RACING figures called on Formula One to re-examine safety procedures after Felipe Massa sustained life-threatening skull injuries in a high-speed accident during Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying Saturday.
The 28-year-old Ferrari driver was in stable condition in the intensive care unit of a military hospital following surgery.
Massa slammed into the protective tire barriers at Hungaroring at a speed of about 196 kilometers per hour after being struck in the helmet by a loose spring. The common car part had fallen out of the rear suspension of Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn GP car.
It was the second accident in six days where track debris struck a driver in the helmet to cause an accident. F2 driver Henry Surtees died in an incident earlier this month.
“Things happen for a reason and I think this is the second message. Imola was a message,” said Barrichello in reference to 1994’s San Marino GP, where three-time champion Ayrton Senna died from a nearly identical accident as fellow Brazilian Massa.
Barrichello was knocked unconscious at that race after a dramatic crash that flipped his Jordan car.
“It is not a coincidence that something happened right now. In the (drivers’ meeting) we talked quite a lot about it (Friday) and something needs to be done,” the 37-year-old Brazilian said. “Yes, absolutely.”
Surtees, the son of former F1 champion John Surtees, died after being struck in the head by a tire from another car, causing him to lose consciousness and drive into a barrier.
“From what’s been seen last weekend and this weekend we need to have a proper study. There’s a need to do something,” Brawn GP team principal Ross Brawn said. “We need to digest what’s happened and understand it properly.”
A worrying concern for F1 medical staff will be that Massa suffered a fracture to the base of his skull as well as the front. The impact ripped out the visor, and left a long dent on its side, while blood was seen above Massa’s left brow.(SD-Agencies)