HOCKENHEIM: Lewis Hamilton said he had feared for the safety of German Grand Prix marshals who ran across the track during the race to push clear Adrian Sutil's stranded Sauber while other cars were lapping at speed.
The Mercedes driver, who finished third in a race won by team mate Nico Rosberg, told reporters he had been surprised by what happened when the Sauber was left in the middle of the track after the final corner on lap 48.
While many expected the safety car to be deployed, the race direction decided not to. "I was really concerned for the marshals, really concerned," said the Briton.
"When you come around that corner at serious speed, and then there are marshals standing not far away from where you are driving past. For me that's the closest it's been for a long, long time."
The 2008 world champion said he had been reminded of the 1977 death of Welshman Tom Pryce during the South African Grand Prix when he hit a marshal who was crossing the track with a fire extinguisher.
The marshal was also killed.
"I used to work at a driving school in Bedford (England) and one day I came in and they had this video that was playing all the time," recalled Hamilton.
"It was a video from a race from years and years ago and a car had stopped on the track, a marshal ran across the track and got hit by a car coming past. That was the first thing I thought about.
"Obviously we are not going as fast as on that straight but I was worried about the marshals...Fortunately no one got hurt."
Comments
0 comment