Massa pit stop

[PolePosition_1]

Well yes. BUT the light is higher up and more difficult to see than a HUUUUUUGE lollipop which is right in front of your face. You can't stop these accidents happening but you can make it more difficult for it to happen.

All due respect, but I don't think Kimi wasn't looking at the green light, so just went because it was so small.

I think it was human error Daniel. New system or not, same would have happened.

IF only there was a way we could find out. Have to agree to disagree

[ArrowsFA1]

I agree that delaying the decision was bad...

From the shot from Massa's car it looked bad I'll admit. But to even the most badly sighted non-biased person watching you would have to say it was borderline dangerous at best/worst.

If it's borderline dangerous then that suggests it may have been unsafe, and a rule is in place to address that.

[Daniel]

All due respect, but I don't think Kimi wasn't looking at the green light, so just went because it was so small.

I think it was human error Daniel. New system or not, same would have happened.

IF only there was a way we could find out. Have to agree to disagree

You don't seem to get it. You can look at the lights or not look at them, but the lollipop is right there in front of you. Yes some drivers have gone regardless but it's a different system.

When each crew member presses a button he is saying

"My job is done, the car can go without injuring me"

Whereas with a lollipop there is a person who has a good view of what is happening at the rear of the car and of traffic coming down the pit lane says "All work is done, you can go without injuring anyone and the pit lane is clear for you" the added bonus is that the driver will ALWAYS be looking at the lollipop whereas the lights are not really as close to the centre of their field of view. Systems like this with lights are used in the DTM and all it causes is problems.

Obviously it was human error.... it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure that one out. It's about having a system which makes human error less likely. The light system clearly isn't the best.

[Daniel]

If it's borderline dangerous then that suggests it may have been unsafe, and a rule is in place to address that.

Like I said it was borderline dangerous at worst. At best it's a driver getting the most out of his exit out of the pits and not doing anything dangerous at all. You have to admit that Massa got out nice and quickly and didn't seem to really come close to hitting Sutil when you consider how close these guys get at 3x the speed.

I hate to say it but if this gets penalised it's yet another step towards nannying F1 into total crapulence.

[ottostreet]

no big deal. didnt see much wrong with it, and id say if it had been anyone other than hamilton following, we would have heard very little about it from the ITV crew.

[Tazio]

A five position grid penalty wouldn't surprise me! Although it is the wrong protocal!

BTW, Tazio's 2008 Shiver

[ioan]

The system itself is safer than the lollipop system.

That is because the electronics sum up all the good to go signals from all the involved mechanics, while the lollipop man could have missed one of them (as we often saw in the past).

In the same time the system is still dependent on human error.
In Felipe's case the guy watching the traffic in the pitlane made a mistake.
In Kimi's case it was the driver's fault, he didn't wait for the green light. In a way I don't blame him because he was on his way to get ahead of Heikki, but waiting another tenth or two wouldn't have jeopardized his position.

[ArrowsFA1]

I hate to say it but if this gets penalised it's yet another step towards nannying F1 into total crapulence.

Not so long ago there was no speed limit in the pitlane, and while it may have been exciting watching the cars speeding back out on track, it was undoubtedly dangerous. An Osella mechanic died after being hit by Reutemann's Williams at Zolder in 1981, and others have been injured.

The existing rule is there for a reason.

[ioan]

A five position grid penalty wouldn't surprise me! Although it is the wrong protocal!

Penalize the driver for the team's fault even though he didn't get any advantage out of it? Well it wouldn't be the first time.

It would however be the first time in recent times that a driver get's a penalty for going side by side with another car in the pit lane, after such things happened several times, and weren't even investigated in the past.

[ioan]

Not so long ago there was no speed limit in the pitlane, and while it may have been exciting watching the cars speeding back out on track, it was undoubtedly dangerous. An Osella mechanic died after being hit by Reutemann's Williams at Zolder in 1981, and others have been injured.

The existing rule is there for a reason.

Your definition for "not so long ago" is at least interesting. :