F3 Racer Alex Peroni Escapes Huge Monza Shunt Unharmed

[Paul Jeffrey]

In something of a miracle, Australian F3 racer Alex Peroni has avoided serious injury following an horrific looking crash during the F1 supporting Formula 3 Feature Race in Monza.

Peroni, 19, drives for the Campos Racing Formula 3 team in the Formula One feeder series this season, and currently sits in 20th place in the standings with a best result of eighth position at the Circuit Paul Ricard back in June.

Racing in front of the Italian Formula One crowd earlier today, Peroni apparently ran wide at final Parabolica corner and made contact with one of the many 'sausage' curbs at the venue - violently launching the Australian's car into a series of terrifying mid-air barrel rolls before coming to rest in the catch fencing that line the perimeter of the historic racing venue.

Fears for the safety of the driver were soon laid to rest as Peroni was unbelievably able to walk away from his destroyed car, heading to the circuit medical centre for routine checks, where it is understood that no significant injuries have been found on the young driver.

The accident occurred during the closing stages of Saturday's race, and as a result of the subsequent investigation the FIA have confirmed all sausage curbs have been removed from the Parabolica corner for the remainder of the F1 weekend.

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[Nevini]

F**K me, Jesus. Just wow. How the hell.

 

[erba72]

These sausages kerbs really need to disappear from this area

 

[Michel Forest]

Reminds me of Sophie Floersch’s huge F3 crash at Macau last november. Very glad to see no one was injured today. Another miracle.

On a lighter note, once I saw the accident for a second time and I knew everybody was ok, I smiled when I saw the « When you drive never drink » sign...

On Twitter, somebody wrote that he thought it was a video of a computer game with really bad physics, until he realized it was real!

 

[Michel Forest]

These sausages kerbs really need to disappear from this area

They already have been removed, following the accident.

 

[StijnPro]

I read that he broke a vertebra?

 

[BillGuy]

Jack Aitken who drives for the same racing organization in F2 tweeted that it looks like the curb broke or malfunctioned. If we take him at his word, then this feels more like a matter of questioning the material quality, installation, and inspection of the curbing itself rather than the choice of installing it at that particular location.

 

[Michel Forest]

I read that he broke a vertebra?

Yes, confirmed on Autosport. He complained of minor back pain, turned out it was a broken vertebrae.

 

[gamer19]

These sausages kerbs really need to disappear from this area

And everywhere. This was Fast and Furious 9 action meets Terminator 2 type of special effects. Can't believe he's actually alive.

Yes, confirmed on Autosport. He complained of minor back pain, turned out it was a broken vertebrae.

That's no good. Not at all... =/

 

[Jani1980]

WTF Puuuuh f... king luck

 

[Ryno917]

F**K me, Jesus. Just wow. How the hell.

Literally exactly what I said.

Jack Aitken who drives for the same racing organization in F2 tweeted that it looks like the curb broke or malfunctioned. If we take him at his word, then this feels more like a matter of questioning the material quality, installation, and inspection of the curbing itself rather than the choice of installing it at that particular location.

Guessing maybe the leading edge of the floor dove under the curb, then, lifting the curb off the surface and turning it into a defacto pole-vault?

 

[Jayblue]

When I first saw it I too thought it looked very much like some kind of physics gone weird accident in a sim rather than real life. Very frightening and I don't want to imagine what would have happened had it been an F1 car having that same incident.

Why can't they just put a 1 meter strip of grass around the edge of the track instead?

 

[Terry Rock]

Jesus! he is a 'lucky' boy.
Did you notice the proximity to the green crane as he landed.
You would not want to hit that at those speeds despite the car scrubbing most of it off.
On another note: The Correa family has updated the public on the condition of their son's injuries and his battle going forward.
Hopefully he'll survive this and get well soon.

 

[BillGuy]

Guessing maybe the leading edge of the floor dove under the curb, then, lifting the curb off the surface and turning it into a defacto pole-vault?

The pole vault effect certainly seems like what happened. The thought that popped into my head was that maybe the tapered/downward sloping piece of the curb on the end failed leaving the blunt end of the next section to catch the leading edge of the floor.

 

[BrettSinclair1]

The safety-paranoid FIA puts curbs which are clearly able to launch cars into the catchfence right next to the track. How incompetent are they?

 

[gamer19]

Incompetent as much as those team strategist we saw today.

 

[Ryno917]

The pole vault effect certainly seems like what happened. The thought that popped into my head was that maybe the tapered/downward sloping piece of the curb on the end failed leaving the blunt end of the next section to catch the leading edge of the floor.

The especially annoying thing about this is that those curbs are there to solve the problem of drivers using that as part of the racing surface, which only came about because they pave every square meter of surface at modern tracks. I understand paved runoff is safer, but the implementation is asinine. They've just created a whole host of new problems by the way they've done it.

Like was suggested earlier, there should be a grass strip separating the runoff from the racing surface. It allows for a paved runoff for safety, prevents drivers from abusing that surface automatically, and completely removes the "need" for these stupid sausage curbs that are quite clearly dangerous. Remember that crash at Spa coming up Raidillon last year (was it F3 as well?)?

I'm still pissed off that they didn't do that in turn 2 at Mosport when they paved that runoff zone; completely neutered the corner and everyone takes advantage of it. Every start/restart is a farce now. They left a grass strip in turn 8, so why not in turn 2 as well?

 

[RobertGracie]

I saw that and the problem with the F2 and F3 cars is that they dont run at the same ride hight as the F1 cars that sausage kerb was always gonna be a nightmare and this proved it

 

[G_B]

Sad month, i see more planes on the road than cars, death, injuries ... and it's not prototype ...

 

[Nick Hill]

So, the FIA is so good with this stuff - they've put copious amounts of money and brain power into making racing safer, so my inclination is to trust they know their business...that said, I have a hard time getting through my head that good old gravel traps weren't safer.

At any rate, just knowing that turn the way I (and most RD'ers) do, I just cannot imagine a sausage style curb being placed there. You put a sausage curb on the outside of a low speed turn where guys are going to be tempted to run wide on exit. Parabolica is like a flat NASCAR turn...would you put a sausage on the outside of a turn at Daytona or Talledega?!?