That sort of thing does not happen…
Look at the previous episodes in the season - and in other teams.
There is too much at stake, too much money for this sort of thing to work.
Look at the bitterness shown from those that just loose out…
Yes, my hifi is 80s/90s also.
1 Like
If I was Oscar in that situation and wasn’t going to be WC, then yes, I would.
1 Like
The answer MUST be: YES!
In that scenario the answer is a no brainer McLaren must promote the driver who is in a position to win the championship. As it turns out this is Norris but to be clear if the points were in favour of Piastri my answer would be the same.
The choice between one of your drivers winning the championship or neither of them the answer is clear whatever the exact on track scenario. There is good reason to make the choice before the race.
F1 has always been a team sport and team orders have always existed (even when such things were banned for a while) no matter how rose tinted the past seems.
2 Likes
In motorsport, they definitely weren’t better; too many young people lost their lives needlessly. I remember a constant stream of deaths being reported as I grew up. Now it is a rarity, which to me is better than any other thing that some believe made motorsport better in the old days. This is thanks to Pro Sid Watkins, J Setwart and a few others. F1 and other forms of motorsport are, for the vast majority, survivable.
1 Like
Of course I appreciate the safer cars, and I am not suggesting going back to unsafe cars, The modern cars will be safe without the aero, and with simpler tyre compounds and construction, and you will have the close racing seen in historic events.
Of course I am not advocating a return to several drivers loosing life each season, how could you think I was making this the case.
The improvements in driver safety is due to track development, stronger safety cell for the driver, and crush zones to adsorb energy.
The saftey improvements are not due to aero and tyres that have tiny windows of operating conditions.
2 Likes
I don’t think that has anything to do with treating their drivers equally, I think it has more to do with their strategy team still needing improvements. Really looking forward to their Redbull hire starting for next season, this team has thrown away so many points with bad calls the last couple seasons.
For a team that is so risk averse/like to stay on the safe side, I’m still struggling to understand why they opted for a strategy that basically depended on another safety car to work well…. I’m a bigger Lando fan then Oscar & was still expecting/would take the double stack all day.
1 Like
There is an obsession with maintaining track position, which was what cost Hamilton when he stayed out to maintain track position rather than pitting. (Yes I know there were other factors later in the race, but had he pitted as well both drivers would have come out on the same lap). S|ame situation with the MacLaren strategy.
Of course if all pit stops are stopped when the safety car is out (or virtual safety car) these situations will not arise.
Unfortunately I think that would have to be a different category, not F1. F1 is priding themselves on being the pinnacle, they need to have more/better of anything compared to other categories, certainly from a technology pov.
FWIW I’d happily watch that other category.
Super Formula? Or a return to the DTM of old, before they switched to GT3 standard? Haven’t watched either in ages.
1 Like
The constructors regulation could limit development in specific areas, which it does anyway.
Clever engineers work round the regulations each year, so more get added, and only rarely does an innovation get banned.
The regulations could ban areo and restrict tyres, which they have done in the past anyway, so a precedent has been set.
1 Like
Indeed, less aero and skinnier tyres would, I believe, improve safety. Drivers would have more natural feel for the grip available which would likely be on a more gradual scale and less likely to be sending into an unexpected snap/loss of control through pushing too hard.
Plus the cars would be travelling more slowly through the corners. Which is usually where the accidents happen.
They’d have to revisit the whole track limits thing though.
2 Likes
McLaren messed up the strategy for the safety car and should have pitted both drivers and stacked the pitstops if necessary like everyone else. That would have meant bringing in Piastri first for sure.
Piastri has every right to feel aggrieved by the situation as does Norris. It is not the first time they have got it badly wrong for one or both drivers during the season.
Still, could be worse they could be Ferrari drivers.
1 Like
i have read he is not going to Aston martin. according to Mr Stroll.
1 Like
I think skinnier tyres is a bad idea, faster on the straights, less grip if you go off. I remember Ayrton Senna being very firm on this idea. Then there was the awful grooved tyres. Reducing aero is a must for closer racing, last weekend was a joke for overtaking, one possible place in a lap and that was questionable.
Linblad is not up to it I am afraid, not yet anyway. He has had their full backing for 3 seasons and done nothing special but look at his limit. Whereas Freddie Slater is the real deal and the next super talent as I have stated before.
My 2p is going back to steel brakes. Much longer stopping distances and thats where a lot of overtaking happens. Carbon not really transferable to road cars (I havent driven a road car with carbon brakes I liked or got on with unless you were going crazy)
4 Likes
Agree about Lindblad, will keep an eye out for Slater. But I don’t think he’s ready for F1 yet, so who should they have chosen?
I think to not declare the bankruptcy of their junior programme they needed a graduate. Other than Lindblad they have Iwasa. I don’t know much about him, only that Super Formula is hugely competitive.
I agree with less aero but not the skinny tyres.
I believe that an F1 car has to look special & a major part of the appeal is the wide tyres.
To create less grip, simply make less grippy tyres. I don’t know what today’s compounds are like but I recall touching a tyre on Jackie Stewart’s Matra MS80 in the paddock at Brands Hatch in the late 1960’s & being amazed that I could push my finger into the compound up to the nail with very little effort. I remember thinking ‘no wonder they go around corners so quickly’.
These sticky tyres were, bar punctures, supposed to do an entire 200 mile race. Heaven knows how sticky today’s compounds must be compared to then. I guess I could lose a whole hand in one!
1 Like