In the round-up: Romain Grosjean doesn’t agree F1 pit stops need changing in the wake of recent ‘unsafe release’ incidents.
Q: There was another unsafe release for Stoffel today. After what happened to you guys in Australia do you think the FIA should have a look at it with the teams and maybe have longer, safer pit stops?
RG: I think a pit stop is part of the race. It brings excitement and… everything today is we’re not running out of fuel, we’re not blowing our engins on the last lap, we’re not losing suspension. So a pit stop is a spicy part of the race. It’s good for the boys, they’re really involved in the race because they’re part of it and I quite like it.
But the problem in Bahrain obviously was a safety issue, there was a problem with you guys in Australia, but when you see something like the Ferrari stop…
RG: I didn’t want to see too much of the image because it looked really scary. I’m glad Francesco [Cigarini] is back in Italy and as good as he can be after that tough time.
We know the sport is dangerous and not only drivers. If you come into the pit lane at 80kph and miss your braking point… I’ve hit a mechanic once. We try to be as careful as we can. But I think the pit stop is quite a spicy moment of the race.
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Renault engine blameless in Verstappen's Bahrain Q1 crash (Motorsport)
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Comment of the day
Should F1 react to the recent spate of unsafe releases?
Ferrari incident was unfortunate but this kind of risk will always exist as long as mechanics are used. (I actually wonder if it’s mandatory or if teams could have robots performing the pit stop according to the rules).
The other unsafe releases are handled on a proper way with driver stopping as soon as possible. And the teams are losing the most out of it since they need to retired, good incentive to fix the problem.
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Guybrush Threepwood (@guybrushthreepwood)
14th April 2018, 0:25
I think we all knew Verstappen was clutching at straws for his qual crash. He makes so many mistakes and can’t take responsibility for them.
He is the next Maldonado: Verstacken.
nase
14th April 2018, 0:47
what.
Boomerzoomer (@boomerzoomer)
14th April 2018, 2:58
lol
Julian (Mr. Sakura) (@xiasitlo)
14th April 2018, 0:52
Before people call out Pastor again (poor souls), this was a GP2 champion, in fact the only one for Rapax. Ever. Yes.
He did what Bottas and Massa couldn’t do with a fast Williams = drive it from pole to the win. Didn’t he had Alonso behind him in his race that was won on merit? In an era were aero was less difficult? I’m not saying he was exceptionally talented, but don’t just jump on the guy with Maldonado. @guybrushthreepwood
I’ll keep rating Max, Montoya like speed, with some Grosjean tricks. He’ll always be fast, just too wild or too inconsistent to be WDC in the coming 3 years, that I agree though.
COTD is quite tough. But…. I kept saying last year. If you wanna change something, do it the Bernie-way = radical = penalise WCC points for these kind of infringements. Just like with what I’d do with the PU/ICE penalties.
Although, the mechanic broke his leg…. should you tell Maurizio 2 hours later ”yeah…hope your mechanic gets well oh and you’re getting a $1m fine btw”? They already lost enough points with Kimi DNF’ing and enough prize money, hospital bill stacking up, replacements, extra travel… so it’s not that easy as it seems.
andrewf1 (@andrewf1)
14th April 2018, 0:48
„pushing flat out, up on the kerb, oscillation with the foot“ – that‘s a really long way of saying driver error.
Even when he crashes alone, Verstappen can’t take responsibility and has to make up a lie as an explanation and blame some imaginary occurence. No wonder he won‘t accept any blame in any fight with another competitor.
@HoHum (@hohum)
14th April 2018, 0:55
I don’t tune in for “The World Tyre Changing Championship” spicy or not, it’s a sad indictment of the state of F1 that such additions to the actual racing have been mandated for entertainments sake.
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
14th April 2018, 16:55
+1
Julian (Mr. Sakura) (@xiasitlo)
14th April 2018, 0:59
Btw, Lance Stroll is becoming a walking laughing stock.
Now, that guy was and will always be an unsafe release. (yes, that was an double entendre)
Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
14th April 2018, 8:07
Becoming??? Has been from day 1
Iosif (@afonic)
14th April 2018, 1:03
I really like Max, but has managed to do three mistakes in 2 races: He spun in Australia, he crashed in Q1 in Bahrain and then he crashed with Hamilton in the race. I like his aggressive style but maybe it’s time to tone it down a bit.
Philip (@philipgb)
14th April 2018, 1:23
I said before the season started that it’s been tough to call if Ricciardo despite not being as quick as Verstappen might be the better racing driver. It’s looked a lot like just bad luck for Verstappen keeping him behind in the championship.
I also said that if the same happened again this season then perhaps we should concede Ricciardo isn’t just lucky, he’s just being smarter in the race despite Verstappen likely being able to outdrive him.
In the future, I think Verstappen will be on the level that Hamilton has been at during his peak, but for the next couple of years, I think Ricciardo is likely still the safer choice.
David (@wushumr2)
14th April 2018, 5:56
The question becomes will the championship become/remain that tight? And will it come down to more reliability (Ricciardo) vs greater flashes of brilliance?
Jere (@jerejj)
14th April 2018, 5:52
Grosjean has a point. I agree with him to some extent at least.