Sebastian Vettel in hometown demo run

F1 Fanatic round-up

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In today’s round-up: Sebastian Vettel takes part in a demo run in front of 30,000 fans in Heppenheim, Germany.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Vettel’s Hometown Celebration in Heppenheim (Red Bull F1)

"Watch double world champion Sebastian Vettel’s homecoming celebrations as he meets and greets 30,000 fans in Heppenheim, Germany."

F1 fan drives Lewis Hamilton’s F1 McLaren: Video (James Allen on F1)

"Here is my video of the day a F1 fan drove Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren F1 car at Silverstone. Djorge Simic works in a bank in Serbia, but for one day he got to taste the shattering performance of a 2008 F1 McLaren, the car in which Lewis Hamilton won the 2008 British Grand Prix."

Race to India bypasses the poor (The Independent)

"Formula One’s glamorous, high-octane roadshow rolls into India this week as the country prepares to stage its first Grand Prix next Sunday. The multi-millionaire drivers will be accompanied by the usual retinue of models and high-profile extras, who will descend on the Buddh international circuit in Greater Noida, 30 miles outside New Delhi.

"Around £3 million is being spent on next weekend’s entertainment around a race which is being entirely run and funded by India’s private sector. Ticket prices are exorbitant by Indian standards. The cheapest at £30 is the equivalent of a manual workers monthly wage; the £160,000 for an executive box is more than most Indians could earn in several lifetimes. Almost all the boxes are sold out with a capacity 120,000 crowd expected."

Bernie goes to Bollywood… but not everyone is singing his praises as India prepares for F1 (The Mail)

"Chaos reigns daily on the roads of India’s capital. On Friday, it took more than four hours to travel less than 20 miles before our journey to the Buddh motor racing circuit – the venue for the inaugural Indian Grand Prix next Sunday – had to be abandoned.

"Our car was caught up in a gridlock on the highway between the sprawling metropolis, with its landmarks from the colonial past, and the circuit, a £200million symbol of India’s fast-developing economy."

I would have banned Las Vegas race, insists F1 chief Ecclestone (The Mail)

"In Formula One we do everything possible to secure the safety of the drivers and the spectators. I’m very happy the new circuit in India has been built to conform to our safety requirements.

"We would never have let that race take place in Las Vegas last week. With 34 cars racing on a 1.5 mile oval track, they were heading for disaster."

Jenson Button on Twitter

"R.I.P Marco… Such an exciting talent lost. My thoughts are with his family, friends and everyone involved in MotoGP. Sometimes Motorsport can be so cruel…"

Martin Brundle on Twitter

"Death in name of sport is unacceptable, everyone works so hard to prevent. It’s the nature of motorsport. Three times I cheated death, feel guilty."

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Comment of the day

There was a link to the Korean Grand Prix video edit in yesterday’s round-up. bosyber said:

Fun, Alonso trying the overtake Massa via radio again – much faster and safer than even via pits, I guess, and interesting how that plays with his last lap "give up" comment. Clearly some "teambuilding" going on there.

More remarkable, in a way, was the way the edit failed to show the nicest bit of the HAM-WEB fight where they went side by side through S2. I did like the HAM: "?óÔé¼?ª much quicker than me" followed by "Lewis, you are doing great, still 16 laps to go"; great fight that was (I just finished re-watching the race).
bosyber

From the forum

Just a week since Dan Wheldon’s accident, Marco Simoncelli has died of injuries sustained in a crash with Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi at Sepang.

Read more: F1 community pays tribute to Dan Wheldon

Happy birthday!

No F1 Fanatic birthdays today. If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailing me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Jo Siffert lost his life in a non-championship race at Brands Hatch 40 years ago today.

The World Championship Victory Race had been arranged to celebrate Jackie Stewart winning the championship for the second time.

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37 comments on “Sebastian Vettel in hometown demo run”

  1. Saw it happen. Wasn’t good. RIP Marco Simoncelli.

  2. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to watch the Indian Grand Prix this week. Two deaths in two weeks is too much to handle right now. I know I said things like “Dan Wheldon was a racer, and his life was dedicated to speed – everyone should race on because slowing down would be a poor way to remember him”, but I saw Marco Simoncelli’s accident live. A lot changed when I saw him lying prone on the circuit.

    1. I’m the opposite of you. Saw Wheldon’s crash live but missed Marco’s. Still feel sick from last week and couldn’t post here or anywhere else for a week, just felt numb. This was the first time since Greg Moore I saw someone die in front of my eyes. Terrible feeling. But we have to move on and I’ll be watching India.

      And one other thing: I’ve also watched the slow-mo of Simoncelli’s crash(don’t know why but I always have to see the crash, to understand how it happened and why) and… if you are feeling bad,try to imagine how it is for V.Rossi, knowing he killed his friend, however accidentally and through no fault of his own. Colin was also there but it was Vale’s bike that struck Marco’s head. My thoughts are with him as much as with Marco’s family and friends.

      RIP Marco Simoncelli #58. Will never forget you.

      1. It’s not really worth mentioning that, though. I know you’re not blaming him, but the people that are really ought to be ashamed of themselves. It’s as much good blaming Colin or Valentino as it is blaming the doorman at the hotel that could have said something different to them and changed what unfolded. It’s an accident and I really hope they don’t feel guilty, but I suspect they feel absolutely terrible. They need all the support they can get now.

        1. @damonsmedley, I think @montreal95 rather meant to say how horrible Rossi must feel, knowing his bike may well have been the one that ended Simoncelli’s life. Not about guilt, but about feeling the worse for it.
          Really sad and it was a horrible sight to see him lying there on track, uncovered exposed, dead.
          RIP Marco Simoncelli.

          1. @BasCB @montreal95 Yep, I know. I wasn’t blaming him and I’m sorry if that’s how it looked. I was just addressing the issue, because he brought up a very valid issue. Not many people are blaming anyone, but the few that are disgust me. No-one on here is saying anything bad, and I agree with his point – they must feel truly awful about it. I just wish they could know how much we’re thinking of them and how much support they have.

        2. Yes, you’re correct. That’s precisely what I wanted to say. We are thinking of them.

      2. @montreal95 @damonsmedley Did Rossi really drive over Sic’s head? It’s very hard to tell from the footage, it’s clear Rossi drove over something, but it could be Simoncelli’s arm as well.

        1. @Enigma @montreal95 I’m not actually sure he did. I’ve only seen it two or three times and I thought it was actually Colin that hit the top half of him and Valentino hit his legs as he spun around. I’d check, but I don’t really want to watch it again because it’s so awful and sad.

        2. Yes he did. Marco was coming from the left side to the right. The hit was what turned him around. Not going to explain further. If you want watch the slow-mo’s for yourself carefully.

    2. I trust the safety of F1. I knew someday someone would’ve died again in MotoGP after Tomizawa last year, but I think in F1 to die you must be very unlucky and there must be many circumstances against you.

  3. Still can’t believe it, one of my fav rider. Loss of a Great Champion Talent. RIP #58 Marco SuperSic Simoncelli

  4. seeing a body lying on the track is one of the worst sights in motorsport. I feel so sorry for his girlfriend who was shown crying her eyes out straight after. RIP marco. what a fun guy to watch race!

  5. Does anyone know if Formula 1 will be doing anything to honour Dan and Marco at the Indian Grand Prix?

    1. I’d be surprised if they didn’t. At least a moment of silence. It’ll go a long way to show how close the racing community really is.

      1. I think Ferrari might be running a black nose cone or some kind of emblem on their car, and I would hope a minute of silence will be inserted before the race.

        1. I hope to see a tribute on the BBC too. I can see the Ferrari and STR doing something for Simone. STR posted a message on their facebook and seemed pretty gutted about it.

  6. Still hasn’t sunk in for me.

    The first thing we need to remember here is that no-one is to blame. It may sound a little clichéd, but motor racing is dangerous and these things can always happen. The men and women that participate in it are all too aware of the risks but through extreme bravery, are willing to race for the joy and unrivalled feeling of euphoria it fills them with. It doesn’t matter what could have happened if someone had done this differently or if they decided to go the other way. Worrying about this will achieve nothing, and it will most definitely not change what has happened.

    Some people are going to question if it’s all really worth it in the coming days and weeks, considering what we’ve seen happen in the past 7 days. But my answer remains a definite yes without a second of equivocation. Motorsport is their passion and their life. They only do it because they love it and are driven to succeed. They are the bravest and most incredible human beings on the planet and deserve every tiny bit of admiration they get.

    But the horrible truth is that this can happen too easily in motorcycle racing. It doesn’t require a knee-jerk reaction of any measure to change anything, because frankly, you cannot really do anything more to make it any safer. The riders escape monumental accidents unscathed, but when another rider hits an exposed rider, the chances of a serious injury being attained are unfortunately very high, and nothing short of making it impossible to fall off the bike will prevent this from being a reality. The day motorcycle racing ceases to be dangerous will be the day motorcycle racing ceases to exist. That is applicable to all sports, however. Motor racing is particularly dangerous and there’s no denying that racing motorbikes does leave the sportsmen and women vulnerable to serious injury and death. They’re not doing it to entertain us, either. We’re entertained by what they’re doing. That’s the difference.

    Marco knew all of this as well as anyone, and I’m sure he has no regrets. He’s given his life to racing and he’s achieved so much at such a young age; that’s something that can never be taken away from him. He’s proven to be one of the most popular motor racing characters in the history of the discipline’s existence and rightly so. His exciting style of racing and crazy antics won him many fans, and then there was the hair! A truly talented racer and an amazing human being, taken from us too soon.

    Gone but not forgotten and forever in our hearts, may he rest in peace.

    1. Well said @damonsmedley. I do worry sometimes how motorcycle racing can be made saver, fundamentally, the driver sits on top of the bike, and building a cage around that would make motors too different to still call them motors (and, like the canopy: “escape” is an issue).

      But even with that, ultimately, racing drivers race it because they like to get the limit of themselves and their equipment, and to be faster than others, there will always be a risk in that.

      1. I have no idea why that @ mention didn’t work there, @bosyber.

        Ignore this, I’m just testing something quickly: @bosyber. @bosyber . (@bosyber)

        1. Hm, odd, I thought it would be the period after it but you show above that’s not it.

  7. Seriously, Simoncelli was a talent – he was young and quick but still raw on track, reminded me of 2007 Lewis Hamilton. Such a shame he had to die so young and with so much still to prove, he was signed up for Honda factory next year and so many had great expectations for his 2012 season. Tragic he hasn’t had a chance to show his promise.

  8. Deeply saddened by Simoncelli’s death. It was an awful crash and I hope never to see a sight like it again. It is always a shame to lose someone so young and vibrant, and I really thought that he had the makings of a future champion. RIP Marco, my thoughts are with his family and the MotoGP community.

  9. Passing all day trying not to cry cant imagine the pain his relatives may be experiencing. Im just another fan that has followed him since his dayview in 125cc, still i feel nauseous no words to describe it, a great guy a great racer he didnt wanted to let his bike go and he got unlucky.

  10. Congratulations on the COTD @bosyber!

    It really is striking how one of the best defences of position and exiting racing was completely omited in the FOM edit, but they did not fail to find time to include Horner gratulating Vettel and the by now very cliched response from the youngest double WDC.

    1. Clearly, the FOM race edit folks were too distraught at the news of Lewis and Nicole breaking up to focus on putting together a good race edit.

      1. That could well explain it @Huron!

        Jay, COTD – I was very glad that I could re-watch that fight on my recorder, very disappointed not to get it in the edit.

        I thought Massa looked a bit more competitive this race too; although the Dutch RTL 7 showed a Kubica-Massa fight from 2007, I really can’t see Massa race like that. Still, maybe Alonso is acting to keep a damper on his enthousiasm, just in case :-p

  11. I too had the misfortune of watching the accident live (ironically, this was only the second Moto GP race of the season that I was watching live). The most horrifying bit was seeing his helmet come off – that was the point at which I personally feared the worst had happened. Listening to the confirmation later from the commentary team was so sad/haunting – I still feel a little cold on the inside. RIP Marco. Not sure I’ll be able to watch motorbikes for a while.

  12. I still can’t believe Vettel looks so young and IS so young. He’s 3 months younger than I am. He looked like he genuinely enjoyed the day too which the fans will love.

  13. I found a copy of Speedweek (a weekly magazine in Germany) in my small ‘archive’ yesterday. It had come out on May 31, 2011 and there was a large article about Simoncelli. What I had forgotten is that Wheldon was on the front cover as well, right below the picture of Simoncelli. Wheldon had just won the Indianapolis race, while Simoncelli was in the spotlight because of his daring driving style. It’s just very hard to accept that both of the heroes are gone now.

  14. Going back to the topic of the title of the potential New Jersey race, it seems a lot of the news articles today are suggesting the title of ‘American Grand Prix’, for example the Bloomberg report below.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-22/formula-one-cars-to-race-on-new-jersey-streets-in-2013-wsj-says.html

    It would be ironic if the US Grand Prix was at the Circuit of the Americas, and the American Grand Prix was somewhere else!

  15. From all the years I’ve been watching motorsports, I’ve never been directly confronted with death in it. Senna’s crash always seemed a thing of the distant past for me, and I’ve always thought that the top motorsports were safe, and that dying was impossible in it. Now I know that there always will be a risk of death, and that it even exists in F1. Before these 2 crashes I always remembered spectacular crashes in F1 where the drivers weren’t injured, and I thought that now F1 is safe and you can’t been killed in it. When I was thinking of Surtees crash in F2 or Tomizawa’s crash in Moto2, I was thinking they just did have bad luck, and that a thing like that can’t happen in F1. Sometimes there were quite dangerous crash like Massa’s crash in Hungary, or the Liuzzi-Schumacher collision last year, but I’ve never thought there were 1 inch from death…

    Now I know, that despite all the efforts towards more safety, death could still be present in F1. And when I’m thinking that F1 will be racing on a very fast track this week-end, or when I’m thinking F1 will be racing at Interlagos where we’ve seen a couple a fatal crashes recently, I no longer feel excitment or indifference, I am truly worried…

    1. @Dan_the_McLaren_fan One of my earliest memories is Niki Lauda’s accident. Since I was 2 years old then, it surely must have been a reply, maybe when he stopped racing in 85 or something. When Senna died, I was just starting to watch races. That race I wasn’t watching.

      Yesterday I saw the news, I already heard it, but I was at a friends house and he wanted to check the news for it. We discussed it and also Dan Wheldon.

      Our conclusion was that both Indycars and Motorbikes are far more dangerous than F1. Although chances are that there will be a fatality in F1 in the future, I just try not to think about it. For if you think of all the accidents we saw since ’94 there have been so much people so incredibly lucky!

      I hope you still can enjoy the races by realising that even in everyday life, there are lots of ‘close encounters’ and for some reason death is always up close, but also more distant then you might think.

    2. Motor racing is safer than it has ever been, but it remains dangerous and sometimes it kills people. Death and serious injury are mercifully rare but, unfortunately, it happens more often than you may think and generally isn’t covered by the mainstream press.

      The first race meeting I ever attended was a Formula 3 race. One of the leading drivers touched wheels with his team mate, became airbourne and was killed virtually instantly when his car landed upsidedown. This happened at the corner where I was spectating and several spectators received minor injuries. I can still remember the awful feeling in the pit of my stomach as the nature of what had happened started to become clear.

      That was a long time ago and I’ve watched a lot of racing since then, on television and in the flesh, at the highest levels and at the grass roots. Whenever I see a truly horrible accident unfolding I still get that same feeling – it’s even worse when you know the people involved. It’s never easy but, if it’s any consolation, try to remember that the people who participate in motorsport know the risks and only compete because it’s what they love doing most in life.

      I see that Moto GP’s safety representative has just come out to say that Simoncelli’s death was unavoidable and there are no safety changes that could be made to prevent it. He may be right, some motorsport deaths probably are unpreventable and are totally freak events. The majority are not, and enormous amounts of work have gone on over the last few decades to make death and serious injury a rarity. That does, however, make fatal accidents like those of the last two weeks even more shocking when they do occur.

  16. It’s sad, simoncelli was my current favourite motoGP rider. But racing is racing, if there was no fear, there would in turn be no excitement. It’s such a sad thing when something like this happens, but it mustn’t stop there being racing. The riders/drivers accept the risk and the true greats put everything on the line, right on the edge, which is spectacular to watch and admirable for the commitment. I am truly sorry for all the people who know Marco, and wish them all the help and support they need.

    I work as a marshal and dealing with similar events, its tough…. really tough, more so dealing with the people who are left alive then the actual fatality. But its part of it, people die all the time fixing electric boxes in peoples houses, fishing out at sea, working in construction…… but you wouldn’t stop these things happening would you.

    R.I.P. Marco, Dan, Ben gautrey, and all the others we’ve lost this year.

  17. What a tragic week for motorsport, I speak for everyone I know when I say that the families of Marco Simoncelli and Dan Wheldon are in our thoughts this week. Motor racing by definition will never be safe, but this is a tragedy. It makes me think of our great sport over the years. The gut-wrenching feeling of seeing a man die doing something you love is painful but, can you imagine if it was your best friend like in the 1960’s in formula 1? If one death happens it is too many and tbh I feel like I know all the drivers like friends because we get such great insight into their lives. One day our luck will run out too. Nothing can prevent accidents of the magnitude of Kubica’s or Coulthard and Wurz and while everything was fine there, watching Schumacher in Abu Dhabi last year was the fright of my life. I guess we can only pray for more time and that you die doing what you love. RIP Marco, RIP Dan, RIP Ayrtron, Gilles, Ronnie and to all of motorsport’s fallen.

  18. I must admit that I found Bernie Ecclestone’s comments in the Daily Mail totally out of order and to be frank, disgusting. We all agree that the Indycar series made mistakes over the events at Las Vegas, which may or may not have resulted in Dan Wheldon’s death, but Ecclestone’s track record is nothing to be proud of. Imola 1994 resulted in two drivers dead and a third in the hospital, and unlike Indycar, Ecclestone allowed the race to go ahead after all three accidents had occured. Despite that fact that he knew that Senna was, at best, in a coma if not dead already. Yes F1 has come along way, but please do not delude yourself Bernie that you put the drivers safety before turning a dollar!
    Brazil 2003 and Indy 2005 were both two races that did not exactly advertise F1 in the best possible light. Ralf Schumacher’s crash in 05 was not a surprise, it was known to everybody that the tires were vunerable at the last turn yet the drivers were still allowed out. When Ralf crashed there the year before, the whole field had to drive through the debris ‘BEHIND’ the safety car instead of through the pitlane for safety. I could go on and on.
    Using Dan Wheldon’s death as an excuse to boast about how good ‘your’ series is, to be honest, makes you lower than a dog in my opinion!

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