yes changed my mind and have completely rewritten it as it is very late here and am somewhat tired, also I pressed the wrong button
Hamilton was not unconscious at any time. I flatly refuse to believe it. I am certain his reluctance to get out of the car was more to do with coming to terms with what had just happened, and not wishing to be man-handled away by eager and excited marshals. For any marshals who might be reading this: please allow a driver some personal space, even when directing him/her to safety. The waved yellows are taking care of immediate safety and there is no need to give a driver the 'hurry-up'. The first few seconds after an accident can be a very difficult thing to deal with, and some people need a few moments to get their heads back together before interacting with strangers. [Edit: I'm impressed with Mephisto's post and am wondering if he's in the medical profession!]
Even If he wasn't out, he may certainly have been dazed. The fact that brakes weren't applied after the initial impact says to me to that he might not have been fully aware. I don't think he was contemplating, nor looking for sympathy. It was a quick hit right after contact with little bracing time. Dazed, winded or whatever it was, I don't think he was 100% by the time the car came to a halt.
I did notice that he wasn't moving, didn't react, but how can we know for certain whether he was unconscious unless someone who was there says so? I'm a bit disappointed to read that, even though he may have been, certain posters still see fit to slate him. Surely a small degree of sympathy would be more in order, no? But then this is Lewis we're talking about and whatever happens to him, it always serves him right. I'm not surprised he comes over as a bit paranoid sometimes.
It was a big shunt after one of the longest straights in F1, he was just winded and a little shocked. His crash in Monza 2009 when he was hunting down Button (double irony there) was much bigger.
I agree, Lewis was not knocked out but just shocked/dazed at what happened. But surely the marshall has got to be there as quickly as possible, a driver might be in a life threatening situation even if it doesn't look like that it was a big crash...
Well from a part time Marshal point of view I have to stress the situation that they are in. Their duty is to make sure the driver is conscious when they arrive, if Lewis moved then the marshal wouldn't have chucked his arms in the air (which he did) signaling "help" and bringing out the safety car. The marshals do understand the adrenaline going through their bodies and how pissed off they are going to be, but they are not the ones in the carbon fibre cockpit and have to act quickly before the cars come round again putting lives at risk. They were also unable to put themselves behind the car at a heavy braking point, so they were exposed to another crash. We are highly instructed to direct and shadow you drivers for health reasons if you faint and lets be honest your good a racing, but have no clue about the safety when you get out of the car. I once instructed a driver to stay were he was because he had a big shunt and he just ran off behind my back through a grass bank with the possibility af a car ploughing into him at 120mph... you guys are crazy lol! We have to make sure the medical crews see you first, no matter how well you think you are... Btw Cosicave if that was you next time I'll tackle you to the floor lol A good note for drivers, we will just nod and agree with everything you say, even if we missed it or ducked for cover.
yeah, that's the way I figured it, he got a bit winded, shocked cos he didn;t know what happened so he satthere for a few seconds, probably repeating the word '****' in his head over and over until he got tapped on the head.
it wasn't that hard, and he didn't deccelerate that fast either, and punching a big hole in a barrier that is designed to have holes punched in it to soften the gees of decceleration is no marker for the strength of the crash, it was not even in the top 5 of this year.
I'd say it was a bloody good indicator of the force of a crash. Those barriers still take some force to permanently bend and buclke like that. In most crashes they deform then go back to their original shape if the impact isn't that hard.
I doubt he was knocked out. I believe it's procedure for any driver involved in an accident to report to the FIA doctor, if he'd shown any signs of having been knocked out he'd have been sent to hospital, not the paddock for TV interviews.
I think Lewis was just p****d off more than anything. Another haul of points poured down the drain right before his eyes.
