The first crash at the Italian Grand Prix occurred on the day before track action was due to begin.
The official F1 Safety Car, driven by Bernd Maylander, spun into the barrier at Alboreto, the corner formerly known as Parabolica, during the high-speed track test at the Monza circuit on Thursday. The occupants were able to climb out of the car by themselves.Footage indicates the car spun on the way into the corner, slid sideways through the gravel trap on the outside and made contact with a TecPro barrier in front of a stack of tyres. It is unclear whether anything failed on the car prior to the crash.
F1 uses two different models of Safety Car during a grand prix season. This weekend Maylander is driving the new Aston Martin Vantage which was introduced this year. The Vantage has a four-litre, twin-turbo V8 engine producing 655bhp, allowing the car to reach a top speed of over 310kph.
Maylander, 53, is in his 25th year as F1’s Safety Car driver. He previously raced in Germany’s DTM touring car series and competed in numerous sportscar races. He shared outright victory at the Nurburgring 24 Hours in 2000 with Michael Bartels, Uwe Alzen and Altfrid Heger in a Porsche 996.
Crashes involving F1’s official course vehicles are rare, but have happened in the past. Nick Heidfeld’s Sauber crashed into the Medical Car during a practice session at Interlagos in 2002. The Medical Car also crashed in practice at Monaco two years earlier.
F1 brings multiple examples of its Safety and Medical cars to each round of the world championship, so the series is not in danger of being unable to replace the damaged machine if needed.
Safety Car crashes during Monza high speed track test
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dutchtreat (@dutchtreat)
29th August 2024, 14:43
Sorry Bernd, no DOW for you. Good to see you are ok.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
29th August 2024, 14:43
Maybe I’m a bit of an old fart, but something’s can never change.
Loews Hairpin at Monaco will always be Loews Hairpin, even thought the Hotel Loews has had more than one name change over the years.
The Parabolica will always be the Parabolica.
Regardless of PR experts and advertisers etc
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
29th August 2024, 15:30
When did they change the name of parabolica?
KaIIe (@kaiie)
29th August 2024, 16:22
2021.
anon
29th August 2024, 15:33
Isn’t it the case that you can usually tell the age of a fan by what they call that particular corner?
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
29th August 2024, 15:46
I had no idea we were calling it ‘Alboreto’ now. I still call it Loews if that makes you feel any better? A quick google tells me we’re supposed to be calling Loews – ‘Fairmont’. Which again I wasn’t aware of.
Not to give Liberty ideas, but I could see them selling corner names to corporations. Somewhere like Vegas where they are the promoter also. They could rebrand turns 6 – 9 as ‘The Zinger’ for a fee from KFC.
Edsel
29th August 2024, 15:55
Red Bull ring will always be A1 ring to me. Lol
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
29th August 2024, 15:57
I would put nothing pass them. The cat’s out of the bag now!
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
29th August 2024, 15:57
Past!
I luv chicken
30th August 2024, 3:53
That’s a great idea. Time to replace those stupid names at Silverstone. Forget history. Please send all cards and letters c/o Liberty Group. No Brits need reply.I’m here all week. Tip yor waiter. Try the veal.
ady (@sixwheeler)
29th August 2024, 16:44
I guess when they sell off the rights, it’ll be called Parabolicoca-cola
MacLeod (@macleod)
30th August 2024, 8:00
That isn’t so bad for 1 race :)
anon
29th August 2024, 20:31
@bernasaurus you seem to miss the irony of complaining about the idea of “selling corner names to corporations”, yet are nonplussed about calling it the “Loews hairpin” when that corner was renamed as part of a commercial drive to promote the construction of that hotel. There were many people back in the 1970s who complained that it was “gaudy” and “rampant commercialisation” to rename the Station hairpin – which was the original name for that corner for more than 40 years – after the hotel; now, it seems, what was considered “rampant commercialisation” in the past is a treasured name now.
It also seems a bit silly that people are getting rather passionate about the insistence on calling it “Parabolica” when, firstly, that’s far from the original name for the corner – it is thought to have had at least two different names before that – and, secondly, the name itself is just a description of the shape of the corner (i.e. “parabolic curve”).
It would be like calling a corner “Hairpin” or “90 degree right hand turn” – mind you, Monza is the same circuit where people also seem rather attached to calling a corner “big curve”, and where the corner that is now called “Second Lesmo” used to be “the 100m long curve”. Some of the posters here who seem rather attached to those names would likely say “that sounds like a silly name” if you used that same naming approach at a modern circuit.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
29th August 2024, 23:20
I thought the Loews harpin was because the hotel was there, like a geographical reference, not because of a promotional tie up.
Jere (@jerejj)
29th August 2024, 16:32
@nullapax From 2021 onwards, I’ve tended to call the last corner Alborete-Parabolica just to have both the previous & current name referenced.
ady (@sixwheeler)
29th August 2024, 16:53
According to Monza’s website, Curva Grande has actually been called Curva Biassono since 1972. So maybe ‘Alboreto’ isn’t going to stick either
jml
29th August 2024, 18:51
Actually, the proper name for the Loews or Fairmont hairpin at Monaco (or whatever they are calling it this week), is the Station hairpin.
JustSomeome
29th August 2024, 18:59
As an old fart myself, I’m happy a corner has been named after Alboreto…
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
30th August 2024, 9:20
What a load of parabolics.
At least nobody’s calling it Turn 11.
BuiltInYorkshire
30th August 2024, 13:23
Don’t worry. According to a post on F1’s own Facebook newsfeed, it’s still the Parabolica.
Picasso 1.9D FTW (@picasso-19d-ftw)
29th August 2024, 15:00
Logan got a new job already?
elchinero (@elchinero)
29th August 2024, 15:20
Chuckle …
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
29th August 2024, 15:56
Oooh. Harsh!
Yaru (@yaru)
29th August 2024, 18:07
Heh
David
29th August 2024, 19:25
Beat me to it!!
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th August 2024, 20:20
Ahah, that’s a good one cause I didn’t expect that, but makes sense!
I luv chicken
30th August 2024, 3:57
Sad to think that Latifi was the better choice,
Me
29th August 2024, 15:58
Well, it is (almost) sponsored by Armco, after all!
Jere (@jerejj)
29th August 2024, 16:32
Totally surprising despite not being the first ever occasion on a pre-GP Thursday.
SteveP
29th August 2024, 16:37
Are you sure it was just a track test and not an audition for the second RBR seat?
ludewig
29th August 2024, 21:22
The safety car went into the danger zone.
M2X
29th August 2024, 23:12
After seeing the video, its a question of what failed on the car. Not if something failed on the car.
Bob2 (@bob2)
30th August 2024, 3:01
Yeah, seems fairly obvious something failed. Way off line, strange movement then appears to be deliberately thrown into a spin. Never saw the wheels lock so likey a brake failure. Whoops.
Coventry Climax
29th August 2024, 23:31
under investigation …. no further action
An Sionnach
30th August 2024, 0:07
Didn’t Taki Inoue hit the safety car in free practice for Monaco in 1995 and then walk out in front of the medical car (which hit him) after his retirement in Hungary? That’s when we had real drivers. At least Inoue didn’t need DRS!
Bob C.
30th August 2024, 6:06
But did the crash then cause a safety car?
Mayrton
30th August 2024, 7:20
Grandpa Maylander. Not sure what he knows about certain people to drive this cars for years and years. This won’t help him though. I bet it won’t be long until Liberty tries to persuade the FIA to alternate former F1 racing drivers in the car to further exploit their entertainment franchise. Maybe in the long run the car can be driven by celebrities and if they run out kids of celebrities.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
30th August 2024, 7:32
What the heck are you saying?
MacLeod (@macleod)
30th August 2024, 8:03
He tries to say he has to replaced by ex F1 drivers for entertaint idea’s
Nick T.
30th August 2024, 10:18
He’s also suggesting he must have dirt on F1 figures to have been their SC driver for so long, which is maybe one of the silliest things I’ve ever heard. Also, even F1 found a younger pro driver could go 2-3 seconds faster a lap, it’d make absolutely no difference to tire pressure/temp. Even 10 seconds faster would likely make zero difference.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
30th August 2024, 12:18
I think he thinks Bernd is a celeb or a rich dude, instead of a very experienced racing driver as stated in the article?
Nick T.
30th August 2024, 20:31
@fer-no65
No. He was definitely implying he has dirt on people.
geo
30th August 2024, 10:11
Williams announce Maylander to replace Sargent.