Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
This is what happens when, while reaching for the “fourth gear” switch with your thumb, you hit the ever-confusing “eject both front tires from the car” button on an F1 racing machine.
The controls can be confusing at times. Sebastien Buemi, the driver here, suffered no injuries in the crash, which resulted from a mechanical error causing both wheel tethers to snap during warmups for the Chinese Grand Prix.
(Toyota, on the other hand, has still not diagnosed why this is happening in Priuses, but wants you to admit that it looks pretty awesome when it happens, right?)
3 comments
Comments
I’m amazed he’s trying to steer the car with no front tires.
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by Zachary Zielonka on Apr 16, 2010 11:59 AM EDT reply actions
That’s just good coaching.
by evenflow58 on Apr 17, 2010 3:50 PM EDT up reply actions
So...
Apparently, I’m now EDSBS’s resident auto-racing
experttalking windbag.Wheel tethers are safety equipment (introduced some years ago when a loose wheel killed a course official) attached at one end to the wheels (Personally, I don’t understand the reasoning behind that part.) and to the suspension uprights at the other. You can see what they look like when they work properly in this video hyah (See how the wheel kinda flops around? It’s still attached to the car via the tether).
Since uprights are expected to stay on the car (it’s one of the design requirements), when they fail Bad Things Happen.
Also, one of the errant wheels bounced through an access point in the fence and tagged a tv camera (the cameraman was uninjured). The other bounced OVER the fence and OVER THE FRICKIN’ GRANDSTANDS and came to rest in a stream. (No, there’s not any kinetic energy stored in a runaway wheel.)
Hangin' half a hundred
by BarnacleKB on Apr 16, 2010 8:27 PM EDT reply actions
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