Tyre warmer ban in 09 good or bad idea

I was sitting in front of the television watching and recording the race's just as I have done every year since '84. Anything else?

 

Am FOR tire warmers and here is why. As someone who races using slicks in lowly F2000 in SCCA, i can attest to the DANGER of cold tires. This is not a subtle thing, as cold race tires (at least fairly soft Hoosier 35's) are slippery when cold (under 70F) and yes while there is a super soft 25 compound (and harder 45), i have experienced ****sudden**** let go from rubber when cold during first half of lap at WGI. There was zero warning to the driver and perhaps not helped by the changing grip going up the boot from normal tarmac to the contrete patch. This is in a lowly F2000 mind you.

In F1 we are talking 5x the power-to-weight ratio and yes, better rubber for sure. Still, cold rubber on an F1 car is probably a huge safety issue regardless of driver for various reasons, including the mentioned fast cars going around while slower car entering and being careful until tire temps are up. F1 cars can close in on slower cars at a blinding rate.

Just my humble 2 yen.

Would LOVE to heard from track guys who have experience chime in being AGAINST tire warmers for F1.

 

While I'm not in agreement with you my driving experience is about the same. Karts (80cc & 125cc shifters), FF1600, FF2000, and SuperVee(Atlantics). I'm not saying cold tires can't make a car a hand full, they can. But, there were other times when F1 drivers had a lot more HP to deal with and with less downforce. They're supposed to be the best in the world, I'm sure they'll do fine.

Glad to hear you're giving that Van Diemen a good thrashing!

 

Banning them from the grid is fine with me, but banning them from the pits is asking for serious trouble. I think it is a good thing that death on the track is now a rare thing, unlike the old "Golden Age" of racing.

 

True that. Still, what scares me is that cars with HOT tires will be on track when cold tire cars leave pits. Perhaps if more safety with pit exit... Then again the F1 tires are probably the shiznit hot or 'cold' versus the stuff lowly guys like me use. Also, F1 tracks generally are smother and have less tarmac surface type changes. It amazes me how the difference of track surface affects the F2000, while the 308 with street tires on same track just seemed to not have as high a difference in grip. Sure there was a difference, but not like in the F2000. Dare not think what it would be in an F1 car... but would be fun learning (anyone got a spare relatively modern F1 car they wanna loan out ).

A most humble thanks. Fun car and she really is upping the ainte in driving ability/experience.

No warmers only for starting grid is fine as all cars are then equal (read: everyone has same tire temps per se). Agree with you, it is when hot tire cars on track meets cold tire car coming out slowly already from pits.

 

Tyre warmers are only required for pitstops ... pitstops are only required because Bernie wanted/s to turn motorracing into a soap opera TV show.

There is a simple solution ... get rid of pitstops again and lets return to racing on the track. Everybody complains about the lack of passing ... the real cause is pitstops because drivers no longer need to take the risk, they just wait for a pitstop .

Removing tyre warmers will not cause instant deaths of drivers, heck it might cause a few to scare their underpants ... but if you really think this is that dangerous then soon you will want to ban racing in the rain, and then the next thing will be banning 2 cars being on the same track at the same time. These guys have big balls, they already have a pit exit feed lane ... they will adapt (as will the tyre compounds).
Pete

 

I think the drivers are more than capable of dealing with no TC and no tire warmers. Therefore it isnt a big deal to me.

Pete, I don't think getting rid of pitstops will help much. I was watching most of the 80s races on video recently. From what I could make out the full tank/tire only pitstops weren't that exciting either. In most of the races there would be a dice for the lead for the first few laps and then montonous lapping till the fuel was consumed. Prost would take care of his tires and fuel and usually win and a few guys who tried too hard in the initial laps 9like Mansell, Senna) ran out of fuel in the latter stages of the race. The middle part of the race was pretty boring.

I think what makes F1 exciting is having a bunch of super talented title contenders at the wheel and at least two or more teams with competitive cars. Whatever the rules (engine, tire, turbo, TC, etc, etc) the racing will be exciting. 2007 was an awesome season with 3-4 drivers with a shot at the crown and two cars that were close rivals.