70 replies to this topic

[karlth]

Webber managed to vomit pleasently into his helmet this weekend. Cevert is supposed to have done the same prior to his fatal accident. Mechanics reported that James Hunt vomitted regularly due to fright.

Any historical anectodes about this less pleasent side effect of high speed driving??

[Andrew Kitson]

Jackie Stewart, Monaco GP 1971.

[RS2000]

50%+ of rally co-drivers/navigators!

[D-Type]

Tony Brooks at Monaco in 1959. The high sides of the Ferrari cockpit trapped fumes which weren't dissipated because of the low speeds.

Hunt was reported to vomit before the race not during it.

[Paul Parker]

As far as I recall from 30 years ago and without any other form of reference to hand, Hunt actually vomited in his helmet during the 1977 French GP at Paul Ricard.

Given what we know of his other activities I think it would not be unfair to assume that these were beginning to affect his fitness and general health.

Certainly if you look at colour pics of JH in 1975/76 and then in 1978/79 sans helmet he has aged noticeably.

[karlth]

Originally posted by Paul Parker
As far as I recall from 30 years ago and without any other form of reference to hand, Hunt actually vomited in his helmet during the 1977 French GP at Paul Ricard.

Given what we know of his other activities I think it would not be unfair to assume that these were beginning to affect his fitness and general health.

Certainly if you look at colour pics of JH in 1975/76 and then in 1978/79 sans helmet he has aged noticeably.

Was it not said that Hunt vomited due to fright, not due to lack of fitness? Because he was so afraid of crashing?

[F1Fanatic.co.uk]

Didn't Nelson Piquet throw up at Las Vegas in '81 on his way to the title?

[Paul Parker]

It is not my intention to smear JH, but he did enjoy life etc.

Certainly he was a very tense person at times and being sick beforehand is quite normal for many including stage actors, but not during adrenalin filled racing when your body operates on a different level, oblivious to pain, fear and all else.

Vomiting under these circumstances would not be due to fright.

[petefenelon]

Vomiting was quite common at Clermont-Ferrand, IIRC - the switchback nature of the track induced sickness in quite a few drivers. Wasn't it the last place that some drivers still wore open-face helmets because it was easier to deal with the consequences?

Jenks lost his breakfast (and his glasses) over the side of the car in the '55 Mille Miglia, didn't he?

[ensign14]

Originally posted by karlth


Was it not said that Hunt vomited due to fright, not due to lack of fitness? Because he was so afraid of crashing?

I understood it was because he was so afraid of losing...stage fright, perhaps.

[karlth]

Originally posted by ensign14

I understood it was because he was so afraid of losing...stage fright, perhaps.

From the F1.com Hall of Fame article:

"Many of his early races ended in huge accidents. In one of them his Formula Ford crashed and sank in the middle of a lake. He might have drowned had he been wearing the requisite seatbelts he couldn't afford to buy. In faster Formula Three cars 'Hunt the Shunt' had even bigger accidents. Eventually he learned to stay on the track long enough to win races, but never conquered his fears. In the garage his terror often caused him to vomit and on the grid he shook so much the car vibrated."

[Ross Stonefeld]

Sounds like some artistic license...

[barrykm]

I seem to recall that Dave Charlton had some nausea problems at either the 'Ring or Clermont Ferrand in the early 70's when he visited Europe for a limited campaign with his Lucky Strike Lotus 72.

[karlth]

Originally posted by barrykm
I seem to recall that Dave Charlton had some nausea problems at either the 'Ring or Clermont Ferrand in the early 70's when he visited Europe for a limited campaign with his Lucky Strike Lotus 72.

Raikkonen cannot drive in an simulator due to nausea as well, don't know though if it so acute it causes vomiting.

[LOLE]

Although not in a F1 :


Kurt Ahrens threw up after he drove his first tree test laps around the Nürburgring Nordschleife in the fabulous Porsche 917. This was due to stress because he didn’t want to crash the car, thinking of the important project for Porsche and the huge value of the car…

[MCS]

Originally posted by petefenelon
Vomiting was quite common at Clermont-Ferrand, IIRC - the switchback nature of the track induced sickness in quite a few drivers. Wasn't it the last place that some drivers still wore open-face helmets because it was easier to deal with the consequences?

Jochen Rindt in 1970, I seem to recall. Did he not revert back to an open face helmet for the race?

[Paul Parker]

According to received wisdom, Rindt's nausea problems at the 1969 French GP were directly related to the effects of his Spanish GP shunt.

In fact he borrowed a helmet from Piers Courage and was still wearing it at the British GP as far as I can remember. The example of Ahrens is not typical and not under racing conditions.

Of course some drivers suffer(ed) from motion sickness whilst driving, but in general it is not caused by fright, rather it is an inner ear problem and the result of feeling something that does not necessarily correspond with what you are seeing, as in sea sickness. Or it is caused by other health related issues, as in Mark Webber at Fuji or having imbibed something to excess.

As a racing circuit Paul Ricard is not even remotely like Clermont Ferrand.

[Dave Ware]

I remember Rob Walker's race report from Clermont-Ferrand in '72. He said that Dave Charleton was eating a banana in an attempt to stave off vomiting but it didn't work.

[MCS]

Originally posted by Paul Parker
According to received wisdom, Rindt's nausea problems at the 1969 French GP were directly related to the effects of his Spanish GP shunt...

I was thinking of 1970.

[Allen Brown]

What a delightful thread.

[bigears]

There was many theories about Francois Cevert's fatal accident at Watkins Glen and vomitting in his helmet was one of them that caused him to go off the track into the Armco.

EDIT>>Whoops, didn't read the opening post properly.

[sterling49]

Originally posted by Allen Brown
What a delightful thread.

Just what you want to read before dinner!

[RS2000]

Originally posted by Allen Brown
What a delightful thread.

Yes. I was thinking "Tobacco spitting in NASCAR" would be a good sequel.....

[FLB]

Wasn't Jackie Oliver sick in the 917 at Daytona in 1971 and Rodriguez had to get in the car because the Brit was too unwell to continue?

[Gary C]

'What a delightful thread.'
My thoughts too.

[Paul Parker]

Sorry I was stuck in 1969 with Rindt.

[karlth]

Originally posted by Gary C
'What a delightful thread.'
My thoughts too.

But you had to take a peek anyway didn't you?

[condor]

Well what do they do with it?

If someone chucks up - what are they supposed to do?

I felt sorry for Mark Webber because it was broadcast that he'd vomited in his helmet. I didn't particularly care that he'd been sick - but guessed was probably a result of nerves, worry etc.
Felt more sorry for him that it was broadcast and caused him embarrassment.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Id rather be embarassed than throwing up on my self. Though I'm sure one would follow the other!

[Doug Nye]

Byeuuugggghhhhhmmmppphhhh-whaaaaaahhhh...

There's plenty about current motor sport which makes one want to throw up...

DCN

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by karlth


Raikkonen cannot drive in an simulator due to nausea as well, don't know though if it so acute it causes vomiting.

That kind of nausea is not uncommon. An old friend of mine built what was pretty much the state of the art in driving simulators in the early 90s (these days a bottom of the range PC would be more powerful, but in those days it was a third of a million quid's worth of kit, a real car in the loop and proper force-feedback on the steering column etc etc).

On the longer experiments that involved people having to 'drive' for a couple of hours a moderately high proportion of subjects became ill - I think it's believed that the difference in what the eye is seeing and what the inner ear isn't feeling particularly when the car is 'cornering' caused the nausea.

[COUGAR508]

Originally posted by Andrew Kitson
Jackie Stewart, Monaco GP 1971.

Yes, I think this was caused by inadequate cockpit ventilation. I think he vomitted on the way to the podium after winning, although the footage that I've seen was tastefully edited. If you remember also that he had major braking problems during that race, it makes his performance all the more commendable.

[wolf sun]

Originally posted by Doug Nye
Byeuuugggghhhhhmmmppphhhh-whaaaaaahhhh...

There's plenty about current motor sport which makes one want to throw up...

DCN

Hahahaha, indeed!

[Bonde]

Dave Charlton's choice of bananas may have been based on the observation done by others as well that the taste and texture of bananas is very similar on the upstroke to what it was on the downstroke... :

[stuartbrs]

Webber had food poisoning..

[ian senior]

Originally posted by Allen Brown
What a delightful thread.

Yes, it's making me feel sick.

What next - instances of drivers suffering from irritable bowel syndrome before or even - no, don't go there - during a race?

[Darren Galpin]

Sorry, can't help myself......

Some of the cars/teams are so full of the brown stuff that they wouldn't notice the addition from a driver during a race......

[MonzaDriver]

Originally posted by karlth


Was it not said that Hunt vomited due to fright, not due to lack of fitness? Because he was so afraid of crashing?

About James Hunt, I have heard two interviews, in witch James explain that his vomiting before the race,
was not related to fear or lack of fitness, but it was because he knew that if he broke the car, he has no money for repair, or in the case of write-off the car the end of his career, this causes so much nervous before the race. I think it's a particular related to his early years in motor racing. I dont know if it was the same during his F1 years.

MonzaDriver.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Originally posted by Doug Nye
Byeuuugggghhhhhmmmppphhhh-whaaaaaahhhh...

There's plenty about current motor sport which makes one want to throw up...

DCN

As much criticism as can be acceptably leveled at motor sport, on it's worst day I'd rather watch it than the living anthropological study known as football. Or any other sport for that matter.

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by ian senior


Yes, it's making me feel sick.

What next - instances of drivers suffering from irritable bowel syndrome before or even - no, don't go there - during a race?

Didn't Nigel Mansell have a touch of Montezuma's Revenge in Mexico once? (Thereby provoking the Piquet 'witticism' about "'ave you got the brown flag for Nigel?")

Just to complete the bodily fluids trilogy, I think we've already had a thread about bladder control in races haven't we? ;P

[wrighty]

Originally posted by petefenelon


Didn't Nigel Mansell have a touch of Montezuma's Revenge in Mexico once? (Thereby provoking the Piquet 'witticism' about "'ave you got the brown flag for Nigel?")

poor Nige ;) iirc he also filled his balaclava at Michigan in the Indycar didn't he? fatigue and bumps as i recall.

ha-ha-ha hope it wasn't when he still had the big 'tache

[Leif Snellman]

I think Depailler did it at Mosport in 1976 due to fuel vapours in cockpit or at least he got very ill.

[manmower]

Originally posted by karlth

Cevert is supposed to have done the same prior to his fatal accident.

I've always wondered where that came from. I don't mean to be morbid, but how would one ascertain that it happened before the accident?

[LotusElise]

Originally posted by Paul Parker
Certainly he was a very tense person at times and being sick beforehand is quite normal for many including stage actors, but not during adrenalin filled racing when your body operates on a different level, oblivious to pain, fear and all else.

Vomiting under these circumstances would not be due to fright.

According to my grandfather, vomiting was commonplace among WWII bomber crews as they were readying themselves for a mission. There's no shame in it.
According to friends who are experienced casualty nurses, it's also common in accident victims of various kinds, due to trauma/shock.

[Glengavel]

Originally posted by ian senior


Yes, it's making me feel sick.

What next - instances of drivers suffering from irritable bowel syndrome before or even - no, don't go there - during a race?

Many years ago I read a book? article? about a long-distance rally/marathon where the drivers had to do one stage sitting on a pile of towels due to an attack of dysentery.

:

[john aston]

Always thought TNF folk were anal but not sure is the mot juste for current topic...

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by Glengavel


Many years ago I read a book? article? about a long-distance rally/marathon where the drivers had to do one stage sitting on a pile of towels due to an attack of dysentery.

:

It was one of the American drivers on the Carrera Panamericana, I think. The story is told in Smokey Yunick's autobiography - in much more colourful language, of course.

[David Beard]

Originally posted by petefenelon


It was one of the American drivers on the Carrera Panamericana, I think. The story is told in Smokey Yunick's autobiography - in much more colourful language, of course.

A book I gave up on. No mention anywhere of contraceptives or unwanted children.

[canon1753]

Originally posted by petefenelon


Didn't Nigel Mansell have a touch of Montezuma's Revenge in Mexico once? (Thereby provoking the Piquet 'witticism' about "'ave you got the brown flag for Nigel?")

Actually it was Prost who said the brown flag comment. Nelson stole the toilet paper or something like that...

[Kerb Bouncer]

About Cevert's fatal accident, see David Kane's post #4 :

here

Getting sick is one thing, losing one's life is quite another.