Zak Brown stresses the critical role of the pit wall in guiding drivers to secure clean laps during the Saudi GP qualifiers amid practice incidents.
Zak Brown, the CEO of McLaren F1, has emphasized that the pit wall’s ability to assist drivers in achieving clean laps during the qualifying sessions for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be “critical” following several incidents during the free practice sessions.
Lewis Hamilton received a warning, and Mercedes F1 was fined after Free Practice 2 for nearly colliding with Williams driver Logan Sargeant at turn 10 of the Jeddah circuit. This was a notable incident but far from the only one during the three free practice sessions that took place.
When asked about how a team can support its drivers from the pit wall, Brown admitted: “It’s difficult, you obviously do your best.”
“This track is very fast, but there are also blind corners and high speeds, so the drivers really rely on us.”
“We’re going to have to be at our best on the pit wall because things happen so quickly.”
“Fortunately, by the time of the race, it should be less of an issue because everyone is at racing speed, but I think during qualifying and when trying to put in clean laps, it will be quite critical as it’s a fast circuit.”
A number of teams struggled to manage the bouncing of their F1 cars during the practice sessions, which is also a danger factor, according to Brown.
“We’re all playing with the ride height. I don’t think we have found our feet yet with these F1 cars, so we’re all tinkering with that. It’s one of the things we’ve been working on but these ground effect F1 cars can be tricky. It’s a danger element on a fast circuit, but the drivers have the talent to manage it.”
Pit Wall Role Key in Saudi GP Qualifying Success. Pit Wall Role Key in Saudi GP Qualifying Success
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