Quote:
Originally Posted by wnut
The wheel was retained on the car.
In this instance I do feel that the unsafe release which is designed to prevent a team releasing a car in front of another in the pit lane and risking a massive accident was somewhat dishonestly applied to a team releasing a car with a loose wheel that never became detached from the car!
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You, and others, seem to be fixated on the undeniable fact that the wheel did not become detatched before Ricciardo left the pits. However, you seem to be able to ignore the
potential danger that the release of that car posed to the driver, team members, and other individuals along the pit lane if it had become detatched.
We are discussing this particular incident, and to repeat what I have written previously, Horner acknowledges that his (RBR's) team member working on that wheel
knew that the wheel was not attached securely, and more importantly
, safely attached.
As an analogy, I assume that you have and drive a car; I also assume, I hope correctly, that you hold relevant liability insurance for the car. The question is, why? The answer is just in case you need it in the event of an accident. You don't wait to have an accident and then take out insurance. You take precautions in anticipation of an event.
The penalty handed to Ricciardo, on behalf of the team, is to stop them taking unecessary risks, and for having taken one by releasing the car from the pit-box before the car was in a safe condition to a) drive down the pit lane and b) join the track.