The FIA Isn't Happy About Richard Hammond's Latest Crash

Global motorsport governing body, the FIA, has asked the Swiss motorsport federation to explain the circumstances around Richard Hammond’s latest high-profile accident.

Is it just us, or is that a silly question? Err, he binned it. The Grand Tour presenter was in the process of filming a sequence that, according to co-presenter and serial oaf Jeremy Clarkson, was good enough to feature in the first episode of the fledgling show’s second series. Hammond lost control of the million-dollar Rimac Concept One electric hypercar that he was racing up a hill-climb course and sort of… fell off the hill a bit.

The one thing the FIA might have a point about is that the crash happened after the finish line. It’s a fair question to ask, as to why Hammond still had his foot down.

He was reportedly dragged out of and away from the wreck, which was getting a bit, ahem, burny at the time on its way to becoming the fire-eaten, blackened husk you’ve no doubt seen in the pictures.

Auto Sport Schweiz (ASS, we presume) confirmed that the FIA had asked it for its findings on the crash. More specifically, the FIA has ‘demanded an opinion.’ Now that’s an open-ended phrase if ever we heard one, so we’d like to know what they actually want.

The statement from the FIA said:

“As the international press reported, a serious accident occurred on Saturday, June 10 2017, during ‘show runs’ during the Hemberg Bergrennen.

“This accident tainted the reputation of motorsports in general and mountain races in particular, and the FIA has been forced to demand an opinion from Auto Sport Schweiz.

“Our association is obliged to examine the events in detail, and to initiate disciplinary proceedings. As this is an ongoing process, we cannot provide any further information to third parties at this time.”

It’s likely that the FIA will want to know why and/or how the Hamster was travelling too quickly to make the left-hand turn where the accident began, given that it was after the finish line. We’d take a stab in the dark and say that he was going too quickly because the Rimac is a very fast car and driver error is a thing. He could easily have got lost in the moment, either just enjoying himself or because he was presenting to in-car cameras.

In related news the barn-find enthusiast has promised to be back in the saddle soon after having his fractured knee repaired. His new ‘Swiss Army knee’ is better than the old one, he joked from his hospital bed.

Via: Motorsport.com