Pitstop Shenanigans

[Chatters]

Flying wheels, cars colliding in the pitlane, I think we just stepped back in time 20 years.

I hope there is some serious fallout from this in regards to queuing cars in the pitlane under Safety Car, but I somehow doubt it will gain even a second glance.

[GolddustMini]

do you think that the flying wheel caused the renault lollipop man to loose concentration?

massive mess up by the merc boys, doesnt even look like they got a nut on it at all, luckily no one was hurt and that the williams and sauber boys have practiced their keepyups!

[dsg]

On the contrary they will probably use to show how exciting F1 is.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by dsg

On the contrary they will probably use to show how exciting F1 is.

well done...

hilarious and true...

[AUSRSR]

Certainly adds excitement..They'll probably fine them :S

[Born Racer]

It AMAZES me no-one has been seriously injured in the pitlane for as long as I can remember.

[St00ge]

Originally Posted by Chatters

Flying wheels, cars colliding in the pitlane, I think we just stepped back in time 20 years.

I hope there is some serious fallout from this in regards to queuing cars in the pitlane under Safety Car, but I somehow doubt it will gain even a second glance.

What are you going to do about it?? Make everyone where a orange vest and have the wheel men sign a release form stating the wheel is done up to the correct torque and then verified by a manager before the car can go out again, it is a bloody pit lane during a race sh!t can and will always happen

[GolddustMini]

it was interesting listening to the bbc forum, aparently (according to DC) the DTM has a system whereby the car will not drop off of the jacks without the wheel nut being correctly torqued, maybe they will try to implement something like this.

however Hungary pit lane appears to be a dead zone for renault mechanic braincells especially given the alonso incident last year

[steve_r]

Quite what the Renault lollipop man was doing, I don't know.

As for the loose wheel, seeing that always makes my blood run cold. I know that Rosberg had only come out of the box, but I guess it was doing the best part of 40 or 50 mph already. It was pure luck that no-one was very seriously injured.

[GolddustMini]

Originally Posted by steve_r

Quite what the Renault lollipop man was doing, I don't know.

As for the loose wheel, seeing that always makes my blood run cold. I know that Rosberg had only come out of the box, but I guess it was doing the best part of 40 or 50 mph already. It was pure luck that no-one was very seriously injured.

not to mention the fact that the wheels were probably spinning faster than roadspeed as he would have lit the tyres up at the time. so much energy when a wheel gets free!

[Stuart Hill]

it never ceases to amaze me that F1 needs just so many personnel in a pit lane.
reduce the number of targets and you instantly reduce the potential risk, it's not rocket science.
Also, with less people to do the work (ie, 6 like Nascar/IndyCar) then it increases the time taken whilst making it easier to lose time, thereby increasing the chances of more overtaking in the pits which adds to the show.

[ChrisPage]

I've thought for a while that the pits should be closed during the safety car. The only reason it didn't work before was because of the feul situation. It does always swap things round a bit, but I'm not sure I'd want to be the one explaining to a mechanic's family that something avoidable wasn't stopped because it spices it up a bit. 'They know what they are getting themselves into' - yeah, I know, and its true I suppose, but theres a line and I think the situation today shows this is beyond it.

Just my thoughts though, it doesn't seem like there's any great clamour for it to stop (frantic pit-dash under SC), so fair dues if nowt changes.

[ChrisPage]

I did also like DC's basic lack of grasp of physics when he said the air in the tyre lightens them! Unless its a boyant gas like helium the air inside actually adds to the weight of the tyre not subtracts!

I know, I've opened myself to a whole world of pain and embarassment here!

[fourWheelDrift]

Originally Posted by ChrisPage

I did also like DC's basic lack of grasp of physics when he said the air in the tyre lightens them! Unless its a boyant gas like helium the air inside actually adds to the weight of the tyre not subtracts!

I didn't hear him say that so I missed a good laugh! thanks for filling in the gaps for me.

I don't think you need fear being a laughing stock, I am confident you are 100% correct and what's more the higher the tyre pressure the heavier the wheel and tyre assembly will be (though not by much).

[maximus]

Don't they use nitrogen though which is lighter than air?

[fourWheelDrift]

Originally Posted by maximus

Don't they use nitrogen though which is lighter than air?

Nitrogen is close to the same weight as air after all air is about 80% nitrogen and don't forget the weight of air in the tyre is related to the pressure, at 14psi the weight of air in the tyre is double what it would be if it had a puncture.

If you want to be really pedantic air contains water which makes it lighter as water vapour is lighter than both Oxygen and Nitrogen, the Nitrogen in the tyre is completely dry, Don't worry DC was definitely wrong on this one.

[Andy77]

Wonder why no one debates the Ferrari pit idiots who managed to bring Massa behind Hamilton after the row of safety car pit stops

Obsolete discussion because Hamilton retired anyway?

[steve_r]

Originally Posted by Andy77

Wonder why no one debates the Ferrari pit idiots who managed to bring Massa behind Hamilton after the row of safety car pit stops

Because it was simply down to a slight slower Ferrari stop, due to the fact that the crew had about 1 second between Alonso leaving and Massa arriving?

[koper]

Originally Posted by GolddustMini

do you think that the flying wheel caused the renault lollipop man to loose concentration?

I read somewhere that the lollipop man messed up that probabnly because Rosberg slowed down due to the loose whell and that made the gap between Rosberg and Sutil- in which they wanted to sent Kubica - smaller.

[pannenmann]

That flying wheel was bloody dangerous. And emberrassing. Force India at least manages to get some kind tyres on the car.

[St00ge]

Originally Posted by maximus

Don't they use nitrogen though which is lighter than air?

Ferrari were using an refrigerate gas a few years ago due to its way it acted when the tyre heated up or something along those lines so I doubt they are just using straight N these day (unless it become a rule)

[Chatters]

Originally Posted by St00ge

What are you going to do about it?? Make everyone where a orange vest and have the wheel men sign a release form stating the wheel is done up to the correct torque and then verified by a manager before the car can go out again, it is a bloody pit lane during a race sh!t can and will always happen

I think we can put what happened last night down to the Safety Car, and the fact that everyone pitted at the same time. However if this keeps happening when every car pits then we're going to get some serious injuries sooner rather then later unfortunately.

As Brundle said on the coverage last night, it's a scary thing to see, wheels flying around loose and cars hitting each other in the pit lane. A sheer miracle no-one was seriously hurt.

[cptkablamo]

I do think that the pitlane should remain closed during a safety car period. There is no need to open it for general pitstops as there should be no fuel concerns anymore.

Of course cars that do come into the pits for damage repair can be worked on but a penalty of a 10sec stop and go would have to apply. This should help ensure that we don't see a repeat of what happened in Hungary.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by St00ge

Ferrari were using an refrigerate gas a few years ago due to its way it acted when the tyre heated up or something along those lines so I doubt they are just using straight N these day (unless it become a rule)

I think some teams were using a mix of CO2 and nitrogen in the tyres in 2008 when traction control was banned.

[Super Hans]

Originally Posted by cptkablamo

I do think that the pitlane should remain closed during a safety car period. There is no need to open it for general pitstops as there should be no fuel concerns anymore.

I'd never actually thought of that before, but it's obvious isn't it? The reason for re-opening the pits during SC periods is now no longer valid. Close 'em!