Investigating the WEIRDEST Formula 1 Crash Ever

The most abused thumbnail picture of all time🤣 so many compilations have that also censored, glad to learn more about it

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.

I’m the person that wrote the comment you quoted from the Alfabb. The inside wall at turn 6 was closer to the track in 2004. It was moved back via excavation later on, which is what you see in the in car you show.

Somewhat nostalgic to see the name Kroymans again. I grew up in Hilversum back in the '90, not too far from the Kroymans showroom. One time me and a friend wanted to go checking out those exotic cars on a summer day. But feeling dissatisfied with only looking at them, we gathered our courage and decided to ask the clerk or we could sit in those cars. It was a quiet summer day, there were no customers in the showroom. So the clerk decided to be kind to us kids (we were teens, 15 years old) and allow us to choose 1 car to sit in. This is where I felt in love with the Ferrari 550 Maranello. It was the first Ferrari I sat in. Good memories, better than the memories of having Christijan Albers 🤮as a classmate in that same year. Total jerk. Didn't liked him back then, still don't like him now.

My dad has a car company from the Netherlands. Kroymans still owes him 15000 EU. They tried to finance everything by getting loans with multiple banks.

I was there when it happened, sitiing on a hillside with a friend. It was a demonstration race during the Monterey Historics weekend. I'm not certain of the year but it may have been 2004. There were about a dozen Corsa Clienti F1 cars going around the track. I didn't see the crash itself. As you said it was a warmup lap so were weren't playing close attention, but we were shocked when we saw it broken in half because as you said they weren't going too fast, and being that it was one of the newest cars there you would expect it to be the safest. By the way, if there is one weekend and one trasck to go to where you want to see the most amazing and beautiful cars, go to Laguna Seca during the historic race weekend.

Look at the car's nose, at 4:07... Wheels and suspensions are still attached, and apparently intact, the nose is just scratched, and the only thing broken off seems the front wing. Without any context, i would have guessed the car broke in two without even crashing.

I was there that day. I was just downhill from Turn 6 where this happened, heading up to take some photos. I heard the crash, and made my way the rest of the way up to the inside of the corner. I got a couple of shots of him sitting in his car, but they were from further away and I think not as good an angle as the ones you show here. It was pretty chilling.

As a few others have noted, this was not a race. Ferrari was the featured marque at the Monterey Historics in 2004. They had several Corse Clienti cars circulating at lunch. I was working on the Course Marshall crew that day. We had to take a short lunch so that they could reopen the track. All of a sudden, we got a "stand up" order and then were dispatched to help with the cleanup. I was on the track as the SCCA crew were loading the "car" on the rollback. We put one of the rear wheels in the back of our Ford crew cab truck. My sons were in attendance and got some footage of the cleanup. You can see me on the track in a few shots. When we went back to the garage with the rollback, I carried the rear wheel, with tire still mounted, and some suspension bits into the garage for the crew. That was all so light I could carry it out at arm's length! As soon as I saw the opening still in this video, I knew it was that event!

The story I heard is that because of his tall height, the car had to be modified for his height. So the nose was dismantled and when put back on, it had a weak point. When Fritz crashed, that weak point must've just failed and the whole nose came off after the impact. But that's the story I've heard. Edit: ok, it's in the video

Stan Fox had a crash at the 1995 Indy 500 that left his legs exposed like that. I was 14 and the memory of the car coming to rest with his legs hanging out is very vivid in my mind. Amazingly his legs were fine but he suffered severe head injuries.

I was in the paddock and saw this car come in on the flatbed while a pack of frantic Italians attempted to keep it covered up. As you mentioned it was the first lap so everyone was wondering what happened. I saw this picture the following Monday.

Including your research/how you found the car/driver/accident was a great choice. It's rare to see that included. I'm sure it helps others in how they research things as well.

Great video, I used to work for Ferrari West Europe at that time, I had many an interaction with Fritz Kroymans, who was one of our Dutch Ferrari dealers at the time. I remember distinctly Fritz was invited to Maranello following this crash, to choose another F1 car, and he chose an F2001 to replace it. His collection was subsequently sold when he hit financial troubles back in 08, yet he's still one of two Ferrari dealers in the Netherlands. Great guy!

I like watching this channel for serious Scott. But F-bomb dropping, competitive, snarky Scott is so much fun to watch on Overdrive. ESPECIALLY when he sticks it to Callum and Will.

The story that you can't keep your car simply isn't true. You're allowed to have it at your home, but almost all choose to keep it at the factory for ease of maintenance. This story started with the first FXX cars and it wasn't true then, and still isn't true today... The current V6 cars aren't being sold due to sheer cost of keeping them going. So the 2 year thing doesn't exist anymore, either (this was only valid for new cars).

Thanks for this, I've seen the picture a bunch of times and always wondered about the origins of it, cause it's so weird that the tub would split like that. Also, I hope you do get to race at Laguna Seca, it's such a beautiful track.

The 2 year wait to get the newest car isn't necessarily about secrets being revealed, as you said ferrari holds the car and just let's the buyer drive it essentially. The bigger reason for the wait is likely the FIA test prohibition on cars younger than 2 years.

If only our friend Alex Zanardi was this lucky

Reminds me of the Indy 500 crash with Stan Fox, where his legs were literally hanging out of the car while in mid-air.