Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber F1 Team had one of the largest crashes in F1 for the last decade or so:

Can you guess what his injuries were? If you think he died, you are wrong. If you think he broke several bones, you are wrong again. He escaped that crash with a sprained ankle, some bruises and a mild concussion. He wasn’t even wounded!

This crash is a testament to the strict safety requirements enforced by Formula 1’s governing body, the FIA. From even more rigid survival cells (the part of the car surrounding the driver), better energy absorption zones (the stuff you see flying off the car act as a cushion and absorb some of the kinetic energy from the crash), to better driver restraints (HANS, safety belts, etc) and really fast emergency response teams.

Formula 1 has really become safer, but this is a sobering reminder that the sport still has its risks. I was watching this live, and after seeing his limp motionless body in the cockpit I thought I just watched another F1 driver die.

I’m glad that he emerged ok after the crash, and he may drive on the next GP at Indianapolis USA only a week after this large shunt.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 at 12:26 pm and is filed under Motorsports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.