A Marshal was killed in the incident

[Valve Bounce]

I had a bad feeling when I saw that ambulance on trackside - the drivers were OK. I really don't know what else I can say right now except to say I have the most deep felt sympathy for his family. I must ask the question although I ask my friends to be considerate in their answer. Why was it necessary for the marshal to be next to that fence? After this, I am even more enthusiastic about any new system controlled by computers to control the speed of cars around the circuit to replace marshals, or at least replace them at locations where they can be endangered.

[Jay]

Even worse 12 fans were injured........ That is seriously not good for the sport.

[Airhead]

I can appreciate the meaning in the fine print contained in the ticket to a motorsport event, that the promoter takes no responsibility for injury or death caused by the event.

It is a cruel irony that the track marshals are doing a job that primarily involves ensuring the safety of the competitors.

This incident needs to be fully investigated by those with the skills before complete novices like me make a comment, except to offer my condolences to the persons family and friends.

[Liz]

What actually happened? Was it bits of Jacques' car that flew into the crowd? We heard absolutely nothing except that there were "unconfirmed rumours" that someone had been killed.

With that kind of crash it is miraculous that it was no worse.

[tickfordchick]

what can I say that hasn't already been said? the friends and family of this man have my deepest sympathy. my heart goes out to them.

[Valve Bounce]

This awful feeling just came over me when I saw the incident on TV. My first thought was that there were people behind that fence, and there was a lot of debris flying around. This has ruined what was supposed to be a very happy occasion for me, with Alonso getting to the finish, me looking for my ABBA cd to play Fernando, and enjoying our first GP. I first found out about it during the drivers' interviews, and I just feel awful. My heartfelt condolences to the families of all involved. I just can't stop this sad feeling that has come over me.

[Mania]

Details are pretty sketchy at this point but apparently debris from Villenerve`s BAR hit the Marshall who was standing behind the barrier - an action replay of Italy almost. It's obviously sad and tragic but it was a racing accident. Jacques was over ambitious but thats racing. Unfortunately another marshall has been killed while trying to protect the drivers. Some fans were also hurt but those reports are unconfirmed. Maybe its time to move the fans and marshalls further back or something. But at this moment, my prayers are with the marshall and Im happy that Ralf and Jacques made it out in once peace.

[Liz]

It wasn't that long ago when we expected people to be killed racing. This kind of brings it back to me, when now it is so rare that people are deeply shocked when it happens. It is bad when people are killed during races, but I am thankful that now it is so rare as it is. I'm sure everyone at BAR is having a very tough evening dealing with this.

[DNQ]

Terrible news. If 12 people were injured though, how come only one ambulance. A sad day for F1. In Italy last year, the track safety really was not too good, but this year, with double wheel tethers, I amazed such a thing could occur. Quad wheel tethers in 2001? Who knows.

Anyway, it is not really appropriate to discuss safety so eraly after a fatality - I feel for the family of those involved.

[Liz]

When you see an ambulance moving without lights or sirens, that is the worst possible sign.

Perhaps the others who were injured were not seriously enough to need transport, for which we can be thankful.

[Valve Bounce]

If the race had been stopped instead of running the safety car out, perhaps a helicopter could have been brought onto the track to provide immediate medical attention as well as take the injured to hospital. Those spectators were right next to the fence, as were the marshalls. I am just saying what comes to mind - I don't feel too intelligent right now, just very depressed.

[Gt_R]

Reported in Formula1.com
...Ralf Schumacher later confirmed to the media that he suspected it was one of his tyres that was responsible for the fatality as he saw it fly over the catch-fencing in the vicinity of where the marshal was standing...

I'm terribly sorry to hear this news. I noticed DC and MS looking very solemn on the podium, took a long time before the ceremony starts, and they did not pop the champange. Yet, i was shocked to learn of another death of a marshall. My thoughts are with his family.

[Valve Bounce]

I just watched the incident again on the news. The right rear wheel of the BAR came through a gap in the fence and hit the marshal. He didn't stand a chance. It was the same corner where martin Brundle crashed spectacularly in 1996, and there were just as many spectators and marshals there at that time. Just why the spectators and marshals were allowed so close to the track is puzzling me. It is even more serious that there was a gap in the fence where the wheel came through. This is an F1 race, not an unsanctioned sprint race like the one in my post about "motor racing can be stupid". I guess this one was also stupid that the safety provisions were sadly lacking. I watched it several times on freeze frame, and it was also reported by a witness that the wheel came through a gap in the fence. No it was not Ralf's tyre - the tape clearly showed the Williams had all four wheels intact.

[Wrex]

This is very sad news.

My deepest condolences go to the officals family & friends

Like VB, I can think of nothing else to say

RIP

[Lorna]

I haven't been well and fell assleep with the telly on last night so missed the whole race. I woke up just at a point where it was mentioned in the same sentence that Schumacker won and then about the marshall. My thoughts go out to the Marshall, his family and friends. Sad, sad day

[Crash Test]

Indeed it is another great loss to the sport..

It was a spectator marshal that was killed, and from what I can gather, the wheel didnt go through a gap in the fence, but it actually penetrated the fence.

I can tell you from experience, the fences here in Australia are the strongest in the world, they are constructed of proper steel lengths meshed together in to create 7.5cm wide squares. Have a look at what otehr race tracks around the world offer, and they probably wouldn't stack up too well.

It's a freak accident, but that is the problem with raicng within such an inclosed area. There is probably a 2m grass verge, 2m of marshalling area, and then the spectators. I just hope that the powers that be don't freak out and ban these sort of events.

Another thing, having electronic warning systems is irrelevent since it was only a spectator marshal. They must be there, there is no way around it. And also, if and when they introduce in car warning systems, they would most likely still need flag marshals as a back up, and also for support events...

[Carla O]

what i have to add here is:

why didn't they stop the race? a marshall killed? spectators injured? there was no way they should have gone on with it!

[Gerard]

Two of my Australian friends who were at the race called me today. Both had been standing at exactly the same spot were the accident happened.
As a matter of fact one of them was slightly injured by flying debris.
They both said the marshal was hit by a tyre.

One source said the marshal apparently wasn't standing at his post but somewhere else.
Another source called him a 'crowd marshal' and said crowd marshals can stand just about anywhere they want.

Fact is, a life has been lost and that's a tragedy.
I just hope the outcome of the investigation can give some recommendations to prevent this from happening again.
Within 5 months, two marshals were fatally injured and the FIA has got to do something about it.

[Crash Test]

I think the initial reaction from the people on the scene would have been to tend to the drivers first.....sadly.... but i dont think much could have saved that guy, getting hit at 250km/h by a tyre- you have no hope.

[Valve Bounce]

From what I saw on TV, the car seemed to push the wheel through the fence as it rolled and because the car was travelling in the direction along the fence the wheel sheared off and hurtled in a direction along the fence. The marshal seemed to be standing all alone in some sort of access track directly in the path of the wheel, and the camera moved away from him just as he was hit. This was the last set of crash pictures shown on the 6 o'clock news on channel 9. However, one of the spectators there said the wheel came through a gap in the fence - I don't know who is right, but a police investigation has already started.
The shot of Martins crash in 96 was even more astonishing because one of the spectators (or a marshal) actually stuck his head outside the fence to get a better look at Martin's car going past in a barrel roll.
I ask again, what the heck were those people doing there - why were spectators so close to the track ?
By the way, that access track the marshal was standing in seemed to lead to an ara further along the fence where spectators were not allowed, judging from the shots of Martin's crash, so he could actually have been there to stop spectators from going into the corner area. Don't forget, this crash happened in the braking zone before the corner. This could explain why a spectator marshal was there, just doing his job.
Crash, I know what strong mesh fences are, and how they are made - I used to design boulder fences for mountain slopes. We specified a very expensive imported fence which had tripple twist mesh that would not unravel when hit by a boulder rolling down the mountain. I will have to see a good close up picture of this particular mesh before I can make any judgement.

[Tristan]

Tethers are a good thing of course, but there is NO WAY the introduction of even quad tethers could have stopped this fluke incident. The tethers serve to hold the tyre onto the body in a low closing spped accident (eg. a glancing blow), but in an accident of the sheer ferocity of JV's with a spinning car, there is no tether ON EARTH that could have held those wheels on. In fact, tethers IMO could be potentially v. dangerous to the driver - one could very easly swing back and clock the driver on his head.

The death of the track marshall was a fluke, just bad luck. It ruined what was actually a very good race. He would of course have known the risks, but explaining that to his family would be very difficult right now. He died making the race safe for everyone else, and for that we must owe him a huge debt of gratitude.

The injuries to the crowdon, on the other hand, would have been shards of carbon fibre AND COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED or certainly lessoned. I guess this could possibly have been overted by a hardened perspex barrier rather than on with such obvious gaps. Besides, at such a bottleneck into that corner where there have been numerous incidents like this before, WHY are there spectators on the left of the track anyway??

And, whilst I know i probably shouldn't say this, Jacques really should have been watching what he was doing. If his view to the apex of the corner was obscured by RS positioning his car defensivly in the middle of the road (as ALL racing drivers do, what ever the formulae) YOU BACK OFF. YOU PROCEED WITH A BIT OF CAUTION. You don't think "right, I'm gonna see which side I can do him". This is a F1 motor race, and I thought JV had enough experiance to realise that patience is probably THE most important attribute a driver can have after being merely able to "drive fast".

However, despite all this, it was nevertheless a racing incident and JV can't really be held up to any BLAME as such. I'd hate to be in his shoes right now, poor bloke. But ultimatly, like the train crash in Britain this week, things that move fast are dangerous, and when that combines with a bit of bad luck the consequences are sad. Wheather we're buying a train ticket or a trackside pass there is always that small risk, but WE MUST REMEMBER, THE ODDS ARE STACKED IN OUR FAVOUR.

[RT]

Perhaps it's time to reasses the rules for the placement of support personnel.
In any case, it's a very sad way to begin the season. My condolences and sympathy go to the family of the marshal. Sometimes it's not only the racers and stars that pay the ultimate price. May he rest in peace.

[R]

There were seven spectators injured in this incident, and they were all checked over at the track and suffered only minor cuts and bruises.

This accident reminded me an awful lot of Jeff Krosnoff's fatal accident in a CART race in Toronto in 96. A marshal was killed in that accident as well. Jacques was very lucky to escape with only light injuries from this sickening accident.

Two marshal deaths over the course of the last five races, that's an appauling record. The FIA needs to look at the safety standards under which the marshals operate, to see if something can be done to improve them.

My condolences goes out to the family and friends of the poor marshal.

[Peter Mallett]

Please don't take this the wrong way. I obviously wish to add my condolences to those already expressed and indeed it is very sad that this should happen so soon after Monza last year.

However, I would ask everybody to consider what exactly we are doing here. I really mean the FIA and the race organisers. Yes it was very sad but whilst we live in a world where we try to legislate against the slightest harmful act, we also live in a real world where the only certainty is death at some point.

I work in an extremely dangerous environment and as such my colleagues and I are responsible for our own and each other's safety. You can't ask a racing driver to be responsible for the safety of the spectators or marshals, nor can you expect us, the spectator, to accept that we must move away from the track side (albeit that we are not that close these days).

I asked you not to take this the wrong way, I just wanted to remind people that this is a dangerous sport and we can only legislate so far. Things will always go wrong (very sadly).

[Craig]

Thanks for putting my thoughts into words so eloquantly, Peter. A very sad and tragic accident.