Ferrari return to pit-lane lollipop

Eurosport - Wed, 08 Oct 13:06:00 2008

Ferrari will use the 'lollipop' to tell drivers when to leave the pits in Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix after their traffic light system caused chaos in Singapore.

FORMULA 1 2008 Singapore GP Ferrari Massa Panne - 0

Felipe Massa, battling with championship leader Lewis Hamilton for the title, had his race in the city-state ruined when he drove from the pits with the fuel hose still attached after a mechanic made the light go green by mistake.

Ferrari's light system usually works automatically when the fuel hose is removed from the car, but in Singapore it was in manual mode.

"In this moment we need tranquillity and therefore we prefer to go back to the old system," team boss Stefano Domenicali.

Other teams still use the lollipop, which a team member holds in front of a driver before the pitstop is completed.

McLaren's Hamilton leads Brazilian Massa by seven points with three races left. The final grand prix is in Brazil on November 2.

Reuters

Comment 14 - 33 of 73

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. Still no sign of Ferrari actually admitting openly that­ their lighting system is flawed in comparison to the­ traditional lollipops. It works fine and isn't an­ issue or causing incident or controversy as long as­ there is no one else in the pit lane, as long as there­ is a guy with an override switch, as long as it­ isn't set to manual, as long as the man with the­ button doesn't twitch, etc, etc. It may have saved­ them one tenth of a second on at least 20 occasions, it­ has also however brought about alot of criticism and­ more importantly cost them serious points in Singapore­ and possibly the Championship. It is a flawed system­ in comparison, and the men from Maranello could at­ least say "we tried something new, it seemed good­ in principal, but it isn't perfect and relying on­ it could be too costly for the season."

    bilal m:­ I got an invalid comment the other day for the word­ 'now', yet I can say @#$%

    From ginger_gitt, on Wed 8 Oct 2:38AM

  2. Dear God it only cost them the championship to figure­ that one out. Firts Kimi and then Massa. Ferrari better­ late than never

    From Linda F, on Tue 7 Oct 8:52PM

  3. Bowesey17 (8) (said in French accent) You naughty boy!

    From m.e.jenner, on Tue 7 Oct 8:40PM

  4. :@:@:@ yahoo is a $%@#@#$@#$@

    From Brayan, on Tue 7 Oct 7:46PM

  5. what the hell is wrong with yahoo did they only want­ bad words as a valid comments !!!

    From Brayan, on Tue 7 Oct 7:37PM

  6. and what do you call their continuous pit mistakes that­ are about to cost them the two titles other than a­ shame for a top team like Ferrari

    From Brayan, on Tue 7 Oct 7:29PM

  7. I mean did u really like what you see @ Singapore from­ Ferrari?!!!

    From Brayan, on Tue 7 Oct 7:28PM

  8. oh come on "Borsh A" even that I'm­ Ferrari fan deep to my bones I still see what they did­ in Singapore as a circus so plz all lets talk like F1­ fans

    From Brayan, on Tue 7 Oct 7:27PM

  9. bowesey17 nice comment (#8) you make me loma looooool

    From Brayan, on Tue 7 Oct 7:14PM

  10. Borsh A. What a gentleman you are to be sure !

    From m.e.jenner, on Tue 7 Oct 6:27PM

  11. OK maybe they can start winning some races then.

    From JCB, on Tue 7 Oct 5:17PM

  12. good thats what i like to see hope to see it in action­ in friday practice

    From Marti, on Tue 7 Oct 5:02PM

  13. According to 'Autosport' the lighting rig goes­ 'Amber' one second before refueling is­ completed and then, if in automatic mode, goes­ 'green' when the hose disconnects and tells the­ driver he can go WHETHER IT IS SAFE OR NOT to be­ released into the pit lane. They still need someone to­ control the safe release into the pit lane. It seems­ that Ferrari are so intent on the saving of 1/10th of a­ second ( again according to Autosport) using their­ lighting rig either in manual or auto mode, that they­ have forgotten to see what is happening with the other­ teams all around them.

    From Biggles, on Tue 7 Oct 4:48PM

  14. Seems not touonroute - and you are no exception.

    From bowesey17, on Tue 7 Oct 4:13PM

  15. i love singapore

    From Joel, on Tue 7 Oct 4:08PM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    richard o connelly you are totally wrong, the light­ system is totally automatic, but on this ocassion the­ chief mechancic pressed it to manual mode, everthing is­ automatic from the start, which is the lift board to­ last which is the clip that hold the fuel rig, once the­ fuel rig is out it is automatic to go green but as i­ said the chief mechanic pressed the it to manual mode,­ does anybody who write on here no anything about­ formula one

    From touronroute, on Tue 7 Oct 4:08PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    nicole, you're a dumb as#hole

    From , on Tue 7 Oct 4:03PM

  18. In Singapore, Ferrari's light system was in manual­ mode. A team member lit the green light at the wrong­ time. The same person would have lifted the lollipop at­ the wrong time.

    The problem was not the method used to­ tell the driver to leave, it was with the human that­ told him to leave.

    One of the other teams using the­ "tried and true" lollipop also made a similar­ error. The lollipop was lifted early, while the­ refueling rig was still engaged, it was not torn free,­ but a mechanic was knocked to the ground.

    From Lawrence, on Tue 7 Oct 4:03PM

  19. I am suprised that Ferrari's fine was only drive­ through penalty.. while those who stopped under PC have­ got 'stop and go'. That's not fair anyway..­ I am not sure whether it is allowed to service driver­ outside of the team's pit stop area.
    So it's­ definetely better for Ferrari to return to lollipop­ system not to be disqualified next time.

    From Tania, on Tue 7 Oct 3:27PM

  20. Oh Ferrari gonna use lollipop? No more circus acts in­ future? Oh what a pity..

    From nicole, on Tue 7 Oct 2:38PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account