161 replies to this topic

[BRG]

Can we please stow away the Bianchi/tractor stuff, along with the snowflake stuff.  There were no tractors involved with this incident.  Indeed, as both cars simply broke down, no tractors were going to be needed anyway as they could (and probably were) be wheeled away.

 

The question is about risk.  Many here seem to believe that there wasa high likelihood of a third car going off at the same place in the last two or three laps of the race.  In fact, the odds of this are pretty much in line with the odds of you winning the Lottery.  If you really cared about risks, you would address some of the genuine risks that are allowed in F1 all the time.  Walls of human beings in the pitlane, crowds of team members on the pitwall (what if a car reared up over another's wheel and landed on them), driving standards that wouldn't be permitted in a banger race at Aldershot, cars that disintegrate into a shower of c/f shards after the smallest clash, etc etc.

[JavierDeVivre]

I agree BRG, Bianchi's accident is used far too much in over-reactions to safety. Race Direction wasn't to blame for the crash, and even if the loader was not used, he could have easily still struck Sutil, his car or one of the marshals working to recover the car.

 

I am still disappointed to this day about how little the FIA did to ensure that the drivers actually respect yellow flags conditions, especially like those in Suzuka.

 

As far as the SC in Bahrain, F1 still has a long way to go to reach the levels of incompetence shown the Formula E, and how slowly race control there reacts to incidents. The safety car was a bit of an over-reaction, neither cars were in a position to cause a hazard, they could have been covered by local yellows for the remaining laps. The electrical issues present on the cars prevented them from being recovered.

[ANF]

Can we please stow away the Bianchi/tractor stuff, along with the snowflake stuff.  There were no tractors involved with this incident.  Indeed, as both cars simply broke down, no tractors were going to be needed anyway as they could (and probably were) be wheeled away.

But...

Looks like Hülkenberg's Renault was craned away by a backhoe loader (or whatever the recovery tractors are called). The recovery vehicle could still be seen in the gravel trap from Kimi's onboard camera on lap 56/57.

Here's a video from the grandstand that shows it entering the runoff area: https://youtu.be/YKFl0GIW9tM?t=722

[Cornholio]

Bit late to this but my own personal opinion is:

 

1. Understood action above double waved yellows, but could probably have been covered under VSC, the stranded cars were not on track or even right by the edge, full SC did seem like a bit of an overkill, and seemed the sort of situation VSC was pretty much designed for.

2. But in this case, it would have made no difference to the final outcome, especially regarding Leclerc, and if anything a VSC would have left him less exposed if they had got going again, so not fussed either way this one time.

[SenorSjon]

*bump*

 

This time we had a VSC for a car deep in a run-off zone. Why couldn't that corner have a yellow while the car was pushed behind the barrier? Slowing a whole field with 40s/lap for something not even on the track is getting ridiculous.

[Wingcommander]

*bump*

 

This time we had a VSC for a car deep in a run-off zone. Why couldn't that corner have a yellow while the car was pushed behind the barrier? Slowing a whole field with 40s/lap for something not even on the track is getting ridiculous.

 

Another car could easily end up in there. It was on the firing line.

[TomNokoe]

Another car could easily end up in there. It was on the firing line.

He wasn’t. He was literally behind a wall. It was a ridiculous call.

[SenorSjon]

Another car could easily end up in there. It was on the firing line.

 

Easily? Other drivers had to ask why there was a VSC. It was a very small escape road. Perhaps the new F1 boss can reinstate yellow flags again. It is a bit odd to have a whole track neutralized for something off-track.

[ANF]

He wasn’t. He was literally behind a wall. It was a ridiculous call.

Was he behind it? I thought the car was in front of a tecpro barrier?

Edit: Pic:



Video: https://www.formula1...s_on_track.html

Edited by ANF, 28 April 2019 - 16:08.

[Scotracer]

He wasn’t. He was literally behind a wall. It was a ridiculous call.

 

He was directly in the firing line.

[ANF]

But again, in Monaco, even without a crane, it would have taken 30 seconds to move the car behind the barrier. Today it felt like it took 30 seconds to remove the steering wheel and the headrest.

[ANF]

What felt like 30 seconds was even longer. Here are some of the things that happened during that VSC sequence as seen on the FOM Pitlane channel:

−0m28s Gasly exits T4
 0m00s Gasly stops the car in the escape road at T5
 0m16s VSC message appears in the broadcast
 0m33s The first marshal arrives on the scene
 0m52s Steering wheel is out of the car
 1m04s Headrest is out of the car
 1m14s Driver is out of the car
 1m22s Steering wheel is put back in
       [no more pictures from T5]
 3m28s VSC ending message appears in the broadcast

So it took 74 seconds for Gasly to get out of the ****ing car and a further two minutes for the marshals to get it behind the barrier.