Van der Garde at Silverstone: “One of my biggest accidents”

Victim of a major accident during private testing at the Silverstone circuit, Giedo van der Garde, the reserve driver for the Sauber F1 team, spoke to our colleagues at Autosport: « It was really strange with the crosswinds. The wind picked up in the afternoon, and coming out of the corner I had a small oversteer, I corrected it but suddenly it went to the other side. I completely lost it and ended up in the outer barrier. »

Engaged in the fast curve of Copse, which is the first turn after the old pit straight – now used by the GP2 paddock – the Dutch driver was in his last stint of the day when his car lost grip and crashed into the barriers. Too damaged, they could not ensure the safety of the drivers, and the session – which was fifteen minutes from its end – was cut short.

The accident was so violent that the warning light measuring the g-force sustained, which each single-seater is equipped with to alert marshals and medical teams of a particularly severe shock, was activated. The procedure is then clear: Giedo van der Garde had to make a mandatory visit to the medical center. However, he emerged unscathed.

“It’s really one of my biggest accidents,” he stated, before adding, “All the sensor lights were on, so I had to go to the medical center. They checked everything and I’m fine.”

Moreover, the former Caterham driver explained that the Sauber team, preparing for the possible banning of the interconnected suspension system (FRIC), alternated runs with or without this device: « This afternoon, we had a different program because of what’s happening with the banning [of the FRIC system], so we had to try a different philosophy. The team was quite happy but today, it was not easy because of the wind. »

#Van der Garde escaped from a huge crash that ended the #F1 test day two session 20min earlier due to barrier damage pic.twitter.com/88HZqAc0zS

— Speeddoctor F1 (@speedoctor1) 9 Juillet 2014