New video shows moment wheel hit cameraman

2013 German Grand Prix

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvO9fzPp-SE

The disastrous consequences of Red Bull’s botched pit stop for Mark Webber were captured in this video shot by a fan at the German Grand Prix.

Webber’s right-rear wheel was not properly attached to the car before it was released and it came off as he rejoined the pit lane.

The video shows several people jumping clear of the wheel. It then struck an object and bounced into FOM cameraman Paul Allen. He was taken to hospital with broken bones and bruising but according to an FOM statement yesterday he is “expected to make a full recovery”.

Red Bull were fined ??30,000 (25,830) for unsafely releasing Webber’s car from the pit box. It is the second time this year a wheel has come off one of their cars following a pit stop.

Webber also lost a wheel following a pit stop at the Chinese Grand Prix. On that occasion the wheel came off while the car was on the track. The team were fined ??5,000.

Red Bull claimed a new record for the fastest ever four-wheel tyre change in an F1 race during the Malaysian Grand Prix. They changed Webber’s tyres in 2.05 seconds.

They have been the quickest team in the pits in six of the nine races so far this year.

Following the incident FOM have decided their camera crews will operate from the pit wall during future races.

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    29 comments on “New video shows moment wheel hit cameraman”

    1. Just frightening. Seeing how the wheel kicked up makes you realise how lucky the cameraman was not to be hit in the head. Could have been much much worse.

    2. Nasty to watch that. Lucky guy.

    3. Very representative from this angle, the speed of the wheel… WOW, if it hit the cameraman’s head… it would have been a catastrophic! Thank Goodness.

    4. It takes about 3 seconds from when the wheel comes into the frame in front of the McLaren pit until it hits the camera man. Looking at overhead shots of the start, the distance between the McLaren pit and the Mercedes pit is about 6 grid slots, or 84 metres. This means that tyre was travelling at a speed of 100 km/h. Which makes sense as this is the same as the pit lane speed limit – i.e. the tyre detached after Webber had accelerated to full pitlane speed.

      I think the camera man was very lucky.

    5. Shocking to say the least!

    6. In slow motion, if you’re not looking at the video, it sounds like a Red Bull air race. Excuse the irony. I hope the camera man is okay!

    7. It looks like the tire changed direction when it hit the other camera which was on the floor. Not trying to push the blame to anyone else but if it didn’t hit the camera, I think the tire would have rolled past the back of the cameraman. Poor cameraman, at the wrong place at wrong time. Hope he has a speedy recovery!

    8. its was horrible to watch it live…

    9. Needless to say, FOM have made an illegal copyright claim………. again.

      1. If it’s not from their feed, they have no right to copyright on it.

        1. Good ol’ Backwards Bernie…

        2. @djdaveyp87 FOM has the rights still, because no one but them and the tv outlets they have entrusted are allowed to stream F1 racing, needless to say that neither options involve youtube.

      2. @djdaveyp87 @ajokay I think that’s irresponsible and hypocritical of them.

        This particular video gave new insight into a dangerous incident. It gave a better impression of the speed involved and showed how the cameraman in question came to be struck by the wheel – i.e., because it bounced off something else (as others who saw the video remarked upon).

        All of this is useful information which goes towards understanding what went wrong and determining how a repeat could be avoided. Something which is clearly a major talking point at the moment, which I why I chose to give the video such prominence.

        I’m sure FOM have some obscure legalese which gives them the contractual right to delete anything that looks like an F1 car off YouTube. The fact that they’ve taken this particular video down and left alone the tens of thousands of others that are up there is sheer hypocrisy.

        But that doesn’t bother me half as much as them acting in a manner which diminishes our collective understanding of what went wrong and impairs F1 fans, media and teams from having an informed discussion about pit lane safety in Formula One. A debate which might ultimately lead to improved safety standards.

        I won’t guess at what FOM’s motives are but I do not believe they were acting out of a desire not to show video of a person being injured as they have clearly not ordered broadcasters to stop showing footage of it. Furthermore there are several amateur videos on YouTube which graphically depict Mark Robinson, the marshal who was killed at the Canadian Grand Prix, lying on the ground after the accident. I see no evidence of FOM attempting to remove those (though I have sent several messages to YouTube alerting them to the videos which breach their terms of service).

        1. @keithcollantine Firstly, I am against FIA’s decision to remove the video.

          Secondly, why do ppl have problems with the Mark Robinson video? Here too u get to know the situation after his death, ie the ambulance reaching him, etc. Its also something we can learn from. I wouldnt even mind if they post a video showing deaths in an accident. We get to learn from these videos. For instance, our roads are much safer now thanks to video analysis by law enforcement, many of these videos being graphic.
          And the internet is not TV. People choose what they want to see. So if a person finds death very graphic, he should opt to not watch it. People who want to know what went wrong will. So I am against the FIA taking down the Paul Allen video and also against any decision to take down the Robinson video. #FreeInternet

          1. I think the reason being that wanting to watch a video of a man being involved in a fatal accident is utterly disrespectful to the man killed and his family and loved ones, and it’s frankly ghoulish. If you think that the reason most people are looking at it is because they want to have an informed debate about safety standards at race tracks, you’re totally kidding yourself. It’s just thousands of rubberneckers wanting to see what it looks like when a man is crushed by a tractor, and if that was my father, brother, son, friend, whatever, I’d be devastated that such material was freely available in the public domain.

            1. I do watch the real video programme that is aired on TV like World’s most shocking videos. There may be some ppl who watch it for fun, but there are ppl who watch it and learn. And its these ppl who are at the forefrunt of safety. Enggrs and designers get flashes of genius when they see tht.

              If fatal videos should be banned, why don’t u petition to ban the Senna movie bcz it shows his crash and his lifeless body. In fact I found it shocking that ppl accepted tht scene in the movie while they are against graphic material. A paradox.

            2. I totally second that (what Mazda Chris said).
              The “learning” argument doesn’t work for me, sorry. You’ve got access to wikipedia, libraries and other ‘boring’ places for serious learning.
              What you describe is plain voyeurism, just like these airshow crash videos or prams being crushed by a train. Let’s be honest, voyeurism is one of the power horses of the internet, just like sex.
              I simply couldn’t watch someone die just to satisfy a vague desire, or at least not depicted with precision. Call me a coward, or whatever, I think it is just human. I know it is a strange atraction: I’ve myself been tempted to look at this Kyalami 1977 accident (or78 ?) involving Zorzi, Pryce and the young marshal. It haunted me for weeks. I mean physically, I fell “disturbed” for weeks.
              Now, of course, that is not sooooooo tragic with this accident. I know that the guy survived, but in case of the Canadian GP, just imagine the children of this man: scenes of the death of their father is here for everyone to grab. I don’t know if it is sane… I really don’t know.
              But i really am quite sensitive, so i may be biased…

            3. @gwenouille Its a personal view. But I believe that the net should be free for everyone. There shouldnt be any censorship unless the content harms a person. When it comes to voyeurism, it must be banned bcz it is a content taken in a private place by a spy. And I understand that the tolerence towards such graphic images differs from society to society. But what I believe is that banning real stuff is like running away from reality.

        2. This is very similar to the situation following that nasty NASCAR Nationwide crash at Daytona earlier this year.

          There was one video taken by a fan who was literally feet away from where a flying wheel had landed, and in the hours following, NASCAR made a copyright claim and had the video removed – despite there being thousands of other NASCAR videos (even videos which actually WERE an infringement of copyright) untouched.

          However, a couple of weeks later the video was back on YouTube and is still there today. I would guess that the same will happen with this video, once YouTube has reviewed the claim and realised that it’s incorrect.

          I can only assume that FOM (and NASCAR) were simply trying to remove the video so to avoid any negative publicity rather than as a copyright complaint. Presumably it’s easier to remove a video by complaining about copyright, though.

        3. The conditions of entry on your ticket to a F1 race state that you’re allowed to take photographs and videos for personal, non-commercial use – but it is strictly forbidden for you to publicly display (including online) or use for commercial purposes the images/videos you take. If you do so, Formula One World Championship (“FOWC”) has the right to require you to assign the copyright to them. That’s a brief summary of clause 12 of the British GP terms and conditions – I would assume that the German GP clauses are broadly the same.

          As such, they do have a contractual right to make copyright claims over videos made by fans at the circuit. FOWC never seem to concerned about photographs being put on Instagram, Flickr etc. – but videos, they’re very hot on, presumably to protect the lucrative broadcasting agreements they have in place.

          Unfortunately, this is just the way sporting events are these days. The T&Cs for the Olympics were equally restrictive.

        4. As far as I understand it, Bernie has negotiated some sort of contract with the teams and broadcasters that FOM own the copyrights to any video taken of F1 cars when there is more than one team on track (or entered) for a session. That means that teams can do their own TV work, but not multiple teams.

          That said, FOM are shooting themselves in the foot by doing this.

      3. How can they claim copyright on this? It was clearly filmed by someone privately. It might breach some kind of agreement that you enter when you buy a ticket – but I highly doubt that copyright is transferred to FOM automatically.

        1. Actually, I checked for Spa. If you have Paddock Club tickets (which are the special VIP tickets), you are severely restricted in what you can do:

          ii) personal electronic devices (including still image cameras, mobile telephones and other personal communications devices) are
          permitted within the Facility and during the pit lane walkabout unless otherwise advised, provided that any Recording, Data and any
          image, including photographic images and any still pictures derived or capable of being derived from a Recording (”Image”) of the
          Event that is recorded, stored and/or created thereon is used for personal, private and non-commercial purposes only;
          iii) the use of any such Recording, Data or Image for any form of public advertisement, display, commercial gain or for any other purpose
          (except for the non-commercial use/private enjoyment of the Guest) without the prior written consent of FOWC or FOM, is strictly
          forbidden and shall constitute a breach of these Terms and Conditions for which the Guest may be liable;
          iv) upon the request of ASM, FOWC or FOM, the Client or any Guest (as applicable) shall assign to FOWC in writing (or procure the
          assignment to FOWC in writing) the copyright and all other intellectual property rights in any Image or Recording of the Event that is
          created and/or recorded by the Client or any Guest

          So in fact, this might exclude putting videos on YouTube, and they can force you to assign them the copyright.

          However, this is only for Paddock Club tickets, and not for normal Grandstand tickets! The video may have been filmed from the Paddock Club area.

      4. I’ve never been to a race, but I believe that in the “small letters” somewhere in the ticket, there is a kind of prohibition that you take photos and/or film. First, that is just SILLY. Every F1 fan goes to a race not only for the race itself, but because it’s such a great event, and you obviously want something to remember it. Second, we fans are no press, but this is some kind of censorship. Nobody should be able to take down your video from the internet (regardless of it being uploaded to YouTube, Dailymotion, Vimeo or other) if it’s your very own recording you made with your camera and it doesn’t breach any of the site’s policies. Like @keithcollantine pointed, what about the marshall in Montreal? That is a breach on YouTube’s TOS, and to me that is by far worse than what happened last sunday.
        Also, this is not the first time FOM does this. I remember various amateur shots of Kubica’s accident in 2007 that were taken down for no reason.
        Bernie and FOM need to be friendlier to fans. That might even attract more people to the sport. You don’t want F1 videos in YouTube. Go make your own channel and post some highlights and onboards there. Nobody will ever upload your things because it won’t be needed.
        Those were my 2 cents ;-)

    10. Thanks Bernie! You’re a star!

    11. For the record its not FOM themselfs who go after F1 video’s on the web, Its an outside copyright monitoring company who basically actively look for & report things they feel breach the copyright laws.
      I forget the name of the company but they approached Bernie in around 2000 when people began posting full races from the Digital PPV service online.

      They don’t always get it right as I know of video’s been removed that were not even F1 related & which FOM didn’t own any rights for.

      Most of the people at FOM don’t really care about short video’s been posted online, Actually some who are members of F1 based websites where video’s are shared & more than a few have resorted to places like youtube to find a specific clip.

      I would say that full races & things like documentary’s are a different matter as thats stuff broadcasters pay them for so as unpopular as it may be I see them as valid copyright claims.

    12. I noticed that Sky has also taken down all their pre-race and post race features and interviews from You Tube!! This was one avenue to keeping up to speed (Albeit post race) with indepth interviews and features. The coverage here in Australia is pathetic.

      Why cant broadcasters like Sky make these segments (espeically Martin’s Gridwalk) available on Youtube for a fee? There is a huge demand for it in the English speaking markets. I would be willing to pay to watch it, even better if it were broadcast on Youtube live. No need to show the race itself, because there is the issue with broadcast licenses. I just want the pre-race and post race coverage!!

      There is money to be made from it…so why dont the do it? Perhaps @keithcollantine can shed some light?

    13. Mike the bike Schumacher (@mike-the-bike-schumacher)
      10th July 2013, 17:15

      This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Formula One Management

      The most predictable thing about F1!

    14. Damn, have to be fast to watch some videos these days! I’m sure it will be back though…

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