Motorsport OMG / WTF moments - Racing Funnies, Fails, Crashes, And Randomness

  • Thread starter Furinkazen
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That's crazy. Was it the fault of the race officials starting the race when they shouldn't have or the saftey car for not pulling in when he should?
 
Pedrosa low-siding and taking out his teammate Nicky Hayden at Portugal in 2006 is number 1 both for OMG and WTF. I never seen a man that angry before.

2nd place for me goes to Webber-Vettel bumper cars at Turkey last year.

3rd place would be the last lap at Raikkonen-Hamilton at Spa in the rain, on slicks, in was it 2007? Hamilton went on to win after both he and Raikkonen went off what, 4-5 times each in the last lap, and Raikkonen ended up hitting the wall just before the bus stop chicane I think it was.
 
I've seen worse accidents caused by safety car mishaps.



Fortunately the driver, Tetsuya Ota, wasn't killed. This crashed sparked a lawsuit by Tetsuya Ota against the track for sub par marshals, which, because of their actions, his melted helmet burned his face. This crash pretty much ended his professional racing career.

What happened was that the safety car was traveling a lot faster than it ought to have been in the wet, and it suddenly slowed down, which caused a Porsche to aquaplane and crash into a BMW ahead. Same thing happen to Ota's Ferrari, and it lit up on impact.
 
What's more surprising there is that they still made the cars race in absolutely pouring rain like that.
 
Peter.
What's more surprising there is that they still made the cars race in absolutely pouring rain like that.
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So I guess you'd be interested to know they were on slicks!

What happened was the race started on slicks in hot, dry weather. But on the very first lap, the weather suddenly opened up like that. There is nothing race control or anyone could do about that.

But it serves as a good example about why in F1 they are so very very careful about wet weather racing and trying to make the right calls on whether a race should start.
 
Ardius
But it serves as a good example about why in F1 they are so very very careful about wet weather racing and trying to make the right calls on whether a race should start.
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I still think any wet weather call that prevents a race starting is daft. If conditions are that bad, then it's up to the drivers to go slower. Even if they all have to resort to driving at 20mph, the guy who's doing 21mph is going to be the winner. It's what racing is about. All this starting behind the safety car business is nonsense.

Different if the race starts dry and then the weather turns suddenly, of course. Start a race in the wet and it's the drivers' prerogative to race at a safe pace. Start a race in the dry on slicks for the heavens to open and people start crashing beyond their control, which then becomes a safety call.
 
But sometimes its going so slow that its not racing...just look at Malaysia 2009 or the 2007 European GP. Its not fun to watch cars spin off and almost hit marshalls. Its not as simple as saying the drivers should just drive slower - its pretty tricky to drive slow but also race when your car can aquaplane anytime. There is a point where race control must decide whether its safe enough to race, not the drivers. Though usually the drivers themselves are the ones that call for the red flag too.
 
Well this thread was started at the right time.

There is the obvious one from today.

 
Ardius
But sometimes its going so slow that its not racing...just look at Malaysia 2009 or the 2007 European GP. Its not fun to watch cars spin off and almost hit marshalls. Its not as simple as saying the drivers should just drive slower - its pretty tricky to drive slow but also race when your car can aquaplane anytime. There is a point where race control must decide whether its safe enough to race, not the drivers. Though usually the drivers themselves are the ones that call for the red flag too.
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My main issue is with starting under safety car. If they're physically leading the cars around the circuit, then there's no reason the race can't start normally and let the drivers pick their pace (indeed, Button complained about starting Malaysia 09 behind the safety car as it created even more spray). Stopping the race at Canada this year was different - if the track is that waterlogged that you have to physically stop a race, then it's too bad to start under safety car too.

Basically, if it's too waterlogged, red flag. If it's not so wet the cars can't be led around, then they should race.
 
I agree. My point was only about race control and their difficult job. Which is what the Oulton Park video shows - they try to avoid that and sometimes they can't. Its why safety first is so prevalent.

In other words, sometimes I don't mind over-use of the safety car because I can understand their need to make 100% sure. But I agree that if they can run fast enough to keep up with the safety car, then it should be safe enough.
 






At least Skaife had an excuse, with 2 teams next to each other in the pitlane in very similar overalls.
 

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