[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by freebeard

F1 racing technology has a cockpit that lets you survive horrendous crashes. This is why I'd favor basalt over carbon fiber:

https://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6199

There’s a lot of speculation about exactly what happened to this 1999-spec Ferrari F399. What is known is that it was driven by Dutchman Federico Kroymans in a demonstration event at Laguna Seca in California five years ago. He crashed at turn six and went into the barriers at around 66mph (106kph).

Any F1 fan who’s seen the picture will be astonished by how a comparatively low-speed impact did such serious damage to a relatively recent car.

Did the car have some pre-existing damage to the chassis that was not repaired? There was speculation that the chassis might be the same one Michael Schumacher crashed at Silverstone in 1999, breaking his leg.

But this seems unlikely. There is another suggestion that Kroymans made modifications to the car himself in order to accommodate his tall frame (which is clearly evident in this picture). This could have weakened the car’s ability to withstand impacts.

This wasn't the fault of carbon fibre, but a fault in modification or repair. Open wheelers regularly crash much more spectacularly and far less comically.