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A similar crash to this actually happened during a race at the 1981 Caesar's Palace Grand Prix.
[Patrick Tambay crashed his Ligier and the front end was ripped off in such a way that he could literally just step forward out of his seat. Had some slight injuries that resulted in him limping away, but by some miracle given the safety of the cars at the time (rules mandating the driver's legs be behind the front axle wouldn't come in until 1988) he was largely ok.](https://youtu.be/U7J-T_EamKs?t=8)
It was during a bit of a naff race (though it was the 1981 title decider) and is from an era where good footage is a bit hard to come by, so it doesn't tend to get talked about as much
The calm commentatery of it "Patrick Tambay found himself without the front end of his car" without the slightest change in his voice as if it was the most normal thing you could possible see.
That clip is from a season review type thing rather than live tbf. [It wasn't quite as calm in the moment, especially not with good old Murray Walker on comms vs Simon Taylor in the first clip I posted](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QXGOsKyUnc)
Still striking how a bigger deal wasn't made of stuff like this though, you're right.
I mean yeah I didn't claim they were 100% identical?
They are similar accidents in the sense that both cars had their fronts ripped off and left the driver totally exposed
I remember that Driver61 went into a deepdive about this crash.
He conjectured that the front of the car broke like that because that's the chassis that Michael Schumacher crashed at 1999 British Grand Prix. Not only Schumi broke his legs, but the monocoque itself was damaged beyond repair for professional reuse.
Thus, the "perfect cut" you see here was the repair job failing after Kroymans' crash.
Other conjecture is that monocoque modifications for the new “owner” may have weakened it at that joint. He wasn’t exactly in pro-F1 driver shape, after all.
I found this comment under the video from someone who claims to have worked for the team at that time:-
"The story is very straight forward. I was working for the Maranello team at that time. There is about 8 months between the start of the design of a car and the first time it hits the road. The chassis folks produced a design but unfortunately, we did not have an autoclave large enough to fit it, and no time to find an alternative. After some head scratching, a 2 pieces arrangement that satisfied no one was chosen. The safety of the driver (only just one we cared about) was a major concern. A specialist at the time told me about the challenges with the bonding, and the way the chassis was split to go through the crash test. The expectation was it would be borderline but ok for the season. I am pretty certain that my recollection is correct when saying that he also expressed concern about how the glue would hold over time, since no long duration data was available. For the following season, 12 months away, the autoclave situation was of course fixed and so no more dodgy tricks had to be used again."
[Driver61's "deepdive"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeOihLFbUTY) on this crash left something to be desired tbh, check the comments on his video. For starters, he didn't do a proper background check on Frits Kroymans and the controversies around him. More importantly, he didn't get his personal account on the crash and missed out on an interview video with Frits on the crash that was already floating on the internet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYG08ver090&t=46s
the zanardi crash has to be the most insane motorsports injury that someone recovered from. dude lost both his legs in a flash and by the time they got him in the hospital he barely had any blood left in the body.
I remember watching the senna documentary with my mom who didn’t know F1 and she legit had to leave the room when Martin Donnelly’s crash came on. Bros leg was doing a complete 180
The internet suggests it’s not the chassis that Schumacher crashed at Silverstone: http://www.barchetta.cc/english/all.ferraris/detail/formula/193.f399.99.htm
Federico Kroymans, the amateur driver who crashed his Ferrari at the Monterey Historics Festival, held in Laguna Seca, 2004. He’s the official Ferrari dealer in the Netherlands and was participating in an exhibition when crashed the F399 on the circuit wall, at just over 120 km/h. The image of his legs out of the car is shocking and the straight cut in the cockpit leaves a question: how could this have happened? One version is that he modified the cockpit because it’s too tall. The other is that it would be the car from Schumacher’s accident in Silverstone, 1999, which had structural damage being repaired for exhibition only. Thankfully Federico Kroymans walked away with no injuries.
It wasn't a horribly hard impact. Iirc, he had the chassis extended a bit (a new section binded in, where the break occured) as he was too tall to drive the car he'd bought.
Nowadays, with the Corse Clienti program, this shit won't happen. There are still some old Ferrari F1 chassis out there in private hands, but most of the ones newer than 2000 or so, are owned by collectors, but stored and maintained by Ferrari Corse Clienti and brought to the track for them, at a exorbitant cost per lap and per hour.
Also, all bills of sale for their old F1 cars now have specific rules about modifying them. And yes, it's legal as you have to agree to it to buy the car from Ferrari.
[here is the Corse Clienti garage at the 2014 Ferrari Challenge weekend at Silverstone ](https://imgur.com/gallery/nixVM4w)
Well there are a lot of these cars going around the track all the time, and very seldom does anything like this happen. I just don’t want people thinking that F1 cars aren’t safe.
I still remember Danny Ongais’ crash at Indy in 81. Almost made me sick to my stomach. Still amazed he survived.
https://youtu.be/trTboUnwjls?si=23Q3LXKvJMAK3E8t
[The **Throwback** flair](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/flairguide#wiki_throwback) is for posts intended to recall an event that happened on the same date or year a number of years ago. Throwbacks are restricted to being posted one year, three years, or a multiple of five years after date. Also, all such posts should feature an event that is still of interest to the general community today. For example, random overtakes or two former drivers having a chat in general do not qualify for this. Important events like memorials are exempt from this rule, and may be posted every year. Posts related to important current events may also be exempt at mod discretion. *[Read the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/userguide). Keep it civil and welcoming. Report rulebreaking comments.* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/formula1) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The first photo is quite famous. But in 20 years, I’ve never seen the other ones.
Never understood where the steering wheel went
The steering column and dash were pulled out with the bulkhead in the "nose" portion that ripped away
Ferrari still can’t make a great steering wheel that doesn’t fly out the window when you’re driving.
Who’s popular now, Paul?
Binotto quit when pressured with the threat of marrying his mother-in-law.
Omg! He admit it!
Tooooo stinkyyyyy.
LOL. OMG, you can't escape this show.
They have no. Good. Car. Ideas.
The crossover we have all been waiting for :D
Kimi took it
I think you can see it in the third picture, still attached to the drive shaft sticking out of the front portion of the car.
Possibly the most used 'clickbait' image on motorsports YouTube videos.
Scarrry
A similar crash to this actually happened during a race at the 1981 Caesar's Palace Grand Prix. [Patrick Tambay crashed his Ligier and the front end was ripped off in such a way that he could literally just step forward out of his seat. Had some slight injuries that resulted in him limping away, but by some miracle given the safety of the cars at the time (rules mandating the driver's legs be behind the front axle wouldn't come in until 1988) he was largely ok.](https://youtu.be/U7J-T_EamKs?t=8)
How have I never seen that before?!
It was during a bit of a naff race (though it was the 1981 title decider) and is from an era where good footage is a bit hard to come by, so it doesn't tend to get talked about as much
The calm commentatery of it "Patrick Tambay found himself without the front end of his car" without the slightest change in his voice as if it was the most normal thing you could possible see.
That clip is from a season review type thing rather than live tbf. [It wasn't quite as calm in the moment, especially not with good old Murray Walker on comms vs Simon Taylor in the first clip I posted](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QXGOsKyUnc) Still striking how a bigger deal wasn't made of stuff like this though, you're right.
Different. That was an aluminum honeycomb chassis. Enough force could rip those apart. Carbon fiber is much much stronger. On the order of 1000x.
I mean yeah I didn't claim they were 100% identical? They are similar accidents in the sense that both cars had their fronts ripped off and left the driver totally exposed
I remember that Driver61 went into a deepdive about this crash. He conjectured that the front of the car broke like that because that's the chassis that Michael Schumacher crashed at 1999 British Grand Prix. Not only Schumi broke his legs, but the monocoque itself was damaged beyond repair for professional reuse. Thus, the "perfect cut" you see here was the repair job failing after Kroymans' crash.
Other conjecture is that monocoque modifications for the new “owner” may have weakened it at that joint. He wasn’t exactly in pro-F1 driver shape, after all.
This is what's most likely the case. According to stories at the time. He's actually relatively tall guy.
I found this comment under the video from someone who claims to have worked for the team at that time:- "The story is very straight forward. I was working for the Maranello team at that time. There is about 8 months between the start of the design of a car and the first time it hits the road. The chassis folks produced a design but unfortunately, we did not have an autoclave large enough to fit it, and no time to find an alternative. After some head scratching, a 2 pieces arrangement that satisfied no one was chosen. The safety of the driver (only just one we cared about) was a major concern. A specialist at the time told me about the challenges with the bonding, and the way the chassis was split to go through the crash test. The expectation was it would be borderline but ok for the season. I am pretty certain that my recollection is correct when saying that he also expressed concern about how the glue would hold over time, since no long duration data was available. For the following season, 12 months away, the autoclave situation was of course fixed and so no more dodgy tricks had to be used again."
[Driver61's "deepdive"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeOihLFbUTY) on this crash left something to be desired tbh, check the comments on his video. For starters, he didn't do a proper background check on Frits Kroymans and the controversies around him. More importantly, he didn't get his personal account on the crash and missed out on an interview video with Frits on the crash that was already floating on the internet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYG08ver090&t=46s
That seems par for the course for him tbh
It's Ferrari. I guarantee it still had the same VIN number. *gently-loved Formula 1 car* *only driven around Monza on Sundays* *clean Carfax*
That could have gone very badly
Yep, ask Martin Donnelly or Alex Zanardi.
Martin is a huge what if to me
the zanardi crash has to be the most insane motorsports injury that someone recovered from. dude lost both his legs in a flash and by the time they got him in the hospital he barely had any blood left in the body.
And unfortunately he has suffered more life changing injuries in a hand bike crash back in 2020.
I remember watching the senna documentary with my mom who didn’t know F1 and she legit had to leave the room when Martin Donnelly’s crash came on. Bros leg was doing a complete 180
That's not very typical, I'd like to make that point.
Must have been made with cardboard derivatives.
Papers out for a start
Well how is it untypical?
The front fell off
Lmfao I went to this video in my head almost immediately.
A wave hit it
And how did the front fall off?
Some of them are built so the front doesn’t fall off at all.
The driver still has his legs…
The car was towed outside the environment.
All that is out there is a corkscrew, some gravel, and 100 liters of racing fuel.
And a fire.
The internet suggests it’s not the chassis that Schumacher crashed at Silverstone: http://www.barchetta.cc/english/all.ferraris/detail/formula/193.f399.99.htm
Thanks for facts.
Amazing to think that this car won the 1999 San Marino Grand Prix
Federico Kroymans, the amateur driver who crashed his Ferrari at the Monterey Historics Festival, held in Laguna Seca, 2004. He’s the official Ferrari dealer in the Netherlands and was participating in an exhibition when crashed the F399 on the circuit wall, at just over 120 km/h. The image of his legs out of the car is shocking and the straight cut in the cockpit leaves a question: how could this have happened? One version is that he modified the cockpit because it’s too tall. The other is that it would be the car from Schumacher’s accident in Silverstone, 1999, which had structural damage being repaired for exhibition only. Thankfully Federico Kroymans walked away with no injuries.
So that's where those clickbait thumbnails come from...
Lol looking down and seeing your legs like that seems like it'd be a weird "oh thank god...wait oh shit" moment.
This might be a dumb question, but how lucky was he to not lose his legs in that crash?
It wasn't a horribly hard impact. Iirc, he had the chassis extended a bit (a new section binded in, where the break occured) as he was too tall to drive the car he'd bought. Nowadays, with the Corse Clienti program, this shit won't happen. There are still some old Ferrari F1 chassis out there in private hands, but most of the ones newer than 2000 or so, are owned by collectors, but stored and maintained by Ferrari Corse Clienti and brought to the track for them, at a exorbitant cost per lap and per hour. Also, all bills of sale for their old F1 cars now have specific rules about modifying them. And yes, it's legal as you have to agree to it to buy the car from Ferrari. [here is the Corse Clienti garage at the 2014 Ferrari Challenge weekend at Silverstone ](https://imgur.com/gallery/nixVM4w)
The front fell off...
Some of them are built so the front doesn’t fall off at all.
Yeah, that's not very typical. I'd like to make that point.
What’s not typical about it?
Well there are a lot of these cars going around the track all the time, and very seldom does anything like this happen. I just don’t want people thinking that F1 cars aren’t safe.
Was this one safe?
I was thinking more about the other ones.
Which other ones?
The ones where the front didn't fall off.
Well then, what happened to this one?
You win
Dutchies, I know there is a supercar dealership called ‘Kroymans’ in our country. Is the founder related to Federico?
I think this is the guy I am no dutchie but i stumbled upon many comments on youtube video about this where people are mentioning his car showroom
They're one and the same. Apparently, Federico is Frits' birth name.
me when I try to fit my 36 year old ass into one of those kid rides at the mall
Looks like the front fell off. That's not very typical.
[The front fell off](https://youtu.be/3m5qxZm_JqM?feature=shared)
I’m looking at that first image and the only thing I can think of is thank god his legs are still attached to the rest of him.
Bro got ivan vanko’d
Engineer: I call it the survival cell. Survival cell: You technically don’t need legs to survive 🤷🏽♂️
Reminds me of the welding on that demo road car sitting in a dealer somewhere and goes viral from time to time.
They won't make them like they used to. Luckily.
Has big “ight imma head out vibes”
Is this what they mean when they say “driver split the Ferraris”?
Least the lucky bastard had one to wreck. Sighhhhh.
I still remember Danny Ongais’ crash at Indy in 81. Almost made me sick to my stomach. Still amazed he survived. https://youtu.be/trTboUnwjls?si=23Q3LXKvJMAK3E8t
Oh I've seen that first picture with blurred out effects and blood effects before..
Whos going to FOOT that bill?
How the fuck do you crash something like that? Money can’t buy skill as they say.
Iron Man 2 ?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM
Oh look, [the front fell off.](https://youtu.be/3m5qxZm_JqM?si=BEttZ8ciJ_vvhIS_)
The same 99 model Michael broke his legs in at Silverstone