The F1 Thread

[Tom Hark]

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2014/10/bianchi-family-issues-a-statement-on-jules-condition/

This website has spoken this afternoon to a leading London brain surgeon, who informed us that a diffuse axonal injury means that there is no specific area of sharp focus in the brain which has been damaged. In other words it’s not like an area of depression which would be caused by a blow from a hammer. It is a non-direct injury where the head decelerates and rotates. Typically the risk is nerve fibres being damages, there are often areas of bleeding.

Surgery isn’t always done on this type of injury; Bianchi did have surgery on Sunday night and doctors will now be monitoring the pressure inside his skull. If that does not escalate and when it stabilises, then within 1-5 days they will reduce the anaesthetic and see if he wakes up, then they will take it from there.

We are told that with diffuse axonal injuries, 48 hours after the accident is very early to make any predictions on the outcome; some patients go on to make a full recovery, some do not. It’s rather like dropping a computer on the floor and turning it back on, there can be a wide range of results.

Top Gear TV presenter Richard Hammond is a good example of a patient who made a recovery from a diffuse axonal injury and he woke up after around one week.

That said, the announcement that it is a diffuse axonal injury at this stage is painting “quite a bleak picture”, according to our surgeon contact and it is clearly going to be a long and difficult road to recovery for Bianchi.

 

[Lord Knows]

Who decides safety conditions when rain is involved, who has the power to cancel the event?

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

The race director.

 

[Tom Hark]

Who decides safety conditions when rain is involved, who has the power to cancel the event?

I have the impression it's Charlie Whiting. Not sure that's entirely relevant here, though; this could have happened in the dry.

 

[Law's Bus]

I have the impression it's Charlie Whiting. Not sure that's entirely relevant here, though; this could have happened in the dry.

Once the race is underway, it's definately Charlie Whiting. It was implied on Sky that to move the race to a different time required the approval of the promotor, so in this case Honda - so I suspect total cancellation will require their approval too.

I agree about the conditions though - F1 has been held in far worse conditions in the past.

 

[Tom Hark]

Thankfully, there are very few life-changing/ending accidents in F1 these days, but, even in the past, I can’t think of many that were caused by or even happened in the rain. They’re not usually going fast enough.

 

[Kenny]

Marussia are only having 1 car in this weekends Russian GP.

 

[Kenny]

Bianchi's side of the Pit Garage set up for the weekend and it will stay like this until pack up on Sunday

 

[Tredman]

Hamilton out on his own in second practice, nearly a full second clear of rosberg and looking good in the long runs too.

 

[The Bear]

If anything the drivers need to be slower through double waved yellow zones when the marshalls are on track. They never slow down enough. They're supposed to be prepared to stop during those times.

The car wasn't in a dangerous position to be recovered from though. A safety car isn't necessary in that situation. Yes the rain was coming down but as I mentioned the drivers should be slowing right down through a double waved yellow zone, especially in those conditions.

It seems Charlie Whiting agrees with me:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29573232

 

[Nando]

Hamilton out on his own in second practice, nearly a full second clear of rosberg and looking good in the long runs too.

Bottas quickest of all on the long runs apparently. But it was on a shorter stint so probably not going to work out that way.

 

[Kenny]

Lewis quickest in P3. He seems to get the soft tyres working from the 1st lap, whilst others take 5 or 6 laps to get them in.

1 lap on the softs and he was over a second quicker than Rosberg & Bottas. A spin 6 laps from the end put a stop to any more laps for Lewis and by the end Bottas and Rosberg had got closer.

 

[The Bear]

Rosberg seems to be struggling with his setup and nailing the soft tyres out of the box. Should be a Hammy pole.

 

[Kenny]

Bonus for Mercedes as Massa goes out in Q1. His car lost all its pace.

 

[Kenny]

Bottas messes up Pole. A blistering final lap but he lost it on the final 2 corners!!

Hamilton on Pole, Rosberg 2nd, then Bottas & Button

Should be a great race with Williams and McLaren both looking good

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Thought he was going to do it then. Those last two corners look tricky, a few making mistakes into there.

 

[Johnny75]

I think his tyres just ran out of grip.

 

[Kenny]

I think his tyres just ran out of grip.

It seems if you get a corner wrong in a couple of places on this track, it messes you up for the next few corners.

Going to be a lot of running wide in the race tomorrow

 

[Freddeno]

Hamilton will win if his car doesnt break down..tyre wear limites...how will that affect the race?

 

[Kenny]

Hamilton will win if his car doesnt break down..tyre wear limites...how will that affect the race?

Tyre wear doesn't seem to be an issue. Seems 1 stop will be enough tomorrow.