All-purpose open-wheel (F1, IRL) racing thread

RIP.

 

Damn, damn, damn. RIP Justin Wilson. Not only a great driver, not only one of the most loved and respected guys in the garage, but one of the main voices pushing for safety since Wheldon was killed. Makes the season finale on Sunday kinda pointless.

 

Terrible news. Justin Wilson was one of those guys that even though he wasn't likely to be your favorite driver, you were always happy for him when he did well.

His death certainly casts a huge pall over the Sonoma race, but they've got to run it.

I wonder if this leads Pocono management to say goodbye to IndyCar again. This was the last year of their contract and each of the three races have had serious problems.

 

David Letterman does a good job summing up the mixed emotions of racing. Last line in particular jumped out to me.
AP Exclusive: David Letterman struggling with love of racing

 

Holy smokes! How Fernando Alonso is not only alive but walking after his crash in Australia, I will never know. Whew! That's quite a ride.

 

Walked away from this ...

 

That wreck was insane. At first I didn't even realize it was a car. He got out on his own almost immediately and walked away.

 

The analysts had no idea either. They thought it was just a guy spinning out until Alonso climbed out of the car. Crazy.

 

Yeah, at first I thought it was two wheels and part of the Gutierrez chassis that had come off. Then I counted tires on the Haas and realized that was another car involved. Glad both were able to walk away.
Interesting that the biggest benefactor from it was the Haas team, as it gave Grosjean a free pit stop. Then he had the pace to keep his spot, so kudos to the Haas team.

 

LOL, that didn't last long. F1 is already scrapping the terrible new qualifying procedure and going back to the old system.

 

That was brutal to watch. Glad they're acknowledging that so quickly.

They keep coming up with ideas to "improve" qualifying, but qualifying doesn't need fixing.

 

Hinchcliffe will start first. Nice story.