Formula One has been dominated of late by the power struggle and the egos in the hierarchy of the sport battling it out for F1 supremacy, but this weekend that all took a back seat as the motorsport world watched in horror as Felipe Massa was airlifted to a medical facility after crashing into a tyre wall. It then emerged that it was in fact a spring from Rubens Barrichello’s car that struck Massa and caused him to slam into the tyres.
All of a sudden another big talking point reared its head – safety in Formula One. Many drivers have come out and expressed their concern for the current safety standards in the sport. One of the former drivers said accidents are bound to happen when you hurtle around a track at speeds in excess of 200km/h. In my view this is a dangerous sport and when you take part you are fully aware that there is a remote chance you might not finish the race. There are risks with every sport, hockey players hit with balls, rugby players with neck injuries and footballers who break their legs – it is just a part of sport, no matter what precautions you take, accidents sometimes happen.
It does not what measures are implemented, there is always a chance of something going wrong, so if the FIA introduce bulletproof windshields, it does not mean that there won’t be crashes or accidents; it will make the chances of being struck by debris a whole lot less. The drivers know there is a risk involved but they driver because they love the sport no matter how risky it is.