Freak F2 accident involving Surtees

[phil1993]

Jenson Button: "Very sad news about Henry Surtees, my sincere condolences to the Surtees family... R.I.P"

[iceman1]

http://twitter.com/carlosiaconelli

"For me is even worst, i spun on the first lap and I was behind him when the accident happen....I saw everything...."

[eleanor]

RIP
I don't want to know what is in Clarke's heart right now, even if it's not his fault...

[Zack]

I think he died on the spot

[phil1993]

Tributes pour in for Surtees

Bruno Senna: 'My sincere condolences to Henry Surtees’s family. It is a tragic loss. I was watching the race on TV. Could not believe how unlucky he was'

Brawn GP: 'Brawn GP would like to express our sincere condolences to the Surtees family. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.'

Andy Priaulx: "Our sport can be cruel, but never crueller than when it claims a life. It is a tragedy when this happens and yesterday we witnessed this at Brands Hatch. Henry Surtees was a fine young man on the verge of his career in the sport, who I had the pleasure to tutor when he was racing in Formula BMW. His death highlights the dangers that we face and my heart goes out to his parents, John and Jane Surtees. John is one of my motor racing heroes who has achieved so much over his life in the sport. As a driver and also a father of a son who may one day want to follow my footsteps into the sport, it is hard to imagine coming to terms with such a loss."

Carlin Motorsport: "Carlin Motorsport are today mourning the loss of Henry Surtees, a dear friend to the team and a former Carlin driver. Henry was tragically killed in an accident in Sunday's Formula 2 race, aged just 18, at his home circuit of Brands Hatch. Henry raced with Carlin in the 2007 Formula BMW UK championship, and won for the team in British F3 at the Donington Park round last year. He remained a dear friend to many team members and recently assisted Carlin in its KTM X-BOW and track day projects. The thoughts and hearts of everyone at Carlin go out to Henry's parents, John and Jane, his sisters, family members and friends at this very sad time."

Manor Motorsport boss John Booth "I met Henry a few times and of course know his father John. As well as being a very nice lad, he was clearly talented and a driver destined for success. I was very sad to hear of his death, which is shocking for all of us involved in motorsport. Together with everyone here at Manor, I would like to send our sincerest condolences to John, his family and their friends. Our thoughts are with them."

Tony Teixiera: "I want to send my personal condolences and those of everyone in A1GP to Jane and John Surtees after the tragic death of their son Henry at the weekend. John is a great ambassador for motorsport and when I met him through his involvement with our series I realised why. He was a devoted father to Henry, and I know he was a son who was not only likely to follow in his footsteps as a racing driver, but also as a person who gave a hundred per cent to everything he did. Sadly this accident highlights the dangers involved in the sport and makes us all appreciate certain things in life. I hope Jane and John can gain some comfort from knowing the respect all of them have in motorsport worldwide. Our thoughts go out to both of them at this difficult time."

FIA: "Following yesterday's tragic accident, the FIA extends its sincere condolences to the family and friends of Henry Surtees. Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time."

Felipe Massa: 'I heard about Henry Surtees' death this morning and it really moved me a lot,' reads a statement from Ferrari's Massa. 'I'm so sorry for this tragedy and I'm close to his family in this moment of great sorrow.
These things remind us how much safety has to remain the priority on the track and in all the other places of motorsport. Over the last years much has been done, but we can't be inattentive.'

[Earth]

RIP Henry Surtees

[blizzard]

R.I.P. Henry,

I had the same thought as you phil: John survived motorcycle and F1 races in the most dangerous era and now his son died when we all thought it wasn´t possible anymore.

But to be honest, some tracks are still too dangerous today. The safety measures at Brands Hatch lokk like F1 standard in the mid 80´s !
Only the F1 tracks are completely safe these days (except Monaco), but a lot of other tracks in the second tier don´t provide enough runoff areas, especially tarmac runoffs.

Somebody mentioned on the first page of this thread that Martin Brundle got hit on the head in Brazil 94, but had nothing more than a sore neck muscle. My question to you all: Why was Martin ok (thank god he was) and Henry not? What was the difference? I´m not an engineer, so I don´t know that much about physics.
The tyre looked very slow before it hit Henry.

[phil1993]

When I went to Brands I was shocked at how small it was - like really really small and I thought the track was dangerously close - I could nearly touch the cars if I had long arms

[phil1993]

Palmer issued a statement on Monday afternoon, saying it was the saddest moment of his career.


"I am absolutely devastated that 18-year-old Henry Surtees lost his life in an accident in the Formula 2 race at Brands Hatch yesterday," the statement said.

"This is the saddest time in my 35 years of motor racing and my deepest sympathies are with father John, mother Jane and their daughters Edwina and Leonora, together with other family and friends.

"Henry was driving at about 120mph between Westfield and Sheene corners on lap nine of the race when he was struck on the head by a bouncing wheel and tyre from an accident at Westfield corner several seconds earlier. It is clear that Henry was knocked unconscious immediately, and his car then continued straight on, hitting the tyre wall. I understand that the fatal injury occurred instantly and that the impact at Sheene had no influence on the outcome of the accident.

"The race was immediately red flagged and the medical team were very quickly at the scene. Henry was removed from the car, stabilised and taken to the medical centre, where he was prepared to be air-lifted to the Royal London Hospital, the regional trauma centre. After evaluation and investigations in the intensive care unit, Henry was found to have suffered a major head injury that was not survivable.

"Henry had joined Formula 2 for this first season of the new championship and had immediately impressed with a pace, focus and maturity that belied his young age of 18 years. He took an incredible pole position at Brno in the Czech Republic in only his second F2 event, and became the first British driver to win a place on the podium with a magnificent third place at Brands Hatch on the day before he died. Henry made a big mark in just four events and looked very likely to be a winner in F2 in the future and maybe even F1.

"Not only was Henry immensely talented but he was also a very popular member of the whole Formula 2 team, making many friends among both the other drivers and the team members, earning enormous respect everywhere.

"John Surtees played a major part in his son's success, carefully monitoring everything that was going on and meticulously using his huge experience mentoring Henry and contributing to the all important set up and strategy. It was such a pleasure seeing father and son working together so effectively and it was clear that pursuing Formula 2 success was the focus of Henry and John's lives and something they enjoyed immensely.

"There will of course be a detailed investigation into the accident that claimed Henry's life and we will do everything possible to understand exactly what happened and why, and see what can be learnt from this freak accident in the continual quest to make motor racing safer. It is perhaps ironic that John Surtees competed for many years at the highest levels of motorsport on both four wheels and two at a time when safety was given little consideration, but his son Henry should lose his life at a time when driver safety has never been greater.

"The Williams F1 designed Formula 2 cars comply with the FIA 2005 F1 safety standards, including the fitment of wheel tethers to reduce the risk of wheels coming off in accidents. The F2 car also includes the latest F1 standards of driver head protection with high cockpit sides and lateral deformable structures. As with F1 however, wheel tethers cannot provide an absolute guarantee that a wheel will not come off in an accident and in a single-seater race car the front of the head is inevitably exposed to the risk, however small, of being hit by another car or component.

"This accident is particularly poignant for me as a father and brings into sharp and uncomfortable focus the inevitable danger of motorsport. On Sunday morning my 18-year-old son Jolyon and Henry were sat together, amidst all the F2 drivers, joking and signing autographs for fans. In the afternoon F2 race Henry was just half a second or so behind Jolyon, trying to move forward after an earlier spin. As they both dived down towards Sheene, the bouncing wheel just missed Jolyon, but hit Henry, who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. By the evening, I was with John and Jane Surtees in the same intensive care unit at the London hospital that Jolyon had been in nearly two years earlier after his serious quad bike accident.

"The awful tragedy has not just touched, but profoundly affected many people. Our whole Formula 2 team and those involved at Williams F1 are enormously saddened, shocked and stunned by what has happened and for Henry's dedicated F2 mechanic Don Old it is a particularly difficult time. When such incidents occur one relies upon the professionalism of all those involved and I am proud of the way the medical team at Brands Hatch did everything possible to save poor Henry's life.

"We all know life can be cruel and we read of young victims of tragedies every day, whether through accident, war or illness. But nothing can prepare someone for the loss of their own child and clearly John and Jane are absolutely distraught. We are all so desperately sorry. At this most difficult time in the Surtees' life we will of course do whatever we can to help as John and Jane in particular try to come to terms with the loss of Henry, someone so special and someone who had already achieved so much in his short life."

[megasyxx]

poor guy.....man, that's almost a million and one chance to get hit by that that wheel, and almost 5 million and one chance to be hit directly by the wheel rim to the head.

[phil1993]

C. Iaconelli: "The formula 2 is organizing a tribute to Henry Surtees, i think will be at donington,the next f2 race."

[blizzard]

The sadest thing about this whole incident is that the TV audience for Donington will be probably 4 or 10 times higher than the average F2 Tv audience so far.

A lot of people will watch it now, people who didn´t even know the series or just weren´t interested in it.

I´m including myself. I watched the race at Spa by default, and I wasn´t impressed, so I never watched F2 again.

But I will watch the Donington event now, because I want to see how they react on this tragedy and what sort of tribute they will do for Henry.

We humans have a strong inclination for sensationalism, don´t we?

I don´t feel good about it, but I will watch it.

[formulaonemadman]

I think he died on the spot

is this the actual wheel?

[cformula1]

Very sad day. My condolences go out to John Surtees and his family.
R.I.P Henry

He died doing what he loved. Life can be so cruel sometimes.

[Jaguar]

It was a real sad day for the whole Racing Sports in the world ... RIP Henry , i can't believe it happend ..