doctorvee

I put “race” in scare-quotes because it did not feel like much of a race, as a great deal of it was spent behind the safety car. Yet more of it was being spent by drivers being confused by the new safety car rules, and serving their penalties for it. And then there was Robert Kubica’s absolutely horrifying accident which took a lot of the attention away from the on-track action.

I was absolutely shocked when I saw Kubica’s car flying in the air before hitting a safety barrier, careering back onto the track in front of oncoming traffic, barrel-rolling a couple of times, then hitting a concrete wall before ending up on its side. I can’t recall seeing many worse accidents since I started watching F1 and it was sickening to view.

BlogF1 has a picture of Kubica’s car mid-accident — and that is before it hit the wall.

Although I am no medical expert, I was most concerned about the possibility of head injury or concussion as Kubica’s helmet bobbed around in that cockpit quite horrendously. It reminded me a little bit of Mika Häkkinen’s accident at Adelaide in 1995, although Häkkinen’s was much worse because it was just one, hard impact.

The fact that Kubica has apparently escaped with nothing more than a broken leg uninjured is a testament to the relative safety of F1 cars. But the shocking violence of his accident is a reminder of why safety is, rightly, such a major concern to F1.

Kubica’s accident brought about the second of four safety car periods. It was also the first outing of the safety car this year, which meant it was the first time the new rules got an airing. And boy, did it turn out to be a confusing situation.

The pitlane is now closed for a certain period once the safety car has been deployed. Two drivers — Alonso and Rosberg — were unfairly punished by this rule as they would have run out of fuel if they hadn’t pitted. They both had to serve 10 second stop–go penalties.

I cannot for the life of me understand why Mark Webber and Rubens Barrichello did not make their pitstops while the safety car was out. The only reason I can think was that they were banking on the safety car staying out longer so that they could conserve more fuel — but Webber obviously did not have much fuel left anyway, as he pitted as soon as the safety car period finished!

Finally, I do not like the rule about lapped cars being allowed to overtake the safety car after a certain period of time has elapsed. It is like Nascar’s “competition yellows” — contriving a race where there shouldn’t be one. As a result, the entire field of cars was covered by little more than thirty seconds at the chequered flag. It just doesn’t seem right.

Massa and Fisichella were both disqualified for making silly mistakes. The pitlane exit was closed as the queue behind the safety car was seemingly still on turn 2. Kubica saw the red light and waited patiently, but Massa and Fisichella made mistakes that earned them both disqualification. These are not new rules, so these experienced drivers really should have known better, particularly when Kubica has less than a season under his belt.

Hats off to Lewis Hamilton though. While he might not have had a lot of racing to do, he effectively had five race starts to lead away from. He carried them all off immaculately.

Hamilton is gaining a reputation for having a cool head while cars are flying off all around him. Today Alonso panicked at the start and tried to catch him on the outside. Alonso ended up braking way too late and running onto the grass. Hamilton, meanwhile, kept his head and stayed on the racing line as though he was driving a Scalextric car.

Alonso’s car must have been damaged, and he fell off the track a few times. But nothing must have beaten the embarrassment of being overtaken by Takuma Sato in the Super Aguri. I genuinely laughed out loud. I take back every negative thing I’ve ever said about Sato. That move made my day, particularly following the sombre note struck by Kubica’s accident.

Alonso had a torrid time, but Räikkönen’s race was equally awful. Seemingly, Räikkönen is not the driver we all thought he was. He had better shape up quickly, because the reputation he has built up over the past five years is diminishing like air rushing out of a balloon, complete with comedy “pffffrrrrttt” noise.

Someone else whose reputation has taken a bit of a battering so far this season is Ralf Schumacher. Apparently the sword of Damocles dangles above his head, but he scored a point today. Even though being overtaken by Sato was embarrassing, he can console himself with the fact that the same happened to double World Champion Alonso.

Meanwhile, the fact that Kovalainen managed to finish 4^th is proof that no matter how dreadful Friday and Saturday are, it is what happens on Sunday that matters. He started from the back of the grid, and while he was helped by the large number of retirements, eight cars were behind him — including some big names.

It is great to see Nick Heidfeld finishing 2^nd. The BMW was obviously quick, particularly one circuits with lots of straights like Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Heidfeld is looking forward to Indianapolis next week and Monza, where BMW also excelled last year. BMW are probably not in much of a mood to celebrate, given Kubica’s accident.

It was also fantastic to see Alexander Wurz on the podium — with a broken rear wing, no less! The safety car periods allowed Wurz to cleverly save fuel and adopt a one-stop strategy. He was the only driver to do so. It was a risk that paid off big time.

The bottom line of the race

Hamilton was superb. While the hype surrounding him is often unbearable, there is no doubt that Lewis Hamilton is a highly exciting talent. Today he showed precisely why.

Ferrari must be really worried though. Most people thought that McLaren’s dominance at Monaco was a one-off. Apparently it wasn’t, and Ferrari must work out how to make up time quickly, before the Championship becomes a two-horse race between Alonso and Hamilton.

Hamilton has an eight point cushion over Alonso, and a fifteen point cushion over Massa! (A 21-point cushion over Räikkönen — but can he really be considered a title contender any more?)

Bring on Indy! But no scary accidents please.

Update: According to Pitpass, Kubica didn’t even break his leg and he will be released from hospital tomorrow. Incredible! Great news.