AndreaModa wrote:That second blog post is spot on. It's hard to take because it essentially implies that Jules was at fault, and unfortunately, in my view, he was. The flag rules have long been abused, yellows aren't treated with respect and the marshals are increasingly vulnerable. If they implement the flag rules properly a horrible incident like this might never happen again.
Yeah, Bianchi was definitely partly at fault. Double-yellows means "you need to be able to stop unexpectedly and immediately". If you're going fast enough to aquaplane, you're going to fast to react and stop if you have to. He should definitely have been going slower. That said, I wouldn't single Bianchi out. Every driver goes too fast under double-yellows. There was mention of implementing the 60 kph rule from Le Mans in that situation, I think that would be a really good idea (if you don't have the pit limiter active, maybe a ten second stop/go penalty at the first offence and a black flag at the second). Would make it very easy to police too.
Having seen it, I think one of two things happened - either his brakes failed, or he was already unconscious when he left the track. There was no attempt to slow the car down, and that's a deep run-off area.
Aquaplaning means that the tyres are no longer in contact with the road. If you hit the brakes, the wheels stop turning and the car continues to "float" on the film of water. If you use the steering wheel, the front wheels turn and nothing happens. The driver can no longer control the car.
That said, of course I hope that Jules pulls through. I fear that it will be a long recovery period though, and that his racing career in Formula 1 is over. Brain injuries are strange things though, and you've just got to hope that he pulls through. He's young, his fitness levels are way above average, and that can't hurt his chances of surviving the injury and making a recovery.