Bianchi first death in F1 since 1994

Author of the article: , published July 18, 2015.

The world mourns Jules Bianchi, who after nine months in a coma became the first racer to be fatally injured in a Formula One race after 1994, when Ayrton Senna tragically died. Many racing colleagues and former team rivals expressed their condolences publicly.

What happened?

On October 5, Bianchi, a Marussie driver, flew off the track in heavy rain just nine laps before the end of the race in Suzuki and collided with an elevator pulling another car. Jules drove under the back of the elevator, hitting his head hard against the metal weights.

Rescuers took him to the hospital, where they found severe head injuries. Nine torturous months followed, where we heard mostly uninspiring news about the condition of the young racer.

Circumstances of the accident

The accident was investigated in detail by the FIA. She set up an investigative team of ten experts, including Ross Brawn, a former Mercedes boss, and Stefano Domenicali, a former Ferrari boss. At the end of the investigation, they submitted a 396-page report on the accident, stating that the accident was caused by "several factors" and that Bianchi's injuries would not have been prevented by a closed car cab or reflective protection on a mobile lift.

They found that Bianchi did not slow down enough under the given conditions not to lose control of the car, and the car also contributed to the accident.

“Bianchi didn’t slow down enough not to lose control of the race car in the same place as Sutil. If the racers follow the instructions in case of double yellow flags, none of the competitors is endangered, nor any of the workers along the track, ”the report said.

Bianchi was hit by the rear of the car on the track, the group found, and racer Marussie reacted by turning the steering wheel in the other direction, trying to catch the car. In doing so, he left the track a few meters earlier than Sutil, whose car was being rescued by an elevator into which Jules crashed while applying the brakes and accelerator. "In the two seconds between the trip from the track and the collision with the elevator, he pressed the brake and the gas with both feet at the same time," the report said, adding: " as this prevented him from controlling the torque operating the Marussie braking system. However, this was not compatible with the settings of the security algorithm.

The fact that the engine did not shut down may have affected the speed at which the car collided with the lift, but to what extent it could not be determined with certainty. ”

The closed cab of a Bianchi race car would not have saved him due to the great force with which he collided into the elevator. "The 700-kilogram car collided with a 126-kilogram lift at 6500 km / h," the investigation team said, explaining: "The safety cell of the car could not dissipate that much energy without damaging the driver's cab or creating deadly decelerations in speed. ”

Like the Senna accident in 1994, Bianchi also contributed to new measures to increase the safety of racers. These include additional testing of rain tires, as well as earlier races and a redesigned race calendar so that they do not take place at dusk (except in the case of night races) and during rainy periods.

Photos: Press

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