As safe as a dangerous sport can be

It was a Formula One weekend, so I spent most of it glued to the telly. I found it was hard while I was away from India to keep up with all that was going on in my favourite sport. Australia only seems interested in sports that use balls - Aussie Rules, cricket, rugby. Balls do not feature in Formula One. Well, not that kind!

It was a unusual race weekend, what with Felipe Massa's freak accident during qualifying on Saturday. For those who may not share my enthusiasm for the sport, those who spent the past weekend in an alcoholic stupor, and those who just don't get out much, the car driven by Rubens Barrichello suffered a rear suspension failure. A spring came off and bounced along the track. Four seconds later, the spring struck Massa in the head. His Ferrari then ploughed into the tyre barrier. Pictures of Massa's helmet show the force of the impact. Four years ago the helmets were upgraded to carbon-fibre, twice as stong as the previous material. This carbon-fibre is being touted as the reason Felipe was able to survive the crash. The design of the car, and the tyre barrier, also played their part.

And I've just seen footage on the BBC news of another reminder that Motorsport, in spite of all the safety precautions, still has its dangers. Driver Tony Kanaan was taking part in the Edmonton IndyCar race on the weekend. Things were going swimmingly, until his first pit stop when the ethanol fuel hose filling his car appeared to not shut off properly, dousing him and his car in fuel. Seconds later, the car was on fire. He drove a short distance down the pit lane to prevent the fire spreading to his pit garage. Other teams' pit crews doused the flames and helped Tony out of the car. He suffered minor burns to his thumbs and face. In an interview after the event he was asked "what if it had been worse?". His reply: "How much worse could it be? I was on fire for 45 seconds. I'd like to thank the people who make Nomex (the fire-retardent fabric his driving suit is constructed from)". I'll second that!