Yeah that rule is stupid. It means you could have a safety car start after 1hr58m of the race clock starting and then 1 lap of actual racing and that counts as a full race. Ridiculous.
Terrible camera work though. There was at least one close battle at the line that we never got to see.
Will there be any vintage racing events for the current crop of F1 cars? I see the cars in the pits with computers and cooling devices plugged in to them; seems like it takes a team of Ph.D.s just to start the engines. I wonder if any hobbyists, even really rich ones, will have the wherewithal to run those at vintage races.
No. They will become static displays. But I still wanna rage through Nick Mason’s collection.
That seems a shame. I wonder if some of the tech could be simplified and de-tuned so it could be used without a team of specialists. Still not simple, goodness knows, but it would be a shame if they never ran again.
If not, then what’s the last year for F1 cars that could be run by a collector without the full factory pit crew?
I thought most of the computing is to do with analysing data from the car, rather than required to make it run? Mechanically they are (by regulation) relatively simple aren’t they? Sure, you will still need people with specialist knowledge, but not necessarily a whole crew with a bank of supercomputers.
Didn’t F1 have a goal of “relevance to the advancement of the commercial automobile industry,” at one point?
There’s lots of computer monitoring going on, but a lot of computer control as well. Drivers are occasionally told to switch into particular driving/performance modes, so there must be some degree of computer involvement in fuel delivery, ignition timing, things like that. And I suspect the on-board computers can shut the whole thing down if they detect something they don’t like.
That said, I don’t know how difficult it is to boot up an F1 car. I assume there’s more to it than just a power button on the dashboard.
Has anyone else asked this question before; any internet discussions from folks more knowledgeable than we?
There is massive computational power on board to control not just engine mapping, but brake by wire, differential settings, ers-h, ers-k, hydraulics for gear shifts and drs, and power flow to and from the energy store. And probably dozens of sub systems. All those buttons on the steering wheel aren’t for show.
Danica Patrick needs to get the fuck out of the booth. She’s awful as a commentator. She keeps talking over people and asking stupid questions and yammers on and on. The 90min FP2 feels like it’s taken 3 hours. I hope she’s nowhere to be seen or heard on Sunday.
All these assholes do. I swear, they must get paid by the fucking word. They just NEVER shut up! They just talk shit about shit that don’t need shit to be said about.
I watched a season in Brazil on GloboTV. One guy, who would pipe in when there was something to actually talk about. Other than that, Glorious Car Sounds!
Oh THAT’S who that was.
I didn’t get a chance to watch the entire session, so I just watched the highlights. I wondered what amateur they got to do the commentary for that session; as you said, it was awful. I only had to watch about 10 minutes total, I can’t imagine the torture it must have been to watch a full 90 minutes of her inanity.
The Indy guy they had in to do commentary for quali seemed good enough.
Is Max even trying now?
Oh, I agree. They did an audio up lap (when they’re supposed to shut up) and they didn’t stop talking until it was two thirds done.
But Danica was a whole next level of awful.
The pre-race nonsense has set the new standard for inane bullshit. I feel sorry for Carlos and Charlie for having to participate in this fiasco. Embarrassing!
F1 engines have been way too highly strung to operate without tons of specialist equipment for years. Ironically, they are slightly more user friendly in the hybrid era because the electric elements can be used as a starter motor. If you stalled anywhere other than the pits in earlier eras, it was game over because they couldn’t afford the weight of an onboard starter.
Since at least the late 90s engines have had to be warmed by pumping hot water and oil through them before they can be started. The tolerances are so tiny that they are effectively seized tight at room temp.
Congrats to Red Bull on their double championship. It’s a shame these ones are going to come with an asterisk again. I used to like Christian Horner and his fun poke-the-bear attitude, but that “I can’t believe people are accusing us of cheating just because we cheated” speech was sickening.
Amazed that Alonso was able to finish that race, and that the Mercedes suspension didn’t break while punting the Ferrari into a spin. Mindblowing!
Crazy Fucking Qualifying for Brazil. How can Kevin even be proud of that? It was somebody else’s fuck-up and rain. Whatever. I guess it counts.
Trivia: I’ve been to Interlagos, but not for the F1. I was present for both Senna’s and Vettle’s first F1 races. So, all I’m saying, is any new guys who want to hedge your bets, send me tickets to your maiden drive. Might not be a bad investment.
Hey, 8 of the 10 q3 qualifiers had one lap on the same tires in the same conditions and he beat them all fairly! Pole well deserved in my book.
Hey, Pole won, Pole deserved in this series. I concede. Lots of crazy shit over the years.
That was a pretty darn good Sprit race! Kept my attention pretty much till the end, very unlike some of the races.
Lance Stroll needs to play badminton or cards or something. He doesn’t belong in F1. Nice to have Daddy buy you a team.
Yeah, the move by Stroll was just stupid. At least the Alpine drivers made their contact look somewhat plausible.
Alonzo should have been dead last, but Latifi fights pretty hard for that position.
Did I miss what happened to Albon, or did they not show it?
Great racing with George and Max.