2015 FORMULA 1 BRITISH GRAND PRIX: QUALIFYING ***SPOILERS***

I think you sum up perfectly the state of play in F1 nowadays.

I think F1 has become too "technical" for individuals to make a difference, and instead, they are expected to be treated like pop-stars.

 

I am sure that the back markers of today would smoke Fangio. Drivers back then were amateur and even the worst on the f1 grid today has been racing since they were a little kid and have top coaches to ensure they are in peak physical condition. For his time he was the best but today he would be nothing. Hamilton would easily dominate him.

back then there were 10 races per season. Now there are 19 races per season.

So if someone has say 60race starts and 5 championships people are like "wow" but that thats not the entire picture.So statistically speaking it was easier to win a championship back then… no more no less.

 

still not sure what you are saying. But I don't disagree with you… stats are very important but should be tethered to a holistic analysis as well.

 

Why? Because it's not as dangerous today as it was back then?
Whose fault is that?

So old drivers were heroes because humans didn't have better safety technology?

Are you also implying that F1 wouldn't exist today or that there wouldn't be enough heroes born to drive fast and unsafe cars today?

You're kidding yourself if you think drivers wouldn't drive dangerous cars today without the safety technology.

 

This just once more shows your lack of knowledge...Just because the drivers of today are fitter for the massive G-Forces does not mean that they "would smoke" any of the former drivers automatically...Car control is a talent and every generation has guys that are more talented than all others. Just go back to pre-war GP racing, when an Auto Union had 500 hp, no servo, no synchronized box and drum brakes, they were driving over a distance of almost 4 hours on difficult tracks like the Nürburgring Nordschleife, they are far away from being that "amateurish" just because they were not paid like today. Just imagine Hamilton driving with bloody hands from the punching steering wheel and the gear changes over 4 hours, the same guy that complains about a few degrees in temperature in his back...And this is not against Hamilton, this would apply for most of todays drivers...
Driving skills: I was told that David Coulthard was driving at one of the first Goodwood Revival races (must be around 2000) against these old "amateurs" in an F1 race with cars of this period in heavy rain. Although he admitted that he drove flat out he was passed left and right by these old farts thanks to their car control...Some might say Coulthard was not the very best but his admiration for those who drove these cars says a lot nevertheless.

On the contrary: if you just have 10 races every DNF because of the car falling apart is far more difficult to compensate than in 20 races.
Just look at last season: if the season would have stopped after 10 races the WDC would be Rosberg so it was obviously easier for Hamilton to win a season with 19 races than winning one with 10 so actually your own poster boy proved you wrong.

 

F1 in the fifties was a lot more dangerous but the talent pool was also more diluted by gentlemen drivers.

 

+1 thank you for the well thought out post. The level of talent at the top is always high, those that think the only true talent is the era that they are in are very naive and do not understand the sport. The top drivers of the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s all were extremely talented. Using the logic presented by the other poster, this generation will be considered poor in the future because there will be a more sophisticated car in the future, sorry this just does not make sense. Enjoy what we are watching today, but understand the talents were great in the past and will be in the future.

 

McLaren/Honda

I just LOVED how Buxton tried to play up how amazing McLaren worked on Alonso's car so he could get to Q2. FAIL
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Bingo. Fangio threw that car into every corner with crap tires that could come apart at any time, no safety measures at all, and practically no brakes -- all with a fuel tank full of explosives behind him and no fuel cell or flame suit for protection.

Today's drivers would cower in fear -- and I don't think I would blame them.

 

Today they are called "pay drivers" so where is the difference?
Certainly the field was filled with "gentlemen drivers" because they had to compensate the loss of real talent every year...How many of todays GP drivers will be in peoples memory in 50 years? I guess about a handfull, about the same amount as from those in the 1950/60s so I do not see much has changed since those days in the spreading of talent...

 

Its not a matter of fault.
The circumstances today do not engender heroism.
I'm convinced that to reach the top levels in any sport you need motivation that transcends money. The greats of any era are likely to have been greats in any other era that they might have been born into.

 

Toil, you keep saying back than they only did 10 races, what you forget is that besides f.1, most of them did other races, things like the Panamericana, Le mans, Targa Florio, Mille Miglia, amongst others that you probably never heard off!! F.1 could easily kill you in those days, but it was joke compared to the Panamericana....i'm sorry but the guys of our days don't hold a candle to those gentleman...and i won't even go as back as Nuvolari , Varzi and others....

 

You guys are funny with the old timer heroics. They drove what was available in their era. Every F1 driver today would do the same if that was the only thing available.

At least Fangio was inside a car on a predictable track/street with other F1 drivers around him.

Go check these out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtaGqogx6bo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XihQeZpwqpE

Riding 186mph on a road full of normal (unpredictable) truck/car drivers.

Or how about Isle of Man? 200mph on regular streets with no car to protect you when you make a mistake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRWp9rhfS_0

Are they heroes as well?

 

Google Fangio. His early South American races are at least as hairy.

 

+1

Truer words etc....

Has anyone checked to ensure toil & tesla are not, in fact, one & the same?

Cheers,
Ian

 

I'm telling you... the pressure is getting to McLaren. This is a stupid mistake right in their backyard. This mistake could have had Alonso DQ'd from the race!

No penalty for Alonso

The Woking-based squad were ordered to appear before the race stewards after qualifying at Silverstone on Saturday after it was found that one of Jenson Button's tyres was mistakenly put on Alonso's car during Q1.

McLaren boss Eric Boullier confirmed the mistake after the session as concluded and the resulting penalty could have been disqualification from qualifying with the Spaniard sent to the back of the grid.

However, the team received a reprimand with the stewards statement reading: "The team admitted the wrong tyre had been fitted onto car 14 due to a communication error."

It means Alonso will start P17, one place ahead of team-mate Button.

 

Totally disagree: especially in the fifties there were people in F1 who had no business in the top of the motorsport. Just rich guys driving F1 cars. Very different from todays pay drivers: lets not forget that the likes of Lauda, Mansell and Schumacher were pay drivers to get into F1

Thats very different from the gentlemen drivers of the fifties who looked at F1 as a hobby

Today you need a super license to be in it, back then you just needed money

The sport is much more professional today as is the level of competition

 

Were you traumatized by a McLaren at an impressionable age?

 

I've heard of a Tesla Coil but never a Tesla Toil.

 

Coincidence?.....

Understeering, or correcting a tank slapper? Either way, this doesn't look very nice!

Cheers,
Ian
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Somewhat agree. The problem is that most here think Fangio/Clark/Senna/Gilles could jump into a Mercedes and wipe the floor with anyone. On the other hand today's drivers suck today and they would suck in the old days.
It's funny because last time I checked humans are getting better at every single thing they do, but somehow driving skill has been going backwards. All the best drivers were born 60-100 years ago.

 

I'm sick and tired of the Mac lovers and excuses on NBC. Ferrari sucked for 20 years. No one cried for them.

 

Sixty one years to be exact.

 

How Kimi was able to out qualify Seb after rumors that SF was going to drop him unless he started to perform.

I am sure it is just a coincidence. Lol

 

The drought period at Ferrari was self-inflicted. There was a shambolic organisation at the Scuderia, back then. They had good drivers but couldn't give them good enough cars and support to string a couple of WDCs at least. They had Prost, Mansell, etc...

It took Ferrari to recruit a French team manager, and a bunch of British/South African/Australian engineers, technicians, aerodynamisists, etc... and work with a German driver to obtain success.
Some say that Ferrari stopped being an Italian team then ...

McLaren is seriously on the back foot at the moment, and I cannot understand why. Even the pit work seems to be at fault. I am sure there must be a lot of soul-searching ...