Just a week after the scary incident of Guanyu-Zhou a Silverstonein Austria he's back to talking about of your digital ecosystem. . This time, however, the episode created even more stir because of the behavior of the commissioners, accused of failing to provide prompt assistance a Carlos Sainz, as flames engulfed his F1-75. The Spaniard, after aesplosione in the rear train while in pursuit of Max Verstappen, attempted to take the single-seater to the closest escape route. But with many problems.
Infinite moments
Already here the first difficulty of Spanish which, found himself on a sloping escape route and with a vehicle in neutral moving backwards he was forced to block it "manually". Everything got complicated when flames started to break out from the rear of the train which in a few moments wrapped up the bellies of the car. Waiting for help has turned into a desperate race against time. The Spaniard couldn't leave the cockpit otherwise the car would have dangerously crashed onto the track like a ball of fire. Sainz waited until the last minute and jumped out of the flames at the exact moment a track marshal arrived to block the car. A dramatic situation that fortunately ended without consequences but with a lot of controversy.
The criticisms
The dynamics of the accident ei reaction times of the commissioners of the Red Bull Ring they immediately outraged not only the audience from home but Sainz himself who risked putting his skin on it. "I was calling the marshals to help me, to put something on the tires to keep the car from sliding backwards, but I think the whole process was a bit slow. At one point there was so much fire that I had to hustle and jump out on my own. I believe that just at that moment the first commissioner arrived and stopped the car" said the Spaniard.
A controversial episode, which from the outside looked like a scene of "amateurs in jeopardy", with those who arrived walking, those who instead ran away leaving a fire extinguisher on the ground halfway, those who arrived running only with a wedge for a car of about 800kg. All with Sainz in the foreground, with obvious difficulties in managing the situation. All this has raised several questions, reopening the issue of security of the various circuits, which the Formula 1 unfortunately, he carries with him from the horrific accident a Suzuka in October 2014, which snatched from the world Jules Bianchi after an agony of about 9 months.
The replies of the commissioners arrive
The debate led to a response from the Austrian circuit who underlined, with a press release, the correctness of all procedures performed, and the distorted view of the event, fueled by the media. The first point touched upon by the press release concerns the fact that i commissioners are required to intervene only after having received the go-ahead from the race direction. "The intervention is allowed only after the instructions of the race control. On the one hand this naturally increases the safety of the drivers and marshals, but on the other it has the disadvantage that the interventions take a little more time" reads the press release.
Unfortunate circumstances
“There have been several unfortunate circumstances. The place where Sainz parked the Ferrari it was not visible from the commissioners' gallery. They received radio orders to go to the car with fire extinguishers and, when they saw the situation, they decided to call in the fire engine. This decision had to be made within seconds and, in retrospect, was absolutely correct.”
The press release also refers to another incident, more recent and also related to the use of fire extinguishers. Furthermore, it is clarified that the situation was still under control, given the particular meticulousness in managing an event as unpredictable as that of a fire.
“If you remember the incident of Romain Grosjean (Bahrain 2020), in such a situation portable fire extinguishers are absolutely not sufficient. Therefore, the fire extinguisher was turned off and the car was left, which led to that unfortunate TV image of the inspector 'running away'. We had a fire engine on site in less than 30 seconds which would have brought a fast spreading fire under control. After the Grosjean accident, it is very important for us to immediately have great "extinguishing power" available to protect the rider in the best possible way. Another emergency vehicle was ready and a third was on its way. Even if Sainz hadn't exited the vehicle himself, we would have been able to protect him as well as possible".
Sainz's behavior didn't help
Furthermore, according to the commissioners, Sainz's reaction would have complicated an already difficult situation in itself. “Another problem was that Sainz understandably got nervous in the vehicle and braked too soon. The wedge had to be pushed under the moving car, which of course made it extremely difficult. However, thanks to the resistance of the wedge, the vehicle stopped close to the guard rail. Later, it was possible to extinguish the fire with the fire extinguisher”.
The clarifications
There is always room for improvement and this episode is a clear example of that. “In this exceptional situation, because a fire is not an everyday event for us either, the commissioners reacted well overall. We are a team of motorsport enthusiasts who sacrifice their free time for training and drills in order to do our best for track safety during these events. We will take this incident as an opportunity to improve further”.
Source statements: Motorsport.com
