Charlie Whiting is a pathetic loser and F1 is officially a clown show

Overreaction due to Jules Bianchi's death. We never know what's going on behind the scenes legally...perhaps FIA is forcing the rain controls because the former policies are seen as "too risky". I'd never seen a safety car start prior to 2014, and I've seen monsoon conditions in Malaysia that started without a safety car.

 

Charlie is a clown hack steward. Can't start a race in the rain, can't have ANY consistency with driver infractions (particularly exceeding track limits), etc.

 

Charlie should have been fired after Japan 2007.

 

I don't know what your definition of "average" F1 viewers is. As I said in my earlier post, I've been getting up religiously every other Sunday @ 6:30 am for the last 18 years to watch F1. So I guess that makes me at least average. I'd call that dedicated.

It's my favorite sport. Or at least it used to be...


Joe

 

For heaven's sake, Charlie, even Crashtor Maldonado won a GP in the rain, so let them race!! Until then, here are some great rain races which will never be duplicated due to the current paranoia:

John Surtees: Spa, 1966 (Ferrari)
Jack Brabham: Nurburgring, 1966 (Brabham)
Jack Brabham: Mosport, 1967 (Brabham)
Jackie Stewart: Nurburgring, 1968 (Tyrrell)
Jean Pierre Beltoise: Monaco, 1972 (BRM) Last win for BRM
Jacky Ickx: Zandvoort, 1971 (Ferrari)
Jackie Stewart: Mosport, 1971 (Tyrrell)
Mario Andretti: Fuji, 1976 (Lotus)
Ayrton Senna: Estoril, 1985 (Lotus) 1st win for Senna
Thierry Boutsen: Adelaide, 1989 (Williams)
Ayrton Senna: Hockenheim, 1989 (McLaren)
Ayrton Senna: Donnington, 1993? (McLaren)
Sebastian Vettel: Monza, 2005? (Toro Rosso) 1st win of very many

I have deliberately left out Monaco, 1984, which was called early (subsequently depriving Senna of a win in a Toleman). Please feel free to add to this list, as my memory isn't perfect!

 

Don't forget Fisichella at Brazil...that turned wet, but no safety car allowed him to win as he spun off (IIRC)(edit- had to research this one for facts...the race was stopped due to rain, so can't really include that GP)

Spa in 2008 was a memorably wet race too...except EVERYONE was crashing in that one.

Spa 1999 would have had a safety car every lap with Whiting's current rules)

 

Totally agree
I was thinking about the recent movie Rush and the race at Nuerburgring. Those were the days when sex was safe and racing dangerous

PS: I was at Monaco 84 and was pissed for the abort

 

F1 is a shell of its former self Michael said many times that the pit and tire rules made you roll around. Impo refueling is what made f1 great if your cars wasn't as good as the other teams you could run light and not worry about tire wear. Now with the Drs the fastest car will 95 percent of the time will when all you have to do is wait for the car in front to lose some grip and then blow by . FIA has made this mess and to scared to clean it up Mercedes is supply to many teams so FIA has to go along the turbo cars where too expensive in the eighties and were forced out there was no need to go to the small turbo car should have stayed in the v10 f1 is racing in racing is entertainment nothing more . Manufacturers will do whatever it takes to win nothing of the aerodynamic development is going to make it to A Streetcar at most 10 % the teams push for engine rules that are favorable to them Mercedes has been building turbos for 60 years and they had a major advantage over a ferrari because they haven't never needed to develop turbos because they're not making diesel trucks

 

Yes!! Those SPA wet races were something else.

And that Brazil race, oh my, I still have memories from Alonso coming super fast to crash
against Webber's tire. What a shunt that was.

 

No please, no refuelling again !!

I even wish there was no mandatory tyre stop, so that drivers can race from begining to end without no artificial imput.

There used to do just that in the past, and it was great.

 

LEST WE FORGET:
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Ayrton crashed in the dry, better have all dry races abandoned too!

 

The irony is that he died behind a SC. Because of his own undoing

It's not like there were no SCs in the past and that's why Bianchi died. Which makes me really wonder on what basis the Bianchi family can sue the FIA or the race organizer? About the only thing, which is questionable was that crane vehicle out there rescueing the other stranded car. But what were they supposed to do? Only an immediate red flag would have stopped the cars from circling. But red flags really screw up the schedule of a race and are therefore not much in use.

The facts remain: Racing is dangerous and Bianchi was in violation of the rules by speeding behind the SC. And not just a bit, but by a huge margin. Let's not forget that part either.

 

That's a very poor excuse not to use the red flag in dangerous conditions.

Is the FIA now hostage to the TV channels that they can dictate the way to run GPs?

Has it really come to that ?

 

Ultimately the driver is responsible for controlling his race car, aside from a mechanical failure or collision caused by another.

 

It's funny, but in a recent move I found all kinds of racing tapes, back into the early '90s...

We have come a long way, but my heroes are all out racing on the VHS in the new garage!!

 

Exactly.

It's tragic that Bianchi died. It truly was. But the lesson learned is to not have such heavy vehicles on track together with the F1 cars, especially when wet.

 

+

 

Again:

If Bianchi had followed the rules he would be alive today. Simple as that.
Any driver can driver straight into a wall at 100mph and ends up dead. Nothing will prevent that. So at the moment before Bianchi's accident deploying a SC was perfectly fine. Bianchi would have not aquaplained off if he had followed the rules.

Aside from that a red flag calls for at least a 30 minutes break. This was the Japanese GP for which they have to rent satellites to transmit it live. That's a huge expense. AND: Moving the race further up would make the time slot even worse.

Let's not forget:
F1 is financed by huge amounts of $, which come from its success as a business. That means sticking to predetermined TV/satellite slots. This is no longer your local gokart track where you can stop a rain without any $ consequences once it pours. Maybe that's cold, but that's the reality of it.

And once again: Bianchi was WAY too fast. THAT is the primary cause of the accident.

 

BIN-freaking-GO!