Scary stuff in Formula 1 qualifying this morning.

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Below is the info and pictures. Update to the article below - he had surgery due a skull fracture and concussion. Thankfully it sounds like he will be fine. Scary stuff.

"BUDAPEST, Hungary – Felipe Massa completed successful surgery after fracturing his skull in a high-speed crash Saturday at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Italian team says the 28-year-old Brazilian driver will remain in intensive care, although it does not know how long he will stay under observation. He was conscious and in stable condition when he arrived at AEK hospital by helicopter with a concussion.

The crash occurred Saturday after a spring had fallen off another car and flew up and struck Massa in the helmet. An apparently dazed Massa continued driving over a curb and across the track. He went through the gravel area alongside the Formula One circuit before striking a tire-lined barrier.

The impact of the rear suspension part – a standard component which Brawn GP team principal Ross Brawn believed was made of steel – damaged the left side of Massa’s helmet, ripping out the visor and leaving a long dent on its side. Blood was seen above Massa’s left eye.

“Following a complete medical examination it emerged that he had suffered a cut on his forehead, a bone damage of his skull and a brain concussion,” Ferrari said in a statement.

Rubens Barrichello, a fellow Brazilian, went to the medical center to check on Massa’s condition and said the Ferrari driver appeared to be doing fine despite the cut above his left eye.

“He was in shock,” Barrichello told The Associated Press. “Considering the gravity of the accident, I think he’s in OK shape.”

Massa appeared to regain consciousness just before the crash at turn No. 4 as his front brakes seemed to lock before the violent impact.

He remained in the car for a considerable time and was assisted out before being taken to the medical center. He was then taken to the helicopter on a stretcher, wearing a neckbrace.

The front of his Ferrari was shredded, with both tires having come off and the front nose open."

http://img.mtv3.fi/mn_kuvat/mtv3/urheilu/formulakuvat/kilpailut/2009/755343.jpg

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/massacrash.jpg
massacrash.jpg768×576

[ame=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73AMtoeZyog”]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73AMtoeZyog[/ame]

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ouch

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ouch

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Current status - in an indused coma and will be woken up tomorrow. His condition is stable. A very scary part is that he might have fracture at the base of his skull. Depending on the type it could have been caused by the impact with the tire wall. If true, the HANS device probably saved his life.

It’s pretty clear he was knock out right after the spring struck his helmet and was out when he crashed into the tire barrier.

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I was watching on axisofoversteer, the discussion about whether or not he regained any consciousness before hitting the tire wall. According to the teams datalogs, the recorded brake pressure on the pedal was similar to what it would register with just his foot resting on it. Some argued that he was down shifting with his left hand, but I see it was just loosely hanging from the wheel as he crossed the grass and sectioned pavement.

Basically when he got hit, he did something called “posturing”, which is the body’s reaction to a concussive event, in which both legs will extend. You see this all the time in football… But if you watch the video, Massa appears to have both the brake and the gas pegged (All F1 cars are left foot braking vehicles). You can see the intermittent skidding, and hear the gas pegged after he hit the wall. The base of the skull fracture seems due to the tire wall, if you watch his head…the impart doesn’t really move it much, then it sort of bobbles until he hits the wall, then jerks forward. No HANS in that situation would’ve killed him no doubt.

Eric…did you read that he was apparently so pissed about that happening that he had to be sedated? Quite possibly rumor, but interesting…and after last weeks incident with that GP2 kid that was killed by a flying part…makes me wonder if canopies will eventually make thier way back into F1.

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I saw that,just WOW!

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The “posturing” seems to make sense. We’ve all seen NFL players knocked out cold yet their arms and legs are stiff rather than limp as one might expect.

All drivers know to remove their hands from the steering wheel before impact. Otherwise you run the risk of breaking your wrists/hands when the steering wheel reacts to the impact. Massa does not remove his hands from the steering wheel.

Also, one on the corner workers standing at the front of the car then moves behind the car and walks towards the track. At that point he waves his arms above his head and crosses his arms making an “X”. A couple seconds later the medical car arrives. My guess is the arm gesture was to warn the approaching medical car that the driver was not conscious.

One of the first reports after the incident came from Rubens Barrichello. It was that interview were the sedated information came about. Rubens said he had just seen Massa and that he as agitated and had to be sedated.

Yep, last weekend Henry Surtees was killed when he was struck in the head by a wheel/tire from another car that had just crashed. Both of these incidents within a week seem to suggest that maybe open wheel cars could be make safer by adding something to cover the drivers head. However, I really don’t see how this really makes sense. Racing will never be 100% safe and these guys have to accept the risk of driving an open cockpit car.

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…

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^ your posts dont make sense anymore…
and what the hell is up with the .'s between all the words?

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I heard that the piece that hit him was a spring from Barichello’s car.

Am I remembering correctly that a spring from Barichello’s car is what killed Senna?

And they were worried about the new kid…

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nascar>*

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Sorry, but I still have trouble with the concept…where can I find a 2-door RWD Camry with a carbuereted V-8?

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what.doors!!!

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Well, they’re not real doors…OK, a 0-door Camry, cut to look like a 2-door version of the 4-door…

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wow… ouch… the video above doesn’t work… i’m curious to watch it.

Felipe Massa has been taken out of an artificially-induced coma as his recovery continues, doctors told reporters in Budapest on Monday evening. The injured Ferrari driver has also been able to speak with family and medical staff.

Massa suffered a fractured skull during Saturday’s qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, after being hit by a suspension spring from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn…

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The doctors stated that he has some serious eye damage, and also had pieces of skull removed to relieve brain swelling pressure. It’ll be interesting to see what comes of this. There have been lots of drivers that retire after an incident like this. Ferrari has two drvers waiting in the wings to take over, both of which are test drvers.

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It appears this has just been made official, Schumacher in for Massa. Wow.

Glad to see that Phil is doing quite well in his recovery.

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Will he retire… is the question now…

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http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/7/9703.html

wow!!! you gotta be shitting me, this is going to be one hell of a race, can’t wait to see if he still has what it takes.