During the Austrian GP, there was a close call when Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel dived into the pits. The Mercedes driver was the first one in with Sebastian Vettel a few car lengths behind. As Vettel dived into his pit box, Valtteri Bottas was just exiting his own pit box. Then, there was a close shave as one of the Ferrari mechanics nearly went into the trajectory of the Mercedes. Luckily a sudden trip from the mechanic prevented a disaster.
In Formula One, safety is one of the biggest concerns, not just for the drivers, but even the crew. In fact, last year, the Ferrari team got into trouble after a mechanic broke his leg in an incident involving Kimi Raikkonen in Bahrain.
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In the end, the crisis was averted and both teams escaped investigations for unsafe releases. Unfortunately for Ferrari, it did mean that Sebastian Vettel was delayed in the pits. It was also partially Ferrari’s fault for not being ready to receive Vettel in the pit lane.
As a result, a potential podium and a chance to knock both Mercedes off the podium, was lost. The good news was that Vettel was able to overtake Lewis Hamilton on track itself and show that he was much faster on the day. All-in-all it was not a total loss for Ferrari as they were able to show that they were faster than Mercedes.
