2026 F1 Thread

[MARTINE]

Bugger. I'm hoping to get down to the exhibit before it finishes up and has assumed the chassis was part of it. Whilst I'm not one of those people who is morbidly obsessed with crashes and such, I was very keen to see this particular one in more detail given the nature of the incident, the incredible tale of survival and the fact that it's a testament to the safety standards of modern F1. I'm sure the gloves, boots, wheel and other elements of the display are impactful on their own, however I can't help but think that the chassis would add significantly more more "weight" to it all - much in the same way that documentaries about Hiroshima or Nagasaki are completely different to actually visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum or the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum.

You will still find this exhibit and much of the exhibition fascinating. I watched the screens about it several times. Another moving piece of footage and commentary was that terrible weekend when Ayrton and Ratzenberger died in real time..

 

[DejaBrew]

Another moving piece of footage and commentary was that terrible weekend when Ayrton and Ratzenberger died in real time..

And to think that weekend could easily have been even more tragic than it already was given Barrichello's horror accident on the Friday.

For those unfamiliar with it, Barrichello hit a kerb at the Variante Bassa chicane at the Imola Circuit and was catapulted into the tyre barrier at some 225km/h in an accident that recorded 95g. The unconscious Barrichello's car eventually came to rest on its side and the marshals casually flipped the shattered Jordan right side-up - something that would be unthinkable today. Professor Sid Watkins saved Barrichello's life by clearing the driver's tongue after it had blocked his airway. Over than light injuries, including a busted lip and a broken nose, Barrichello was able to leave hospital and watched the rest of the weekend's events on TV.

Barrichello's crash was considered a "lucky escape", but that was rapidly forgotten when Ratzenberger was killed instantly on impact - 500g, the highest ever recorded in F1 - during a crash in qualifying. It's been well-documented that Senna was greatly impacted by Ratzenberger's death and was very close to pulling out of the Grand Prix. Eventually, he chose to race with the plan to unfurl the Austrian flag in honour of the fallen Simtek driver if he won. That flag was found in the wreckage of Senna's FW16 at Tamburello, nearly 24 hours after Ratzenberger's death. Such a tragic weekend