Honestly, you cannot tell me that Ferrari and MS haven't killed F1

Say what?

Pete - have you been drinking ... again?

You feel Ferrari has an obligation to retire RB and put in place of him a more sporting driver? Are you mad? If that happens, I'll likely be the one replacing RB - and we both know the chances of that.

The parties that should be held in obligation to resurrecting the sporting competition in F1 are the other teams - where are they?
You've got Williams botching an entire season with their walrus lovechild; while McLaren (as per usual) can't seem to sort out when the season starts, and invariably begin designing, planning for and building a new, new (really it's all new & improved this time, and it'll be real fast ... DC will win the championship in this one ... really!) car once the season is already underway - adding to their dismay is a cummulative 1 and 1/2 botch chassis' that never even see the starting grid. Then you've got their mates Merc who just recently seemed to have lost the assmbly manual for their engines, and who've also, incidentally enough, located that "extra" bag of bolts that should have been installed with the rest of Kimi's last engine. Oopsie. And then there's the electronic's ... Blimey!

What're they doing?

The only hope you've got is BAR and Renault, and between two of them you've got maybe 2 cars; since the other two almost always come across a suspension or engine failure.

As I see it, the only people that owe any sort of obligation to the world of F1 are the teams that spend their time dropping tabs and following Alice down rabbitholes, rather than working out their development schedules and focusing on engineering over gimmicky front ends, renewed chassis' and neverending expenses associated to building some monumental new facility and some shoddy, rubbish Merc (cough SLR cough).

For example, Montoya spent all season telling everyone that the car was twitchy and oversprung - it took a reorganization of the engineering dept for Williams to hear him.

Bernie and the FIA are another set of problems, respectivly; Bernie keeps miliking the TV money cashcow dry, and Max & Co. keep squeezing blood out of turnips by forcing half-baked changes onto already financially burdoned teams; those two parties should be working on getting the rest of the grid better engine deals, more money and (potentially) an oppotunity to move up the grid.

 

Oh boy, I know what you're talking about! I've suffered from it too.

Like you said, the only way to overcome it is to talk to yourself (imagine you're doing very quick but relaxed practise laps) or "clear your mind" (which requires alot of discipline and mental strength).

 

In racing, winning is everything, there is no good or bad way to win, there is only winning. (I think Steve Mcqueen said that). Should Ferrari be penalized for winning so many races?? No. At the moment they are the best, they work very hard at it and they deserve to win. (When I was at the U.S. grad prix this year, Ferrari was the only team that practiced pit stops, they wheeled the spare car out on pit lane and did about a dozen pit stops, one right after the other changing all 4 tires every time. No other team did that.) Is one of the reasons that Ferrari continue to win, because the other teams, especially Williams and McLaren are not competitive ?? Yes. When these other teams finally get their act together and field a competitive car, will Ferrari not win as many races?? Yes. Will Ferrari's dominance end when MS/J Todt leave?? Yes. But their organizational structure is so solid and has so much depth that they will still be able to produce a competitive car, and given a good driver, they will be able to challenge the other teams for race wins. Then the championships will be a lot closer fight and make for exciting racing. Sould Bernie and Max help the less competitive teams?? Yes. They should get some lower cost engine deals , ect. for those teams and give them a higher percentage of the TV profits so they could afford some decent R & D. If Max wants to limit the speeds,(which would be a good thing) let them regulate the tires more instead of having engines last for 2 races. Tires are the single most important component effecting the performance of the car, make the tires last longer and you will slow the cars down. With all that said, I still love F1. Now I know I've had to much to drink.

 

You're absolutely right. My list was not comprehensive. In essence what F1 needs is a major overhaul of the rules with the aim of banning all aeros, bringing back slicks and don't forget to ban the refuelling. I love the spectacle, but it confuses the picture. Also ban all the electronic nonsense.

Basically bring back the cars from 1965 but built with today's strength and inherent safety.

And while you're at it, toss out a few boring tracks. Imola, Nuerburgring, France to name a few.

The overall problem is, that if Ferrari wasn't dominating, somebody else would and we'd be in the same miserable situation. At this moment I can only hope for rain in Spa or some lunatic running onto the track...Isn't that a sad statement to make, sheesh.

 

I think we have all missed the point about engines....the fact that these engines are spinning up to 19,000rpm is way silly IMO as how does this help the car in the street ????

I don't want to have a pneumatic tank in my car that needs to be filled every 2 days or whatever it is and the whole point of F1 is technology driven ideas that will be relayed to the road to improve the species and I don't see how an engine spinning at such ridiculous revs helps the situation.

Back when road engines in Ferrari were redlining at 7700 the GP cars were doing 10500, now the road cars do 8500 and the GP cars are up to 19K.

They've banned exotic metals so how about bringing the engines back to earth so we can relate to them again

 

I think this has been a great season so far.

I just wish they will release the schedule for the 2005 season so i can make my overseas plans

Forza Ferrari

 

Ok then, where did disc brakes come from, front air dams , rear wings, VVTEC, ceramic brakes, electronic ignition, launch control (as per M3 CSL), F1 shift which nearly all cars seem to have today, etc etc

F1 is the war zone that propels the road car into the future as does a war in real terms increase technology for everyday living (unfortunately)

I don't want to sit at the lights with the car idling at 4,000rpm

 

Same here. Where are you going? I think the calendar won't come out before December. Regardless I made my Indy reservation already.

Also I'm trying to get to the Hungaroring as long as it exists. Alternatively Nuerburgring or Magny Cours.

Moretti: I disagree about the engine. True that isn't really drivable on the street, but the engines don't make F1 boring. Heck, they're about the only thing still interesting. It is the aero, tire and electronic rules and regulations that produce a car not ideally suited for passing.

 

Andreas,

Right now it is a toss up between Monaco or Spa. I also have made reservations for Indy also and have a feeling that i will be there after my father saw the F2003-GA and F2002 running at Laguna Seca i have a feeling that he would like to go to Indy next year.

Using the race date off of the Tours F1 site i have booked a room at the Port of Nice for that weekend

Rob

 

Rob, good pick. Just take the train into Monaco, fast, easy, cheap and reliable.

All others:
Apologies for hijacking this thread.

 

Competition is competition. Forget Shumey and F1, what killed racing is the computer. Racing in general needs more of the human factor.

I am a test and competition driver for a formula team. Our car's shifting is linked to the engine management. Although I actuate the paddles at the correct time, I don't have to lift or clutch.

The human quest for technological innovation to make our lives better and to make ourselves more powerfull is in a sense competition.

However we have gotten to the point in time and technological evolution that racing is failing in the sense of what I love. The human factor.

As a driver, I HATE that racing is so very corporate and sterile.

So don't complain about little annoyances in racing as you have barely scratched the surface.

 

Welcome to the board and I fully agree with your statements.

However I did mention banning all the electronics. No traction control, no brake assist, no paddle shift. Bare bones manual shifters and self contained engines. Like the early seventies when men were separated from the boys by the way they would do double clutch downshifts etc.

 

Thanks Pete. Not being very techy I didn't know how to better say that, but obviously it got the point across. There needs to be some engine management to allow for fuel injection etc, but nothing connected to any sensors outside the engine that could measure wheel spin or axle or half shaft spin etc.