Arrest made over track invasion during race

2015 Singapore Grand Prix

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A 27-year-old man has been arrested after the Singapore Grand Prix was disrupted when a person appeared on the circuit during the race.

The Safety Car was sent out after the figure was noticed on the straight after turn 13. Race leader Sebastian Vettel was among those to report seeing the track invader.

“The Singapore Police Force have confirmed that a 27-year-old man has been arrested and is assisting police with investigations,” said a statement from the FIA.

“This followed an incident in which an unidentified man gained unauthorised access to the Marina Bay Street Circuit during tonight’s race.”

“The man went on to the track near turn 13, triggering the deployment of the Safety Car.”

“We are awaiting a full report from the Clerk of the Course in order to determine the circumstances surrounding this incident.”

It is the second time this year a person has gained entry to a track during an F1 race weekend. A spectator crossed the track at Shanghai in front of the start/finish line during the second practice session.

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    Keith Collantine
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    61 comments on “Arrest made over track invasion during race”

    1. As an interference he was rubbish. He was the Manor-Marussia of track invaders. The fire truck from Korea the other year was much better.

      1. Nothing quite beats the man from Silverstone in 2003 though. He was properly insane.

        1. Or the deer in Germany back in 2001?

        2. There is insane, then there is a kilt and two protest signs running along the racing line insane.

      2. Get some facts BEFORE you shoot your ill-informed moth off:

        Adam Cooper ‏@adamcooperF1
        The FIA has just shown us a CCTV video of the spectator walking and then running across the track right in front of Seb Vettel

        1. Really? Looked like he kept to the sides all the while.

          1. Vettel mentioned that the man ran across the track in the press conference, it must have been before the images shown on the world feed of him walking along the side of the track.

        2. Wow, you’re one charming individual, aren’t you?

        3. Now that they should have shown. Leave my moth alone.

          1. John Magne Trane
            21st September 2015, 15:51

            I agree. The deers of Johansson and Montoya is one thing, the bird Button was given another. But moth, that is a totally different species.

          2. I don’t like moths much……too hungry.

      3. Here’s how he possibly got in: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CPWXjtBUEAImsVG.jpg

        That’s from another part of the track mind you, so the organisers are going to be in severe trouble for this.

      4. Didn’t we get a dog at some point during the first COTA GP?

        1. Oops, I should’ve scrolled down more to see the subject had changed lol

        2. @malcolmtucker I think it was the practice of the first Indian GP, but yes

          1. Yes, it was the Indian GP. Organizers got quite a slap on their wrists for that.

    2. why did they not do VSC instead or why did they bother keeping it out for this long?

      1. @ivan-vinitskyy Exactly, straight to SC for Hulkenberg’s car removal and debris clearance, while VSC for a few sectors would have been appropriate for the guy briefly on track.

        1. A full safety car is always appropriate for a person on the track. It is a very dangerous situation for everyone, you don’t know how brief the incident will be, or if he might decide to try to cross the track or what he might do.

          1. Of course, but I would go for instinctive VSC, then if the person is looking dangerous or likely to interfere throw a SC or Red Flag if it gets really scary.

            1. By the time that it is decided that “a person is looking dangerous” or that it is getting “really scary”, it may already be too late to stop a serious incident occurring, the race director has no choice other than to react immediately to protect everyone’s safety..

              As quoted by Apex Assassin above the man had already run across the track:

              Adam Cooper ‏@adamcooperF1
              The FIA has just shown us a CCTV video of the spectator walking and then running across the track right in front of Seb Vettel

            2. I would suspect it is standard race procedure for a spectator on the track. They are completely unpredictable, and this could lead to an incredibly unsafe situation. The safety car could even stop out on track before reaching the spectator if needed, holding all the cars behind untill the nutter is removed.

          2. Yeah, but when the SC is deployed they go on at their usual speeds until they meet up with SC, no? Is it forbidden to overtake before you meet up with it and after SC is announced?

            1. @hamman Yes, overtaking is forbidden as soon as the safety car is announced.

        2. @fastiesty the VSC would’nt have bunched up the cars, thus not allowing the marshals to run on track and take the man away – something which proved unnecessary, but race control couldn’t wait to see what he was up to and reacted rapidly and, in my opinion, correctly.

      2. why did they not do VSC instead

        For the same reason that they put out a full safety car when marshals need to go on (or very near the track), such as after the Massa/Hulkenberg incident when they were clearing debris, with a person on the track (especially when they don’t know what he might do) the cars need to be slowed right down for safety reasons.

        As for keeping it out they need to go through the whole process of letting the cars catch up to the safety car, the unlapping, the “safety car in this lap” warning etc, before they can restart the race.

    3. Get out the cane! 50 lashes!

      Did you see the open and unmarshalled “gates” all around the circuit? There was literally nothing to prevent anyone from going on the track at any time! Shameful lack of security!

      1. Gotta love antiquated British punishments, a hangover from the Colonial era.

      2. This happens at everywhere in the world.

      3. This was the first thing that crossed my mind. In the U.S. you get a night in jail and a fine.

    4. We saw a dude & his wife jump in one of those mobile lifts & cruise down the bridge, police were everywhere did nothing. hopeless. & they forced us out from pitlane way too early. Didn’t get a chance to see Ted’s notebook live :(

    5. Good. Hopefully he will be banned from attending future Formula 1 races.

      1. Somebody should get the cane out on him too.

      2. Given the security at Singapore allowed him to get on track, that’s probably not much of a punishment.

    6. I feel a large fine coming up for the circuit owners…….

    7. I believe he is one of the Mercedes supporters who wants to bunch up the field by making a scene that led to a safety car deployment. Haha…

      1. He was Rosberg’s manager

    8. I thought it was Nelson Piquet jr. or maybe a Ferrari team member as a cheaper way to getting a SC than putting a car in the wall an preventing Mercedes from going for Raikönnen.

      1. Couldn’t have been Piquet jr, Alonso was already retired, lol.

    9. I hope the man was chewing bubble gum.

    10. Ferrari maintained their 100% record in races when somebody gets on the track.

      1. could you explain that to me please

        1. Barrichello won the 2000 German Grand Prix and the 2003 British Grand Prix in similar circunstances driving a Ferrari, and was favoured by the SC in the first case.

          Ironically, the track invader in 2003 was the same that attacked Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, a brazilian that was leading the 2004 Olympic Marathon, less then 10km before the end. He was released by a spectator, lost the lead, finished third, and later got the Coubertin medal for sportmanship

    11. a 27-year-old man has been arrested and is assisting police with investigations

      Oh my. In a country like Singapore, I can’t help but shudder at the thought of an arrestee “assisting” the police with investigations.

      1. Having lived in China, Singapore, Nepal and Japan over 5 years with at least a year in each I can say that the most shocking treatment of a citizen by police I have ever seen happened in the UK when a friend who, suffering from depression took an overdose and was jailed for 48 hours with only a litre of water and nothing to eat. I was arrested mysef in China while they investigated whether the photos I took of the Mau portrait were disrespectful in Tianamen square, I was given bacon sandwiches, meals of resturant quality and a playstation. (My photos were fine too). It can be easy to assume people are not as civilised in far flung parts of the world, but mostly, they are.

      2. Ridiculuos assumption made by someone who most likely resides in Europe. How do you imagine people living in rest of the world?

        1. And sorry I made the assumption that you live in Europe….

          1. So:

            1. Other people making assumptions = bad
            2. You making assumptions = good

            P.S. Lighten up!

          2. I do live in Europe.
            I wasn’t talking about the rest of the world, I was talking about Singapore. A country that celebrates itself for a state philosophy of respecting an individual’s rights, unless those are inconvenient for the preservation of the public order in a broad sense.

            As Lee Kuan Yew put it:
            “What are our priorities? First, the welfare, the survival of the people. Then, democratic norms and processes which from time to time we have to suspend.”

            Singapore has a reputation for draconian sentences for disorderly conduct and for executing more persons per capita than China, although the latter has improved recently.

            I don’t know for a fact that the intruder is being interrogated with “extended techniques”, and there were definitely traces of tongue-in-cheekness in my initial statement. But doesn’t it raise your eyebrow that the arrestee is “assisting” the police? That’s a strange choice of words, to say the least, and leaves much room for interpretation.

    12. They should throw the book at him. It’s absolutely ridiculous to allow things like this to happen and anybody who doubts the danger of crossing a live race track needs to learn the story of Tom Pryce and Frederick Jansen van Vuuren.

    13. Whilst I agree that this man needs a proper punishment to get the point across, I’ve seen so many vile comments (thankfully not on here) of people exclaiming “I hope he gets run over” or even more horrid things.

      Guys, it’s one thing to jest about quirky incidents like this… But it’s another thing to wish a man dead.

      1. Actually, I wouldn’t want Vettel or any other driver to live something like that. So, glad that didn’t happen. But that guy clearly has a mental problem, and he needs to be protected from himself. So, I don’t wish ill on him either.

    14. Quite honestly, what that man did was dangerously insane. If a car had been close, the driver would have taken instinctive evasive action and in that enclosed circuit the result could have been horrific. I don’t think that this incident should be considered lightly.

      1. +1 Horrible situation for drivers, spectators, and that guy.

      2. Have no fear – like every other ‘talking point’ in F1 it will be subject to several independent reviews, FIA reports and enquiries with marshals, stewards and government officials.

    15. A disgruntled former Ferrari employee?

    16. Flavio sitting on his couch watcing the race: “So THAT’S how I should have done it!”

    17. while it is scary to see someone running about the track, there was one other alarming thing about it… he lapped faster than alonso!!!

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