The FIA has banned media and 'non-essential personnel' from Grand Prix pitlane

[Andi Goodwin]

source BBC sport

The FIA has banned media and 'non-essential personnel' from Grand Prix pit lanes after a cameraman was injured at last Sunday's German Grand Prix.

full article http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/23249596

Andi

 

[Tom]

That's one way to solve the problem...not the best way though.

Tom

 

[Omer Said]

No more pitlane action close shots then

Why not make cameramen in pitlane wear pitcrew-like strong suits?

 

[Bradley Vanian]

I do not understand how this will help.

This will not stop the problem of wheels bouncing in the pitlane and will not stop people being injured. I think there are like, you know, these people that have to be in the pitlane for like, you know, doing the pit stops and all that? Yeah, those.... what you going to do if they get hit which is very likely, especially during a SC Period when there are multiple teams in the pitlanes rushing for position? Ban pitcrews from the pitlane? Have electronic robots change the tyres instead?

 

[Shane Butler]

Fully agree with Bradley. This is just a typical knee-jerk reaction from the FIA. Banning cameramen from the pitlane isn't suddenly going to stop the danger of a loose tyre flying down the pitlane as it could hit anyone couldn't it? It just happened to hit the poor cameraman as he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. If he wasn't there then it would have probably have hit a mechanic.. it's just a danger of the pitlane unfortunately. The proper solution would to have wheel guards like Indycar has which could prevent the possibility of flying tyres.

 

[Bradley Vanian]

In addition, the poor guy who was hit by the tyre now has part of his job ruined too (as the great pitlane camerawork is no more)...

 

[Tom]

I do not understand how this will help.

This will not stop the problem of wheels bouncing in the pitlane and will not stop people being injured. I think there are like, you know, these people that have to be in the pitlane for like, you know, doing the pit stops and all that? Yeah, those.... what you going to do if they get hit which is very likely, especially during a SC Period when there are multiple teams in the pitlanes rushing for position? Ban pitcrews from the pitlane? Have electronic robots change the tyres instead?

It's about politics.

Now lots of people think the FIA is taking care of this - no, they're not. They're doing things for the sake of doing things.

Tom

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

It's a bandage, not a cure. FIA can't change rules that fast, we'll go with the current pit rules to the end of this season.

Why not make cameramen in pitlane wear pitcrew-like strong suits?

Not realistic, you can't wear a helmet and shoot any kind of decent image at the same time. On bright sunlight, just getting a decent reference from the cameras own screens becomes quite difficult. You have tons of little buttons to press, menus to click thru at the same time you are trying keep the composition of the image, trying to not stumble over things you can't see cause your view is now with one eye thru 1" finder etc etc. Development to incorporate all the functions on a helmet cam, hmm, that's possible but pricey and takes time.

More time for pits is the only option, imho. 4-5 seconds minimum.

 

[ENDR]

People keep complaining about "artificial racing" because of DRS. Imagine what kind of a shitstorm would rise, if FIA introduced a minimum pit stop time.
This goes back to what I wrote in another topic - bringing back refueling would make the stops longer and less rushed and ALSO might solve some of the tire wear problems because of lighter cars.

 

[Markus Neumann]

People keep complaining about "artificial racing" because of DRS. Imagine what kind of a shitstorm would rise, if FIA introduced a minimum pit stop time.
This goes back to what I wrote in another topic - bringing back refueling would make the stops longer and less rushed and ALSO might solve some of the tire wear problems because of lighter cars.

This is what happens when refueling is the limiting factor for pit stops and teams try to make them faster:

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

^^ Jeps, don't want to see them again. How many tire separations have there been, 2 or 3? We've had a lot of hoses ripping off, small and large fires when refueling was allowed...

 

[ENDR]

We've had a lot of hoses ripping off

Did we? I recall only 3 or 4 cases throughout all of these years, when refueling was allowed, while the tires keep falling off in every couple of races (remember mclaren last year?).
Besides, why not install a sensor locking the brakes, when the fuel hose is in the inlet? That way the driver wouldn't be able to move until it's really safe.

small and large fires when refueling was allowed...

There haven't been any life threatening fires for years.
And look at other racing series - how many fires have there been in the pitlane and how many because of a crash?