From memory, Formula One wheels are harnessed onto some part of the frame to prevent them from falling off and hurting people. You'd pretty much have to slice through the whole assembly to get it airborne.

As for Massa's replacement, Michael Schumacher's spokesman has indicated that if asked, Schumacher would be willing to return to Formula One.

Is there a link Mattk regarding Schumi^^^seems a bit pointless as theres so much talent around F1 it looks more like a publicity stunt.

^
^
douche bag above

no - reality check.

Shit happens... these guys are PAID specifically for rhe risks involved.

Nithing to see here - mover along - so the guy hit a piece of debris and had an accident in motor racing - BFD... its motor racing and shit happens.

Thats te risk, and they are paid for it.

BTW, it is unhealthy for a grown man to worship another grown man, even if they are a "sports hero" - these guys as all pro-drivers are, are PAID for the risks, they know this and accept the risks.

:)

These guys truly have nothing on the pioneering racers of the teens, 20's, 30's, and 40's. Back then, it was one of the most dangerous careers in the world. There were only a handful of them, and they all knew each other well. As RC says, it has always been a part of the job to accept the risks involved. The difference is today these guys are grossly overpaid; and don't know the first thing about loss.

I recall seeing a picture of a Harley Davidson (I believe) board racer that was skewered by a 6ft splinter.

Now those where dangerous times - leather skull cap, goggle, jacket and pants - no body armour and cars/bikes with little to no safety gear - adn I think they thought brakes where for pussies in those days.

Truth.

OK, these guys are paid to put themselves in danger and I'm sure they know the risks all too well every time they strap themselves in.....but this was a very shitty way to end your career.....not during the race while fighting with someone wheel to wheel, not because you made a big mistake and flopped it big time...but to be hit by a part that came off the car in front during qualifying is just plain shitty and a surefire way to make sure that no one will ever remember Massa in 10-15 yrs time.

No doubt. It's tragic.

nope, they are specifically paid for skill/talent

Actually they are paid specifically for their marketing cache and potential advertising revenue. They are just whores to the advertising industry ;)

Skill has little to do with pay level. And teams need the ad-revenues to float their budgets.

How many times has a "big name" been signed vs the "talented guy" ;)

Are you suggesting that nobody ever suffered a mechanical failure; or were crashed into? Motorsport puts the cars, drivers, and everything else through the worst imaginable conditions... just for a lap time. People have died in racing for years. Is it a bad way to end a career? Sure. Shit happens in the world. As to nobody remembering Massa? Nonsense; and otherwise, so what?
Overpaid.

you got confused now, skill got them to motorsport as a result of their skill sponsors starts to "support" them and push them to biggest market (f1 for example) step by step and along the road fans starts to follow them and more and more sponsors wants to jump on the wagon and driver get more money as a result, risk is in "job description" but it's not the main thing as you pointed out earlier. And yes skill has something to do with it becouse untalented drivers don't last long and sponsors usually don't find them profitable.

big name drivers are also very short lived in F1, Piquet Jr. for example got in to renault becouse he was "good" in lower ranked formulas but mostly becouse his daddy pulled some connections, guess what, he is pretty terrible, guess what else, his is about to get fired.

@nthfinity
I agree they are overpaid, but every top athlete, driver, ...(or whatever) is, how much money does Tiger Woods get for "just playing golf"?

Remember Minardi? Drivers had to pay to drive with them. The top bidders drove. Why anybody would pay to drive for that rubbish team is beyond me.

well they payed for chance to drive F1 car and show what they can do, and maybe if they were good enough they would be spotted by some better team.

Alonso started his F1 career in minardi, and quickly progressed to one of the best f1 drivers;-)