Formula One 2012

[wolverine]

Coincidence or is McLaren copying old school design.

[PRO_32]

McLaren need a step nose if they want to get serious.

The Lotii are carrying some very good pace so they are a very good chance.

They're tub sits much lower than the rest of em so no real reason for they're to be a step there.

[hrd-hr30]

Intersting article from James Allen on Schumacher's earlier criticism of the Pirellis:

http://www.jamesalle...ort-life-tyres/

I must admit that before all this I hadn't really thought of the Pirellis as being a problem. I was enjoying the unpredictability of who was going to be fast in the race. But after reading James Allen's article and thinking about the races so far this season, I'm finding it all too fake, contived and artificial.

F1 is the pinnacle of motor racing. The fastest cars built by the best engineers with the sole aim of being the fastest machines around a racetrack. Should racing these cars be about drivers trundling around at 90% afraid of hurting their tyres or pushing as hard and fast as the car and the driver can possibly go? Do we want to celebrate the driver who is best at riding that fine line between grip and out-of-control, or the guy who stays safely within those limits and gets great tyre mileage?

There's other factors too, like the one made in this comment on the JAonF1 article by James Alias; "I just hope that the peak-operative windows was somewhat extended by a little-bit. Perhaps from 1 or 2 laps what is currently, to 5 laps at least, so that at least the drivers can afford to sustain catch-up and wheel-to-wheel racing for more than 3 corners."

These tyres are hurting genuine racing, not improving it. Sure there's passing when one guy is running out of tyres, desperately trying to eek out another few laps to space the pit stops out so he can make it to the end of the race without loosing 8 spots in the last couple of laps, but it robbed us of a showdown at the end of the last GP between Kimi and Seb because they had to conserve their tyres just to make it to the end - they couldn't afford to push hard to try and close the gap... that's lame. Also no chance for Lewis to try and make one of his comebacks through the field... Let's have less of the driver's hands being tied behind their backs, and more flat out, balls to the wall racing please!

I miss "the era of flat out sprints" in F1.

/rant

[ctjet]

i read an interesting post the other day from another forum that also got me thinking

IHembery says:

"With many teams having expanded their knowledge of our tyre range and tested new components at Mugello, we're expecting a closely-fought Spanish Grand Prix - and maybe even the fifth different winner in five races."

He should not concern himself with having a fifth different winner..... It does seem that Pirelli are thinking that it is their mandate to control the competitiveness of F1.

It is not.

so in conclusion

x2

[wolverine]

Bring back refuelling.

[ctjet]

whilst being a good start, i dont see how that would make any difference with the current tyre spec

[Scottydoo]

Ummm who knew Vetool was a Kung Fu master?....

http://youtu.be/HJ0FmUpQF7E

If that doesnt work:

http://www.topgear.c...film-2012-05-08

Edited May 9, 2012 by Scottydoo

[Roy]

Do we want to celebrate the driver who is best at riding that fine line between grip and out-of-control, or the guy who stays safely within those limits and gets great tyre mileage?

I dont mind the added dimension of the tyre management. The other argument misses the point that F1 used to be about conserving cars to and that drivers had input into how fast the car was over a race distance by knowing when to conserve and when to go flat out. F1 cars were never really able to be driven flat out...but with some rule changes over the past few years they are so reliable that drivers coudl drive flat out and you may as well as skipped the WDC as without the engineers and budget etc mean that he who spent the biggest won.

So I am not against the current rules for the reasons you raise. I recongnise them but I think they balance is about right. If nothing else for the time being and last season it introduced something new to F1 that I am enjoying at present. Perhaps you are right that in a year or two they should go back to single lap qualifying and durable tyres. If you missed the window in quali you have a car that ,ay be fast and consistant to race...but we have had that and with aero etc there was very little racing....as even cars that were 2-3 seconds slower could routinely ruin the fastest cars getting up to one another.

Its all a balancing act and I am happy enough at present that the tyres performance windows means that cars are having different performances at different circuits in different conditions

[sh@un]

golden

[Nee-san]

Tyres hard enough that you can thrash for 300KM and mandated flue flow rate with a race distance worth of fuel + 2 laps, problem solvered, let's seem them blue flags fly !

[MattR]

Tyres hard enough that you can thrash for 300KM and mandated flue flow rate with a race distance worth of fuel + 2 laps, problem solvered, let's seem them blue flags fly !

bring back the old days where u had one set of tyres and one tank of fuel. spice up driver control and when to push and when no too. But then the sponsors would not get air time when cars in the pics with close ups though

[mad082]

I dont mind the added dimension of the tyre management. The other argument misses the point that F1 used to be about conserving cars to and that drivers had input into how fast the car was over a race distance by knowing when to conserve and when to go flat out. F1 cars were never really able to be driven flat out...but with some rule changes over the past few years they are so reliable that drivers coudl drive flat out and you may as well as skipped the WDC as without the engineers and budget etc mean that he who spent the biggest won.

So I am not against the current rules for the reasons you raise. I recongnise them but I think they balance is about right. If nothing else for the time being and last season it introduced something new to F1 that I am enjoying at present. Perhaps you are right that in a year or two they should go back to single lap qualifying and durable tyres. If you missed the window in quali you have a car that ,ay be fast and consistant to race...but we have had that and with aero etc there was very little racing....as even cars that were 2-3 seconds slower could routinely ruin the fastest cars getting up to one another.

Its all a balancing act and I am happy enough at present that the tyres performance windows means that cars are having different performances at different circuits in different conditions

i don't mind the current tyre profiles. they add that extra dimension (strategy) into the racing. as for drivers having to conserve, i don't think they are doing that much conserving. if they were holding back by large amounts then someone could just save their tyres in quali a bit and then in the race just go full noise the whole time and just pit whenever the tyres run out.

[hrd-hr30]

yeah modern era F1 has been about tyre management before, but the difference was you could push when you had an opportunity without risking loosing 10 places in the last couple of laps when contrived tyres degrade to the point you loose 5seconds a lap... Now you can't, and its a mere procession in the last stint unless someone's rubber doesn't make it to the end. That's why the much faster McLaren couldn't catch the Sauber and Ferrari slugs at the end of the China race. That's why Kimi had nothing for Seb at the end of Bahrain. That's why we're not seeing anyone charge through the field if they get caught out in qualy or have a problem at the start of the race. Its pretty dull "racing" IMO unless you like watching people try and eek mileage out of tyres contrived to turn to shit prematurely by cruising around. I didn't really pick up on the downsides either untill it was pointed out in articles like the one I linked, but now it really bothers me. Watch it this weekend. If you're in a faster car you really only get a few corners to try and pass the guy in front, then your tyres loose their edge and its choo-choo time... That's why the mid-field pack looks like its really close this year - it isn't, its just that the tyres are uber crap and don't allow any of the cars to go faster than the others for more than a lap or two.

[mad082]

i think that as the season progresses and the teams get a better understanding of the tyres then you will see things get more interesting. having said that though, for many years now f1 has been one of the more boring racing categories as far as overtaking goes. v8 supercars is more entertaining for that (2 races so far this year have gone down to the last lap, including the second race on sunday just gone). f1 more comes down to pit strategy and making gains with the undercut than actually passing cars on the track.

[ctjet]

yeah its pretty rubbish

[hrd-hr30]

the year before they brought in all this contrived shit like DRS and crap tyres, there was double the amount of overtaking that we'd had for the previous 13 years. We don't need the fake stuff to make F1 'exciting'. The quality of racing is not determined by the total number of passes.

Edited May 9, 2012 by hrd-hr30

[Roy]

Well, I often go back and watch old GPs in my down time and I think you all have your nostalgia shades on. The last two seaons racing has been the most entertaining in years, and despite Sebs dominance the racing was still close between the guys of near equal speed, just that the faster cars out of position could recover.

Don't change a thing FIA...its about as good as it gets at the moment with regards to competition, entertainment and good wheel to wheel racing

[mattie4270]

I can see both sides of the story,I dont know the answer?

[hrd-hr30]

Matin Brundle (http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/news/22058/7698801/Reflections-On-Bahrain): "On the journey home (from Bahrain) I was talking with two F1 drivers, a world champion and a multiple race winner, and they had very similar concerns to Michael in that they can't push the cars anywhere near their limits. 'Physically my granny could drive the race' quipped one to underline how far away from the limits they are."

[Marlin]

So, besides Briz, who's as always SUPER helpful, who's been to the Monza round?

Any must do's or Must NOT do's?