News Scan: Williams F1 Driver Kazuki Nakajima Sorry For Knocking Down Mechanics At The Brazilian GP

Williams

Oct 23, 2007

On lap 30, there was more drama when Kazuki Nakajima in his BMW came into the pits and crashed into his own team of mechanics, two of whom were sent flying and appeared to be slightly injured. Hamilton, with great verve and concentration, was up to ninth by lap 33, just one place outside the points positions and chasing hard to haul in time on fellow-Briton David Coulthard who was running in eighth place.

Kazuki Nakajima’s Formula 1 debut in the Brazilian Grand Prix may have been somewhat overshadowed by a nasty pit lane incident, but the Japanese driver nonetheless impressed Williams with a drive to the top ten that also yielded the fifth fastest race lap.

Battling back from a disappointing first attempt at the knockout qualifying session which saw him line-up 19th on the grid, Nakajima was baulked at the tight first corner, even if he made places as those around him were forced to pit with damage.

Nakajima will always remember his first pit stop though after overshooting his box and hitting two of his mechanics. Although he completed the stop, two mechanics have been taken to hospital for precautionary checks.

Naturally, Nakajima was apologetic to the team for the mistake, but was otherwise encouraged to complete his first grand prix with a tenth place finish and is now eager to do more in the future.  Crash.net

First of all I would say I’m really sorry that some of my mechanics were injured during my pitstop and that I hope they’re OK. It was a good first race for me but it was slightly overshadowed. My start itself was as good as the others around me, but I lost some positions because of the collision in front of me going into the first corner. I was then held up by Sato for quite some time before I could overtake him. Car balance was almost perfect, especially in the third stint on the option tyres. I really enjoyed the race and I did well physically. I would like to thank the team for giving me this great opportunity. “ SportingLife.com

On lap 30, there was more drama when Kazuki Nakajima in his BMW came into the pits and crashed into his own team of mechanics, two of whom were sent flying and appeared to be slightly injured. Hamilton, with great verve and concentration, was up to ninth by lap 33, just one place outside the points positions and chasing hard to haul in time on fellow-Briton David Coulthard who was running in eighth place. By then, Poland’s Robert Kubica had passed Alonso at the end of the straight and soon after this Hamilton pitted again for hard tyres from ninth after 36 laps.  DailyTimes.com

Two Williams mechanics received minor injuries after Kazuki Nakajima, debuting in F1, failed to hit his pit marks and ran over the mechanics.

Alonso was trying to become only the third driver to win three consecutive titles in the history of F1, along with Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.
NDTV.com
Kazuki Nakajima Brazilian Grand Prix BMW Juan Manuel Michael Schumacher FerAlonso Williams F1