German Grand Prix pit lane incident sparks safety changes

The pit lane incident at last weekend’s German Grand Prix involving an FOM cameraman and a stray Pirelli tyre has sparked changes in pit lane etiquette to be made.

(c) Octane Photographic

The new rulings were announced by Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA respectively and will help to prevent similar incidents from occurring. The pit lane is a dangerous and crowded place and with more and more cars being released unsafely from their pit box, it was unfortunately inevitable that something like this would happen.

Teams are constantly chasing the fastest pit stop time. The current record stands at 2.05 seconds and was set by Red Bull Racing. However with the chase for the fastest pit stop comes errors and we have seen a lot of them this season alone, whether that be loose wheels or unsafe releases in a bid to not lose time.

Mark Webber entered the pit lane at the German Grand Prix for his first pit stop. However when he left the box a few seconds later it was without his right-rear wheel after a problem in his stop. Despite the wheel not being attached, the Aussie was still told to go by the traffic light style system used by Red Bull instead of a lollipop like they used a few years ago.

His stray wheel travelled down the slightly downhill pit lane, narrowly avoiding the Lotus pit crew before striking FOM cameraman Paul Allen. The Brit had turned his back after filming his piece and despite a few shouts from the Lotus crew; he could not avoid the released tyre. It was a horrible incident and I'm thankful that the TV crews didn't play it in respect for the injured man.

Red Bull were fined £26,800 for the incident and Force India were also fined £4,300 for releasing DI Resta into the path of Vergne.

Bernie Ecclestone revealed that cameramen must now be positioned on the pit wall, alongside the six photographers who are restricted to that position as well.

He said: "I've been in close contact with everybody who has been dealing with the matter.

"It's a terrible thing to say, but it was just one of those things. There was a whole bunch of mechanics and the tyre could have hit any one of those guys.

"The cameraman just happened to be looking the wrong way at the wrong time. In future, all our camera crews will only be allowed to film from the pit wall."

There are six FOM crews allowed in the pit lane which makes the space quite crowded when a stop does take place. 

Ross Brawn has said that it may be best for everyone in the pit lane to wear protective headgear, something that all team members in the pit lane must do in 2014 - a new sporting regulation for next year.

The Mercedes Team Principal said: "On the basis of what we have seen we should be thinking that all people in the pit lane are properly dressed and equipped. Everyone in the pit lane should have a helmet on. It is certainly worth reviewing the whole thing."

The FIA did make an announcement that two regulations would be fast tracked from the 2014 changes. These will be put in place for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The two rules that will be brought forward are that all pit crew members must wear helmets during a pit stop and the second is that the speed limit will be reduced from 100km/h to 80km/h at all events other than Melbourne, Monaco and Singapore which will stay at 60km/h. 

There will also be a ban on anyone other than marshals and team personnel in the pit lane during the race and qualifying sessions.

(c) Reuters

I think that moving the cameramen to the pit wall is the right thing to do in order to keep them safe and prevent another incident from happening. I'm frankly surprised that it has taken this long for something like this to happen; we have so many incidents where cars wheels are not properly attached.

I also agree with Brawn's statement that everyone in the pit lane should be dressed in protective gear like helmets. It's the right thing to do even if incidents are rare because they could happen and it’s so unpredictable. Perhaps people in garages and pit lane reporters should also wear fireproof overalls like in the USA. We saw last season that fires can occur in the pits and it’s all in the name of safety even if something like that never happens again.

Pit safety is something that needs drastically changing and this incident is just the start. I saw a suggestion from Will Buxton that cameramen should have a spotter, almost a second pair of eyes to help guide them and steer them from any danger alongside letting them know which cars are in the pits. Whilst I agree with him in the principal of the idea - if Paul Allen had a spotter he would have dodged the tyre - but that would bring more people into the already busy pit lane.

Something I did think about initially was a warning sound that could be triggered by a pit crew should a wheel fall off or something dangerous happen, alerting those also in the pit lane that something has happened and they should be wary and watch out. 

The changes outlined above by the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone is a good step and I think that head protection is extremely important in the pit lane. It's great to see such a quick reaction and rules being brought forward. However, would it have helped in the situation that we saw at the Nurburgring? No. It's great for overall safety but the problem is the wheel itself.

The main priority is to not let the wheel become detached from the car in the first place. That is what will make the pits a safer place. Pirelli tyres weigh 12kg and being hit by one of them could prove to be fatal. The injured cameraman was fortunately hit at a lower speed and only suffered a broken collarbone and two broken ribs but it could have been a lot worse and how could that have been avoided? Quite simply, if Webber had re-joined the race with all four wheels in place in the first place.

It comes down to one thing, faster stops cause more errors. Pit equipment is still not 100% reliable and problems can occur all the time whether that is with the front or rear jacks, any of the wheel guns or an issue with the system releasing the car. The latter is perhaps the most questionable as Webber was told to leave the pits despite the wheel not being properly fitted to his car, so why did it show him the green light to go?

Teams are always searching to minimise time and the traffic light system has proved to be troublesome since its inception. When a corner of the car is done, one of the three people servicing that corner taps a button confirming it is completed. Someone obviously touched the button confirming that the wheel was attached when it in fact wasn't, therefore triggering the traffic light system to go green.

I'm not passing the blame but to raise the bar in pit lane safety, teams have to stop releasing cars in an unsafe manner. There was an incident with Paul Di Resta at his first stop whereby he was released into the path of Jean-Eric Vergne. Had the Scot had too much wheel spin or not looked in his mirrors enough they could have collided and put even more people in danger. Likewise Vergne had to stamp on the brakes to reach his pit box but that could have put him out of line and doing that can cause contact with pit crew. It can just be a human error but even if a mistake is made, it should still be corrected before the car leaves the box.

It's a tricky subject, the pit lane. Teams are always searching to get their cars serviced in the quickest time possible but I think we have to think about how teams can do this without making the errors. Perhaps the traffic light system needs analysing, or teams need to stop chasing records and start making sure all four wheels are on the wagon as that can bring them more time than having to retrieve a three wheeled car, push it back to the box and complete the stop.

Thankfully the camera crew will be out of the way of any loose wheels from now on but it has sparked a thought for me as to how the sport can make the pit lane safer. Steps are already being made but more needs to be done in my view, the incidents may be rare but they could be very costly.