Pit stop safety

Apologies if this has already been discussed...

Am I the only one who feels that perhaps the FIA should address the safety of pit stops, specifically in light of at least three incidents (that I could see from ITV's feed):
1. There's the obvious flash fire during Massa's first stop. It seemed that his car was rolling slightly as it was let down from the jacks. The fuel hose was still attached.
2. Similarily, during his second stop Massa's car seemed to be rolling slightly, which I found rather disturbing considering his first stop.
3. Heidfeld's obvious wheel-nut incident :mark:

All three incidents looked rushed, specifically with the lollipop-man possibly releasing the car too early :mark:

The only way to stop incidents like that is to have a minimum pit stop time (I think some endurance championship use it to make sure driver changes are not rushed)

They all know the risks, there will always be human error / mechanical failure.

Every time I've been to Silverstone, there is a big warning on the back of the ticket stating that "Motorsport is Dangerous"??

Surely it's not beyond the wit of man to programme the car to remain in neutral all the time the fuel rig is connected? It would make pit stops fractionally longer, but it would be the same for everybody.

I've never understood why there isn't a safety switch in the fuel filler of each car, to stop the clutch engaging before the hose is removed. It would stop one of the most dangerous of pit accidents (which seems to happen in other racing too, not just F1)

Dave - great minds!

;)

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Originally Posted by Dave Brockman

Surely it's not beyond the wit of man to programme the car to remain in neutral all the time the fuel rig is connected? It would make pit stops fractionally longer, but it would be the same for everybody.

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And thus introducing a new means for electronics malfunctioning to destroy a drivers race. RedBull had troubles making their fuel flap open and close, and that is much simpler to do.

why why why when a team member/driver so much as stubs thier toe do we have to a great big safty debate. motorsport is dangerous. too much unessasary safety debate will lead to motorsport become far too dull and controlled. its a dangerous sport please acept this. the fia or anyone involved in motorsport ( apart from maybe the btcc drivers) ever purposefully do anything that would put in danger any other member of the f1 community. just accept accidents can happen anytime anywhere.

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Originally Posted by GRAVETT

just accept accidents can happen anytime anywhere.

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So we should just let these accidents happen, rather than try and prevent them? Yeah good call :rolleyes:

accidents are accidents, you can do all you can to prevent them but in doing this the quality of what you're trying to make safer suffers greatly. the only thing you can do to completly rule out pitstop danger is to ban pitstops ( not going to happen) if the fia was to address the latest incidents then another danger would rear its head that no one was aware of. we dont want f1 to become governed by a nanny state, which is what will happen if when any little ACCIDENT happens everyone has an over the top reaction.

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Originally Posted by GRAVETT

why why why when a team member/driver so much as stubs thier toe do we have to a great big safty debate. motorsport is dangerous. too much unessasary safety debate will lead to motorsport become far too dull and controlled. its a dangerous sport please acept this. the fia or anyone involved in motorsport ( apart from maybe the btcc drivers) ever purposefully do anything that would put in danger any other member of the f1 community. just accept accidents can happen anytime anywhere.

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I would generally accept this view when applied to on-track racing, but why should unnecessary risk be extended to the pit lane? With the amount of people in the pits the potential for injury is far greater.

A simple solution to ensure that cars are not released prematurely would not be detrimental to the sport would it?

How about replacing the lollipop-man with a steward who releases the car? Isn't something similar already done in the ALMS?

and stewards dont make mistakes now do they. a lights system may work to release the cars but computors fail, humans fail. i do not see any reason to change this part of the pit stops. i have never heard any significant protest from any mechanic or team member that would make anyone think that unnecessary risk is being put upon them. if every accident was addressed and the probelm made safe we would be watching f1 drivers compete on playstations. hmmm maybe not because then repetative strain injury would be an issue.

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Originally Posted by GRAVETT

why why why when a team member/driver so much as stubs thier toe do we have to a great big safty debate. motorsport is dangerous. too much unessasary safety debate will lead to motorsport become far too dull and controlled. its a dangerous sport please acept this. the fia or anyone involved in motorsport ( apart from maybe the btcc drivers) ever purposefully do anything that would put in danger any other member of the f1 community. just accept accidents can happen anytime anywhere.

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spot on mate

Obviously you can sanitize the sport too much and ruin the spectacle. Nobody wants that.

However I cannot see what's wrong with holding the cars for an extra second in the pit lane to ensure that the (admittedly small) risk of a potentially fatal accident is minimised.

I accept that it's one more thing which could go wrong, but there's 10,000+ components on a Formula One car which could fail at any time. One or two more wouldn't hurt.

Drivers accept the risk of motorsport, as do team members to some extent. And obviously everybody in the pitlane wears a pass which reminds them that motorsport is dangerous. But there's 20+ people involved in a pit stop, not to mention the camera crews and media who crowd round the cars. If one small improvement can make their jobs a bit safer without ruining the racing, then I cannot see a problem.

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Originally Posted by GRAVETT

and stewards dont make mistakes now do they. a lights system may work to release the cars but computors fail, humans fail. i do not see any reason to change this part of the pit stops. i have never heard any significant protest from any mechanic or team member that would make anyone think that unnecessary risk is being put upon them. if every accident was addressed and the probelm made safe we would be watching f1 drivers compete on playstations. hmmm maybe not because then repetative strain injury would be an issue.

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Who said anything about protests? :mark:

Stewards wouldn't be encumbered with the pressure of releasing the cars prematurely.