Formula E keeps minimum pit stop time for Marrakesh

Formula E race stewards have confirmed the minimum pit stop time will stay in place for this weekend's Marrakesh E-Prix following safety concerns from teams and drivers over plans to scrap the ruling.

Formula E team bosses were informed earlier this week that the minimum stop time used at every race in the history of the series would be scrapped for Marrakesh following the quickest car swaps yet in Hong Kong.

A number of drivers and team figures expressed concerns over the rule change, believing it could create a safety risk, prompting race officials to keep the minimum stop time in place for the Marrakesh race on Saturday.

"For safety reasons there will be a reference time for the mandatory change of cars of 45 seconds and a minimum pit speed of 48 km/h," confirmed race officials in a bulletin issued on Friday.

Prior to the ruling, a number of drivers had expressed safety concerns about the decision, fearing teams may look to cut corners when getting their driver back in the second car in a bid to gain an advantage.

"Where does the safety issue start? [If the belts are] too loose, not too loose, maybe I like it a little bit more loose or not - this is the tricky point," defending Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi told Crash.net.

"What happens if your belt is a little bit too loose? You get disqualified at the end of the race? The belt has been like this for the last 20 races. It’s tricky.

"This is the last year we change cars. We have been doing that for three seasons with the minimum pit stop time. Hong Kong was already really tight but possible.

"I would say that we keep the rules as it is, constant rules for the championship - but for next year there is not this problem anymore."

"I see why they’ve done it to maybe spice up the racing, but I don’t know. It’s probably not completely necessary," added Jaguar driver Mitch Evans.

"Safety is obviously quite a big thing, and obviously the seatbelt for the driver, it’s got to be done right. When you put a time limit on it, maybe mistakes are made, and it just puts a lot of stress on the mechanics when they’re doing the pit stop.

"I think probably most drivers would probably agree it’s not what we exactly want. If we can have just no issues then that will be fine. It would spice things up. You’ll see probably a bigger difference between cars and a big difference when it comes to the pit stops."

Despite keeping the ruling for Marrakesh, the minimum pit stop time is expected to be scrapped for the next race in Santiago, Chile on February 3.