The accident this morning at Duxford, an aerodrome near Cambridge, involving Marussia’s Maria de Villota has garnered a lot of headlines, but for the moment we know very little about the circumstances of the accident and the extent of the injuries involved. On such circumstances there is always a fair amount of sensationalism, and it is best not to get sucked into that. More details will emerge in the hours ahead and that will help to give us a clear idea and then analyse what if anything needs to be done.
I really hope she is able to pull through this. My thoughts with her and the team…
Scarbs has a fairly comprehensive statement from the team.
If what he says is correct re the anti-stall, how does one actually stop an F1 car?
Sorry, not Scarbs but Race car engineering!
Praying for her recovery.
Such a weird accident.
I don’t get it. They don’t have launch control anymore… Anti-stall operates by disengaging the clutch, so that can’t be it… There is a hand-clutch, so unless she mistakenly used her right foot instead of her left foot, she wouldn’t hit the wrong pedal…
Something on the car must have malfunctioned.
For now the important thing is that de Villota gets through this in good health and that no one else was hurt.
I just hope she is OK.
Thank you for your common sense, Joe – it’s not so common these days. I truly hope de Villota is all right.
I think, leaving aside for the moment the circumstances of the crash, we can all join in wishing Maria de Villota a speedy and hopefully full recovery!
I’m really hoping this doesn’t lead to too many people screaming “Women can’t drive in F1″. Best wishes to Ms De Villota.
Joe, I agree with you completely about the need to avoid uninformed speculation – but for once we do actually know quite a bit about what happened, thanks to the presence of BBC Cambridge, Sky F1, tweeting Air Ambulance staff and quite a few other witnesses – even a sound recording of the accident happening from the Beeb.
The actual cause, obviously not. But even there the only speculation I’ve seen has been a reasonably intelligent and non-sensational theory regarding anti-stall. It may prove wrong, but it’s certainly not over-the-top.
Happily almost entirely absent has been sneering at de Villota’s gender, apart from the usual Daily Mail snarky headline, or her ability as a racer.
“I’m really hoping this doesn’t lead to too many people screaming “Women can’t drive in F1″. Best wishes to Ms De Villota.”
“Happily almost entirely absent has been sneering at de Villota’s gender, apart from the usual Daily Mail snarky headline, or her ability as a racer”.
I was accused of being a “Daily Mail reader” a few days ago… for not having an opinion that matched someone else’s! I’d be lying if I said I’d never read it.
I wish Maria all the very best for a speedy recovery. Whether it’s her or another, there is nothing I would like to see more than a female World Champ; now THAT would set a cat amongst the pigeons! Yes, I know the odds are stacked against.
I am sad to report that I have received several such comments on the blog. However as I consider these to be offensive I have not allowed them. There are arguments about whether or not women have the strength and aggression needed to drive F1 cars but I see no reason why that cannot happen. It is a question of the right girl not yet coming along. I don’t knock any girls for wanting to be F1 drivers, but I think it is very important that F1 does not try to create F1 drivers where there is not sufficient qualification for the job. Saying someone does not have anything in their record to suggest that they should be in F1 is not a sexist comment, it is a an assessment of their ability as a driver. Anyone who jumps up and down and screams sexism is just not thinking it through. The key point in this is that if women are going to be taken seriously at the top level of motor racing they have to prove that they are good enough against the best. I am very keen to see that happen and I very much object to people calling me sexist.
Update Joe:
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/BREAKING-Formula-One-racing-driver-seriously-injured-after-crash-with-lorry-at-Duxford-airfield-03072012.htm
It sounds like a serious accident. You’re right, Joe, there’s a lot of speculation on other sites about who’s at fault, etc.
My thoughts are with Maria De Villota and her family. I hope she recovers fully.
My prayers are with Maria de Villota, her family and friends.
People have started commenting on sites reporting it saying there was negligence for leaving a truck here etc, sadly it just looks like a horrible freak accident that no one can appoint blame for.
From what I can see it looks like the she finished testing as normal, entered the support area at normal speed and perhaps there was some problem with the throttle jamming open I don’t know.
The clearest report I’ve seen is from Chris Mann on the BBC site http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18687003 the only positive I can take from it is that he said the front of the car was devastated hopefully meaning that was where the force of the impact was absorbed. Latest is that she is conscious which is good news, I just hope she can make a full recovery
Without jumping to conclusions, I’m going to jump to a conclusion. Having a tail gate lift suspended at head height, rather than lowered or closed, right next to an F1 temporary garage is (albeit in hindsight) is utterly insane.
A protruding 8×5 foot sharp ledge at head height? Could you imagine that in a pit lane?
You can’t blame a driver for a mistake in a prototype car. That’s what prototyping is all about.
Sorry Matthew I have to take issue with your comment. It’s a very common practice to have the tailgate lowered at around two feet to use as a step to get into the back of the truck. You can see this same thing in any paddock aroung the world. 20/20 hidsight is the only exact science!
Absent the detail I do think this is jumping to conclusions (as you acknowledge) – I would suggest that the tailgate presents no more risk than the load area of the truck (the whole thing between each of its wheels when viewed side-on). That too is perhaps head height for an f1 driver should a car find itself beneath the truck
I presume that these days the cars never run without full datalogging, so in time causes of the car’s movements will become clear. Though dumping the clutch in the mistaken belief that neutral has been selected seems like a good candidate.
Regardless of the gender issue, this is a warning that unqualified drivers should not be let loose in these things.
don’t see how it could be the anti-stall, anti stall automatically pulls in the clutch to prevent a stall.
According to a comment on JA’s blog, the Belgian F1 magazine F1i is saying that apparently she hit the truck and *then* the taillift fell on her, but I’ve not read that in any other source. Given how many media sources there were on site (as Andy above says), I would have thought that we would have heard that from elsewhere by now if that were the case, but just chucking it into the pot anyway.
In any case, my very best wishes to Maria, I hope she makes a full recovery as soon as possible.
there was no tail gate hanging down ya bell end Matt.. ramps yes, tail gate no…
Don’t go pointing fingers like some OH&S officer!!
This is a freak accident which no one could ever have even thought of! I hope there will be no witch hunt after this.
With a ban on tests it’s only normal that newcomers for such events are totally inexperienced. With hindsight you can still say now that if the test were carried out at a normal race track the lorry with a half-lowered ramp at helmet height would not have stood in the way. Hopefully we can learn lessons from this. Maria, my thoughts are with you right now and I hope to see you back soon.
@ iain
racecar-engineering.com is suggesting exactly that (anti-stall) : http://formulaoneupdate.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/maria-de-villota-what-do-we-know-so-far/
But until we have an “official” version of the events, possibly involving some loss-of-memory or even complete loss of consciousness cases, we won’t know for sure. I have not yet heard if the FIA has confiscated Marussia’s ECU for an official inquiry.