Image Unavailable, Please Login I have no words on cars that rely on tunnels for downforce and can pull manhole covers off the street.... They didn't do much good.... gee...really? Image Unavailable, Please Login
I brought this up earlier, but what happened to Pirelli and their full wet tire. I mean, those tires are crap and when it rains with these 800kg monstrous cars, NON ONE uses them aside from the Intermediates. It's been years already and Pirelli hasn't come up with a good full wet tire. And let's be honest, there were F1 races in the past that have taken place in a deluge and the race went on. Were there accidents, absolutely, but the race went on regardless. Now, in todays F1, the rain itself just cancels the race or they Red Flag the race after running 2 laps behind the safety car and call it a race and be done with it.
All this *****-footing in the wet is the legacy of Jules Bianchi who didn't slow down enough and crashed in a rescue vehicle under yellow flags in the rain. Now any circuit is totally scared of the liability in case of accident.
I think they should run these on every race wet or not. Really cutting edge look. I mean, just look at that design. Must be 10,000s of CFD hours.
I don't think the tires are the problem - it's that if it's wet enough to need them, nobody can see in the ensuing spray so they generally can't race in those conditions.
The problem is the lack of fenders and the diffuser, both generating massive spray. Everybody knows that. F1 wants to keep the monoposto open-wheel formula to maintain some tradition, but it's not compatible with large tyres and aero effect. The FIA allows progress in some areas (hybrid system, electronics, etc ...) but not in others.
The cars are too big. Even the 17-21 cars chucked up too much water to badly impede visibility. 22+ cars are arguably worse with the massive suction from the ground effects and huge diffusers. Combined with the giant tires that move upwards of 25% more water than the pre-2017 cars, it's just too much. @william is absolutely correct that everyone has lost a nerve after the Bianchi crash to the point nobody wants to risk it. @jgonzalesm6 is also absolutely right about the tires. Full wet is completely useless and with all the bitching F1 makes about logistics and the false need to cut down on tires. They bring a hundreds of tires that nobody uses. IMO, they need to make the intermediate a slightly harder compound with shallower grooves so it works better in drier conditions. Then make the full wet less aggressive than it currently is, but more than the current intermediate. Any conditions that might suit the full wet right now the teams don't race in it anyways. So those will be red flagged or canceled regardless.
I think some of the young drivers like George and Lando are particularly concerned about safety and have been the most vocal from the grid. That could be a good or bad thing depending on where you stand. Me personally... if MotoGP rider can race unprotected on two wheels through downpours and standing water, $10mm drivers should be able to navigate and conduct themselves in the rain. This isn't NASCAR.
It's not exacly the same conditions. MotoGP bikes have relatively narrow tyres and transfer less than 300hp at the rear wheel. F1 cars have 2 large tyres transfering almost 1000hp, plus a diffuser that itself lifts a lot of water. The spray following a MotoGP must be a lot less than behind a F1 car. I believe drivers fear the lack of visibility a lot more than the lack of adherence.
One of the reasons they banned under body diffusers (oh so long ago) was that in the rain the diffusers created a cloud preventing the following driver from seeing anything--the cloud just happened to stay just above the road surface. Apparently "they" forgot.
Pirelli along with Ferrari will conduct a 2 day wet weather tire test for ALL wet weather tires in 2025 next week at Paul Ricard. Let's hope they get the blue banded (full wets) right this time. We're going on 4 years with this crappy wet weather tire.
The problem is not with the tire, but with the 200Kg of excess weight. The way you make a good rain tire is that as weight goes up the width of the tire goes up proportionally. So 600Kg cars need 16" wide reads while 800 Kg PORKers need 21.5" rears.
I don't get it either. The pre-war Silver Arrows which were close to 800kg and had 700hp probably and were running on tyres 4 or 6 inches wide making far less spray. It's not that the cars NEEDS wide tyre, it simply the rules allowing them. It's the same for insane aero, the rules encourage them. Maybe that would be an area for the FIA to investigate for future regulations.
