Grand Prix's Great Escapes
by Craig Normansell on Feb 15th, 2011Welcome to another edition of the Badgerometer, a weekly gauge of a certain something in the wonderful world of Formula One. With the Grand Prix community wishing Robert Kubica (or Bobby K) the best after his rally crash just over a week ago, this week's topic will look back at the times Lady Luck smiled upon certain individuals and their racing machines.
Typing "Andrea De Cesaris" into YouTube can yield quite a few examples of just how bad the Italian was at driving a Grand Prix car. Perhaps the best is this little slide onto the grass in 1985 that turns into something a little more dangerous very quickly indeed...
Considering how close the Monaco track is to the harbour in places, it's only two drivers who have ever ended up in the water (Phil Hawkins and Alberto Ascari, in case you were wondering). The best footage that exists is this video, of when the Italian legend got it very wrong indeed negotiating the chicane;
The most recent entry on the list is Australia's own Mark Webber, who probably has a diiferent take on the slogan "Red Bull gives you wings" after Valencia last season.
If ever a driver was the embodiment of "bouncebackability", it's good old Bobby K. We've all seen the footage before, but here it is again for everyone to gasp and wonder just how he got out of this one with nothing more than a headache.
Why should one driver get the top spot this week? How about pretty much the entire grid for the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix! A mix of heavy rain and an overeager David Coulthard led to probably the most expensive pile-up in motoring history, involving no less than fourteen cars. Miraculously, there were no injuries (bar quite a few bruised egos).
Somedays in Formula One luck is on your side, then on others something like this happens...
Comments and Discussion
Gee, someone doesn't know how to find good youtube videos, that kubica crash just catches the end of it and the coulthard one doesn't even work.
Good selections though.
Great article Badger
A great advert for the safety advances in F1. During the Belgian GP pile-up, when the camera pans across to the grandstand - everyone jumps back, except one guy in the green top - v brave or v silly?!
Brendan - I just posted the most viewed ones, if you skip to 1.25 of the Kubica one you get the replays (I picked the live video as all the others have ridiculous music dubbed over the top). The Coulthard one works fine for me!
Simon - The guy in the green top looks like a very eager photographer. The angle might decieve how close the tyre gets, but he's a braver man than me!
I'd put De Cesaris and Ascari above Webber and Kubica because the cars were so fragile in comparison.
I'd still have the Belgian GP start crash at number one though, clearly the Jordans had the biggest escape. It was definately their lucky day (what with getting a 1-2 later!). If the video went on for another 5 seconds you'd see the Jordan on the right hand side (Hill iirc) appear through the steam and debris unscathed and just go serenely on it's way.
What i want to know is what the heck Ricardo Rosset was doing in the '98 Spa crash? I think he'd been watching too much 'Days of Thunder' and was convinced aiming at the cars that were crashing in front of him was the right course of action. Rather than.. ooo i dunno, braking perhaps?
And i think there was a little more than a headache for Robert in Montreal. I remember something to do with his ankle, maybe he twisted it. Not just a headache though.
Here's a few more lucky escapes that were stuck in my head:
Fittipaldi and Martini in Monza '93: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv2kxImg4vc
Coulthard getting close to cutting Wurz's throat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc0SxqHFhxY
Brundle in Melbourne '96: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItC4s1WDAbU
Luckiest of these was Pedro Diniz in Nurburgring '99: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1SwKIsnTCo (about 23secs in)
Brundle also had a very lucky escape at Brazil '94 when Verstappen's right-rear wheel whacked him on the head. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAnpQvu794o
Is the Andrea De Cesaris crash at the Osterreich ring?
Yep, at the old configuration before it was revamped in the late '90s
Thanks for the comments Pionir!
I think if you look all the escapes they are relative to the speed at which they were travelling at the time. Kubica's crash, I think, was the hardest impact ever recorded in an F1 crash, yet he wasn't seriously injured. Both Webber and De Cesaris were up and about within seconds of the crash!
On seeing the title of this article, I immediately pictured a blue Ligier barrel rolling through the Austrian countryside, with Andrea De Cesaris in the cockpit, and sure enough he is included in the list. What a lucky lad that he climbed out with only muddied overalls! He did calm down eventually and did a great job later for Jordan, when they started out in F1.
Other great escapes that spring to mind are both BAR cars going off at Spa's Eau Rouge in 1999, on the same day.
Jacques Villeneuve...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dPJMxJlcr0&feature=related
...and Riccardo Zonta...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1izNuceZLmU&feature=related
Then Mark Blundell at Silverstone in 1993 survived not just a big shunt, but two McLarens bearing down on him and swerving round him as he climbed out. Very lucky indeed!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0g_TYXIpjg
I agree with Pionir to put De Cesaris and Ascari above Webber and Kubica because the cars were so fragile in comparison. Cheers for a good article Craig!