2015 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix

[[Nor]MclarenF1]

Hang on! There's a car on the track!

 

[NW48]

Hang on! There's a car on the track!

Spoke too soon...

 

[GTPorsche]

There's something we can sort of consider to be an F1 car on track!

 

[RX-7_FD3S]

Sochi has the most depressing and dullest scenery of the calender. The track looks like a failed attempt of a street circuit.

Probably one of the worst track on the calendar for me. Sad to see that Russia couldnt come up with something better.

FP looks bad so far.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Probably one of the worst track on the calendar for me.

Everybody claims to hate it, but I suspect that 90% of it is more force of habit than anything else. It's a power-heavy circuit with a slippery surface and hard braking throughout, and the local conditions make it hard to consistently keep the tyre temperatures up. It's murder on tyres, brakes, engines and fuel.

 

[Dennisch]

Sainz gone off hard in FP3, red flag.

 

[NW48]

That looks like a pretty hard hit. Right in under the barrier.

Looks like he's hit the barrier before the corner.

 

[Dennisch]

Why don't they stop the clock?

 

[TenEightyOne]

Why don't they stop the clock?

Not sure, this session is certainly over if it continues to run.

No sign of repeat footage yet until Sainz's condition's known... but the scrub marks on the wall on the way in look immense. 200+mph in that section?

EDIT: Yup, over 200mph down to 60 in that braking zone. We're told this was Sainz's first low-fuel run. Commentary saying that the area there is DRS, possible that Sainz didn't deactivate the DRS as early as some teams have been advising their drivers to do.

 

[NW48]

The longer this goes on, the worse I fear for Sainz... no one can communicate with him, apparently.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Session will not be restarted.

 

[Milouse]

300 km/h area, no rubber on track = no breaking, i guess. But i have no idea of what happened.
Verstappen asked for news but the team lost power on the car, hence no radio and no news from Sainz.

As for the clock, the Session is now officialy ended.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I've seen too many big crashes for my own comfort this weekend. Hope Sainz is alright.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Session abandoned - they won't be able to clear the track in time to resume.

The longer this goes on, the worse I fear for Sainz... no one can communicate with him, apparently.

They have lost power to the car. If they can't hear him, it's because the radio doesn't work.

 

[Dennisch]

That the session is stopped could be because the barrier has been destroyed and needs a rebuild.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Ted Kravitz says early indications are good, but the delay has been down to clearing the fencing.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Pardon the double-post, but Ferrari's official Twitter feed is reporting that Sainz is moving.

Kravitz reporting Marko is at Toro Rosso, giving the team an update to tell them that Sainz is conscious.

He's just been put in the ambulance and has given a thumbs up to the helicopter canera.

 

[Dennisch]

Thumbs up from the stretcher.

Pfeew.

Holy ****. Even in slomo it's a massive hit.

 

[Milouse]

Ted Kravitz says early indications are good, but the delay has been down to clearing the fencing.

Since i've heard a pit-lane reporter saying that Senna was ok after Imola crash, i don't buy this. But Sainz has been shown conscious while i was writing this message

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Sky showing a replay - Sainz snapped left under braking and slid down the outer wall.

FIA have made a statement: he's okay.

 

[Dennisch]

Ah. He did slow down quite a bit before hitting the barrier.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Since i've heard a pit-lane reporter saying that Senna was ok after Imola crash, i don't buy this.

That depends on their source. There's a conspiracy theory that the doctors at the Imola circuit unethically kept Senna alive despite being brain-dead, and only allowed his body to die once he was away from the circuit because if he had been declared dead at the circuit, then under Italian law, the promoters would have been liable for his death.

 

[Rage Racer]

 

[Milouse]

I guess it's hard to declare someone brain dead without proper equipment, anyway.

 

[TenEightyOne]

There's a conspiracy theory that the doctors at the Imola circuit unethically kept Senna alive despite being brain-dead, and only allowed his body to die once he was away from the circuit because if he had been declared dead at the circuit, then under Italian law, the promoters would have been liable for his death.

Sid Watkins (the F1 doctor treating Senna alongside the track doctor) memorably spoke/wrote of the moment that Senna died, at the track. The reason Senna didn't die at the track is down to certification, he was legally alive until in the presence of somebody who was empowered to say otherwise.

It's good to see that Sainz appears in a good condition, the accident looked horrendous. Lots of questions to be asked about how he was able to submarine the Tec-Pro barrier... that said I'm not sure how much more "give" they can build in without such things happening. It was a horrible-looking accident.

Quali will be interesting, FP1 and FP2 were both wet sessions (for different reasons) and FP3 was effectively halted just as the majority of drivers started their low fuel runs. We might see some surprised in Quali.

 

[Eva]

Good to see Sainz is relatively okay. Any time a car submarines under anything, it's a bad deal, especially with formula cars.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

The reason Senna didn't die at the track is down to certification, he was legally alive until in the presence of somebody who was empowered to say otherwise.

And the conspiracy suggests that the race organisers kept that someone from attending to Senna until he was away from the circuit.

 

[Eva]

Under all legality, when Ratzenberger died on that Saturday, the event should have been cancelled anyways. The fact that it wasn't puts everything into relativity.

 

[NW48]

Stevens, Merhi, Ericsson & Alonso all out in Q1.

Button into Q2. If he gets into Q3, we need to write a book called; "The Little GP2 Engine That Could".

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Update on Sainz from the FIA: taken to hospital, put through a variety of diagnostic tests, and the end conclusion is that he's completely uninjured - but he will spend the night in hospital under observation as a precaution.