2 stunning questions for the panel!!

[neutral]

I was just wondering if there was enough room for two cars in the same team to come into the pits? Wouldnt they get in the way of opposing teams wanting to enter the pits and hence be awarded some sort of penalty? Secondly, after the race the commentator talked about some sort of agreement that would see the pole man come in first given some strange incident. Isnt this crazy? In my opinion race day should be independant of qualifying, and whoever is leading should have priority. Could you imagine if DC was behind by say 10 seconds and then given pit priority. Im no Mika fan(far from it!!....oh then again I hate DC as well) In my mind the most efficient method is to give the leader priority. Finally, I just realised what I love most about modern F1. It's not the rain, its not the controversy, but its the faces of the McLaren crew(especially Ron) after they blow certain 1,2 victories. HAHAHAH!!!

P.s could someone please confirm the regulations of the first question. I plea ignorance on this subject.

[Schume]

Had a look at the FIA Site for the Pit Lane rules.
This is all I could find. Looks like its's ok to bring in two cars. What does 66c mean???

Anyone else know anything about this???

"PIT LANE


66(a) For the avoidance of doubt and for description purposes, the pit lane shall be divided into two lanes. The lane closest to the pit wall is designated the "fast lane", and the lane closest to the garages is designated the "inner lane", and is the only area where any work can be carried out on a car.

b) Competitors must not paint lines on any part of the pit lane.

c) No equipment may be left in the fast lane. A car may enter or remain in the fast lane only with the driver sitting in the car behind the steering wheel in his normal position, even when the car is being pushed.

d) Team personnel are only allowed in the pit lane immediately before they are required to work on a car and must withdraw as soon as the work is complete.

e It is the responsibility of the Competitor to release his car after a pit stop only when it is safe to do so.

[Marshal]

Presumably 66c means what it says. If you want to move a car in the fast lane of the pit lane you have to have a driver onboard. Perhaps the more interesting question is why?

Can anyone remeber an ocasion in antiquity when an unoccupied GP car caused havoc in the pits?

[Schume]

"A car may enter or remain in the fast lane only with the driver sitting in the car behind the steering wheel in his normal position"

66c seems to imply that you could park the car in the fast lane as long as the driver is still sitting in it???

[Liz]

Erm, excuse a silly question, but isn't that fast lane where the other guys are going to be driving to get back out onto the track? If DC is parked there with his engine idling, waiting his turn for the pits, isn't he likely to be rammed from behind by somebody on his way out?

[Valve Bounce]

I had already posted a rather lengthy comment on this subject in the thread "Coulthard Publicly absolves McLaren from blame" in line with neutral. However, I must say that Martin was screaming out that DC should have followed Mika in and queued up behind him. In fact, I think both cars had been ordered in. At th erisk of repeating myself, it would have been stupid to have asked Mika to move over to let DC past before bringing both cars in. From memory, I think there is enough room for two cars to fit one behind the other in a pit, but I will check on this.

[JohnL]

Can't remember the details but I'm sure it was this season - a sudden downpour had teams coming in for wets and one team actually did bring both cars in at the same time, the second car waiting his turn in the "slow" lane until the first one left. This was not covered in great detail on TV but there appeared to be room without impeding the team in the next garage.

[EERO]

Originally posted by neutral
Im no Mika fan(far from it!!....oh then again I hate DC as well) I plea[d] ignorance on this subject.

This from someone called "neutral"

[Peter Mallett]

Originally posted by JohnL
Can't remember the details but I'm sure it was this season - a sudden downpour had teams coming in for wets and one team actually did bring both cars in at the same time, the second car waiting his turn in the "slow" lane until the first one left. This was not covered in great detail on TV but there appeared to be room without impeding the team in the next garage.

Wasn't that Ferrari in Canada?

[Danielsun]

It was indeed, Peter. The only thing that saved Schumacher's race, too, if I remember correctly...