F1 - Japan -2014 - Jules Bianchi

It would be nice to talk about the race, about one of the classic F1 appointments on the calendar. Certainly it will be better to report about the head to head going on in the Mercedes team that even this Sunday made us pay close attention at the lap times.
Instead, we have to face reality, we have to deal with something that puts everything else in perspective: a driver, a new member of the paddock, a young person is fighting right now for his life after something that it shouldn't have happened, unfortunately, happened.

Jules Bianchi, a very talented racer driving for the Marussia Team but already in the circle of the young Ferrari drivers, has seen his race ending in a crash into a recovery vehicle that was operating beside the barrier to clear the field from another car, the Sauber of Sutil, who crashed in the same spot a lap earlier.

Bad race management, yellow flags, red flags, to race or not to race, Charlie Whiting, Bernie Ecclestone...As often happens in these situations, the public opinion starts to play the games "Let's find who to blame" and "They should have done this or that". It's a pretty rational reaction since everyone wants to be clear from any responsibility but unfortunately no one can come out of this completely clean.
Yes, because if the race took place anyway although it was known that Japan was under a particularly critical weather situation, if the money making machine of TV rights and advertising has so much weight in the process of decision making, then we all are somehow responsible for pushing the boundaries  a little too close to the edge.

Formula One has always been the pioneer and outpost for safety in motor racing and, by default, in day by day driving, we all know that. What is harder to digest is that, no matter what, motor racing is still, and will always be, a dangerous sport. The improving of safety will always be a work in progress and sometimes, unfortunately, accidents forestall actions.
Also, the fact that bad accidents are more and more infrequently these days,  contributes to lower the guard against danger. But the risk is still there, hiding at every corner, waiting for a bad combination of event to show up.

We will never have a completely safe motor race. Danger is in the nature of it, danger is what elevates racing drivers to idols to the eyes of the fans, danger is what keeps us hypnotized from the green light to the checkered flag, danger is what makes us look at the champions of the past in an almost mythological way.

Let's just hope that the effort of everyone will be spent now in the direction of avoiding similar situations in the future.

Mostly, let's hope that Bianchi will be able to walk away from this and, as usually happens to these fighters on four wheels, that we will see him again with his helmet on.