Karthikeyan lucky

Hey just saw this picture of Karthikeyan in the car after his accident and you can see a dent in his helmet! Kinda scary

http://www.formula1.com/race/tvimages/750/4677.html

think i might be wrong the link takes you to a picture of sato but if you click on the picture that is middle bottom it shows the indian but i think the "dent" might be part of the design

It looked uneven to me, I spotted that and thought there was a dent, around the lower part.

yeh but if you look at sato's close up it looks as though its for the thumb to get in and raise the visor

It's where you lift up the visor. If you look here (http://www.formula1.com/race/tvimages/750/4677.html) you can see the same indentation on his helmet.

It is definitely not a dent - it is the visor opening part.

The head protection on the car did its job.

He was lucky that JV was able to avoid him!

I was surprised to see both wheel tethers fail.

They didn't fail as such - those parts of the car were completely ripped away!

I have to say that when he didn't move for a while, i was initially fearful for him, obviously glad he walked away unharmed.

As for the pic, i can't see any dents, only the "visor lifter"

I've never seen a helmet "Dent"
After such an impact they would either crack or split!

Mark Blundell said he was concerned that it took ages for anyone to go to him after the crash.
True, but who in their right mind would put themselves in such danger when there were still cars going past at speed.
The imminent danger probably was fire!

From experience, after such an accident, Race control (Who would be watching on screens) would have put medical crews on "Standby" straight away.
A marshal getting to Karthikeyan in ten seconds would not have any benefit over a medical car getting to him in 90 seconds. (If fire had taken hold - different story)

Not to mention the fact that it is a very unusual place to have an off. I am sure there would have been emergency staff at either end of the straight.

what exactly happened. we only saw the end of the accident on TV. It was on the straight wasnt it? How on Earth did he end up off there? Did he run wide off that long corner?

dont think he was really lucky, the car did its job to be honest!!!!! i think that the circuit is a terrible circuit, drains flying about artificial grass dragging cars in and it just looks a horrible circuit! and i also think that narain just isnt good enough to be in f1, much like sato!
prob get slated for saying that but its just my opinion

I have to say that when he didn't move for a while, i was initially fearful for him, obviously glad he walked away unharmed.

As for the pic, i can't see any dents, only the "visor lifter"

Exactly.

When he didn't start moving.....that raised some deeply unpleasant feelings.

what exactly happened. we only saw the end of the accident on TV. It was on the straight wasnt it? How on Earth did he end up off there? Did he run wide off that long corner?

Narain Karthikeyan:
“It was an exciting race. We had to pit in the first lap because we had a slight problem and we wanted to make sure it was ok. I passed Doornbos in the first pit stop and the safety car came out for what was a long time, which caused my tyres to lose temperature and pressure. A lot of drivers were making mistakes trying to warm up their tyres. Then when the race started again, I had a good first lap and passed Sato. I was following Trulli and coming to turn 13, I do not know what happened. The car was on the artificial grass and it sucked me into the wall. I had a very big accident but I am happy to say that it could have been worse. I have a bit of a sore neck but apart from this I am ok.”

They didn't fail as such - those parts of the car were completely ripped away!

They weren't attatched to the car after the accident so i'd call that wheel tether failure. If they can come off the car after any type of accident what is the point of having 30kN ratings on them? They are not attatched to the nose car are they... no they are attatched to the monocoque so I don't get it.

F1 site:
Each wheel must be tethered to the body of the car by either one or two cables, each with its own attatchment. The cables must meet specific tensile strengh requirements and are designed to stop the wheels coming loose from the car in the event of an accident or suspension failure.

They were attached to the parts of the car which were broken off by the accident. By your logic, if I sever my leg at the knee, I have a broken ankle.

i was quite surprised that the nose cone came completly off and seemed to be pretty intact. i guess i need to see a better replay of the accident, but instead of absorbing the impact the cone just came off. imo kind of bizzare.

They were attached to the parts of the car which were broken off by the accident. By your logic, if I sever my leg at the knee, I have a broken ankle.

If that's broken as in doesn't work, I'll support that logic;)

I heard Midland have to give EJ his cars back at the end of the year as part of the deal...I wonder if they have to give them back as they are or they were!?

Anyway what should we expect of a driver with a 'spinning wheel' motive on top of his head!?