FiA reduces pit limiter speed

[raymondu999]

So with the 100km/h pitlanes now confined to 80km/h... pitlane drive-through losses will increase by 25%, though the stops will remain the same.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108908

In a 16-second pitlane drivethrough this means that the drive-through will lose 20-seconds now instead, and bias the "quicker strategy" options towards the less-stop strategies as the fresh-tyre benefit remains the same, but with more pit-lane time disadvantage. Those who can make their tyres last will gain a slight benefit from this.

[Websta]

Don't understand this really. How has pitlane speed contributed to any notable pitlane accidents in the past (not saying it necessarily hasn't, but I can't think of any)? It wasn't much of a factor in Webber's incident either. The major thing they need to reduce is the amount of unsafe releases. If anything, this will put more pressure on the pit crews to go faster (although they already have plenty of pressure to do so) and increase the chance of such releases. This seems like a knee-jerk reaction from the FIA.

Edit: thanks to the two guys below, that explains it

[CBeck113]

I also don't see the need, but Lotus and Ferrari will be quite pleased - sounds like they want to keep the championship close until the end...

[Steven]

First of all, before this leads into another bunch of conspiracies, the teams have nothing to do with it. It's a safety measure pushed in by the FIA.

Secondly, the problem according to the FIA was that most accidents happen during a race, mainly as drivers failed to stop at the right spot for their pitcrew, creating a security issue for them. They believe this was due to the differing pitlane speeds in practice and the race, which used to be 60km/h and 100km/h. Instead, the new 80km/h will now be valid throughout the weekend, creating some consistency for the drivers.

[WhiteBlue]

Don't understand this really. How has pitlane speed contributed to any notable pitlane accidents in the past (not saying it necessarily hasn't, but I can't think of any)? It wasn't much of a factor in Webber's incident either. The major thing they need to reduce is the amount of unsafe releases. If anything, this will put more pressure on the pit crews to go faster (although they already have plenty of pressure to do so) and increase the chance of such releases. This seems like a knee-jerk reaction from the FIA.

There was apparently some investigation and debate which triggered the rule change for 2014. One of the measures was a head protection duty for all people working on the cars in the pit lane. The Webber incident thankfully did not result in head injuries to the camera man but it could have done so. It was the reason why the legislation has been brought forward in time. The second measure of lowering the pit lane speed was in that package by coincidence. It must have also had a good reason, but the reason wasn't necessarily connected to the accident.
Edit: I see Tomba has explained why they changed it in the first place.

[MadMatt]

I don't see this as a bad thing really. We don't need the cars to fly at 120km/h 10cm from the mechanics. 100 was ok but 80 is good imo. If the time between x pit-stops and x+1 pit-stops is very different, why not forcing the teams to stop a certain minimum amount of times (example in BTCC where they had 1 mandatory pit-stop if I remember right years ago, and also DTM).

But I think this should be part of the equation and the teams that design a car that doesn't ruin its tyres quickly should benefit from its work and the others will just have to save them a bit more or design the car better!

[raymondu999]

Oh it definitely will help those stop-less-times teams.

For example if a 3-stop is 3 seconds quicker than a 2-stop for Car X... then with a 16-second pit lane that transformed into 20 seconds, then he loses 4 seconds with the extra stop, ie the 3-stop becomes 1 second slower than the 2-stop.

This won't outright help those tyre-friendly teams, but rather, it will force more of the tyre-hungry teams to go for less stops (Car X which might have done a 3-stop now goes for a 2-stop) and will mean they run out of tyres quicker.

[SectorOne]

I think it´s good that they lower the speed, 100km/h is still 100km/h..
Bit like standing right next to the freeway changing tires.

[Gerhard Berger]

I also don't see the need, but Lotus and Ferrari will be quite pleased - sounds like they want to keep the championship close until the end...

Why Ferrari? When have they stopped less times than others during the season?

[raymondu999]

I also don't see the need, but Lotus and Ferrari will be quite pleased - sounds like they want to keep the championship close until the end...

Why Ferrari? When have they stopped less times than others during the season?

Massa did a 0-stop race in Nurburgring. That's 3-stops less than most, and 2 less than the McLarens

Joking aside, the increased pitlane times mean the tyre-eating teams have to brave it out on a stop-less, because the extra 3-4 seconds in the pitstop could mean that x-1 stop strategy is quicker than x-stop - ie the tyre-eating teams have to play not on their own terms, but rather on the new terms of x-1 stops.

[Gerhard Berger]

I also don't see the need, but Lotus and Ferrari will be quite pleased - sounds like they want to keep the championship close until the end...

Why Ferrari? When have they stopped less times than others during the season?

Massa did a 0-stop race in Nurburgring. That's 3-stops less than most, and 2 less than the McLarens

Joking aside, the increased pitlane times mean the tyre-eating teams have to brave it out on a stop-less, because the extra 3-4 seconds in the pitstop could mean that x-1 stop strategy is quicker than x-stop - ie the tyre-eating teams have to play not on their own terms, but rather on the new terms of x-1 stops.

I agree with that. However, my point is i don't think it will favour Ferrari. the F138 was not great at keeping good tyre life in the last 2 races.

[strad]

[CBeck113]

I agree with that. However, my point is i don't think it will favour Ferrari. the F138 was not great at keeping good tyre life in the last 2 races.

I think that Ferrari has been setting up the car more for qualifing in the past few races, but do have the ability to revert to their setup from the beginning of the season. That would be two birds with one stone, since they didn't work anyway...

I may be too suspicious, but the timing is strange on this change: they may have the safety issue they want to clean up in the pit lanes, but it also comes at the same time as the tire changes, as if they wanted to maintain the chances of the teams that didn't torture their rubber before. Otherwise, if the tires last longer in the race, then RB would run away with this season.