Jezza13 wrote:
Ennis wrote:
ALESI wrote:
Poor lad... but it reminds me of all the stupid comments made about how 'brave' and 'awesome' Kimi was to drive flat out into the smoke at Spa. Would we still think he was 'brave' and 'awesome' if he lost his legs, I think not.
Yes. The definition of brave is willing to endure danger or pain. Surely there needs to be serious risk involved to be defined as brave?
To be fair though
your definition of bravery could also be used to define stupidity. Actually I think
your definition is more in line with masochism than bravery.
The difference would not only be the risk involved but the circumstances surrounding you action and your normal disposition.
It's debatable if [b]risking your life, or endangering the lives of others, for personal gain, would be classified as brave[/b].
All in bold point to one frame of mind and if you've EVER been a serious race car driver and have competed, you'd know this is just what the job entails. If anyone thinks Kimi's blast through the smoke at Spa was ill-advised, it wasn't. It's what the purest of race car drivers have ALWAYS done and his blast through that puff of smoke is minuscule to some of the clouds other drivers have lead-footed it through over the decades.
Racing is inherently dangerous and with the cars being made of carbon fiber, they are designed to be strong, yet break apart in a controlled manor in order to dissipate the energy of an impact. As such, what happened to Billy is not the first, nor will it be the last time we see this happen. It may take a few decades, or it may take just weeks, or even days, but it WILL happen again. It is simply the nature of the beast and it is something ALL drivers must be ready to deal with or else they wouldn't strap on their gear and strap themselves into the cars.
When Kubica had his massive crash in Canada it was a miracle that all he suffered was a badly sprained ankle because his feet were actually hanging out of the front of the car. What saved him in that accident was that the grass scrubbed off some of his speed before the impact and it more than likely is what saved his life. He was lucky that day. In his ralley crash the damn armco barrier sliced through a ton of components before puncturing the cabin and severing his leg and almost taking his right hand clean off. That day he was less lucky than in Canada, but both incidents are proof positive that no matter what, racing is simply dangerous and EVERY SINGLE TIME a driver gets into a car they are indeed risking their lives.
The advancements and improvements in safety in F1 has gotten to a point where most people assume it's pretty safe, but the fact is that these guys drive these cars on the limit for 60+ laps and the slightest of things can cause them to snap off their line and end in disaster. F1 drivers and fans alike have been VERY lucky for several decades because deaths and/or life altering injuries have dwindled down to a bare minimum so we've not had to witness people losing their lives with regularity the way it was for decades before the mid 80's.
The reality is that drivers from all eras pushed to the limit at all times and they've all come up on things while on track where they had to either lift or slam on the accelerator, and much more often than not, they put their head down, clinch their jaw and slam on the accelerator even harder. If you don't have that mentality, that level of commitment… you're likely not one of the best.
Comparing Kimi's drive through that cloud of smoke to Russian Roulette is as apples to rhino dung as it gets. They're 2 completely different things and one is literally absurd, the other a calculated risk that a PROFESSIONAL decides to take.
This situation however, is nothing like that. This was purely dumb luck of things transpiring in the blink of an eye and the driver had no time to make a decision.
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I wish him best.
