Pit-stop strategy comes under microscope
Ferrari’s semi-automated pit-stop routine has come in for some criticism in the wake of the European Grand Prix, and understandably so. The system landed Ferrari a €10,000 fine for the unsafe release of Felipe Massa in Valencia in an incident which could have caused a nasty pit-lane collision with Adrian Sutil. And the same system allowed Kimi Raikkonen to tear off down the pit-lane with mechanic and fuel hose in tow.
“When the fuel nozzle is connected to the car, you see that there is a red light on,” explained Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali. “At a certain moment, you see that there is a flashing light that is close to the red light, telling the driver that he has to be ready. Then, as soon as the nozzle comes off, the light becomes green unless the guy that is controlling the pit stop position overrides it manually, because there is a car in the fast lane coming through, so he has to delay the car. That is how the system works. We’ve used it since last year.”
So are Ferrari at the cutting edge of technology, or are they guilty of overcomplicating the situation? Do they need to go back to the old school and bring back the lollipop man?
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5 responses so far
1 JJ // Aug 26, 2008 at 2:46 pm
A great big Y-E-S !!!!!!
2 Frank // Aug 26, 2008 at 2:51 pm
The FIA is concern of cutting cost I think for me is a big NO all the teams should go the way FERRARI went
Frank
California USA.
3 ben j // Aug 27, 2008 at 12:10 am
No, probably not. They need to get rid of the amber light though. A red light and a green light are all that a pressured driver can comprehend, as Raikkonen demonstrated on Sunday. All he was looking for was change of any kind.
I’d also support a manual override for one of the mechanics who’s facing in the direction of oncoming traffic (ie. where the lollipop man would’ve been), although I doubt any mechanic would be brave enough to hold up his driver at risk of his job.
4 Osmodious // Aug 27, 2008 at 5:00 am
Hmmm…Ferrari nearly kills their own mechanics and puts other drivers at risk, and they get fined 10k Euros. McLaren falls prey to espionage on the part of a Ferrari employee and they get fined 100 MILLION pounds/euros/dollars (I can’t remember which).
That seems fair.
5 knobhead // Aug 27, 2008 at 8:17 am
Have the pit stops facing the other way - so the drivers have to turn round before and after the stop. Then they can see who’s coming