The aftermath of Hamilton's crash?

Question

Does anyone understand why the red light at the exit of the pit lane remains on for such a long time? I mean, when the pit lane is "opened" (during a safety car period), what is the point of having a red light at the exit? Surely this will only cause queues because everyone rushes in and therefore is an accident waiting to happen...?

PS-those d**n Ferrari's like parking in the middle of the road from Schumie's days. Who stops at red lights anyway!

Answer 1

The red light at the exit stays red until the "gaggle" of cars behind the safety car clears the pit straight. If not there is a danger they may join the queue rather than tag on to the end of it.

xxFJ

PS That'll teach him to laugh at his old man for crashing the Porsche !!!

Answer 2

Stays on until saftey car has passed the entire pit road, big advantage otherwise.

Answer 3

The lights are red for a reason. the reason this time was to let the safety car through. In all fairness Lewis did make a mistake. It didn't help that his team did not keep him informed. I've seen Schumi hit someone in the pits at Silverstone, I was sat right opposite, it happens.

Answer 4

unfortunately this is the regulament in F1 about the red lights at pit stops when the SC is on the track!!!

Answer 5

There are a lot of people commenting without reference to the facts.  Take a look at the video again guys; the safety car and the cars behind it were LONG gone by the time the red light was released.  There was one straggler (was it Button, still trying to catch the pack after his tyre-only stop two laps earlier?) way behind the safety car that would have possibly just been in range as the leaders came out.  

Hamilton alone was stationary for more than 12 seconds, in addition to driving the length of pits at 60mph before braking as he approached the exit (see the video for tyre smoke as he drops anchors).  The red light looks to me like a race control error; as I understood it, the idea is to let the safety car and the pack go by, not everyone that is in sight, regardless of how far back they are.

And what is "Daniel Craig" smoking??  Who hit what safety car?  Hamilton clipped the back of the Ferrari - which is not the safety car to my knowledge.  (Too anxious to take a dig at Hamilton, huh?)

Add to that - - Kimi was not stationary, just jockeying with Kubica which is what Hamilton was watching - trying to figure out what they were doing.  In fact, was Kimi already over the line when Hamilton hit him?  Look at YouTube: I think he was - but he's in a Ferrari so no penalty for him.  Just like his bone head move down the inside at Monaco (which Ferrari passed off as a surprising loss of grip.  Yes, "the tree moved out in front of me officer").

Answer 6

Yet another person taking a swipe at the FIA for Hamilton's mistake. The red light at the exit lights up when the area ahead of it is deemed unsafe for exit. The safety car was passing through, hence the red lights. And it is a basic traffic rule to always look out and stop if the light is red.

Kimi and Kubica saw the red lights and stopped. Hamilton did not. It was his mistake and he admitted to it shortly after the collision.

Answer 7

There have been some roadworks near my house recently. When we have been a bit late for school the kids have wanted me to drive through the red light because they can't see anything coming and I have always said no. More often than not a bus will then come the other way! Basic rule of driving, always stop at a red light, you do not know better. Kimi stopped, Robert Kubica stopped. Hamilton who had more time to see the light didn't and Rosberg who had even longer didn't either. No excuses (unless you are Lewis) If there is a red light or stationary cars, you stop.

Answer 8

the above answer by Ben made me smile lol but as for the light well lets be honest the track surface at Montreal wasnt the best now was it? the saftey car also needs to get through like Julian said

Answer 9

the red light stays on until the group of cars have gone through to avoid big accidents this only causes accidents if 1 or more of the driver loses concentration or doesn't c the red light therefore only limiting the maximum damage and increasing safety

Answer 10

Lewis Hamilton:

2007 = Wins the race.

2008 = Rear-ends a parked car.

Robert Kubica:

2007 = Helicoptered off the track after an accident he was lucky to survive.

2008 = Wins the race.

So tell me, who's the real developing talent?

Answer 11

They are currently looking at the red-light ruling, and others have stated the reason for the rules.

The aftermath is slightly more interesting.

Hamilton may now really struggle for the rest of the championship, becasue Canada favoured the Maclaren, and the next two races do not.

Hopefully, the whole team will be slightly more "on the ball" the next time a red-light is lit, because they really should have radioed the information as an extra precaution.

I would be very interested to know if Lewis Hamilton could actually see the red light with two cars parked side by side in front. Drivers sit very, very low, and the sides of the pod are very high. Add the wings and ram-air induction pod at the rear, and a car in front can be quite a visual obstacle. This is where the team could have helped as he set off.

I wonder why the red light is to one side of the track?

Hamilton was on the left, and the red-light was on the right, but an overhead gantry arrangement would be much easier for the drivers to see. That's why starting lights are like that.

Of course, the remaining aftermath is the penalty imposed for the next race, when both Hamilton and Rosberg have to drop ten places at a circuit which already  favours the Ferraris.

Still, I don't suppose BMW and Robert Kubica are unhappy!

Answer 12

It is a bit of a silly rule isn't it.

The idea is that the cars can't leave the pit lane until the last car on the track has passed the pit lane exit.  Normally this isn't a problem, but the canadian track feeds out slightly further round the circuit, so I'ts actually quicker to go through the pit lane than round the track when going slow or behind a safety car. As the cars on the track weren't up to full speed the guys in the pit lane caught up. Like I said silly rule. It's one of the new ones they bought in recently.

Answer 13

Even if he didn't pay attention to the traffic light, he should have noted that the cars are stationary in front. He has a long history of banging into stationary cars.

Nurburgring last year was a terrible drive and he made some ridiculous mistakes.

China - drives off onto the pit road and gets stuck in the gravel

Brazil - makes an unnecessary move on Alonso and loses a load of places. Then compounds that by switching his car into nuetral.

Bahrain - drives into the back of Alonso's car.

Canada - crashes into the safety car.

You've gotta be real foolish to crash into the safety car. You just can't do it. You can't be that naive. He's too dumb to drive an F1 car for even Super Aguri, leave alone a top-rated team like McLaren. He drives likes a jerk.

You said, "PS- ..... Who stops at red lights anyway!". Are you drunk or are you really that stewpid?

Answer 14

well that rule was always stupid !