Editorial - The Felipe Massa Accident
July 27th, 2009 Posted in General by Scott Russell
As I write this, Felipe Massa is lying in a hospital bed outside Budapest. The Brazilian was quite badly injured after a piece of suspension from Rubens Barrichello’s car hit him in the head in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday. He is in a pretty bad way, but it looks as though he should pull through and make a recovery. He is not out of the woods yet, but fingers crossed.
Coming just days after poor Henry Surtees died after being hit by a flying wheel at Brands Hatch, there was a worrying hint of deja vu with this accident. Thankfully, the result has not been fatal, but it is frightening nonetheless. Massa’s injuries are arguably the worst suffered by a Formula 1 driver since Mika Hakkinen’s crash in Adelaide in 1995 and it is a reminder that racing is dangerous.
There are positives that can be taken. Firstly, it is 14 years since a driver suffered a serious, life-threatening head injury. Secondly, it took such a freak, abnormal accident to cause it. It means that as far as “normal” events go, safety is very good.
No doubt, there will be an investigation into preventing this type of thing from happening again. Which is good. What we don’t need, however, are ridiculous knee-jerk reactions which benefit no one. The FIA decision to ban Renault for one-race after an ill-fitted wheel from Fernando Alonso’s car came loose was just silly - about as silly as suggestions of closed-cockpits and cockpit-bubbles. This is a time for a sensible discussion and review, with appropriate changes if possible.
On a lighter note, who will replace Massa? I do not expect him back at all this year, but it is hard to even come up with a shortlist of possible names. Gene and Badoer are on the Ferrari payroll as test drivers, but neither seem likely candidates, having been out of F1 racing for five and ten years respectively. Some people have been saying Michael Schumacher might fill the seat, but would he really? I don’t think so. Perhaps Sebastien Bourdais will get a call up? Despite being sacked by Scuderia Toro Rosso, he was not as useless as some suggested, and he has experience racing both 2009-spec and Ferrari-engined F1 cars.
