Montoya: Drivers have too much assistance Montoya: Drivers have too much assistance The driver and the team just have too much information. Its OK to have the information in practice, but that information shouldnt be there in the race for the drivers. Its got to be a feel thing. Also it will mean that you will start to see the talented people coming through says Montoya. Far too much monitoring of the car and too much coaching from the pits. Ban the telemetry, ban the radio communications and go back to drivers checking their instruments themselves and relying on pitboards once a lap!
To me Montoya was always a damn fast clown in a racing suit. But I am fully with him on this. Let the driver manage his rubbers, his breaks etc... Let them take the gambles or play the prof, be aggressive and overdrive the car. Bring the human factor back.
Even if they just did away with the telemetry, it would be a big step forward. Let the driver's senses detect what is happening and then let him figure out how to deal with it. for the sake of development and set up, let teams use every sensor they want until quali and race time, then its' the drivers car to manage and make go as fast as HE can. I get that modern F1 is a team sport, but when the lights go out it should be up to the drivers to get the best out of the car.
I've got mixed emotions about it. To me it's certainly a team sport and the cars are much more sophisticated to leave the driver isolated I think. I love that it's all super cutting edge tech... but coaching is another story. Nico for instance can't seem to do much in any stressful situation without panicked calls to the team to help him. That's gotta stop.
Yeah, I thought that as well. If Montoya was a clown what does that make of the others who never won a GP? I think he was a loss to GP; a colourful character who could hold his own and be aggressive when needed. But I never understood what was the attraction of NASCAR for him after F1..
+1 The average F1 spectator wants to see racing, and is not interested in the teams monitoring the cars for their drivers and telling them how to race. Less drivers' aid and more drivers input.
I know there are a bunch of NASCAR haters here, that's fine, to each his own. But one of the things that separate the NASCAR greats from the rest of the field is the ability to feel what the car is doing and communicate that to his crew chief who then has to figure out what to do about it. You want to see great team work? Watch Jimmy Johnson (driver) and Chad Knause (crew chief) work together during a race weekend.
don't completely disagree with you but roundy round is much about muscle memory...many of the tracks are so similar (especially the 1.5 mi. format). the nascar product has also gotten so very poor. nascar could benefit by removing the aero packages and revert back to the old as they too can benefit from more driver!
I didn't mean to rubbish NASCAR by my comment about Montoya going there after F1. It's just that jumping from a state-of-the-art responsive single seater racing on road courses to a massive low-tech saloon car running mostly on huge ovals isn't evident for most F1 drivers. I was just wondering what the attraction was for Montoya, when there are road course series in the US (IMSA/ELMS or even Indy). I know that NASCAR is the Premier series in the States, attracting big money, but I was thinking about the enjoyment.
I have to believe that a big part of the attraction is the competition. 17 races so far in 2015, 10 different winners. There are probably 20 guys who could win on any given day. The typical 500 mile race isn't decided until the last 20 miles and often in the last 5 miles. Sure, the cars are low tech but the racing is close and there is a very high degree of talent and skill required to drive and win. Oh, and they are really loud and fast!
To a degree there is a bit of repetition but relying purely on muscle memory will result in 1 of two out comes. The first you are slow, very slow. The second you crash. Over the course of a race tracks change and the fast teams have to anticipate the changes and adjust the cars accordingly. It is the input of the driver that feeds the decisions the crew chief has to make on how to adjust the car. But the key point is it is the drivers ability to feel what the car is doing at the limits that separate the greats from the also rans. I for one would like to see all telemetry gone from F1.
I've always thought modern F1 drivers are the biggest whiners, cry babies and spoilt brats. Everything seems to be spoon fed to them. I think JPM is right..
I think you misunderstand the current state of the cars if you believe they can't feel the cars any longer.
You're not utilizing available technology. In f1, it would seem anathema to the sport to purposely 'low tech' it. Montoya is complaining because he probably has a good feel for the car but others are better at digesting the data, negating his advantage by giving them one. A well rounded driver would use both to be the best, imo. I have no problem with a driver using every available bit of data he can to be the best, and in a sport like f1 it demands it. If you're talking about taking control of the car away from the driver, I'm not in favor of it, but I have no issue with giving the driver all the information he can handle to drive it better. In fact, I'd want no less - I want to see them get the maximum from the machinery, and if their ability to analyze or use data real time gives them an advantage over another driver, they're a better driver.
+1 Very well stated, thanks! Even jokers like us (!) can install some pretty serious telemetry equipment for minimal cost these days. We get off the track and analyze the data in order to go a little quicker the next time. Serious pro coaches may not completely rely on it, but I know they sure as hell study & use it to improve their students. Outlawing it may work for the taxicabs, but they've only just allowed injection too! I'm not interested in early 20th century racing - I enjoy technology and the way they make use of it. Cheers, Ian
I don't disagree with you; banning all telemetry would not be good. Give them all the data and let them make decisions. The problem, or the slippery slope IMHO, is actually telling them how to drive. Things like, "brakes are critical, or brake temp is X and rising at Y" - I have no problem with that. The driver has to figure out how to change his driving to cool the brakes while not dropping too much time. Things like, "ok lift 400 feet and coast into turn 1; lift 200 feet before the braking zone to turn 2, etc" I take issue with those kinds of instructions. That is literally an engineer interpreting the data, then telling the driver what to do. The driver is no longer interpreting the data in realtime. A more appropriate limit might be, "fuel burn is at X and we need it to be at Y" - something like that. Seems like the new FIA rules seek to do just that, but we'll have to see how they are enforced.
JB chips in on JPM's comments; As much as I love the technical side of F1, I think I too would like them to "take away the data" for the race - As they note, OK in FP & even qualy, but not in the race - They'll have to "feel" what it's doing again. Now, if the racing would improve is another question - I suspect they'd be more strung out, but other than those who need constant overtaking, preferably for P1, I feel most fans could go for it. Cheers, Ian Jenson Button believes F1 drivers are now helped too much by data - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com
