Holy crap. One of the biggest moves in history.

I was watching qualifying tonight and had to rewind to make sure I heard everything correctly. The whole shakeup was a surprise - but I was especially shocked by Vettel leaving RBR.

Looking forward to seeing how Pirelli's "Typhoon" tires perform tomorrow.

Good race, F1 should race in the rain as long as there is no flooding. There also should have been a safety car deployed as soon as Sutil crashed. Hopefully Jules is OK.

The preliminary reports don't sound good...hopefully Jules will make a full recovery.

He's in surgery at the moment for a massive head injury.

Jules is listed as critical but stable. Breathing via respirator still. Surgery was rather short, so I'm guessing it was more pressure relief than anything. Here's hoping he makes a 100% recovery.

There is video out of the crash.
It's a miracle he even survived.
The F1 old guard is banding together on this saying extraordinary circumstances led to the incident.
I've long wondered why cars are allowed to circulate while these "recovery vehicles" are recovering.
I wonder if that will change?

I saw the video and I'm surprised he survived as well. Although they've released the kind of injury he has and they say only 90% of severe cases ever wake up.

I still don't understand how their cautions are supposed to work. They say local yellow was out which means cars must slow down to a speed where they can stop quickly, yet he supposedly came in at 110mph.

i just saw the video. amazing that he wasn't decapitated.

I'm glad I haven't seen it. I'll take y'all's word for it.

Such a shame about the crash and the weather. Suzuka is just an awesome track.

And now, no telling what kind of circus they'll have in Sochi.

Before the reform frenzy startsOCTOBER 7, 2014 / GARY HARTSTEINWe're just over 48 hours since Jules' accident. Still hoping and praying for a good outcome. And of course, by now, the dust is settling, and discourse becomes less emotional, less intense, and more reasoned. I thought I'd take advantage of this period of relative calm to put a few thoughts out there.The first thing I want to point out is that the three most severe accidents we've had since 1994 have all occurred through mechanisms that are not easily predictable. I'll not go so far as to use the expression "freak accidents", but being hit in the head with an 800 gm spring, driving into the lifting tailgate of a lorry, or aquaplaning into the exact spot a recovery unit is working are not your standard scenarios.I say this because we need to have a bit of perspective here. Virtually every weekend we see, often with a quiet "ho hum", accidents that in a not distant past would no doubt have been fatal. Basically, the things that used to kill and maim drivers have almost been engineered out of the system. Fire? (Williamson, Courage, Bandini to name a few)? We just don't see it anymore (yes we had a few, but none with any significant consequences). Frontal collisions? (Rindt) We shrug off the most spectacular. Side impacts (Senna)? Ehhhhh Flying rollovers? Shaken, but not stirred.Not only do we almost have to invent bizarre ways to get hurt, but when someone DOES fall victim to an unusual accident, the governing body has shown itself fairly adept at acting appropriately. Felipe's accident? Zylon visor reinforcements. Etc etc.Jules' accident was INCREDIBLY violent. It is a miracle he is alive, purely and simply. And this is a testimony to the entire system. Where should we look if we want to find out if there actually IS anything to change?To start with, I'll harken back to one of my pet peeves.Those of you who saw the video no doubt were impressed by just how fast that Marussia was winging it as it streaked through the runoff area into the JCB. I surely was. And I was all the more impressed that:

• Jules was certainly aware of the risk at that point of aquaplaning (and was no doubt told of SUT's off)
• there were double yellow flags displayed at one, and possibly two, upstream marshal posts.

For the sake of my sanity, I'll point out again that double yellows mean that the track might be obstructed, that there are HUMAN BEINGS WORKING trackside of the Armco, and to BE PREPARED TO STOP.I've been a passenger in an F1 car, and can confirm that the brakes are phenomenal. That said, given the water on the circuit, given the loading on the car through corners 6 and 7, and given the speed of that Marussia, it is indisputable that Jules carried MUCH TOO MUCH speed into that corner. By definition. He is instructed (by the flags) to slow enough to be able to stop, yet he was fast enough to aquaplane. Those are mutually exclusive options. Period.I've been saying since 2010 that flag discipline is deteriorating, and it's deteriorating fast. And no one is making properly vigorous efforts to re-establish it.At every F1 drivers briefing, the drivers hound Charlie for a number "how fast can i go under yellows?" or "how fast under double yellows?". Or even, "will I be penalised if I do 0.2 sec less than the last time thru that sector"THEY'RE MISSING THE POINT. AND BECAUSE WE'RE NOT INSISTING ENOUGH ON THE RIGHT ANSWER, BAD THINGS HAPPEN.The point is that the speed that's appropriate under double yellows is variable. It's not a speed limit, it's a warning. Just ahead you might have nowhere to go. Or, just ahead someone's uncle, brother, father is pushing one of your colleague's cars off the circuit (remember the marshal whose legs you broke in Monaco Pastor? When you kept your foot in it through double yellows into Casino? I do).I bet that the "appropriate" speed through T6-7 Sunday was probably something like 80-100 km/h something like pit lane speed. Had drivers done that, the absurdity would have rapidly become apparent, and race control would have had little choice but to deploy the SC.Disrespect for flag discipline is not a minor issue. It kills and injures people. If flags are respected, things get remarkably safer. If these flags had been respected, it is hard to imagine this accident happening, at least with this kind of energy.Before we start changing everything, wrapping JCB's in tech pro, putting SC's out every time someone's in the armco, let's correctly apply the spectacularly effective safety system already in place. And let's start by making sure drivers actually respect the SPIRIT ("be prepared to stop") and not the LETTER ("how many tenths down do I have to be to not get a stop-go penalty?") of the safety regulations.Oh and one last thing: please Jules, get better fast.

Interesting that you posted that post from Gary's blog; I was going to link his blog tonight as well. I have been following it since the wreck and this post today made me very sad:

"I'm totally gutted, sickened, by having to ask you to go back to December and January's posts for more about ICP if you're interested. I don't have the heart to go through this again. Not for another of our guys. Jeez.

DAI is usually associated with a somber prognosis. Jules is young, strong, and is being cared for by a superb team. C'mon Jules. Go for it."

great article about flag discipline.

So, Bianchi is still in critical, but stable, condition at the hospital. Now Marussia has to decide what they're going to do for their "home" race in 3 days. Do they run just one car with Chilton, do they pull out completely, or do they run two cars, giving Rossi his first F1 shot.

I can't imagine having to make that decision. I'm sure the initial reaction is to just skip the race, everyone is probably still very shaken up. It's not that easy, however, as they're under contract to run two cars at each race, and can lose money if they don't, I believe. Also, they're currently sitting 10th in the constructors' standings, and in line to get a nice purse at the end of the year that will help them stay in F1 next season. They put that in jeopardy as well, if they don't race.

It's an unenviable position for them to be in.

i say they race. make a tribute to Jules some how. but they can't afford to not race.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Apparently Rossi got there last night, and walked the track this morning. I'm sure this isn't how he wanted to get his first F1 race under his belt, though, if it happens.

Looks like Rossi is in:

quote:

---

There has been no official announcement from Marussia yet, but the FIA entry list for the Russian GP, published at 4:35 p.m. local time on Thursday, features Alex Rossi in car number 42.

The team has built up its spare chassis and the car is available for the American to make his Grand Prix debut, just a fortnight before his home race in Austin.

---

http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/f1-american-rossi-on-entry-list-for-russian-grand-prix-100914

And they changed their mind. They entered the car, but are not actually racing it. Apparently, this meets the criteria for entering two cars, so no penalty from Bernie.

Can't say I really blame them. They're doing what they think is best and right, hard to argue with it.

COTA is giving out free tickets to military for Sunday. Bleacher seats in Turn 11/12. Any other active/reserve/guard F1 fans out there, go here for more info:

https://www.govx.com/verify/formula1?exid=efrm1comp&cm_mid=3990050&cm_crmid=385d35fc-dfe5-e311-8994-6c3be5a88b80&cm_medium=email

I'm still holding out hope for my father-in-law to get to drive in the driver's parade, but if not, I've got us covered. You can get 4 tickets complementary.

Yikes Putin in the cool down room

Loved the awkward reaction to Diffey's mention of "Putinland."

Williams is going to have a tough time keeping Bottas past his current deal.

I must have missed that!

And yeah, Bottas is going to be a star, I think. Another excellent drive from him.

update from Jules's father does not sound great.

MY father-in-law took his '32 Ford Roadster out to COTA this weekend and got to drive it around the track a few laps. Said it was awesome. He'll be in the Parade of Champions, or whatever they call it, pre-race, with Jenson Button in the car! Unfortunately for me, he's not allowed to have a co-pilot, so I'll be watching from the stands. Still, it's pretty bad ass that he gets to do that.

That's awesome.

Sounds like Caterham may be in trouble. Apparently the factory workers showed up today to find the factory all locked up.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/caterham-f1-factory-closed-teams-fate-in-the-balance/508082-5-24.html

Saw that, too. What a mess.

Caterham and Marussia will both miss the USGP according to Bernie. So, only 18 cars on the grid next weekend.

Yep, Marussia joins Caterham in administration. Looks like a couple of Brits are trying to buy Marussia, and they're hoping to be at the last two races. Shame that they're not going to make the USGP, and have Rossi drive. I was looking forward to seeing him.

On a side note, thanks to my father-in-law, I get lot A parking Saturday and Sunday, and he gets free GA passes for both days. If anyone is going to be there, his '32 Ford Roadster will be on display all day Saturday, along with the other cars that are driving in the drivers' parade.

USGP Roll Call!

I will be there and it appears Kyle98 as well (I'll keep an eye out for the '32 Roadster). Anyone else?

I agree that it really is a shame that Marussia is not racing. I'd also love to see Rossi race at COTA.

I'll be there Sunday only. We were going to go on Saturday too, because they were going to have the cars for the drivers parade on display, but apparently not enough of the people wanted to get their cars there early Saturday morning, so they cancelled that portion. My father-in-law should be carrying Button in the drivers parade.

Our seats are in the Turn 12 bleachers. Hopefully that's near a beer stand with decent beer. I was stuck with crap two years ago!

I'll be there Saturday, possibly Sunday too. Not sure, but I think I'll be in the turn 19 stands.

I wish.

Anyone park at the FM 973 Park and Ride lot before? Can you pay at the lot, or do you have to buy a multi-day pass in advance? I'm trying to find a good spot for my dad, who will be meeting us at the track, and lives on the west side of Austin.

Ok, called the track, you can pay cash at that lot, in case anyone else was wondering.