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I mostly wanna focus on three different things in this: the medical/safety procedures in the case of an accident, the physical health of the drivers, and mental health of the drivers.

This is not an attack on the medical/safety staff that are taking care of the drivers, they are doing wonders and are amazing. I'm criticizing the FIA for the procedures that should be updated or changed in order to ensure greater safety on and off the track.

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1 - the medical/safety procedures in the case of an accident

In the case of an accident in f1 i have noticed that it takes medical and safety Marshalls a long time to get to the scene of the accident due to the location of the safety cars. With the medical cars being exclusively located in the pitlane it takes the cars around 5 minutes, give or take, depending on length of track, location of the crash, and if its the 1st lap, to get to the accident.

In these high speed situations, especially in f1 where they dont have spotters, its incredibly dangerous to let drivers continue to drive full speed for long after a crash. Due to these long periods of time between when a flag is waved and when medical personnel can get to the scene of an accident it is also incredibly dangerous. In many situations that amount of time can greatly increase the chance of injury and heighten the probability of injuries becoming worse like physical wounds, bad concussions, and other cars hitting the already crashed out driver(s).

At one of the practice sessions durring the Indy500 in 2015 James Hinchcliffe crashed into the barrier and was pierced by the car through his leg to his abdomen and was losing a lot of blood. Due to the ability of the safety team to get there in 30 seconds, cut him out, and get him to the hospital so quickly absolutely saved his life.

Compared to an accident that occurs on the opening lap, with the safety car on track, and Marshalls around the track, it still took 2 (two) minutes for anyone to get to max after his massive crash at Silverstone 2021. That is far too long, especially with the caliber and how much speed and G force he encountered during the crash it should have been far more urgent.

Now you might say, "oh but thats only one example in indycar!" Well, Typically the time between the safety car coming to a halt in the crash and the marshals getting to the car it takes between 15-30 seconds regardless on whether its a race or practice/qualifying. 15 TO 30 SECONDS. This speed of arrival also happens regardless of the severity of a crash, seeing as a crash is a crash and is handled as such. This video details how many marshalls are in each car, what they do, and also shows how quickly they arrive at the scene of a crash.

When comparing crashes in terms similarity of the accident in f1 and indy i typically turn to the Fernando Alonso's and Simon Pagenaud's crashes where they flipped over. I find that for as similar as they are the difference in immediate medical attention is wildly different.

Both crashes are incredibly similar seeing as they both hit gravel and did multiple barrel roles the aid afterwards was very different. While Pagenaud needed assistance to be released from his car and Alonso, they both landed against the wall along with landing in similar spots on the track despite the two different locations (and years [Australia 2016 VS Mid Ohio 2023]). Yet it took medical staff half the time to reach Pagenaud compared to Alonso.

When watching these clips I've also noticed the amount of time/what flags are waved in the occurrence of these accidents. With Pagenaud it was an immediate red flag within seconds, where as Alonso was a had a yellow flag that was announced ~40 seconds after and at the same time the marshalls got to him.

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2 - physical health of the Drivers

both sports have incredible care of their drivers and make sure to care for their drivers in the case of an accident, i feel that the mentality and enforcement of post-crash or post-injury care is far too lax in F1.

In f1 i find that the mentality is that of a toxic marriage. Sort of.

They take the "in sickness and in health" very seriously and will drive regardless of the state of their own body. And while its a good mentality to be willing to do as much as you possibly can, there is a limit to what they can and should be doing.

Starting with the OGs, Niki Lauda racing with literal fresh burn wounds and (a separate time) with broken ribs. Mark Webber racing with pins in his broken shin. Lance driving with his broken wrists and toes. Max driving with his concussion (2021). Alex driving 2 days after coming out of a coma from appendicitis. Carlos driving days after the surgery of his appendicitis. QATAR 2023 AS A WHOLE. I can go on and on about different times and instances where drivers are not healed or well enough to drive, yet no one thinks to stop them???

Yes they are adults and they can do what they want as long as their doctors clear them, but there should be a limit, right?

f1 is all about pushing the limit, but should that limit be the physical health and well being of the people driving the cars?

how many possible concussions and injuries get ignored simply because a crash was "small" and didn't set of the G-Force monitor?

And i dont know if its the difference in American VS European culture that allows the drivers in Indycar to seek out help and understand their limits, but its truly amazing seeing how well drivers take care of themselves in Indycar compared to f1.

Not to say f1 drivers dont take care of themselves, they just dont allow themselves to be injured/ill even if they are.

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3 - driver mental health

The stress of the drivers in both series are intense, but wildly different.

Ive found that diet culture is very different in f1 and indycar. Again maybe its the difference of USA vs Europe but i think the main thing is how important weight is in f1 compared to indycar.

Every gram, ounce, and pound is critical in an f1 car and by extension: the driver. Thats why the drivers are always so thin, have lean muscles and are on super strict diets.

Ive brought this up with my family, but when looking at drivers in f1, especially the taller ones like Ocon, its incredibly disconcerting and scary to see men who should be at least 200 pounds being 140. It's even more scary when you hear George Russell talking about how he needs to lose weight in order to get faster.

Its horrifying listening to interviews where drivers talk about weight or food in terms with getting faster. The interview that makes me just absolutely distraught is the one of Nico Rosberg talking about how he "won the championship" becusse he lost weight to gain seconds. He stopped doing things he loved (biking) because he needed to lose muscle weight. He took as much weight as he could off his helmet to get lighter.

Then there is Alex Albon talking about the goal is to lose the most amount of weight possible while still being functional enough to do the race. While he isnt saying it as something bad, comparing it to a boxer losing weight before match, its still insane that they cannot eat/drink as much as they want without "costing" the team time and money.

Its almost on par with models and their diets.

Where as in Indycar many of the drivers talk about going to get burgers, getting beer, eating hearty foods and just gaining muscle without fear or worry is amazing. Not to mention it also seems more normalized for the drivers to talk out and be more open on if they are struggling or generally not having a good time.

Maybe indycar just have more available drivers at hand that they can sub in if needed, but they are also racers and want to drive as soon and as much as possible. Yet in indy they lack that mindset of complete disregard of ones self, for some reason.

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