bonsoir peeps
for those of us that have watched F1 since the early 80s you cannot help but noticed that the current crop ( with the odd exception ) seem to have more accidents , biffs , bangs , bumps , bits knocked off , bits flying off willy nilly with each other , call it what you will than just about any era i have seen in the 3 decades or so i have watched F1 ,
wondering what the reason for this was ? are the drivers too reliant on the aerodynamics to do the work for them ? are the cars now reaching the edge of the envelope in performance and braking distances ? are the drivers now lacking respect for each other and themselves because the cars are now so safe -
or horror of horrors are the skill sets of the current drivers not quite as good as some people have cracked them up to be compared to the drivers of the last few decades ?
are the current drivers lacking respect
posted on 8/11/12
I think it's down to the fact that retaining a seat is far more difficult so people are more likely to take more risks.
We've always had numpties in the sport who caused accidents though
posted on 8/11/12
You expect the odd bump or small incident during a race - it's just the nature of the beast when driving incredibly fast cars with others very close to you. However, the race in Abu Dhabi was embarrassing imo; there was so much poor driving and low-quality overtaking I was left shaking my head. I was sat thinking "Is this the pinnicle of motorsport or just a bunch of clumsy drivers in fast cars?"
During the preview to the Abu Dhabi race on the BBC, Adrian Newey and DC drove an old F1 car and then the 2009 RB car. One of them quoted that the sides of the old F1 car were very low compared the the 2009 car. Lower sides means that the driver is able to see out of the cockpit better so maybe this is one reason that more bumps and crashes are happening nowadays - the drivers just can't see as well as in the past. I know the higher sides give better protection so it's a toss up between being able to see clearly and being better protected.
Sticking with the safety aspect, I know that drivers are pretty fearless but the cars are a lot safer than in years gone by so drivers maybe think that they can take more risks with minimal consequences. Again, this might be another factor as to why more crashes are happening.
posted on 8/11/12
man unt dare devil
you might have a point there manx - i didnt think of that when i created the topic
you only have to look at how massa"s body lanquage has changed since the ferrari suits extended his contract another year a few weeks ago ,
before they granted him another year he was walking around with a face like a busted toilet , when he was given a reprieve he now comes across as quite chipper when he is being interviewed -
so yeah probably some drivers might drive with more gusto if they are trying to retain there contract -
posted on 8/11/12
mikey bosun
thats a good shout about the higher cockpits mikey , i would imagine those contraptions they almost wear round there neck dont do them any favours either ,
i suppose combined with the superior performance of the modern machines it cant help being encased in carbon fibre just under the eyeline with just the side mirrors to help you -
i suppose the drivers also become blas'e as there are no real serious driver injuries anymore , cant think back to when a driver was really hurt when locking horns in the heat of battle --- schumacher 99 ?
dont really count massa when the bed spring gave him a biff as he was not locking horns at the time --