Albers' pit-stop

[Jimmy Magnusson]

Well, I reckon as soon as Alber's radio man had climbed back up on his chair he started shouting "Park it, park it!" to him, whereby Albers obeyed.

[steve nielsen]

Originally Posted by alonso11

It might sound stupid, but I was wondering if it was indeed absolutely necessary to retire the race because of this? I mean of course taking the fuel hose with you is huge, but what if you just park it, keep the engine going and ask the marshalls to remove it?

The Marshalls probably don't know how to remove it, it has a locking system.

But what would have happened at a different track with a shorter pit lane exit?, it seems Albers did'nt notice it until the car cornered.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by steve nielsen

But what would have happened at a different track with a shorter pit lane exit?, it seems Albers did'nt notice it until the car cornered.

Fortunately I think Spyker were down the far end of the pit lane,otherwise Albers might have taken more than just the fuel hose with him!

[georgeboi999]

I think that they really need to find a better driver then Albers. Why did he do that in the first place. Misjudgement or stupidty

[alonso11]

Originally Posted by steve nielsen

The Marshalls probably don't know how to remove it, it has a locking system.

Well its not like it has a security code to it is it, normaly they remove the fuel hose in like 0.1sec and it seems as easy as pulling two arms. Of course it might got stuck but still, it worth a try isnt it. Retiring from a race should be absolutely positively negatively the very very last thing to do.

[johnh875]

I dare say he felt safer parking the car rather than driving back to the pits to face the guys he just skittled!

[JohnSSC]

Realizing that this has become a perfect opportunity to talk about banning refueling due to the actions of "Red Mist" Albers, could an alternative be considered?

Why not (wait for this) limit the number of people participating in the stop? Currently F1 allows the population equivalent of a small village over the wall. Why not do what ChampCar, IRL and NASCAR do here and limit the number of folks going over the wall to say, 6? I mean, right now it looks like you have a bloody regiment going over the top: tire changers, refulers, wing adjusters, gravel cleaners, barge board looker-aters...it is a wonder no one has been killed, to be honest.

[Dutton]

For all the reasons you appear to dislike seeing cars swarmed in a pitstop, I find it excellent.

Obviously, I include no comment wishing injury upon anyone.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by JohnSSC

Why not (wait for this) limit the number of people participating in the stop? Currently F1 allows the population equivalent of a small village over the wall. Why not do what ChampCar, IRL and NASCAR do here and limit the number of folks going over the wall to say, 6? I mean, right now it looks like you have a bloody regiment going over the top: tire changers, refulers, wing adjusters, gravel cleaners, barge board looker-aters...it is a wonder no one has been killed, to be honest.

That would be better,but still not quite................

Pit stops were great when all that happened was that the tyres were changed.The team that got them changed quickest,genuinely made a difference.But it got where wheel nuts were getting left off or cross-threaded and it basically got dangerous.Now the wheels are changed long before the fuel hose is removed,which takes away from the point of it all really.

I always think back to 94,to some of the events that happend then.There were the obvious ones of course,but also the ones involving Verstappen (Benetton fire) and the Minardi losing its wheel in the pit lane at San Marino (was that Pierre Luigi Martini ?).There have been many more such accidents since then (Diniz in the oven for example and Jarno's Toyota more recently).

I would much rather the drivers run with full race distance tanks on the track having gone banzai in qually 3 the previous day.

[steve nielsen]

Originally Posted by martyn bott

,but also the ones involving Verstappen (Benetton fire) .

Her's a video of that incident from a diffferent angle where you can see what happens to the mechanics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ0hGZ7aOSM