Maria De Villota, Marussia, serious accident.

[flatlander_48]

Apparently if one adds in that a comment is 'sarcasm' it's fine & dandy to say whatever we wish *eyebrow raise*

Sarcasm is often used as a means to get across one's true thoughts but in an attempt to mask it as being witty.

Would we also have accepted sarcasm in relation to the accident of say, Zanardi a few weeks after his Lausitz accident? "Operator error, pssh >insert driver specific derisory or derogatory adjective here< don't belong in race cars". Yeah sounds a bit silly doesn't it but I'm guessing it wouldn't have gone down massively favorably at that time either. The difference is though for a large section of simpletons, I mean individuals, Females in racing have genuinely been a target to disparage & mock simply because of their gender so it's a fine line to tread in this instance if it was meant in 'jest'. I'm not a fuddy duddy by any means but making mockery about such things, especially so soon, with the person suffering life changing injuries & still under going treatment, just seems a bit off, whether the comments were serious or not. jmo *shrug*

Often it is hard to tell what people are trying to say here. Sometimes you run across opinions that are so socially backwards that it catches you completely off guard.

[Jakester]

**As a matter of interest one does wonder if the in house investigation was supervised by the FIA or other independent source, certainly not implying anything untoward just wondering about the procedure on such matters when serious injury occurs.

Prior FIA comments were that FIA would not be a part of the investigation as the incident took place in unsanctioned testing (unsanctioned indicating it was not an official FIA event, not that the test was in any way improper or not in accordance with FIA testing rules).

[Lis]

FIA Vice President Carlos Gracia has criticized Marussia after the Formula One team implied Maria de Villota's recent testing accident was her fault.

Without actually saying the crash into a stationary truck during straight line aerodynamic testing was driver error, Marussia F1 recently revealed that an internal investigation showed the car had not failed.

Asked how he had digested the statement, Gracia admitted he read it "with some indignation".

"I think it was not necessary when the (external) investigation is ongoing," he told AS newspaper.

"I see it that they want to shift the responsibility to Maria, but we need to wait if she can recover her memory.

"In any case, even if it was a driving mistake, there was a failure of logistics, when we speak about a truck ramp that acted like a knife.

"It's the same as a garage door raised to the height of a driver's head. That's a team failure, so there is a responsibility that certainly is not Maria's."

Gracia said he doubts a situation with such a grave outcome would have occurred if de Villota was testing for a bigger team.

"I have asked (FIA president) Jean Todt to regulate and ensure minimum safety measures and to consider it for the next World Council.

"What is clear is that a top team, a Ferrari or McLaren, would have worked more seriously. These modest teams should improve their basic safety," he said.

[roach]

In other news, Maria was "well enough to leave Hospital in the UK yesterday and return to her native Spain". (per the sidebar on F1's live timing and scoring)

[Lis]

Update.

Maria has given her first press conference since her accident earlier in the year. The medical image of her skull damage is shocking, which makes it's even more remarkable to see her & listen to her words. She's a tough cookie

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103290

[OrdinaryRaceFan]

Looking at the skull image, it's really amazing to see that one can survive from this, let alone keep full cerebral capacities. Well done to her doctors, really.

[KnockOff]

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