zelatore
07-30-2009, 11:22 AM
I know a few of you follow F1, so you've probably already heard this. But some of you might have missed it.
At last weekend's qualifying, Ferrari's Fillipe Massa was seriously injured when a small 2.5 lb spring came loose from a car ahead of him and hit him in the helmet at something like 160 mph. Knocked him either completely out or just dazed badly, and he speared straight off the track and into a tire wall. He did regain enough consciousness to at least lock the brakes as he went off the track, but he was still pretty out of it as after he hit the wall he sat with the throttle pinned wide open until marshals got to him. Normally a driver shuts it down immediately.
The crash wasn't the real problem though, the spring narrowly missed his visor and fractured his skull. He is also rumored to have serious problems with his left eye as the spring hit very near it. He's in bad shape, but is showing improvement. Needless to say, he didn't race this weekend and likely won't for the rest of the season - some speculate his career might even be over.
So the big question is who would Ferrari get to fill his seat? Keep in mind that Ferrari, while decent, are not a winning team this year. They have shown improvements lately, and Kimi put it on the podium last weekend, but they'll be lucky to take a single win in '09. Brawn, the first-half powerhouse is waning, while RedBull looks to be the strongest team in the field, and McLaren seem to have come to life in the last two races and now look like contenders for wins.
Also, with the current rules there is NO testing - the only chance a new driver would get to run the car would be Friday practice before the next race.
I had expected Luca Badoar, the team's test driver to fill in. Or possibly an F3 driver they were grooming for a future F1 seat. Or maybe even Fernando Alonso who currently drives for Renault but is widely known to want to move to Ferrari.
Of course, some speculated that Michael Schumaker would come out of retirement and drive. But I discounted that as ridiculous. After all, he hasn't raced (F1) for 3 years; the cars are radically different than when he was driving; his 'dream team' has left Ferrari and is now campaigning under the Brawn name; he'd get no practice time; and he has nothing to gain....he left as a champion and a legend. To come back with all those strikes against him and to a less than outstanding team.....why would he do it?
Well, I guess we'll have to ask him. He's going through medical right now to fill in for Massa the rest of the season. I can't imagine he'll come back and be like his old self, but it will be fun to watch and see how he does against Kimi in the same car; against Hamilton in the new-and-improved McLaren; and against the latest wonder-boy Vettle (who I'd love to see in a Ferrari down the road) in the RedBull.
At last weekend's qualifying, Ferrari's Fillipe Massa was seriously injured when a small 2.5 lb spring came loose from a car ahead of him and hit him in the helmet at something like 160 mph. Knocked him either completely out or just dazed badly, and he speared straight off the track and into a tire wall. He did regain enough consciousness to at least lock the brakes as he went off the track, but he was still pretty out of it as after he hit the wall he sat with the throttle pinned wide open until marshals got to him. Normally a driver shuts it down immediately.
The crash wasn't the real problem though, the spring narrowly missed his visor and fractured his skull. He is also rumored to have serious problems with his left eye as the spring hit very near it. He's in bad shape, but is showing improvement. Needless to say, he didn't race this weekend and likely won't for the rest of the season - some speculate his career might even be over.
So the big question is who would Ferrari get to fill his seat? Keep in mind that Ferrari, while decent, are not a winning team this year. They have shown improvements lately, and Kimi put it on the podium last weekend, but they'll be lucky to take a single win in '09. Brawn, the first-half powerhouse is waning, while RedBull looks to be the strongest team in the field, and McLaren seem to have come to life in the last two races and now look like contenders for wins.
Also, with the current rules there is NO testing - the only chance a new driver would get to run the car would be Friday practice before the next race.
I had expected Luca Badoar, the team's test driver to fill in. Or possibly an F3 driver they were grooming for a future F1 seat. Or maybe even Fernando Alonso who currently drives for Renault but is widely known to want to move to Ferrari.
Of course, some speculated that Michael Schumaker would come out of retirement and drive. But I discounted that as ridiculous. After all, he hasn't raced (F1) for 3 years; the cars are radically different than when he was driving; his 'dream team' has left Ferrari and is now campaigning under the Brawn name; he'd get no practice time; and he has nothing to gain....he left as a champion and a legend. To come back with all those strikes against him and to a less than outstanding team.....why would he do it?
Well, I guess we'll have to ask him. He's going through medical right now to fill in for Massa the rest of the season. I can't imagine he'll come back and be like his old self, but it will be fun to watch and see how he does against Kimi in the same car; against Hamilton in the new-and-improved McLaren; and against the latest wonder-boy Vettle (who I'd love to see in a Ferrari down the road) in the RedBull.