Good news in F1 from this weekend's incident

[Kevin M]

Kubica was released from the hospital today. apparently he only suffered a "mild" concussion and a sprained ankle. Unbelievable. Kudos to the chassis designers, because that crash was abslutely ridiculous. Hopefully Kubica will be back in the saddle in just a couple races.

[Nick Koan]

A couple? He's trying to race in Indy this weekend :lol:

BMW has already said they are waiting till the last minute on Thursday after a FIA mandated medical checkup to name a possible replacement driver.

He actually remembers everything from the crash up until hitting the last wall (which turned the pod on its side). He even regained consciousness during his extraction from the car and could describe the accident in detail. The corner workers and medical personnel at the scene were shocked at how coherent he was. Of course, his first question was "Can I race in Indy this weekend?"

According to the head of safety for the FIA his relative health is attributed to safety changes as recent as the last two seasons, like HANS devices and other mandated cockpit changes. Its truly amazing. A crash like that even a few years ago would likely have killed him, or at least seriously disabled him.

[Kevin M]

Haha, I hadn't heard that... Indy would be awesome. I just heard on ESPN today that he was released, I hadn't read any follow-ups since I got back to work. And you are totally right, the advances in crash safety are phenomenal.

[MattR]

That's one tough Pollack

[A1337STI]

that crashed looked horrible! Watched the replays on sports center.

[tysonK]

Kubica is just a badass no question.

[Nick Koan]

Looks like Vettel will be driving the second BMW Sauber in Indy.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/59765
http://www.wheels24.co.za/Wheels24/NewsPics/0,,1369-1375_2129352,00.html

Doctor says Kubica is looking great, but don't want to risk a second accident this soon after the first one.

[MikeK]

Ouchies!

[sperry]

Jeez! Another impact, and good-bye feet! :(

[Nick Koan]

Wow.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/59988

Data from the Robert Kubica's horrific accident during the Canadian Grand Prix has been disclosed, showing the Pole survived a 75-G impact.

[MattR]

I did not think that was humanly possible, Unreal.

[sperry]

Yeah, don't they consider 50G "fatal"? At least, I think I remember MythBusters using a 50G impact badge on their dummy to decide if it was "killed" when dynamite nearby went off.

[MattR]

That's what I was thinking, 50g was supposed to be the end-all afaik.

[Dean]

I think it depends on what part of your body and the instrument was on the car, not him, so I bet that is what the car saw, not his body through all the safety equipment.

Even if 50 isn't fatal, it would likely break some bones I would think.

[wrxkidid]

50gs. i wonder what that would feel like. probably wouldnt stay conscience for it i doubt. fighter pilots see way less than that and have to wear those g-suits to keep them from blacking out.

[sperry]

50gs. i wonder what that would feel like. probably wouldnt stay conscience for it i doubt. fighter pilots see way less than that and have to wear those g-suits to keep them from blacking out.
Instantaneous Gs are a lot different than sustained Gs. A fit pilot in a G suit can handle only about 10 sustained Gs for a few seconds.

[Kevin M]

Yep. It's the difference between driving a funny car, and getting run over by one.

[wrxkidid]

:lol: at the funny cars.