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What a joke. FIA logic:
* Safety car through pitlane
* Oh wait Hauger is in the pitlane
* So lets put out an official announcement saying pitlane closed
* Stonks?
The pitlane was closed before he entered - the signs were displaying that when Hauger approached. It's awful communication but Hauger could have still known that he wasn't to enter the pits
The team asked the race director twice over the contradictory messages and were told to go through the pitlane. So that’s what they did.
Although I’m not sure why no one else also made the same mistake.
Either they saw the signs and understood what was happening, or they got conflicting messages to what Hauger got. I presume it was the first, to be honest.
This is just Jeddah. Was the same last year. F2 race direction is clownery as well at times, and Mecachrome has got to have the worst engines in the business.
It is even worse, he was actually called to go through the pit lane by race control until they decided to change their mind when he went in, ridiculous.
The circuit for sure has subpar recovery ability, combined with track that invites accidents. I'm not impressed with race control *or* the circuit, at all.
Well to be fair the pit lane closed board was on when he drove in. The guy right behind him did the right thing and stayed out. But the penalty was atrociously harsh
You missed a crucial point from your post.
The pit entry LED board was clearly displaying that the pit entry was closed, and it was showing this in plenty of time for Hauger to notice (in fact he passed two boards showing this).
Yes race control wasn't great but Hauger and Prema fucked up.
According to Prema they asked the race director whether they were going through the pit lane after the message about pit entry closed, and the race director said yes, they were going through the pit lane. If that's correct, it's 100% on race control.
If it's true what Haugers race engineer said, then it's on race control 100%. If they confirmed twice, that they were going through the pitlane after the message that it is closed, what are Prema supposed to do.
First off, no I didn't miss that point, because if you look at the timing of when the boards came on, Hauger was already past the point to where he could have seen them.
Second, it's not Hauger's job be looking for that after he's been told multiple times by his team to come into the pit lane. Even **IF** he had seen the pit lane board, which I don't believe he did, after his team has told him to come it, that light could very well be lingering after race control said at first, don't come in, but then changed their mind to allow pitting. Essentially a reverse situation.
This one is 100% on the race directors and race control and is in no way the fault of the team or the driver. Period. End of discussion.
Clearly you're very upset about this but the first rule of racing is that you obey the flags and signals.
I'm not saying race control didn't mess up too, but to say Hauger had zero responsibility is ridiculous.
HE HAS ZERO RESPONSBILITY! He doing what he's told to do. If his team says come in, he has to come in. If they say stay out, he stays out. But the team couldn't tell him that because race control are doing split second gymnastics and making decisions without allowing for time. Remember, the team confirmed not once, **BUT TWICE,** with the race director, who said yes, they could pit. AND THEN HE CHANGED HIS MIND AT THE LAST SECOND! Get out of here man.
AND THEN, TO MAKE IT WORSE, THEY THREW A PENALTY ON TOP OF IT!
Moreover, it's a high stress situation. He has to pick his way through a mess at the pit entry. He was for sure focused on that, not the boards, since the team had already confirmed what he was supposed to do.
As a general rule ([see full rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/userguide#wiki_sticky.2Fdaily_discussion)), a standalone Discussion post should: - be of interest to the sub in general, and not a specific userbase (e.g. new users, GP attendees, just yourself) - be able to generate discussion (e.g. no yes/no or easily answerable questions) - show reasonable input and effort from the OP If not, be sure to [look for the Daily Discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/search/?q=daily+discussion&include_over_18=on&restrict_sr=on&t=all&sort=new), /r/formula1's daily open question thread which is perfect for asking any and all questions about this sport. Thank you for your cooperation and enjoy the discussion! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/formula1) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Absolutely disgusting. These guys pay millions for a chance to race in F1 one day, and race control is just taking the piss.
Borderline smells corrupt and fishy
Commentators summarized it perfectly: "Yikes".
Absolute joke. I feel so bad for him.
Hauger is so unlucky, last weekend he lost one of the tires in the pit aswell.
He was dominate last season in f3, results aren't the only thing matter in f2. Red bull will take his bad luck into consideration
Did Hauger say fuck the stewards or did I misheard? And agree with you. Fucking joke.
What a joke. FIA logic: * Safety car through pitlane * Oh wait Hauger is in the pitlane * So lets put out an official announcement saying pitlane closed * Stonks?
The electronic boards showed that pit lane was closed but yeah still confusing as hell.
While they were showing closed, race control confirmed he was to go through the pit lane. Conflicting messages
Yes but it wasn't an official announcement at that point
The pitlane was closed when Hauger entered it. It's just stupid that theres conflicting information.
The pitlane was closed before he entered - the signs were displaying that when Hauger approached. It's awful communication but Hauger could have still known that he wasn't to enter the pits
What I'm wondering is, was he too focused on avoiding the cars and debris to look at the lights?
The team asked the race director twice over the contradictory messages and were told to go through the pitlane. So that’s what they did. Although I’m not sure why no one else also made the same mistake.
Either they saw the signs and understood what was happening, or they got conflicting messages to what Hauger got. I presume it was the first, to be honest.
Betting manipulation has a name lmao.
This whole race was a shit show lol. First time watching F2, not sure how to feel. Definitely entertaining.
This is just Jeddah. Was the same last year. F2 race direction is clownery as well at times, and Mecachrome has got to have the worst engines in the business.
The FIA tried hosting a game of Simon says
What a shit start to the season for Hauger, two races ruined by things out of his control. Does everything right and still gets screwed over
Feel very bad for Hauger, who has been consistently shafted so far. He was gonna win this race.
How was that second safety car not a red flag?!
F2 normally has to follow strict timeframes. Red flag would have ended the race. They need time to prep for F1 and F2 isn't going to delay it.
Am I the only one who thinks both safety cars (especially the second) ~~could~~ should have been a red flag?
Second one for sure. There really was no appropriate path past them.
It is even worse, he was actually called to go through the pit lane by race control until they decided to change their mind when he went in, ridiculous.
Slapstick like.
Is it the same RD for F2 as F1?
No.
That is one of the most abhorrent decisions I have ever witnessed. What a shitshow of a race we got as well - hardly any racing.
The circuit for sure has subpar recovery ability, combined with track that invites accidents. I'm not impressed with race control *or* the circuit, at all.
Well to be fair the pit lane closed board was on when he drove in. The guy right behind him did the right thing and stayed out. But the penalty was atrociously harsh
Ugh not again
You missed a crucial point from your post. The pit entry LED board was clearly displaying that the pit entry was closed, and it was showing this in plenty of time for Hauger to notice (in fact he passed two boards showing this). Yes race control wasn't great but Hauger and Prema fucked up.
According to Prema they asked the race director whether they were going through the pit lane after the message about pit entry closed, and the race director said yes, they were going through the pit lane. If that's correct, it's 100% on race control.
If only race control told him/prema that and not to go through the pitlane....
If it's true what Haugers race engineer said, then it's on race control 100%. If they confirmed twice, that they were going through the pitlane after the message that it is closed, what are Prema supposed to do.
First off, no I didn't miss that point, because if you look at the timing of when the boards came on, Hauger was already past the point to where he could have seen them. Second, it's not Hauger's job be looking for that after he's been told multiple times by his team to come into the pit lane. Even **IF** he had seen the pit lane board, which I don't believe he did, after his team has told him to come it, that light could very well be lingering after race control said at first, don't come in, but then changed their mind to allow pitting. Essentially a reverse situation. This one is 100% on the race directors and race control and is in no way the fault of the team or the driver. Period. End of discussion.
Clearly you're very upset about this but the first rule of racing is that you obey the flags and signals. I'm not saying race control didn't mess up too, but to say Hauger had zero responsibility is ridiculous.
HE HAS ZERO RESPONSBILITY! He doing what he's told to do. If his team says come in, he has to come in. If they say stay out, he stays out. But the team couldn't tell him that because race control are doing split second gymnastics and making decisions without allowing for time. Remember, the team confirmed not once, **BUT TWICE,** with the race director, who said yes, they could pit. AND THEN HE CHANGED HIS MIND AT THE LAST SECOND! Get out of here man. AND THEN, TO MAKE IT WORSE, THEY THREW A PENALTY ON TOP OF IT!
Moreover, it's a high stress situation. He has to pick his way through a mess at the pit entry. He was for sure focused on that, not the boards, since the team had already confirmed what he was supposed to do.
Spoiler alert
Hauger was fucked by RC/RD he didnt deserve that penalty
Does anyone have a link to the stream?