Sato should have been pulled in (merged)

[fog_shadow]

and after you answer that, ask yourselves wether your decision would have been a sporting one.

and after you answer that, ask yourselves if you still can hold your dignity and bash ferrari.

it works both ways you know

[Peter Mallett]

I remember worrying about Kimi who was so close to that car. No they should not have pulled him in. But it was scary.

I would also like to express my pleasure in the knowledge that Fissi is ok. But he needs an effing kick up the @rse! He saw the smoke at least six cars went through unscathed and he careens into the back of another car and bloody nearly kills himself.

Daft pillock!

[Knowlesy]

You wouldn't expect that from Fisi would you? He seems to be slowly losing the plot this year.....shame really, as he was awesome at Barcelona two weeks ago.

Bye bye Williams seat. Hello midfield career remainder.

[Peter Mallett]

Midfielder? I've always said as much.

[RWC]

Originally posted by josvandeperre
DC was beginning to sound like a bitter old has-been

I'm not the slightest of coultard fans but even i am abit surprised at his whining this year.

[Dani Filth]

Originally posted by Piquet
Nobody has mentioned Fisi's part in all of this - he came into that section way to hot and was very lucky to avoid a serious accident.

i remember a quote from the Grand Prix movie .. not that Fisico did that . i think it was DC that slowed down way to much . i mean . relative to fisico ..

[Fantasy GP610]

I don't think DC has been "whining" at all today:confused:

All he's said is in his opinion.......

1)Sato jumped the start.

2)Sato should have been brought in before his engine blew.

3)Fisi took "too big a risk".

4)RS was "a bit naughty".

IMO he is just giving his professional view.

[Kicking-back]

It's easy to say this after the event.

No-one could've predicted the crash.

And I'd ban Fisi from the next race so he can learn not to be a bloody idiot.

[Jordi]

At least Fisico spared McLaren the embarassment of a double mechanical retirement.

[Panzer]

Hazard are you suggesting that a team other than Ferrari were using tactics ie: Sato slowing everyone else down so Button could get away? WOW if Ferrari did that there would be 20 pages condeming Michael Schumacher, and feeling sorry for poor Rubens for having to follow team orders, but back to the subject. I think it"s the teams call, with all the telemetary available to Honda they would have known it wouldn't last. Hopefully it will blow up in a place where it won't cause a safety car and Jenson can keep his gap.

[garcon]

In alot of ways I can understand DC's point - certainly with the hindsight of a potentially nasty accident. But without knowing what the telemetry of Sato's car was telling the BAR/Honda engineers about the state of his engine, it's impossible to say that Sato should have been pulled in. If the engine wasn't showing anything too nasty, then it could simply have been a slight overfill of oil compounded by high running temperatures after the false start.

[hgmonaro]

Originally posted by Dani Filth
... i think it was DC that slowed down way to much . i mean . relative to fisico ..

I thought this. DC was basically stopped yet we could see him therefore he could see down the track (the smoke was behind him by then) and should have been back on the gas by this stage... However, Fisi was still going a bit quick.

[Pierre]

sato should have pulled in to the pits, the telemetry from his car would have shown his engine was about to let go . That accident [intentional ] with DC& FISHICELA could have been totaly avoided.....

[Super Tourer]

If it was 'obvious' that the engine would blow, the officals always had the option to bring out the mechanical defect flag and make Sato report to the pits.

[Hugh Jarce]

I reckon he was fine to stay out and he did Jense a real favour. Within a short space of time the front three had pulled away.

You can't blame the team for competing!!

Litmus test - Would Ferrari have pulled Schuey in? End of story!

PS - We were sitting in K Stand right where Sato finally stopped. Blimey! You couldn't see anything. We all held out breath waiting for a crunching pile up but all credit most of the guys drove through at high speed safely - classy stuff!

[Down F0rce]

Surly BAR would have had some warning the that his engine was going to go.

I think he should have pulled in, although it may seem heroic to "fight to the bitter end" but thay dosent justify the risk of a serious accident - which is what happened.

[N I Tram]

BAR are a bloody disgrace for keeping him out there. In tight confined streets a car that's about to blow is a major safety hazard. Rubens and DC were absolutely right to say that something should've been done.

[KC]

I can understand DC not being happy about Sato puking an engine in front of the group and it costing him his race, however, I think he needs to review the tapes before saying that BAR should have pulled Sato. I remember DC running about half a race and making a podium at Monaco with a car smoking just like the BAR was. I'm a big fan of DC, but I think I the group following Sato was far too close to the BAR. It's not like they were all going to risk their cars and make a pass on Sato.

[1200Datto27]

I think that the colour of the MacLaren mayalso have contributed to this contact, as a silver/black car in a silver/black cloud of oil smoke would not have been that visible.

[Hugh Jarce]

There was so much smoke you couldn't even see the end of your nose. It was impossible to see any cars at all so I can imagine any of the guys knew who was in there.

It appeared to us (an I haven't seen the highlights yet) that most went through with reasonable speed so if DC was really slow, I not surprised that there was a crump! having said that you guys have seen the replays!

[1200Datto27]

I have to say that when I first saw the incident, I thought that DC must have spun on the oil, he was so slow. It just turns out that he was being very cautious.

[KA]

Originally posted by Pierre
sato should have pulled in to the pits, the telemetry from his car would have shown his engine was about to let go . That accident [intentional ] with DC& FISHICELA could have been totaly avoided.....

It's easy to say with the benefit of hindsight that BAR should have pulled Sato in, but without the benefit of knowing exactly what BAR's telemetry was telling them, then there's no way we can be sure of what really happened- it's not as if he's the first driver in F1 history to run a few laps trailing smoke while the team tried to establish whether the problem was terminal or not....

The accident would have been equally avoidable if the thought had crossed Fisi's mind that a cloud of smoke that size might just be hiding a couple of stationary or slow-moving cars, and that slowing down a bit might have been a sensible idea......

[Rennen]

Hindsight was a very clever bloke!

[Peter Mallett]

Originally posted by KA
if the thought had crossed Fisi's mind that a cloud of smoke that size might just be hiding a couple of stationary or slow-moving cars, and that slowing down a bit might have been a sensible idea......

Agree wholeheartedly. Even Massa avoided it.

[Adam43]

Originally posted by gert
Well ... I don't think race control should have pulled him in ... there are no rules for that.

Race control can pull someone if they have mechanical problems that could cause an incident. In most motorsport it is the black and orange flag. Here is the part from the F1 rules:

Appendix H. 4.1.1 e)
Black flag with an orange disc 40cm in diameter:
This flag should be used to inform the driver concerned that his car has mechanical problems likely to endanger himself or others and means that the he must stop at his pit on the next lap. When the mechanical problems have been rectifi ed to the satisfaction of the chief scrutineer the car may rejoin the race.

link

While you can't be certain that Sato's engine would go bang, I think it was almost certain! Beyond reasonable doubt! Stil I don't think he hasd to be brought in. Maybe Sato was trying to adjust things to keep it going? Who knows.

It reminded me of Microprose GP2, when wome one was going to blow up they would have a lap of smoke first!