The Crash That Changed Racing Forever - Henry Surtees

this is the true story of how the tragic fatality of one of motorsport's most promising talents changed professional racing forever and how his legacy helped save dozens of lives Henry certes was an up and coming 18 year old racing driver from Britain despite his age he had racked up an impressive resume with his first car series being the geneta GT juniors in 2006 after several seasons in carts from here he went on to compete in progressively more powerful and prestigious series over the years he showed talent and willingness to learn right off the bat and was known for his impressive dedication to the sport his father John put it perfectly though most importantly he was a nice person and a loving son speaking of his father is worth noting Henry was genetically built to be an absolute track weapon since his dad is John certes certes is a racing Legend and the only person to become a world champion on both two and four wheels he managed to amass 38 Grand Prix wins and six TT wins over his extensive racing career after Henry demonstrated his impressive racing abilities he signed up for the Formula 2 Championship so that he could compete in the 2009 season driving as car number seven he managed to score his first podium in the first of two races at Bran's hatch on Saturday the 18th of July 2009. sadly despite a great start to the series this Podium would end up being his last the following race also at Bran's hatch is where disaster struck in a freak accident which would go on to change formula Motorsport forever on the next day the drivers lined up for their second race of the weekend 24 Formula 2 cars all fitted with 1.8 liter Audi turbos capable of putting out up to 450 horsepower eagerly anticipated their next opportunity to shine Henry qualified eighth and was putting in a good run following closely behind jolion Palmer who was racing in number three Jack Clark in number 11 was ahead of them entering into the Westfield band on the exit he didn't make it round and spun off smacking into a nearby barrier at this sort of speed Palmer's crash was initially seen as fairly routine the Formula 2 cars are built to match the fia's F1 safety standards of 2005 so a scrape like this wasn't too concerning additionally the head protection fit to the cars conformed with 2009 F1 standards so everyone assumed he was fine what wasn't expected however was that Jack Clark's rear left wheel would come off headed for the straight after his car bounced off the wall this shouldn't have happened Williams who manufactured the chassis Incorporated Road wheelchair tethers which are designed to stop wheels from coming loose and bouncing around dangerously sadly safety measures aren't always a hundred percent foolproof and Clark's wheel came free doing exactly what the engineers were trying to prevent the wheel bounced straight into the middle of the Derrick Minter straight and this is where disaster struck certes had successfully exited the Westfield band but at exactly the wrong time Clark's wheel smashed him straight in the head knocking him unconscious certi's sustained a massive blow with a rough estimate of 29 kilos directly hitting his head at around 100 miles an hour it's safe to say a helmet and slightly raised cockpit did little to prevent this fatal blow Henry's car drove down the Derrick Minter straight at considerable speed and plowed straight into the wall past the next turn the rest of this clip isn't for sensitive viewers so skip to this point if you would prefer foreign was knocked out his foot was still on the throttle and there was nothing that could be done the car slid to the right hugging the barrier before the car spun out and came to a stop even when his car stopped he was still on the throttle when Marshals arrived at the wreckage they noticed Henry's visor on his helmet was partially opened probably as a result of the wheel hitting him so hard the race was stopped thereafter and Henry was rushed to a nearby Medical Center he was stabilized and airlifted to the Royal London Hospital where he tragically passed away from the injuries he had sustained it was determined that the wheel hitting his head was the cause of death rather than the collision with the barrier before the following race at Donington Park the entire Formula 2 group held a memorial to pay their tributes to the talented young racer who they all admired Henry's car was lined up in pole position and all the drivers and the entire Formula 2 Team gathered behind it msv's John Palmer also joins them where they all held a minute silence all of the cars were fitted with stickers on the rear wing to commemorate him for for that race too he was buried at Saint Peter and Saint Paul's Church in lingfield Surrey this tragic incident shocked the racing world to its core and they knew changes had to be made wheels were not meant to be able to detach from cars easily yet in two crashes mere Seconds Apart both of them had Wheels which flew off Henry's Father John immediately spoke out hoping that the loss of his son could push the sport in the right direction in terms of safety he was a key figure in making sure his son didn't die in vain and campaigned loudly for the proper cockpit head protection years later a solution was finally set in place the Halo it was made compulsory for the 2018 season the Halo had been a welcome positive change to F1 which has already saved several lives if it wasn't for the Halo there's a good chance several world-class drivers including Hamilton and grosjean wouldn't be alive today additionally in a simulation performed they determined that if Halo had been fitted to Henry's car there was a much greater chance he would have survived John unfortunately never got to witness a season of formula one with the Halo implemented because he passed away in March 2017 after which he was buried alongside his son it's not just the Halo which 30s can be thanked for though in 2011 the Formula One World Championship season doubled the wheel tethers to two per wheel in an attempt to prevent Wheels Flying off which seems to be working quite well also Henry's organs were donated by his parents which on its own saved an additional five lives in the year after Henry's passing his dad set up a foundation named after him to assist victims of accidental brain injuries and to help improve the car safety Motorsport and otherwise the foundation was highly successful and made a huge difference in the betterment of count this people's lives understandably a few years after John's passing the foundation came to a close their final message was this a touching Memorial to Henry John and their positive contributions they brought to the world dear supporters and Friends of hsf it has been a quiet year for us at hsf for obvious reasons and although we have continued to support our charitable partners and causes it has also given us time to think about the future of hsf we started hsf following my brother's catastrophic racing accident and our aims led by my Father John certis are to assist those who have been impacted by accidents and injuries and support them to return to Community Living this has meant working with various Partners including air ambulances across the UK to support the national roll out of the blood on board scheme saving valuable time for those impacted by severe injuries to individuals and Community recreational activities it has been a joy to watch over the last 12 years the difference hsf has been able to make all because of the generous support we have received and we've been able to donate just under a million pounds to our charitable partners following dad's death in 2017 we were proud to be able to deliver one final and very special Brooklyn's karting fundraising event and further fundraising events both on and off the track we've continued to partner with the various Charities and individuals to be able to help them with their incredibly worthwhile courses hsf has always been a Bittersweet Venture for us as a family born from huge personal suffering and as a family we have been comforted by the good we have been able to achieve as our lives move on to new family members and new Ventures we know this is not something we could trust to those outside our family and have therefore decided it is now the right time to bring hsf to a close for us hsf is just part of Henry's Legacy most of all we will remember him as a loving son and brother who bores us so much cheekiness and joy into our lives we are immensely proud of the the work hsf has done in his memory and most of all we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us the hsf is now closed of course so I won't be able to leave a donation link to it instead I've left a link down below if you would like to support Mission Motorsports instead they're a charity which aims to help in the recovery and Rehabilitation of veterans by giving them opportunities in racing they've helped over 2 000 veterans get involved in racing not only in driving but also employment if this video has ads running I'll be donating all of the ad Revenue to Mission Motorsport 2. although this story involved the tragic passing of a highly talented young driver with the whole world ahead of him I hope that this shows more of a positive side to his legacy as well despite Henry's age he has had a massive positive influence on the racing world and the wider world too rest in peace

Channel: blags

Views: 1,093,867

Keywords: f1, crash, henry surtees, f1 crash, f2 crash henry surtees, henry, surtees, racing, f1 car crash, car

Id: MkarUG7plfw

Length: 11min 18sec (678 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 26 2023