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[McLaren Fan]

From F1 Live:

The mechanic hit by the rear wheel of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari during a pitstop at Valencia is not seriously hurt.

That was the information after the race of Michael Schumacher, the former champion who at the European Grand Prix sat on the Italian team's pitwall in his occasional ‘advisory’ role.

It is believed reigning world champion Raikkonen, who later retired with an engine failure, simply tried to exit the pit-box before Ferrari's unique lights gantry shone to indicate refueling is finished.

Replays of the incident, after which the mechanic was hurriedly stretchered down the pitlane to the medical centre, showed him being struck by the Ferrari's wheel and then lying on the ground for some time.

Initial reports were of no serious injuries, but possibly a hurt foot and back pain. The mechanic was taken to hospital for further checks.

"In the circumstances, he is not too bad," Schumacher confirmed. "He is not heavily injured."

Source: GMM
© CAPSIS International

He'll be sore in the morning alright, but at least he's not badly injured, even if he does help Ferrari win titles.

[EwanM]

From F1 Live:

The mechanic hit by the rear wheel of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari during a pitstop at Valencia is not seriously hurt.

That was the information after the race of Michael Schumacher, the former champion who at the European Grand Prix sat on the Italian team's pitwall in his occasional ‘advisory’ role.

It is believed reigning world champion Raikkonen, who later retired with an engine failure, simply tried to exit the pit-box before Ferrari's unique lights gantry shone to indicate refueling is finished.

Replays of the incident, after which the mechanic was hurriedly stretchered down the pitlane to the medical centre, showed him being struck by the Ferrari's wheel and then lying on the ground for some time.

Initial reports were of no serious injuries, but possibly a hurt foot and back pain. The mechanic was taken to hospital for further checks.

"In the circumstances, he is not too bad," Schumacher confirmed. "He is not heavily injured."

Source: GMM
© CAPSIS International

He'll be sore in the morning alright, but at least he's not badly injured, even if he does help Ferrari win titles.

That was some smack the guy took of Raikkonen's right rear.
Thank goodness it wasn't worse.

[kitchen]

I hope the mechanic is ok

Imagine if Hamilton would have done that. The internet would have exploded like Kimi's engine.

[bud]

Imagine if Hamilton would have done that. The internet would have exploded like Kimi's engine.

i was thinking the exact same thing, funny how those noisy pathetic Hamilton bashers have double standards over driver gaffs

[kitchen]

Imagine if Hamilton would have done that. The internet would have exploded like Kimi's engine.

i was thinking the exact same thing, funny how those noisy pathetic Hamilton bashers have double standards over driver gaffs

I was looking on a different forum as well. People SLATING Hamilton as he wasn't well over the weekened.

'It's just an excuse' blah blah

[Denthúl]

Imagine if Hamilton would have done that. The internet would have exploded like Kimi's engine.

i was thinking the exact same thing, funny how those noisy pathetic Hamilton bashers have double standards over driver gaffs

Yeah, well, it's the way it will be, unfortunately. My school had two boys' football teams for our year, an A team and a B team. Everyone on the A team had progressed through the B team, apart from one guy who had come late in to the year. He went straight to the top team and, as a result, our school won the local championship but all of the guys on that team bashed him for pretty much every minor thing he did, like slipping on a pitch in dreadful conditions (the match was stopped before the second half because of the amount of rain) and thus not being able to equalise before the game was stopped. People are like that, I guess.

On to the topic at hand, I'm glad the mechanic is well. It looked like it could have been far worse at the time, I know that I certainly wouldn't want to be hit by any part of an F1 car. I do hope that Ferrari will reconsider this automated system that they have, because it could lead to more incidents like this and, whilst I know that the green light hadn't come on, the fact that the amber light had and that, in anticipation of the green light, Raikkonen probably assumed he could predict when it was going to come on and shave off perhaps a tenth of a second, is quite dangerous in itself.

[f1usa]

Imagine if Hamilton would have done that. The internet would have exploded like Kimi's engine.

i was thinking the exact same thing, funny how those noisy pathetic Hamilton bashers have double standards over driver gaffs

Hamilton would have been fined and docked 10 grid positions for the Belgian GP.

[IceManpjn]

Imagine if Hamilton would have done that. The internet would have exploded like Kimi's engine.

i was thinking the exact same thing, funny how those noisy pathetic Hamilton bashers have double standards over driver gaffs

You mean like how Hamilton can blow a tire and it's a sign of him "folding under pressure", but when Massa blows an engine it's a real tragedy that was completely undeserved? I'd be willing to bet that had they swapped problems for that race we'd still be hearing the same crap, that Hamilton blowing an engine was still "folding under pressure" and Massa blowing a tire would simply have been an undeserved tragedy (referring to my hypothetical trading-places scenario).

[texasmr2]

So anyway back on-topic I'm glad to hear the mechanic was not seriously hurt .

[Hanwombat]

Glad is he okay, 'cos bloody hell that was a whack!

[Denthúl]

Glad is he okay, 'cos bloody hell that was a whack!

Indeed. Pretty scary, really.

The Red Bull mechanic was pretty lucky not to have been thrown off his feet when Webber came in, too. You have to be brave to do that job.

[al4x]

that accident looked really quite nasty, id feel so bad if i was the driver

[digitaleye]

I hope the mechanic is ok

Imagine if Hamilton would have done that. The internet would have exploded like Kimi's engine.

Thats because Lewis is a nice guy whereas Kimi has a habit of running and knocking folks over in and out of the car (noting recent incidents with small children and photographers)

Seriously though, has anyone seen this guy (the mechanic)? They carted him off on a stretcher, he seemed to be quite seriously injured, I'm not sure I'm buying the "he's just fine" stuff.

[McLaren Fan]

From F1 Live:

Ferrari denies need for 'lollipop' return

Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali has defended claims that pitstop problems at Valencia prove the team should abandon its unique practice of no longer using a 'lollipop man' at races.

The Italian outfit has for some time relied on a novel system of lights, where key mechanics press buttons when eventually the driver is shown the 'green' and speeds off.

But on Sunday, not only was race winner Felipe Massa controversially released into the path of another car following a pitstop, teammate Kimi Raikkonen jumped his green light during the refueling process and injured a mechanic.

To tackle the Massa situation, however, Domenicali told reporters after the race that one mechanic's job is to delay the shining of the green light if it is unsafe for the driver to pull away.

And the Italian also denied claims that Raikkonen got confused due to the lack of a physical 'lollipop' in his path.

"When there is a red light, it's a red light; it's like the lollipop is down," Domenicali said.

© CAPSIS International
Source: GMM

I think that Domenicali is half right. The mechanic was injured because Raikkonen tried to jump the gun. Perhaps Massa would not have excited the pits as he did with an old fashioned lollipop man was there. That said, Domenicali says that a mechanic has to make sure the green light to go does not come on too early. If that is the case, it certainly shows that Ferrari tried to gain an advantage through their dubious actions. Also, for me, it begs the question why do you need this lights system when somebody has to make sure things are safe anyway?

[Denthúl]

From F1 Live:

Ferrari denies need for 'lollipop' return

Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali has defended claims that pitstop problems at Valencia prove the team should abandon its unique practice of no longer using a 'lollipop man' at races.

The Italian outfit has for some time relied on a novel system of lights, where key mechanics press buttons when eventually the driver is shown the 'green' and speeds off.

But on Sunday, not only was race winner Felipe Massa controversially released into the path of another car following a pitstop, teammate Kimi Raikkonen jumped his green light during the refueling process and injured a mechanic.

To tackle the Massa situation, however, Domenicali told reporters after the race that one mechanic's job is to delay the shining of the green light if it is unsafe for the driver to pull away.

And the Italian also denied claims that Raikkonen got confused due to the lack of a physical 'lollipop' in his path.

"When there is a red light, it's a red light; it's like the lollipop is down," Domenicali said.

© CAPSIS International
Source: GMM

I think that Domenicali is half right. The mechanic was injured because Raikkonen tried to jump the gun. Perhaps Massa would not have excited the pits as he did with an old fashioned lollipop man was there. That said, Domenicali says that a mechanic has to make sure the green light to go does not come on too early. If that is the case, it certainly shows that Ferrari tried to gain an advantage through their dubious actions. Also, for me, it begs the question why do you need this lights system when somebody has to make sure things are safe anyway?

It's all about time, I guess. It could take up to a second for a human being to make sure all the mechanics have raised their hands to indicate that their job is done and raise the lollipop. It would take the machine perhaps a tenth of a second to do so. That's the best part of a second shaved off the total pitstop time which, as you know, can make all the difference, especially if you've got an opponent who is staying out longer and lapping pretty quickly.