Maria de Villota

[Mark Aalberts]

I think she is lucky that here head isn't decapicitated and is still alive.

Im virtualy blind on one eye to because of an accident many years ago i can see only about 15% (everything is blur) because i dont have my pupil anymore im basicaly doing everything with my right eye. So i know what Vilota is waiting when she recovers. Indeed depth vision is a problem but this is not bad in terms of racing though althoug i can imagine it will be hard for a openwheeler as she will have to move her head more to one side to see the mirrors now. On of the depth problems that often occurs is more for example when a tennisball is thrown to me in the air i can hardly catch it because its incredible hard to judge where it is, so especialy when stuff is heading in youre direction. I dont realy have problems to judge things that are happening futher in front of me, the only thing you need to learn is to turn the head more because you have to look with the other eye so basicaly the death angle of one side is away you cant see it. This problem gave me some problems when i just started to drive a car, missed out some cars on roundabouts because i didnt noticed them. In the mean time im used to live this way but the first years will be hard, you have to learn to adapt to it.

I hope she recovers well.

 

[Omer Said]

Extremely sad and unlucky incident Hard, especially for a woman to have such a scar May be granted patience for her i pray.

But it should also be kept in mind that walking down the streets has it's dangers aswell. Just because of a few accidents, closed cockpits would be absurd imo. It would kill the F1 spirit. People who drive these cars are aware of the dangers already. No one forces them.

 

[Xosé Estrada]

This is bad news, but considering the situation, could be much worse

Just get well María.

 

[Ivan Mills]

wow....this is really sad

 

[Martin Leyfield]

I assume her helmet did not have any deformation. Maybe the space for the visor should have a vertical bar at the bridge of the nose, not so much for Maria's scenario but more to help shield the driver from objects such as suspension parts.

I would not mind closed cockpits. In redbull air races you can see the pilot. Dan Wheldon would be alive if he had a canopy like this and Massa would not need so much guidance via radio whilst driving if you know what I mean. I am sure he is a very intelligent man but has lost some factuality to think as sharply as before.

I do not know the cost of canopy in lower formula but Henry Surtees would be alive if he had a canopy on his Formula 2 car in 2009.

 

[Chris Jenkins]

True but the cockpit would get ridiculously hot and the driver would not be able to get out within 5 seconds in the event of a fire...

 

[Martin Leyfield]

I am sure the Redbull pilots have some kind of air blast or aircon and can also get out quickly in the event of a crash landing and fire. It's cooler up in the air but I think there is a lot of heat from a Redbull aircraft engine.

I hope no open cockpit racer gets into the situation below again. Simona had a nasty burn to her hand from this.

.

 

[Bruno Sousa Ferreira]

I am sure the Redbull pilots have some kind of air blast or aircon and can also get out quickly in the event of a crash landing and fire. It's cooler up in the air but I think there is a lot of heat from a Redbull aircraft engine.

I hope no open cockpit racer gets into the situation below again. Simona had a nasty burn to her hand from this.

.

That took too long just to get the extinguishers on.

 

[David O'Reilly]

I hope Maria di Villota recovers well.
I hope the people around her tell he the incredible story of Alex Zanardi who lost both legs below the knee and recovered and made the podium in World Touring cars.
Not satisfied with that Alex has developed to Olympic level as a para cyclist.

Maria has suffered a loss of one eye but she still has a lot left. What she does with it will define her more than the accident will.
good luck Maria.

 

[Michael Brown]

Found this on the Los Minidrivers Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/losminidrivers)

 

[Gerald Chinoy]

I hope Maria di Villota recovers well.
I hope the people around her tell he the incredible story of Alex Zanardi who lost both legs below the knee and recovered and made the podium in World Touring cars.
Not satisfied with that Alex has developed to Olympic level as a para cyclist.

Maria has suffered a loss of one eye but she still has a lot left. What she does with it will define her more than the accident will.
good luck Maria.

Great example man, sure what u said is perfect. Surely she shouldn't give up and fight hard to come back strong in whatever she likes.

 

[Dan Marr]

I hope Maria di Villota recovers well.
I hope the people around her tell he the incredible story of Alex Zanardi who lost both legs below the knee and recovered and made the podium in World Touring cars.
Not satisfied with that Alex has developed to Olympic level as a para cyclist.

Maria has suffered a loss of one eye but she still has a lot left. What she does with it will define her more than the accident will.
good luck Maria.

Zanardi won in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009 in WTCC!
I hope she gets behind the wheel of a touring car, i dont think that she will get into an F1 again, she might be mentally scarred by the incedent aswell.

 

[Bruno Sousa Ferreira]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18854061

Marussia saying the car is not at fault. Now I find it very hard to believe that, I highly doubt that conclusion is correct.

 

[Alberto Casado]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18854061

Marussia saying the car is not at fault. Now I find it very hard to believe that, I highly doubt that conclusion is correct.

I hardly think that any car is prepared for crashes against truck platforms at head level.

 

[Chris Jenkins]

The conclusion is basically that the car didn't do anything it shouldn't have.
Which, given the theories that the anti-stall system kicked in, sounds about right.
The anti-stall system kicking in, will put out 50% throttle. If the car isn't in neutral when that happens, it'll shoot forward.

 

[Markus Neumann]

According to Auto Motor und Sport, it was not the anti-stall and they quote a member of the team saying that "sometimes it is harder to drive a car slowly than fast".

 

[Ho3n3r]

The conclusion is basically that the car didn't do anything it shouldn't have.
Which, given the theories that the anti-stall system kicked in, sounds about right.
The anti-stall system kicking in, will put out 50% throttle. If the car isn't in neutral when that happens, it'll shoot forward.

Could it be that she thought she was in neutral, but was actually in first when she stopped, and then the revs picked up as you state? That would surely jolt the car forward quickly.

 

[Chris Jenkins]

Thats precisely what some people reported at the time.
Apparently she was letting the car slow down, but it was still in gear.
It slowed to the point where the revs dropped too much then anti-stall kicked in.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

I may hope the brakes overrule antistall? This all sounds like such a stupid accident really with major consequences.

 

[Bruno Sousa Ferreira]

Isn't the anti-stall system suppose to pull the clutch in as well? that is what happens when a driver spins out on track.