https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/144151/shifter-kart-fun-reiterated-f1-flaws-to-grosjean Romain Grosjean says time spent driving a 125cc gearbox kart reiterated how Formula 1 needs to change, because it left him "more tired" than racing in a grand prix. The Haas driver and Grand Prix Drivers Association director has been a key advocate of F1's rules changing so drivers can push more during races. While this is often expressed in the form of F1 moving away from tyres that are too sensitive to overheating or degradation, world champion Lewis Hamilton has been vocal this season in his desire for a car that is more physical to drive. Asked by Autosport recently whether he shared that view, Grosjean said: "I went go-karting with my friends last week a 125cc gearbox and I was more tired than doing a Formula 1 race. "Why? Because you push all the time, you don't play safe. And most importantly we manage the tyre all the time [in F1]. "At Barcelona it feels like you are driving at 40%, 50% of the capacity of the car, and it's not hard.
The only time cars are pushed these days are in quali. The rest is managing the engine, tyres, fuel managing.. Pinnacle of motor racing? I think not.
F.1 is getting better by the day, i'm starting to think that most drivers are there only by status and money, if not for that they would choose another form of racing, and with the new added rule (if you defend tour position against Elton you'll be penalized) i really don't know why any of them should even bother...
It's french so what's not to hate!! Ok, i do like their comedy movies, some are very well made...and i once had a french GF, that too
Problem is, it was rebuilt / redisigned whichever term you prefer in order to be a test track. Not a race track. Sure, there are lots of different types of corners and straights, but on a test track you expect to go off. You’re going to. Often. And if you’re just there testing, having consequences for going off track 20 or 30 times per day would bankrupt you. So, in order to please the customers and secure all those test day dollars (euros) no consequences. Great test track. Makes for a ****ty race track though. In a race, mistakes are supposed to be costly.
I am so old that I remember when tires were just tires. Everybody used the same tire because there was just one to choose from. How hard would it be to go back to the one tire era? Everybody would design their car to work with the same tire characteristics, then only the track would change and it would change the same for everybody.
The complex aero loading the tires would need to be addressed as well I think. They are tied more than ever.
Well that’s sort of what we have now apart from the soft-medium-hard thing. Some say that a return to the tire war days where if you chose to go with Bridgestone or Pirelli could make or break your season before it started would be a bad thing. But isn’t that sort of what we have now apart from the soft-medium-hard thing? Except that instead of Bridgestone designing tires specifically for Ferrari, and Pirelli designing tires specifically for Toyota, and god knows who designing specifically for Brabham (low cost provider I’ll bet, knowing Bernie) or whatever, now we have Pirelli designing tires specifically for Mercedes and FOM mandating that everyone has to use them.
Yep. Perfectly happy with it being a test track. Makes sense. But it's not a race track. Definitely not F1. Madness.
Good on Romain for speaking out ,not his biggest fan ,ok he complains a LOT ,but he is talking the truth here.
Hahahahaha. That made me choke on my coffee..... wouldn’t that be so Gallic if they went on strike Friday morning, and all the marshalls just sat around smoking Gaulloises and munching on onions and snails - oh, what’s different to a usual Gallic Friday I hear you ask!
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/144203/mercedes-traces-engine-failure-to-spark-plug Mercedes has revealed that Lance Stroll's spectacular Formula 1 engine blow-up in Montreal practice was the result of a spark plug failure, and taken steps to prevent a repeat. All six Mercedes-engined cars took the latest Phase 2 power unit at the start of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, each fitting a new V6, turbo and MGU-H. Stroll's Racing Point suffered a failure early in final practice, leading to some concerns about the remaining examples of the new Mercedes. In the event, there were no further issues over the course of the weekend with any of the Mercedes engines. Following an investigation at its High Performance Powertrains base in Brixworth, Mercedes is satisfied it has traced the cause of the problem on Stroll's car and addressed it for this weekend's French GP. "The origin was a spark plug failure that caused a cascade of other problems, resulting in the engine failure," a spokesperson told Autosport. "We will have countermeasures in place for this weekend." Spark plug issues are rare in F1, although Lewis Hamilton was stopped by one early in the very first race of the hybrid era in Melbourne in 2014 (pictured).
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/144205/ferrari-seeks-direction-from-france-tech-steps Ferrari will have "a few small evolutions" at the French Grand Prix that will be key to defining the development direction it takes with its 2019 Formula 1 car. After falling behind chief rival Mercedes at the start of the season, Ferrari said it was evaluating different solutions in its bid to get back on level terms in the championship fight. However, it admitted that any new development concepts would take several weeks to determine and put into practice. Ferrari almost claimed its first win of the season in the previous race in Canada, where Sebastian Vettel won on the road but was hit with a five-second time penalty. The Montreal circuit played to the strengths of the SF90, which has better straightline performance at the expense of downforce in the corners. Heading to this weekend's French GP at Paul Ricard, where it expects to struggle more compared to the race in Canada, Ferrari is banking on unidentified upgrades making a big difference to its development plan rather than transforming its on-track performance immediately. Image Unavailable, Please Login "Following Canada we definitely want to get back on track and go racing with our rivals once again," said Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto. "In France we will have a few small evolutions, elements that represent for us a useful step in defining the direction we will take in developing the car. "What we will be bringing won't be the solution to our problems, but the technical feedback we get from these evolutions will be important for the next steps we take. "Paul Ricard has been a tricky circuit for us last year and we know that this kind of track isn't particularly favourable for our package, but nothing is impossible so we will be ready to do our best." Ferrari is 123 points behind Mercedes in the constructors' championship after the first seven races. Its lead driver in the drivers' standings, Sebastian Vettel, is 62 points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton.
Actually, I can't think of anything I hate in that country, which I do love dearly: I wouldn't live anywhere else for all the money in the world. Except...what is really to hate is this stupid track, and its location. Rgds
Come on, Sid...aren't you entertaining yourself with an image of France that is about 50 years late? Bit like I was saying that the only food you can find in the U.K today is roast beef with mint? Although next time you'll come over here, remind me to invite you to eat frogs and snails; still possible, but you have to search a bit. Gauloises (the true ones...) have almost completly disappeared nowadays; nobody smokes brown tobacco anymore. Actually, I would like anyone to get on strike, just to get rid of that non-sensical Grand Prix; Formual One is already boring enough these days without this stupid track and stupid location. Rgds
We do tend to exagerate, there are plenty of nice things in France.....the country is very beautiful, the language is also very beautiful, Paris as got some of my favourite museums i love to go to (gare d'orsay), France is a very special place..but French people can be ...how can i put it...complicated, lololo
