Formula 1 Grosser Preis Santander von Deutschland 2013

[marcus666]

To clearify any confusion, I also wanted Grosjean to win yesterday, but I was playing diplomatic when it comes to how much you can bend the rules.

[tderias]

Domenicali insists that Felipe 'lost control of the car', implying that it wasn't a mechanical problem:
http://youtu.be/x9rk0MXeFsA?t=2m59s

[F1EA]

Massa said so yesterday as well:

"I braked at the end of the straight and I locked the rear wheels. The car went sideways to the right, I corrected it but then it slid to the left and then I spun. I stopped the car and I was fifth gear, I tried to get down to first to go back out and the gear was not going down. I was stuck in fifth gear and I tried to go but the engine died as I tried to leave in fifth gear. I tried to go a lot on the throttle to leave but it was not possible so I stopped the engine."

[donald29]

Quite amusing seeing the journos and TV reporters complaining about being banned from the pitlane in all sessions. Not sure I agree with it, but some of their tweets... Buxton said 'If a mechanic, engineer, team boss, FIA scrutineer or doctor had been hit by a tyre, would that profession now be banned from pitlane?' No, that's a stupid comparison to make because they are necessary.

[François]

That's a big blow for guys like Ted Kravitz who have been reporting from the pitlane during all sessions for literally decades. Wonder if they've had any near misses? I'd assume that with a certain amount of experience, these guys know how to do avoid putting themselves in dangerous positions while doing their jobs.

Unrelated: Jean-Louis Moncet is reporting that Massa's spin and possibly the weird Monaco crashes might have been caused by unexpected reactions from the current car's gearbox to his (not very gentle) braking style. Not saying a driver shouldn't adapt to the car, but hopefully they can get on top of that issue and he'll be back to full confidence.

EDIT: and Moncet is even convinced that Massa will stay on in 2014.

[tderias]

Why don't we have robots instead of the pit-crew, or pit walls that are enclosed... :/

F1 is a dangerous sport; for the drivers, teams, and journalists - at least those who're willing to stick their neck out to get the best coverage. Let them be...

[F1EA]

This may also be related to the deceased marshal in Canada... i mean back to back H&S incidents, plus several other minor ones, including the danger from the exploding tires.

F1 can't afford this type of publicity.

[tderias]

F1 can't afford this type of publicity.

What happened to the cameraman is one-off. I've never seen it happen before. And the marshal in Canada is quite a freak accident that no rule can prevent...

[F1EA]

F1 can't afford this type of publicity.

What happened to the cameraman is one-off. I've never seen it happen before. And the marshal in Canada is quite a freak accident that no rule can prevent...

Yea. It was all pretty freak; but nonetheless... 3 races in a row with safety incidents. Not good at all.

[Treacle]

Some journalist argue that the speed limit being lowered to 80 kph won't help, since the pit-crew members will still work as fast as they can. Hence there is the possibility of a mistake. Which is true. So these people propose a minimum limit for the pit stop. They want every car to spend 5 seconds in the box, even if the job is done in 2.5 seconds. It is assumed that in this case the pit-crews wouldn't act in haste...
I have two problems with this idea. One, if there is a minimum time you have to spend in the box, then you don't need tyres that wear easily. I mean, still there would be a difference between a 2 and a 3 stop strategy. But right now you can make that difference up with a speedy pit stop. Two, mistakes always happen, you can't get rid of them completely even with over-regulating the sport.

[fettemieze]

F1 can't afford this type of publicity.

What happened to the cameraman is one-off. I've never seen it happen before.

Hungary 2010 ;) Rosberg's tyre went off and hit a Williams member If I remember right.

Well we had 3 strange weekends in a row with one fatality, one injured and one with lots of "could-have-beens".

F1 is a dangerous sport and sometimes strange things happen. Remember 2009 when Henry Surtees was killed by a flying wheel? Norbert Haug said just after Surtees' death that such things won't happen in F1 (luckily)...one week later Massa was seriously injured and Alonso tyre was bounching on the racetrack, as well.

[mikhailv]

The problem is teams pushing the limits on how fast they can put a wheel on a car. fractions of a second cost a race, and it appears they also break shoulders and ribs along with nearly killing.

Easy solution? No tyre stops. all out blitz race.

[F1Fan88]

That's a big blow for guys like Ted Kravitz who have been reporting from the pitlane during all sessions for literally decades. Wonder if they've had any near misses? I'd assume that with a certain amount of experience, these guys know how to do avoid putting themselves in dangerous positions while doing their jobs.

Ted confirmed on twitter at some point in the last few days that he won't be affected as he works from the garages.

[TGO]

Easy solution? No tyre stops. all out blitz race.

I did like the Races in 2005 when Tyre changes where banned (apart from indy, but thats a diffrent story). But i think it would be way easier to make a rule that says every car has to stay for a minimum of xxx seconds before he can be released. If you make xxx 5 seconds for example, it would be 2,5 - 3 seconds more to make sure a Tyre is secured. the Real Problem is, like mikhailv said, the teams pushing themselfs to the Limit with faster and faster chagnes. I would welcome it if the FIA makes such a rule and the Car must stay like 5-6 seconds in the Pit before it can be released.

[mikhailv]

Cant enforce that though really. What if one stop watch is quicker than another or something silly like that? Then you could penalise cars stopping 6 secs but not enough for a safe release of another car coming in the pits which wouldve been cleared.

then theres stalling the car and all that. Its tough to enforce