hi guys
have noticed the latest brainwave masterminded by charlie whiting and his buds at mclaren has been passed for 2015 , i am of course talking about the proposal for standing starts after a safety car stoppage which was all done in that worthy cause of dwindling viewing figures without giving diddly squat about driver safety -
as we know the green lights are always potentially the most dangerous aspect of the race when driver adrenaline and bravado are at there most potent and a massive whoops a daisy is only just a millimetre too much pressure on the loud pedal away made even more dangerous on some of the more confined tracks on the calender
for those of us with a memory who can ever forget the 1986 british GP or spa 1998 or melbourne 2002 or spa 2012 where alonso nearly had his head lopped off by the airbourne lotus and so on and so forth , and only more by luck than anything else was there no fatalities at the start of these races and probably a few more if i could be bothered to rattle the grey matter -
i sometimes wonder if charlie and the fia have got a brussel sprout where there brain should be and have fully thought thru the safety implications of multiple standing starts and the completely unnecessary dangers it places on the drivers all for the cause of raising viewing figures which in effect means replacing lost samoleons with driver safety -
-------- any thoughts --
russian roulette with driver safety
posted on 16/7/14
Martial I think people are jumping the gun and worrying about what could potentially happen rather than what actually happens.
I see nothing wrong with the idea and is better than starting behind the safety car
posted on 16/7/14
The world's full of what ifs, I mean, what if u trip up on a kerb and crack ur skull n die, life has its dangers n I think f1 goes over and beyond what is strictly necessary. I think they do a wonderful job of keeping the drivers safe, without making it too sanitised. But fear any further decisions made on a pure safety basis will over sanitize the sport. I mean at the end of the day they could be driving round in 1 litre diesels in carbon honeycomb spheres, or doing it virtually on a computer, but it wudnt be the same. You feel most alive when ur closest to death. And it's the empathy that we feel as fans that makes it enjoyable
posted on 16/7/14
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 16/7/14
comment by ManUtdDaredevil (U9612)
posted 9 hours, 53 minutes ago
Martial I think people are jumping the gun and worrying about what could potentially happen rather than what actually happens.
I see nothing wrong with the idea and is better than starting behind the safety car
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yeh i here what you are saying manx , i just doubt the wisdom of replicating the most singular dangerous part of any race several times over in the same race --
posted on 16/7/14
comment by go-cellino-go (U6730)
posted 14 hours, 15 minutes ago
MA, you missed part of my first reply. You said something about "pals at Mclaren". Can you explain that please? I was not aware of any close relationship between Mclaren and the FIA, in fact quite the opposite.
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i would not take my topics to literally go cell , no sinister agenda intended when i referred to CW and his buds at mclaren -
believe the new standing start rule was cooked up by obviously CW and somebody from mclaren between them --
posted on 16/7/14
Standing restart proposal came from McLaren – Whiting
"I was talking to someone at McLaren and we came up with this idea how to make the show a bit better. When you watch a race, what is the most exciting part of the race? The start. So, why not have a second one? It makes sense."
http://www.espn.co.uk/fia/motorsport/story/167109.html
posted on 16/7/14
McLaren is to blame, haha
posted on 17/7/14
TY WTCBU, that was all I wanted, just the link to where it was said. I hadn't heard that and was just wondering why MA had said it.
MA I wasn't trying to suggest you had a hidden agenda, just my inquisitive mind.
I wonder who at Mclaren, RD, EB, JB, KM or one of the race engineers?
As for the topic itself, I can't decide. The start is one of the exciting parts, I hate to miss it. Yet I agree it is potentially one of the most dangerous phases of the sport. Now this next bit is going to sound controversial but it is just a thought so bear with it....
How many people who watch F1 only watch it to see an accident. I have heard plenty say, "it's boring and only interesting when there is an accident".
Humans tend to have a morbid sense of curiosity, otherwise why does traffic on the motorway slow down to a crawl when there is an accident on the opposite carriageway. People rubber-necking to see what happened.
Nobody here likes to see anybody hurt at an F1 or any race event, but starting behind the SC is a bit boring, but as others have stated it tends to preserve the status quo in that the leader still tends to lead after the restart. Just brings the rest of the field closer, and possibly creates more excitement in the middle of the pack.
One other thing ALL restarts would do, static or SC, it gives the leader clean air for a number of laps. He had possibly already had to negotiate back markers, these had been released to the back of the grid, but the leader has to make up something like a minute or more before having to re-pass them. Something like six laps without having to worry about slower cars impeding their progress.
posted on 18/7/14
Nobody here Thursday then?
posted on 23/7/14
F1 will respect Russian GP contract – Ecclestone
http://thisisf1.com/2014/07/23/f1-will-respect-russian-gp-contract-ecclestone/