Anthoine Hubert, Arden, Spa, 2019

FIA to make recommendations from Hubert crash investigation next week

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The FIA is to reveal the outcome of its investigation into the crash at Spa-Francorchamps which claimed the life of Anthoine Hubert in August.

Hubert was killed after his car was struck by that of rival Juan Manuel Correa, who suffered serious injuries. Correa spent weeks in a coma before regaining consciousness, and has extensive damage to his right leg.

FIA president Jean Todt confirmed the report on the crash has been finalised. It will be presented to the FIA World Council on Wednesday and a set of recommendations made for changes across the whole of single-seater racing.

The crash occurred after Giuliano Alesi had gone off at Raidillon on lap two of the feature race. Hubert, following behind him, hit a barrier on the outside the corner, bounced off it, and was hit by Correa. Last week Correa said he had several meetings with the FIA about the crash and his recollection of the incident “coincides with the FIA ​​report”.

“When I went past Eau Rouge I stepped on debris from Alesi’s car that got under the front wheels, lifted them so I went straight, with the bad luck that I went straight into Hubert’s car,” he said.

The crash was the first to claim the life of a driver at a Formula 1 world championship round since Jules Bianchi’s crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. Bianchi succumbed to serious head injuries the following year.

Seven recommendations for safety improvements were made in the report on Bianchi’s crash.

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    10 comments on “FIA to make recommendations from Hubert crash investigation next week”

    1. I have no doubts recommendations will include provision for compulsory slowing down to 20-40kmph (not sure how it will work exactly) and prohibition of pressing down the throttle pedal while being off-track (this will work brilliantly).

      But let’s wait for Wednesday.

      1. Perhaps if the front suspension sensors read as having no load (ie front wheels are off the track) the signal from the throttle to the engine will be cut?

    2. The halo which was always just a pr move never actually doing anything for safety. And the halo didn’t do anything to help that kid

      1. No, the halo doesn’t make drivers invulnerable. Does that mean we shouldn’t make any safety improvements unless they’re guaranteed to eliminate all risk factors?

        I seem to recall at least a couple of occasions where the halo has deflected debris or otherwise prevented something from making it into the cockpit of a single-seater since it was introduced, but I guess that doesn’t gel with your opinion.

      2. Lenny (@leonardodicappucino)
        30th November 2019, 17:15

        The halo has absolutely nothing to do with this, Hubert wasn’t hit by debris at all. Also, just rewatch the opening corner from Spa last year, when the halo quite possibly saved Leclerc from serious injury after Alonso flew over the top of him and rode the halo

      3. After hitting the barrier and losing crumple zones around his car, Hubert’s safety cell was struck by Correa at full speed as he was unable to slow down. No safety feature in the world would have helped him.

    3. Just yesterday I was wondering if the report had already been published and I had just missed it. Should make for an interesting read in terms of the recommendations, e.g. should tyre barriers be changed and some new material/construction used that would retain the cars better and prevent them from being launched back onto the track in accidents where the trajectory of the car is such as it was in Hubert’s case.

      1. @kaiie Hubert’s car wasn’t actually sent back onto the track after hitting the tyre wall initially, He was still well into the runoff not far away from the barrier when Correa hit him.
        The thing that put him into the path of Correa was that Correa had run over some debris which got lodged under the front of his car & prevented him been able to steer which sent him into the runoff & Hubert. Had Correa not hit that debris & been able to remain in control of his car he wouldn’t have hit Hubert.

        If you change to a barrier material that catches/stops a car more immediately & doesn’t allow for them to bounce off your actually likely to do more damage because in those situations it’s the sudden stop can can cause internal injuries. By hitting a barrier & bouncing off a bit your dissipating energy which is safer than the car hitting it & been caught.

        1. Looking forward to their findings. It really was a storm of individual incidents following on from one another that collectively led to tragedy. Of course it will be interesting to learn of the many finer details and understand where & why the injuries occurred. Yet it appears that each safety system in place served their separate pilotes very well & as per their design. Not sure how they could actually improve any elements, although if f2 crash tests aren’t already at f1 specification that would be a start. In my humble opinion the focus should be on giving these drivers more experience on full tanks before their races, in the form of a warm-up session. Along with possible restrictions or penalty’s for track limit excursions.

    4. Spot on Roger

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