Anonymous wrote:Manchild, bother to learn the history of things before you start to rant and froth.
The sole reason the chicane was added in 1994 was because of the track safety paranoia gripping F1 after Imola. Eau Rouge has virtually no run off area and a serious accident had happened the year before. Spa, just like many other tracks on the calender was require to implement changes. However changing Eau Rouge was not a simple job because the land around it needed to be bought to make space for the run off areas first. The chicane was hated by all concerned and generally caused more trouble than it was worth. It is overwhelming proof that a temporary chicane was the wrong solution, not as you wish, a precident for using one.
Secondly it was known well in advance of the race it would be there and the teams and cars were ready for it.
The accidents invovling Ratzenberger and Senna were in completely different circumstances. RR smash was virtually head on after his front wing fell off, just before the chicane, got airborne, went striaght across it, hit a wall.
Nothing from RRs crash suggested in anyway, to anybody, that the sort of smash Senna had would be a major problem.
Senna ran wide, hit the wall and got spiked by his suspension, freak accident. The only difference to today is that tracks tend to have more run off area before solid walls, but there remain very many fast sweepers like Imola had that still have a solid wall albeit a little further back.
I was 22 in 1994 and I remember it very well, no need to learn this from the books or web…
There was no paranoia in Imola. Paranoia is imagined/unreal fear while in Imola there was real fear as the result of one death on Saturday and next one on Sunday.
Anyway, the main point is that Max said that building a chicane is illegal, dangerous and unfair when someone else builds it but when FIA build it in 1994 than it was legal, safe and fair… That is what this is all about – Max was 100% hypocrite. There was one of the greatest accidents year before in that same turn (Ralf almost paralyzed) so there is one more similarity with what was going on in Spa in pre-1994 seasons. I’m not saying that chicane in Indy would make smooth race but when 9 teams, 18 of 20 cars and all 20 drivers agree that it would be safer than FIA can either support that or cancel/postpone the race.
My opinion about FIA’s guilt regarding Imola is in fact that they’ve licensed the circuit that had so many unprotected walls. Millions were spent on stupid showing-off, fancy stuff while having several hundreds of used tyres isolating the walls was apparently to expensive for track owners. It was shameful thing what FIA was doing – licensing tracks season after season without much consideration of safety. It doesn’t matter what caused Roland’s and Senna’s straying - only one double or triple old rubber barrier would definitely prevent aftermath of Roland’s and Senna’s accidents. Unfortunately, FIA and Bernie were too busy filing their pockets. What happened this year in Imola? Tamburello is now chicaned and slow; however, 11 years after “black weekend” we’ve seen Fisichella hitting that same unprotected wall!! The old rubber must still be too expensive and FIA still blind.
That is why I hate FIA – for always being in financial deals with track owners which after every accident lead to mutual covering up so that non of them would be blamed. Senna’s case still isn’t cleared and I hope that one day guilt will make some “deep throat” from FIA to come forward to public and reveal the truth. One of the Italian inspectors I think already did it when he announced that data recording device that was located behind Senan’s seat and absolutely undamaged and functional was taken out of the car and later returned after being smashed with the hammer!
There are only two things now possible - major changes at FIA/F1 or GPWC, there is no other way!
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