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Author Topic: Bahrain 2020 Heroes and Zeroes  (Read 1340 times)

Offline Jericoke

Bahrain 2020 Heroes and Zeroes
« on: November 29, 2020, 10:07:47 PM »
Today was a day to thank the people who work behind the scenes to keep F1 racing, and boy did they prove to be heroes!

Grosjean's freak crash, with the car being ripped in half, lodged into the guard rail fuel fireball, could have been horrific.  We've seen crashes where the halo saved a life, or the monocoque did, but this is the first crash I've ever seen that used every single safety feature.  Without HANS, I could imagine that Grosjean would have been unconscious and unable to escape the car.  The halo showed just how strong it was, wedged right into the guard rails.  Having the medical car follow the first lap even showed to be a great idea.

Then the safety crew got to show their mettle on more normal incidents, with Stroll's car being flipped, and Perez's car having a more  normal engine explosion fire.  (One marshal did run across a live track.  I can't say I blame him.   I'm sure they were all on edge, and seeing a second fire would make almost anyone jump into action.)

It's almost anti climactic to discuss the race itself.  That all the teams and drivers could go on to have a regular race after that speaks to a tremendous level of professionalism.  Sure, there were some moves on track that we're the best, some pit stops and strategies that were suboptimal, but it was a day to show these men and women are the best at what they do.  There were also some fantastic drives and passes, some great strategies and smooth pit stops.

Kudos to Hamilton.  In the past he was criticized for not winning after wrapping up the championship.  Now he's not taking his foot off the throttle.

Well done to Verstappen and Albon getting second and third with solid races.

Bottas had a race that summarized his season:  he raced well, but it just wasn't his day.

Also a good day for McLaren.  They've really turned the team around the last few years.



Offline Andy B

Re: Bahrain 2020 Heroes and Zeroes
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2020, 01:59:32 AM »
A zero out of all the good action that happened is the marshal who ran across a live track to put out SP's car as an Ex-Chief Flag Marshal here in NZ I would have ensured he never marshalled again.
Once you have retired every day is a Saturday!

Offline rmassart

Re: Bahrain 2020 Heroes and Zeroes
« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2020, 06:13:04 AM »
A zero out of all the good action that happened is the marshal who ran across a live track to put out SP's car as an Ex-Chief Flag Marshal here in NZ I would have ensured he never marshalled again.

I read that this was the fire marshal who started putting out the fire first. If this is true, I think it can be forgiven. Of course, I agree that a marshal should not be running across the track.

Offline Andy B

Re: Bahrain 2020 Heroes and Zeroes
« Reply #3 on: November 30, 2020, 07:55:22 AM »
There was already a fire marshal at the car there is not excuse for crossing a live track without authorisation.
Once you have retired every day is a Saturday!

Offline Jericoke

Re: Bahrain 2020 Heroes and Zeroes
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2020, 12:57:20 PM »
He should not have crossed the track but if he (in any way) helped to save Grossjean then perhaps the daft risk was worth it. To be fair Norris was nowhere near him and all of the drivers were under red flag conditions 'be prepared to stop'!

It was for Perez's fire.  There was no red flag, I don't even know if the yellow flag had been issued or not.

I don't blame the guy for jumping into action, all the same, I agree that if he can't follow safety procedures, maybe it's not the job for him.  Just because he didn't cause an incident, doesn't mean he couldn't by doing the exact same thing in the future.

Offline cosworth151

Re: Bahrain 2020 Heroes and Zeroes
« Reply #5 on: November 30, 2020, 03:24:15 PM »
At the top of my Heroes list are Formula One deputy medical delegate Ian Roberts and Medical Car driver Alan van der Merwe. They ran into the flames wearing open face helmets. The course marshals also did an outstanding job throughout the day.

I mentioned in the Chat Room that I voted for Grosjean as Driver of the Race. I said that it might be the only time I could legitimately vote for a Haas driver. Honestly, I thought that the only two votes for him would be me & Romain's mother. I'm glad I was wrong on that.

I'm going to give a Zero to the FIA for not requiring F1 fuel cells to be foam filled. As I mention in another post, that was even required on our local dirt ovals by the mid to late 1980's. (My 1st dirt track car, back in the Stone Age, had a tank we "borrowed" from a friend's bass boat.)
“You can search the world over for the finer things, but you won't find a match for the American road and the creatures that live on it.”
― Bob Dylan

Offline Alianora La Canta

Re: Bahrain 2020 Heroes and Zeroes
« Reply #6 on: December 02, 2020, 12:22:09 PM »
I mentioned in the Chat Room that I voted for Grosjean as Driver of the Race. I said that it might be the only time I could legitimately vote for a Haas driver. Honestly, I thought that the only two votes for him would be me & Romain's mother. I'm glad I was wrong on that.

There appears to have been an internet campaign to make Romain Driver of the Day. I saw servers supporting Lando and Charles both put out messages to the effect of, "Please don't vote for [Lando/Charles], no matter how well you think they drove. Vote Romain as a gesture of support to him and his fans". I did joke with Dad that he secured 38% of the vote while driving 38% of a lap (which is a rare feat in any event, especially when the fans of that particular driver are too stunned by the whole thing to make the case themselves...)

Heroes:

The medical crew for knowing exactly what to do to be most helpful (including helping to extinguish the fire, which technically isn't in their remit).

The marshals for their courage. This is a sample of what volunteer marshals face in series all over the world. It was FIA Volunteer Day on the Saturday of the weekend and there were a lot of "we can't race without you" in the video. This is why.

The drivers and teams for continuing after that shock.

Zeroes

Whoever thought it was a bright idea to use concrete posts as a replacement for metal ones. You can't rule out someone else crashing at that point because someone already has, simply because you don't want to shorten the race due to the 4-hour window rule. (And before anyone asks, Perez's lost podium has nothing to do with my opinion on this matter - concrete posts are potentially lethal).

Marshal crossing the track for Perez's incident without permission. The track doesn't become safer simply because one of the cars on it is on fire. (There'd already been one for the Grosjean incident, though I'm less picky about that one as the track was under red flag and it was obvious the marshals on the other side of the track did not have control of the situation. Possibly the only time anyone has ever been promoted for ignoring safety rules, as the marshal works for the Bahraini civil defence force and their boss ordered a promotion for them and the colleague on the other side who followed protocol correctly).

Perez, for chucking loads of oil onto the racing line when his MGU-K decided to start the firework celebration early. We'd had enough drama for one day without anyone else spinning off, thank you very much.
Percussus resurgio
@lacanta (Twitter)
http://alianoralacanta.tumblr.com (Blog/Tumblr)

 


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