McLaren boss Andreas Seidl says marshals running across the track with fire extinguishers is something that should “absolutely not happen” in Formula 1, after Lando Norris’ worrying moment in Bahrain.
In the wake of Sergio Perez’s late race retirement that left his flaming car at the side of the circuit, a fire marshal ran across the track right in front of Norris’ car.
Norris came on the team radio and exclaimed his surprise at what happened.
“There’s a guy f***ing running across the track.. that’s the bravest guy I’ve ever seen,” said the young Briton.
With F1 well aware of the dangers of such situations, with Tom Pryce having been killed after hitting a marshal and his fire extinguisher at the 1977 South African Grand Prix, Seidl says the matter needs to be treated seriously.
However, he has faith that the FIA and F1 race director Michael Masi will do everything that is necessary to address the situation.
“It’s obviously concerning if you hear a comment like this from Lando over the radio,” said Seidl. “And it’s clearly something that should absolutely not happen. But I think as well, it’s something that’s important to analyse behind closed doors together with the FIA.
“I’m sure Michael is doing that, together with the input he wants from us. I’m sure the right conclusions will be made and we will keep working together on improving safety for our drivers and for all the marshals on the tracks worldwide.”
Speaking about the incident afterwards, Norris said that the marshal had been hard to spot against the dark background.
“It was the last thing I was expecting,” explained Norris. “The guy didn’t look left and right both ways before he crossed the road.
“It was a double yellow. And I was going slow enough, so there was no point in risking anything at all.
“But he wasn’t the most visible guy, because at that point, you know, I’m looking to the sky and he’s wearing black or dark blue. He wasn’t that easy to see, all I kind of saw was a bouncing extinguisher. It was just a bit of a crazy moment.”
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