Newsgroup: it.sport.formula1.moderato
Titolo: [Pit-radio] Villeneuve critical of Ralf after AUS shunt

 looked even worse from the outside. I was not frightened.
Al solito...
Cmq confermo: io lo definirei un normale (gravissimo, fatale, letale, tutto
quel che volete ma tuttavia normale) incidente di gara, senza particolari
colpe di nessuno dei due piloti. Io la responsabilità la getterei piuttosto
sul circuito, ma non tanto per la morte del commissario (provocata da una
gomma che, secondo la ricostruzione, avrebbe fatto una quindicina di
rimbalzi), quanto per i diversi spettatori feriti (ma poteva andare *molto*
peggio...).
Che ci volete fare...
--
Nicholas

Villeneuve critical of Ralf after Aussie GP shunt
BAR driver says Schumacher hogged centre of track
Jacques Villeneuve has criticised Ralf Schumacher over the accident which
caused the death of a marshal in the Australian Grand Prix.
The 1997 Formula 1 World Champion claimed the Williams driver hogged the
centre of the track and gave his rival little chance to react when he hit
the brakes early, triggering the 160mph collision. Williams, however, has
stated its telemetry shows Schumacher braked at the same point as normal.
But while he slated his critics as a "bunch of babies trying to point the
finger", Villeneuve said he was not holding his German rival responsible for
the crash in which flag marshal Graham Beveridge was killed by a flying
wheel from Villeneuve's BAR. And he insisted there were no safety solutions
for the sport, without banning races, marshals and spectators.
"Accidents like that will happen. We are going fast, we are racing and we
are fighting," said Villeneuve. "I made an effort to be neutral in my
comments to make sure I did not put the blame on anybody.
"The other side reacted like a bunch of babies trying to point the finger
and I thought that was highly unacceptable where there was just a racing
incident with miscomprehension."
Villeneuve cannoned off the back of Schumacher's Williams-BMW approaching
the Albert Park track's Turn 6 and was launched into a high-speed roll. One
of the wheels torn off in the impact hurtled through a small access gap in
the fence, killing spectator marshal Graham Beveridge standing behind it.
While Schumacher and his Williams team have denied he braked early,
Villeneuve insists he did.
"Ralf had problems with his front tyres and he was extremely, extremely slow
and he was braking earlier than everybody else on the race track," said the
BAR driver. "If that happens, and you know that that is what's happening,
then do not stay in the middle of the race track.
"You stay on the left or the right and give room for someone else to react,
because if you are going to brake 30 metres earlier than everybody else
because you have problems, there is no way anyone else can react.
"Safety wise you cannot do anything apart from not having a race or not
having fans, spectators or marshals. Accidents like that will happen because
we are not on the road saying 'okay, it's your turn now', we are both trying
to fight for the same corner.
"Maybe the drivers are becoming slightly more aggressive now and maybe that
is a good thing because that is part of racing," he added. "But I think that
when you have a mistake now, there is much more blaming than there used to
be."
The Canadian, who has been involved in a series of high-speed accidents
during his career, admitted he was stunned by the ferocity of this
collision.
"I was surprised how big a crash it was. It felt big from the inside, but it
looked even worse from the outside. I was not frightened.
"Normally when you crash you are spinning and you know where you are going
to hit so you can prepare yourself. But once I was in the air I could not
see where I was going to hit and how I was going to hit and whether I was
going to be upside down with the tyres.
"This one never felt good and afterwards when I heard the marshal had been
killed, it felt worse."