Home » Sports

Felipe Massa suffers heavy crash at Hungarian Grand Prix (video)

25 July 2009 8 Comments

Posted by Sherwin

felipe-massa-crash

Brazilian F1 driver Felipe Massa is in serious condition after undergoing surgery on his fractured skull suffered in a crash during qualification at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday.

The Ferrari driver was struck in the helmet by a spring which came off the Brawn GP car driven by compatriot Rubens Barrichello and then crashed into a tyre barrier at about 175 mph.

The 28-year-old was airlifted from the circuit to a hospital in Budapest where surgeons operated on him to treat a fracture to his skull. He also suffered cuts to his forehead and brain concussion, according to Ferrari.

Massa is winner of 11 Grand Prix and was world championship runner-up in 2008.

WATCH:

Blog Widget by LinkWithin


  • garyanddaisy

    MASSA: First we see videos of Massa unconscious, head forward in his car and track “workers” STANDING AROUND DOING NOTHING. Just looking around. “Ah, he must be dead. No reason to rush.” It took forever for medics to get to him. Yet, nobody was trying to help IN ANY WAY. “I don't know what to do so I'll just stand here and look around. It's a nice day, pretty sky.” What a bunch of morons. Almost as dumb as most Americans, huh?

    In the next photos fromt he scene, we get to see workers and/or medical staff (can you see any difference?) picking up Massa like you would your sleeping 2-yr old as you take him to bed. You see how Massa was being carried?

    What about the possibility of a BROKEN SPINE? What about the possibility of a BROKEN NECK? Nobody seemed to care. Just pick Massa up and dump him on a stretcher.

    WHO THE HELL WAS IN CHARGE OF THE WHOLE MESS?

    And Formula One allows tracks like this to get a place in F1's race schedule?

    I could understand if this track/race is in Wisconsin, but aren't European people supposed to be smarter? Sure didn't look like it, huh?

  • Alex

    Everything was done by the regulations:

    The G-light was lit, by regulations that means the junior staff has to wait for the paramedics to assess the situation. After Dr. Hartstein concluded he could be extracted Massa was taken out of the car.

  • garyanddaisy

    Alex,

    OK, now I understand. Sort of. But you would think someone(s) would have put their head in there and look around try to talk to Massa or see if he's conscious, or see if an arm/hand is broken. Do something to see if Massa wants to say something or whatever. Is he choking on something?

    And, PULL THE CAR AWAY FROM THE WALL SO THE PARAMEDICS HAVE 360 DEGREE ACCESS TO MASSA! These cars aren't heavy. 3-4 people can pull it backwards a couple feet!

    DO SOMETHING to make the paramedics' job easier/faster once they get there. But whatever you do, DON'T JUST STAND THERE LOOKING DUMB!

    Plus, I didn't see any fire extinguishers anywhere close. Did you?

    WHY DIDN'T THE CHOPPER LAND RIGHT THERE ON THE TRACK?

    Did you see another photo of someone carrying Massa in their arms like a child who's gone to sleep? I guess they didn't think of a BROKEN SPINE. I guess they didn't think of a BROKEN NECK. THEY CAN'T BE DETERMINED UNTIL MASSA'S IN THE HOSPITAL. UNTIL THAT TIME, YOU ASSUME THE WORST!!

    That car should have been cut away so Massa could be loaded onto a flat board right then and there.

    If these jokers aren't trained in anything, now would be a good time to start.

    I'm 65 and have seen races of all types all over the world since I was 6. And that's the first time I've seen such confusion, such lack of effort, and too much “I'm not supposed to do anything” mentality. To me, that's gotta change!!

    TRAIN THE FIRST-RESPONDERS TO DO THE BASIC PRE-PARAMEDIC THINGS TO PREPARE FOR THE PARAMEDICS BEFORE THEY GET THERE. STANDING AND LOOKING AROUND WHILE MASSA IS SLUMPED IN HIS SEAT ISN'T ONE OF THOSE “BASIC” THINGS.

    .

    A US Indy 500 driver had a similar accident during an Indy 500. Another car lost a wheel and it bounced off this driver's helmet – and into the stands. I can't think of his name right now, but his driving career ended right then and there. He was never mentally the same again. His thinking became slower and slower. Like overnight he went from age 29 to age 70.

    Can these things be prevented? No. Unless they want to completely enclose the driver. That should be fun on a hot day, huh?

    Thanks, Alex, for your nice reply.

    Gary & Daisy…..

    BIG F1 follower since Moss. I sure hope Massa is able to get back to his normal self.

  • Dave

    Sorry but you comments are wrong. If the people were not trained paramedics then they could have done more damage – there was nothing they could reasonably expect to do.

    As for them pulling the car out, what happens if the monocoque had been punctured.

    I'm sure they made an assessment of his spine, and had to make a decision to get him out.

    The marshals appeared to me to very quickly asses the situation, and immediately called for medical attention. If you had a crash on roads, I doubt whether you would get medical attention so quickly.

  • garyanddaisy

    Dave,

    Thank you for your nice reply. Appreciate it.

    Maybe the next step would be to train the non-paramedics to do something in cases like Massa's. Not as far as removing helmets, etc., but something more than just standing around! Some little things that they could do while the paramedics are on the way.

    Maybe they could video things to the paramedics/track officials as soon as they get there. SAVE TIME.

    Things they could report to the paramedics as soon as they get there TO SAVE PRECIOUS TIME. Like the front of his helmet was pretty much smashed in. Like, how did this happen?

    A hit into the tire barrier, even though it was straight on, probably didn't cause too many people to think of it as a life & death situation – at first. The non-paramedics could have alerted everyone as to the condition of his helmet, etc. “This one is bad!”

    When Dale Earnhardt was killed at Daytona, people didn't rush to his car at first. Looked like just another whack into the outside wall. Happens all the time. Drivers get out and walk away. It wasn't until someone actually saw Dale in the car that they knew “this one is real bad.” Then the rush to get to him started. He insisted on wearing open face helmets in an unsafe seat. What can you do?

    I still remember the huge time delay in getting to Senna. Where were they?

    If we have an accident on a US highway/road, lots of people will keep on driving past! They're morons over here. Are they afraid to do something fearing they will further harm someone? No. THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO IN THE FIRST PLACE. So, instead of stopping and doing SOMETHING, they continue to drive by.

    I hope Massa won't have permanent damage to his left eye. Has a one-eyed driver ever compeated in F1? Would they be allowed to? He got good attention in Hungary (I was there for a while in '65). Lucky that these drivers are all in great shape to beging with.

    You take care out there…………

    Gary & Daisy

    WI 54821

    USA

    Gary & Daisy…..

  • Dave

    Some interesting points. It would be impracticable to give marshals the correct level of training for an incident such as this.

    Just after the first marshals got to him, one of them ran forward and gave a sign to the tv helicopter that this was indeed a serious incident (at least I presume that's what he was doing), and presumably there was a radio message as well. For the medical car to have got to the incident so quickly it must have immediately left the pitlane after a signal from race control that it was serious – it's engines are always running when the cars are on the track and has a doctor onboard.

    On Felipe's car there was an indicator that this was a high-G impact, so that automatically meant he would have been seen by doctors – even if he had have jumped out.

    However there are always ways to make it safer, and I'm sure after the investigations are done some things will change.

    Sadly this was a freak accident, but on the positive side things are looking better by the day for him.

  • garyanddaisy

    Dave,

    Can't prevent freak accidents like this, but maybe the track safety crew and paramedics, etc., will find a way(s) to cut a couple of minutes off their time.

    With the latest in tech, things will always get better for the drivers. A little at a time.

    It will be great to see him on the track again!

    When Dale Earnhardt was killed, there were quite a few things that changed. First, the HANS device was born. Full face helmets are now mandatory. NASCAR seats and safety belts were upgraded and made mandatory. But over here it usually takes a fatality before something(s) is changed.

    I was unaware of all the F1 safety rules/indicators you brought up. Nice!

    Even after a few almost-fatal accidents in NASCAR recently due to cars hitting something head on, the tracks still have not been upgraded! Again, someone will have to be killed before upgrades are done. It's all about money over here. Tracks don't want to spend the money to upgrade their tracks unless they have to. “Prove to me that these upgrades need to be done.”

    So, someone will have to die.

    And one of these days over here, a NASCAR car will go into the stands! 3500 lbs zinging in there at 180 mph. A “perfect storm” where a car gets airborne on the track and another one hitting him at the exact time in the exact place. Kick 'em right up in the air and over the catch fence. It's gonna happen.

    That would make the Mercedes F1 car going into the track spectators way back look like a traffic accident!

    Thanks for the information.

    Take care over there……………

    Gary & Daisy…..

  • garyanddaisy

    Dave,

    Can't prevent freak accidents like this, but maybe the track safety crew and paramedics, etc., will find a way(s) to cut a couple of minutes off their time.

    With the latest in tech, things will always get better for the drivers. A little at a time.

    It will be great to see him on the track again!

    When Dale Earnhardt was killed, there were quite a few things that changed. First, the HANS device was born. Full face helmets are now mandatory. NASCAR seats and safety belts were upgraded and made mandatory. But over here it usually takes a fatality before something(s) is changed.

    I was unaware of all the F1 safety rules/indicators you brought up. Nice!

    Even after a few almost-fatal accidents in NASCAR recently due to cars hitting something head on, the tracks still have not been upgraded! Again, someone will have to be killed before upgrades are done. It's all about money over here. Tracks don't want to spend the money to upgrade their tracks unless they have to. “Prove to me that these upgrades need to be done.”

    So, someone will have to die.

    And one of these days over here, a NASCAR car will go into the stands! 3500 lbs zinging in there at 180 mph. A “perfect storm” where a car gets airborne on the track and another one hitting him at the exact time in the exact place. Kick 'em right up in the air and over the catch fence. It's gonna happen.

    That would make the Mercedes F1 car going into the track spectators way back look like a traffic accident!

    Thanks for the information.

    Take care over there……………

    Gary & Daisy…..