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When F1 pit stops go wrong, people get hurt
Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi was very lucky he didn’t seriouly injure some of his pit crew in today’s British Grand Prix.
Thanks to the safety improvements over the years, F1 drivers are now largely protected from serious injury. Sadly last week, Marussia test driver Maria De Villota lost an eye after colliding with a truck so the sport is still dangerous, but mercifully much less so.
These days, the most dangerous place to be is probably in a pit crew. While the drivers in F1 are incredibly skilled, occasionally they get the process of stopping for tyres wrong and that is when their crew can get really hurt.
Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi was pitting on lap 39 of today's British Grand Prix when he got his line, and speed all wrong. Some of his pit crew on the right managed to avoid the flying Sauber but others didn’t and initial reports are that a few of his crew are injured, but not seriously.
Kobyashi went on to finish 11th, while the race was won by Aussie Mark Webber.
(CNN) -- Sauber have been involved in Formula One since 1993, but arguably the team's greatest contribution to the sport has been handing a debut to double world champion Sebastian Vettel at the 2007 U.S. Grand Prix.
In addition to Vettel, world champions Jacques Villeneuve and Kimi Raikkonen -- who is returning to F1 this year with Lotus -- have also had stints with Sauber.
The Swiss team scored the same number of points in 2011 as in the previous campaign -- 44 -- but that still represented an improvement from eighth to seventh in the overall standings.
Sauber suffered a disappointing disqualification from last season's opening race in Australia after breaching regulations relating to the maximum size of a car's rear wing.
Kamui Kobayashi
The 25-year-old is Japan's sole representative in F1 and is entering his third year with Sauber.
After his rookie season was blighted by eight retirements, Kobayashi enjoyed better luck in 2011 and crossed the finishing line in all but three of the year's 19 races.
Kobayashi finished 12th in the drivers' standings for the second year in a row with 30 points, two below his 2010 total.
The 2009 GP2 Asia Series champion recorded the best finish of his career at last season's Monaco Grand Prix, where he came fifth.
When F1 pit stops go wrong, people get hurt
Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi was very lucky he didn’t seriouly injure some of his pit crew in today’s British Grand Prix.
Thanks to the safety improvements over the years, F1 drivers are now largely protected from serious injury. Sadly last week, Marussia test driver Maria De Villota lost an eye after colliding with a truck so the sport is still dangerous, but mercifully much less so.
These days, the most dangerous place to be is probably in a pit crew. While the drivers in F1 are incredibly skilled, occasionally they get the process of stopping for tyres wrong and that is when their crew can get really hurt.
Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi was pitting on lap 39 of today's British Grand Prix when he got his line, and speed all wrong. Some of his pit crew on the right managed to avoid the flying Sauber but others didn’t and initial reports are that a few of his crew are injured, but not seriously.
Kobyashi went on to finish 11th, while the race was won by Aussie Mark Webber.
(CNN) -- Sauber have been involved in Formula One since 1993, but arguably the team's greatest contribution to the sport has been handing a debut to double world champion Sebastian Vettel at the 2007 U.S. Grand Prix.
In addition to Vettel, world champions Jacques Villeneuve and Kimi Raikkonen -- who is returning to F1 this year with Lotus -- have also had stints with Sauber.
The Swiss team scored the same number of points in 2011 as in the previous campaign -- 44 -- but that still represented an improvement from eighth to seventh in the overall standings.
Sauber suffered a disappointing disqualification from last season's opening race in Australia after breaching regulations relating to the maximum size of a car's rear wing.
Kamui Kobayashi
The 25-year-old is Japan's sole representative in F1 and is entering his third year with Sauber.
After his rookie season was blighted by eight retirements, Kobayashi enjoyed better luck in 2011 and crossed the finishing line in all but three of the year's 19 races.
Kobayashi finished 12th in the drivers' standings for the second year in a row with 30 points, two below his 2010 total.
The 2009 GP2 Asia Series champion recorded the best finish of his career at last season's Monaco Grand Prix, where he came fifth.
