredible shape. Still does a lot of driving. Still competitive as ever. I don't think there's any question he'll be ready to go; I don't think Ferrari would have made the announcement this early if he wasn't. I guess we'll learn a lot of things over the next month.

Wishing I had a damned passport....grrrrrrr
 
#16 ·
Brazil...October16...You have time. Plus there is that whole beach thing.

So photocopy Obama's birth certificate and get ready. I watched Schuey for eight years. It is like pretty much nobody else on the track.
 
#20 ·
Schumacher and Barichello.



I would never deny his ability. But he hasn't faced real competition from a teammate since 1994. Every single one of them was ordered to move aside when they had the faster car. Now those teammates made their deal with the devil and they knew what they were getting into when they signed their contracts. But F1's rules governing team orders were changed because of Schumacher and Ferrari's shameful behavior in the 2002 campaign.

On the other hand...

Senna and Prost.



MacLaren had the balls to employ the two best drivers of their time and let them race each other. It didn't always work out, but both Senna and Prost earned every point they got for those campaigns. I'd have more respect for Schumacher if he had to work under the same conditions.
 
#21 ·
Taking your example from Austria in 2002, Barichello had all of 6 points to Schumacher's 44 at that point in the championship. You take every point you can get. It does somewhat disprove the argument that Schumacher was only effective because his teammates played wingman though, if Barichello was that far behind in points...he wouldn't have been a very good one were that the case.

You'll also note that Schumacher made Rubens take the top spot at the podium celebration (last 30 seconds of this clip).

 
#24 ·
You got me there. I'm sure that Barichello was way happier standing under that German flag while the German national anthem played, and afterwards having a trophy with Schumacher's name on it foisted upon him. It was much much more satisfying than actually winning the race, especially with the entire world getting to see Schumie tell Barichello where to put himself not once, but twice in under 7 minutes.

But it didn't end there. Apparently Barichello wasn't quick enough to refill Schumacher's glass at the post-race press question period and had to be put in his place afterwards. Kevin Bacon was kind enough to re-enact the whole episode.



I'd have responded sooner but I had to rush home to put some water in your momma's dish.

How was that? ;)
 
#28 ·
my passport got cancelled today - I had to apply for a new one as this one expires in 6 months and as soon as you apply, they cut through the old one. The new one takes 2 weeks, it does feel weird knowing you cannot leave the country for a couple of weeks...
 
#29 ·
I had that issue earlier this year. I expected that, without fail a contract that required travel would pop up as soon as I dropped it off at the Post Office.
 
#30 ·
Damn, my renewal over here only takes 2 weeks after I apply and none of the renewal's or 10 yr passports are issued here they do them all in the US. But I can count on after I drop off my current passport, pics, application and money that I can get it 2 weeks afterward here at the Embassy. I wonder how many times a diplomatic courier travels for the regional US embassies between probably Singapore and DC?
 
#37 ·
You know, that one does surprise me. I think it's bad news when any major manufacturer bails on F1. Honda, BMW, Jaguar have all ceded to Toyota, Renault, and Mercedes. It was stunning how much money Honda burned through with so little to show for it, and "Dr." Theissen at BMW isn't in substantially better shape. It sounds silly, but I would really hate being a BMW owner as much as they crow over their stuff knowing that they were exiting F1.

Ferrari makes the most out of their involvement by linking technology from the F1 program to their road cars. That's how it's supposed to work. BMW have virtually nothing to show for their time in F1, and it's a shame.

All that said, there are a host of new teams coming into F1, the American team led by Peter Windsor the most exciting among them, and it wouldn't surprise me if they took the opportunity to part out things from the BMW operation before anybody else / if nobody else scoops them up.
 
#39 ·
I'm not so big on the multiple US race thing, and I have no idea whether or not Vegas would make for a suitable street circuit. It would be utter chaos along the new strip, and could only be held at the very beginning or very end of the season for weather reasons.

I think that would only make sense if they bring back Canada, and perhaps a race in Mexico, because it costs so fucking much to haul that shit across the Atlantic. As long as Bernie is more interested in money and handjobs than hosting races in first-world countries, hopes for this are pretty slim.
 
#43 ·
My understanding was that one of the Casinos planned on putting a track in the parking lots [yes, there is room] for a Vegas show. Only a bit would hit the strip, the rest be confined and viewer friendly.

I doubt that will happen now. Too many bridges burned.
 
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