![]() ![]() Hybrid systems in current F1 cars run at around 1,000 volts in order to reduce the draw of current, which generates undesirable heat – and a fractured (25kg) battery box could have spelt disaster. Still, could the collector tank be made safer?Īnother potential danger lurked in the crash. Imagine the ferocity of a blaze potentially 10 times that intensity.Ĭould the safety team have coped with such a blaze? All of this throws fresh perspective on the heroism of the marshals who attended to Grosjean and the actions of FIA Medical Car team Dr Ian Roberts and Alan van der Merwe, as any fear of further ignition did not deter their rescue of Grosjean for a moment. As Ross Brawn indicated in the immediate aftermath, it appears leaked fuel from collector tank, situated beneath the cockpit, caused the blaze, likely ignited by severed high voltage cabling and friction sparks.Ĭould more have been done to prevent the fire?The tank and plumbing contain around 10 litres. ![]() Horrific though the fire was, the consequences of nearly 110kg of fuel flowing about the crash area while the front end blazed away are too ghastly to contemplate. While shots of the car’s rear end sitting alongside the barrier while the front-end blazed away made for dramatic pictures ( a separate conversation), the question is: was such a fracture planned or simply a one-off consequence?Īn experienced race car engineer spoken to by RaceFans suggested the mere fact that the rear end containing the power unit and fuel cell (estimated at weighing over 350kg in total) did not follow the front half through the barriers had helped save Grosjean, for it reduced the overall impact by almost 50%.Īdvert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-freeĮqually, the same source added, the fracture had left the fuel cell exposed. Grosjean’s Haas split the barrier in twoSimilarly, the team will investigate the effect of the car splitting in two behind the driver’s survival cell, as though a giant guillotine had spliced it. ![]() These are just some of factors the FIA team needs to establish. Would repeat barrier ‘failures’ be desirable in all high-speed impacts, or could repeats have serious consequences in other accidents, whether they be similar to Grosjean’s angled trajectory or head-on? According to sources, a new barrier of the same type as the original one was installed on Monday ahead of this weekend’s second race at the track, so the FIA seems comfortable with the situation. ![]() Not least, why the barrier Grosjean hit sheared and whether the halo’s cleaver-like slicing between the steel girders was an unforeseen consequence, albeit in this instance a seemingly positive one. Motorsport can never, of course, be totally safe, but the FIA’s overriding target is zero fatalities.Īs part of the process the team of investigators, likely to be led by the governing body’s hugely experienced head of safety Adam Baker, face a number of searching questions. In the process a number of factors will be microscopically investigated, not with a view to establishing culpability but rather to learn lessons from all aspects of the incident with a view to further improving motorsport’s solid safety record. ![]()
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