If it had been a team lower down the grid then I actually think there'd be a lot more people calling them incompetent and calling for them to be punished, certainly if it was Caterham or Marussia then I think a race ban would be being touted.
While I personally wouldn't mind throwing a wheel at Christian Horner and his smug face, what's this got to do with Red Bull bashing? If Ferrari or Mercedes made the same error, it's the exact same principle. On the point of "motorsport is dangerous" being on point of entry, it is dangerous, but that doesn't mean compensation isn't due. If someone can sue because they trip over a wire in an office (which is wireless :/), I suspect he'd have excellent grounds for covering hospital bills, lay-off and future loss of earning compensation from Red Bull, and the TV company. Hate the driver penalties option F1 have employed in the past for pitlane error... what has the driver done to deserve a grid drop or drive-through?!
I'm not sure about that... these things are just human error, and no matter how big or small of a budget you have, you can't eradicate that. Wheels have been falling off in the pit-lane as long as there have been pit-stops... and this one sure won't be the last. Thankfully the injuries aren't life threatening which is the important aspect of all this.
exactly, wheels have fallen off lots of cars, but I never heard people demand harsh penalties when Buttons wheel came off at the end of the pitlane a couple of seasons ago when the McLaren pit crew messed up and didn't fit his left front properly, but I suppose it wasn't spectacular enough.
So maybe we should have been a bit harsher on Mclaren, but I think people were a bit busy calling them incompetent for constantly screwing up Hamilton and Button's pitstops.
I was annoyed to hear how little Red Bull were being fined, considering how much money the company has, but thinking about it, it seems reasonable. The cost of the fine should easily cover for cost of recovery for the cameraman and money he's lost not being at work. They should be given a reprimand as a warning to make sure they dont make the same mistake again. However I do believe the FIA are sweeping the problem under the carpet again. They aren't doing anything to stop this happening again. A minimum pit stop time should be used. As someone else has said, it should be at least a 5 second stop, thats plenty of time for the mechanics to get the tyres on safely. Then again this a governing body of a sport. They dont like having the responsibility of having to fixing problems, even though that's their job
There's already been a knee-jerk response to this, don't need any others. Just need some common sense.
I really hate this suggestion, firstly the sport's too artificial as it is, but secondly it's completely missing the point. The problem is the lollipop man being under pressure to release the car as quickly as possible, at the moment he has to watch all four wheels and the pitlane for oncoming traffic and at the moment that's causing problems, giving them a stopwatch to watch on top of that is going to make their job even more complicated. It also would've made absolutely no difference to the Webber incident as the nut cross threaded and had to be changed meaning the stop would've taken more than five seconds. So how long do you make a minimum pitstop? 10 seconds? 20? No thanks. There's also been a suggestion that limiting the number of people working on the car would help. Again it's completely missing the point. The quick stops aren't to blame, it's the split second decision the lollipop man has to make, if three tyres are changed in six seconds and the fourth takes six and a half there's a chance that the car could be released in that extra half second with a wheel unattached, obviously it shouldn't be released but people make mistakes under pressure. In 2010 pitstops typically took 4 seconds and we had wheels coming off, in 2008 they took about 8 seconds and we had cars leaving with the fuel hose still attached, the pitstop time isn't the issue. Webber's wheel didn't come off because his stop was fast, in fact it came off because the right rear wasn't serviced quick. I'm all for making sport the safer, but this is one of the inherent risks of motorsport.
They should have another guy waving something and giving pre-warning to the car behind (entering or exiting his pit box) that they're about to release their car, at least then the driver is alert to the fact these guys are close to finishing and maybe in the process prevent a collision.
mmm, dunno, all the drivers can see when someone is in a pit, and they all know a pit-stop takes between 2.5 and 3.5 seconds (normally) so seeing a car in their pit should really be warning enough.
"They should…" "They should…" "They should…" Hmm… how about a Pit Lane Pedestrian Pace Person who walks in front of team's car with a red flag and a loud-hailer, shouting "warning, car approaching; warning, car approaching; warning, car approaching…"? Of course, Safety Cameras (ahem) should be aimed at said PLaPPP to enforce a 'no running' rule*. Oh yeah, thinking ahead; there would also need to be a rule about how quickly the warning is announced, as well as how loudly and clearly it is spoken (or shouted) – and another rule governing punishments for all conceivable infringements… *This rule should be applicable up to a line defining the end of the PLaPPP-walk, alongside which is sited a large hammock, mounted on softly sprung suspension poles**. However, leaping aside should only be allowable after a suitably bright and loud audio-visual signal, to which minimum reaction time should be monitored as per sprinting Olympians. **Appropriately damped to avoid tossing the PLaPPP off – into the path of eager, impatient, easily frustrated drivers.
In their desperation to appear to be doing something, the FIA are imposing 10 place grid penalties to cars released without a wheel. Apparently retiring from a grand prix and potentially killing someone aren't deterrents for the pit crews, but a grid drop will make everything better. I don't like this, it could end up costing a driver 50 points in the WDC for one minor error by a mechanic. They're also reducing the speed limit in practice sessions to 80km/h, cars doing 100km/h during free practice must be a proven killer.
I must admit even I don't understand why the FIA have done it either, nor why they can't make their minds up on journalists in the pitlane. As for the speed limit, the issue lies with having a different speed between practice and the race itself.
