Shortly after securing a decent lap time that got him a place in Q3, Massa's helmet got hit by a spring coming from Rubens Barrichello's car. The impact occurred at over 160 mph, resulting in the Brazilian driver losing consciousness. Under the circumstances, Massa was unable to enter Turn 4 properly and crashed into the tire barrier at high speed.
The timing of the accident couldn't have been worst, as it happened only one week away after F2 driver Henry Surtees also suffered head trauma after a wheel and tire hit his helmet while in the race. Unfortunately, the young Brit lost his life later, at the hospital.
“We need to learn from what happened to Felipe. We saw from the accident where we lost Henry Surtees from a head injury as well when material flew in to the cockpit area, it was tragic accident for all motor sport. We're all aware of the risk,” said Webber in an interview with talkSPORT radio.
In addition, Webber praised the toughness of Massa's helmet, as the Red Bull driver believes this piece of equipment actually played a big role in his fellow driver's staying alive.
“For Felipe to have one [accident] with a spring coming towards him, which is a very heavy object, is pretty unusual. Normally we might have a bit of debris or something a bit lighter, but to have something that heavy come in to an open cockpit is dangerous. We really need to study Felipe's helmet to see if there's something we can learn from that. The helmet did a phenomenal job,” added Webber.
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