Little White Lines

[Jonny Apex]

Was it me, or did a few, including M Schumacher, run over/clipped the white line on the pitlane exit after refuelling in Hungary? F Massa looked to have done so quite comprehensively, trying to get back out ahead of Fisi.

If so, why weren't any of them penalised? They were in the French GP.

ps: I have nothing against M Schumacher or F Massa.

[Sato san]

Because there is a different set of rules about it for Hungary .

The FIA had already told the drivers that at this track there wasnt such a advantage to be gained by clipping the line , so there wouldnt be any penaltys awarded.

[Red]

No big deal, as Sato san already said. Anyway, all of them chopped probably an inch or two, not more. Remember that the drivers can hardly see where the front wheel goes.

As for the Magny Cours, I still think that it was a case of overenthusiastic marshalls. Or probably they wanted to stop Schumacher from winning, and then subsequently punished the other innocents (Coulthard beying the most representative case) for the same minor infringement.

[Sato san]

I cant say i agree with them swapping and changing the rule from circuit to circuit though. What ever the rule is , it should remain the same throught out the season .

[JohnSSC]

I agree with Sato san. Although this rule puzzles me a bit as the white lines always seem to be applied randomly. Is there a rule or a standard used to determine the exit area that is both safe and does not give an "advantage" to the exiting driver?

[av8rirl]

The reason that the rule was so strictly enforced in France is because the pit-lane exit is in quite a dangerous position. The rule was not applied in Hungary because the exit was deemed not to be in a dangerous place. It is not used because of an "advantage" but because of safety. The teams were told this at Hungary.

[R]

This is what the rules have to say about it. Quoted from Appendix L to the International Sporting Code, Chapter IV-4, d) and e)

d) except in cases of force majeure (accepted as such by the stewards of the meeting), the crossing, in any direction, of the line separating the deceleration zone and the track is prohibited.
e) except in cases of force majeure (accepted as such by the stewards of the meeting), any line painted on the track at the pit exit for the purpose of separating cars leaving the pits from those on the track must not be crossed by any part of a car leaving the pits.

So the rules are crystal clear. Force majeure should be situations like when you have very slow moving cars in front of you, or an accident. The reason I've heard as to why this rule didn't seem to be enforced in Hungary, is that the distance from the pit exit to the first corner is so short. I don't consider that "force majeure" - this could easily be solved by painting the white line shorter.

Indeed, safety is the reason for this rule. The white line at pit lane exit is very long at Magny Cours. However, I don't see how DC or TGF's touching of the white line in France can be seen as more dangerous than the crossings in Hungary. Perhaps that's the reason why the officials decided to be more lenient in Hungary - that they felt that the rule had been too rigidly imposed in France?

As an aside note - TGF crossed the hatched area at pit entry very clearly with his entire car at a race last year (Nurburgring?) by making a very sudden move to dive in to the pits, and wasn't penalized, yet Ralf was penalized at the same race for a much smaller offense of crossing the white line with his left front tyre at pit exit...

[Mr V]

I noticed that Rafe clipped it and was hoping he'd get a penalty (sorry) but then Kimi did it and was glad that Rafe didn't get a penalty as i didn't want Kimi to get one.

[Jordi]

Originally posted by R
As an aside note - TGF crossed the hatched area at pit entry very clearly with his entire car at a race last year (Nurburgring?) by making a very sudden move to dive in to the pits, and wasn't penalized, yet Ralf was penalized at the same race for a much smaller offense of crossing the white line with his left front tyre at pit exit...

Indeed, that was last year, but apparently you can enter the pits crossing all the lines, but you have to exit them without touching one, according to the rules (or to what I read at the moment)

[R]

Originally posted by Jordi
apparently you can enter the pits crossing all the lines

Not according to this part of the rules:

except in cases of force majeure (accepted as such by the stewards of the meeting), the crossing, in any direction, of the line separating the deceleration zone and the track is prohibited.

But, is this a "sleeping rule", since it's obviously not being enforced?

[Mr V]

Depend whose crossing it? just a thought

[R]

You know, I thought long and hard about how to word that last sentence...

[Lee Janotta]

Gah, it's a stupid rule anyways. If it's paved, either put cones in the way, or it should be fair game! These are professionals drivers, not children!

[Jordi]

No lines should be painted... just join but not hit anyone (MS-HHF Canada'98)