In the round-up: The FIA’s new restrictions on team radio messages means drivers will not get verbal warnings about the state of their brakes or tyres.
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Insight: What the radio clampdown means (GP Update)
“Q: Are warnings about the condition of the brakes or tyres (slow puncture) still allowed?
FIA: No, this should be displayed to the driver from data gathered onboard, again like a fuel gauge.”
“Yes, drivers and engineers can still communicate regarding pit-stop strategy and safety information, meaning that the comical back-and-forth arguments that many of the drivers have experienced over the years.”
Hier spricht Rosbergs ganzer Frust (Bild, German)
Before the podium ceremony at Monza, Nico Rosberg chatted in Italian with Mercedes’ Evan Short and Felipe Massa, describing Lewis Hamilton’s win as “lucky”. Hamilton was in the room but does not speak Italian.
Update: Here’s a translation of what was said courtesy of Enrico at Muretto Box F.1:
Rosberg: “Shit, he has been so lucky. How did it fucking happen?”
Short: “You need luck in life.”
Rosberg: “Damn it, really.”
Short: “You will have it too [regarding the luck].”
Rosberg: “No, I already had my dose of luck. However…”
Short: “The Tifosi will be out there. It was a difficult race [for them].”
Rosberg: “I didn’t expect so much margin.”
Massa: “Me neither.”
Massa: “When I saw you was flying away, I tried to save the situation.”
Rosberg: “Shit, a great advantage.”
Rosberg also remarked “che culo” a few times, an exclamation which roughly means “you are very lucky”.
Police intervene to protect Schumacher family home (The Telegraph)
“Local police have had to send patrols to the house on two occasions, in addition to 24-hour private security guards employed by the Schumacher family.”
New Ferrari boss: Engine main issue (Autosport)
Sergio Marchionne: “We know the problem. We have a power unit problem.”
Tweets
Radio restrictions in F1….mid-season….really? #kneejerk
— Tommy Batch (@therealbatchf1) September 11, 2014
The good news is at least it's only Singapore up next, not much going on, easy on brakes, strategy and energy management – ease it in 😜
— Tommy Batch (@therealbatchf1) September 11, 2014
Slow handclap for the FiA and another reg change of pure genius re team radios. No ambiguity there whatsoever.
— K Longsausage (@K_Longsausage) September 11, 2014
@MBrundleF1 disagree.That's how racing drivers improve in the digital age. Watching the rev counter out of copse, thing of the past.
— Alex Brundle (@AlexBrundle) September 11, 2014
Good to hear that F1 engineers will no longer be able to tell drivers "Your front left is too hot at Turn 14" #leavethemalone
— Tiff Needell 🏁 (@tiff_tv) September 11, 2014
Ambivalent about changes to team radio. Far more important that the @FIA get on with scrapping double points. #F1
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) September 11, 2014
But while we're on it, it's amusing the @FIA said radio team orders can't be banned but now thinks driving advice can. #F1
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) September 11, 2014
#F1 Yesterday I missed the pre-podium room. Just discovered that Rosberg, talking in Italian, says about Hamilton "what a lucky man!"
— Muretto Box (@MurettoBoxF1) September 8, 2014
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
The FIA’s decision to limit the use of team radio provoked a range of response. This was one of the more critical views:
The FIA should have learned from the whole team orders farce at Hockenheim that teams will only get around this by using coded messages, and when they do, they’ll pretty much get away with it.
Given how sophisticated these cars are and how much can go wrong on them, I’d want as much information on the car’s performance as possible, especially from a safety point of view – are the teams no longer able to make the driver aware that their brakes may not last the race?
The only thing that this will do is result in even more stupid coded messages that not even we as F1 Fanatics understand, let alone the casual fan.
The FIA are fixing yet another problem that doesn’t really exist. Why don’t they go and fix double points, extreme dieting or safety car restarts – real problems that they have only created themselves.
@Craig-o
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On this day in F1
Ten years ago today Rubens Barrichello headed a Ferrari one-two despite him and team mate Michael Schumacher hitting trouble when rain fell on the first lap of the race.
Ed Marques (@edmarques)
12th September 2014, 0:15
So if a tyre is about do explode and the brakes about to fail without the driver knowing, the team can’t tell them?
Yeah, safety first… The asplhalt on the Parabolica looks even more ridiculous now.
Absolutely insane and ridiculous decision. It’s not the 80’s, it’s 2014. As Alex Brundle brilliantly pointed out.
They are really killing a great sport.
Michael C
12th September 2014, 0:42
Agreed. It shows that whoever in the FIA made these decisions is living in the past. Similar to the pointless introduction of plank sparks next year. F1 is the pinnacle, we should not be wasting any of the energy in making pretty sparks. The cars need to be unique engineering masterpieces and the team and driver working in tandem with the latest data transfer technology. The FIA are dinosaurs in this era.
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
12th September 2014, 1:36
I agree, these dinosaurs need to be moved on. Absolutely no clue on the real issues. F1 is taking more and more steps back each passing day.
Corrado (@)
12th September 2014, 10:53
I think you’re wrong. I may be wrong too, but in my opinion, this is the “outcome” of having too many opinions (from different generations) about what/how F1 should be. Some say the greatest era was the Fangio era, some say it’s the Clark era, some say it’s Senna, others say Schumacher. Anyway, I like the decision as it increases (although too little) the importance of the driver.
TribalTalker (@tribaltalker)
12th September 2014, 14:41
The greatest era is now. It always is.
Michael Brown (@)
12th September 2014, 13:34
The titanium skids are to stop pieces of the plank from falling off and causing punctures.
Carlitox (@carlitox)
12th September 2014, 1:00
I, as a long time fan and engineering student (aiming at motorsports obviously), find the team radios extremely interesting. It gives credit to the engineers, who deserve it just as much as the driver. One can’t work without the other. I’m sure the casual viewer enjoy them as well, because it kinda brings them closer to the action. I can’t really imagine what they want to achieve with this, because as @edmarques pointed, team radio now is an addition to safety and costs (e.g.: a car’s engine is about to explode and you can tell your driver to park, because if they go on they’re gonna DNF anyway and the team will be forced to get a new engine). What they will get is more avoidable accidents and added costs. Not to mention another feature lost for the watcher.
I still insist on limiting the pitcrew, now that would add to the strategy while saving a bit of money.
mantresx (@mantresx)
12th September 2014, 7:01
You’re really exaggerating, how do you think the engineers get all the tyre, brakes, ERS temps in the first place?
The sensors are in the car and I’m guessing what they’ll do is program certain instructions or even warnings that would automatically pop up on the steering wheel display whenever a parameter goes to a certain range.
I do believe drivers are perfectly capable of “monitoring” the state of several things in the car because after a while it becomes second nature, although I do question the wisdom of doing it mid-season.
TribalTalker (@tribaltalker)
12th September 2014, 14:45
It’s not beyond the wit of engineers to link an automatic warning system to a speech synthesizer. Then some of the information currently passing back and forth could still arrive in the same format – speech. Saves looking at the steering wheel all the time, improves safety, probably is already banned.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
12th September 2014, 12:09
@edmarques Nonsensical. I can see why Alex Brundle disagrees. Alex Brundle is a worse than mediocre talent, who will luckily get nowhere near F1 , but this radio babysitting only helps mediocre(in F1 terms, not A. Brundle mediocre level) drivers to get on terms with drivers who are faster than them. In complete breach of regulation 20.1
A driver should drive the car. If he doesn’t know by himself how to improve his lap-time then he isn’t good enough. And stop that useless talk about safety. They have displays in the car. If the brakes are getting bad it can show up there. And if the brakes are really about to fail then it’s a safety message and it isn’t disallowed. So what’s your problem?
otherwise, let’s just get rid of the driver element altogether and let’s get the teams drive the car via computers from the pits, like a huge Scalextric. Hey it’s 2014, is it not, don’t they have the tech for it? It’s a team championship afterall, and all that bull we keep hearing from team principals who forgot the basic rule of any popular sport: no fans=no money=sport dead
2014 or 1984 is irrelevant here(really, how can the apple fall so far from the tree? Alex Brundle so incompetent compared to his father…). You take out the driver element, you kill F1. And with all this babysitting from the pits it’s impossible to refer to those drivers as heroes at all, not even respect them as true sportsmen
Ed Marques (@edmarques)
13th September 2014, 5:30
If Alex Brundle is mediocre or not it doesn’t matter. He is right. The driver still drive the car, there is a lot more information now that existed before and every driver of old would love to have the information that the divers of today got. This “purism” is full of c***. The world has changed, racing has changed, F1 should have undestanded that by now.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
13th September 2014, 10:40
@edmarques He’s wrong. You’re wrong too. Every driver of old would love to get that information, is not true. It’s like saying that every driver of old would like to have traction control and active suspension too. Only the useless ones who have a worse than great car control would love to have those things. I believe Senna was asked what he feels about driver aids. His answer was pretty close to what I wrote above. And make no mistake, this babysitting from the pits is a driver aid, like traction control. Same as traction should be controlled by the driver’s right foot, so he should by himself figure out how to improve his laptime and how to use his brakes and tires. That’s how the cream will rise to the top. End of
Saying “The world has changed” is a meaningless bull sentence in itself. How had the world changed? If by that you mean, that worse drivers can get on terms with better driver by being controlled from the pits like puppets then I prefer the old world thank you very much.
Otherwise, like I said above, let’s go all the way=Scalextric. Who needs driver talent and skill anyway if you can be controlled by boffins from the pits…
Ed Marques (@edmarques)
13th September 2014, 16:43
Yeah the boffins from the pits drive the car on the track. It was one of them who made Nico make that mistake. Apparently he pushed the wrong button.
Solo (@solo)
8th December 2014, 20:34
Personally i like this. All this brakes exploding is paranoia. The team can still tell them threw pit-boards anyway if it’s something critical.
Also i would go a step further and say that since now they can’t instruct them to change brake bias, engine modes etc it also a good idea to simply ban the overcomplicated steering wheels and their silly buttons.
FIA should ban engine modes etc. And if you want to change brake bias you can only do it in the garage while trying to find a set-up. After the race has started then you sleep on the bed you made during practices and the set-up you achieved.
No changing the brakes to fit every corner etc. You’ll just have to find a compromise. And the engine will have one mode only and that’s it. Enough with this silly nonsense of things like Rosberg and Hamilton finding the other was using a stronger engine mode etc.
This will save budgets too for the small teams. The engine software will be less complicated and help the engine pricing and also they won’t need all this expensive electronics that connect the steering wheel to the engine and the over expensive steer-wheel itself.
The steer-wheel will go back looking like a steer-wheel instead of of an aftermarket extra button controller for PlayStation.
sato113 (@sato113)
12th September 2014, 0:19
Onboard hightlights from Spa:
http://fiftybuckss.wordpress.com/2014/08/27/on-board-highlights-belgian-grand-prix/
and Italy:
http://fiftybuckss.wordpress.com/2014/09/07/on-board-highlights-italian-grand-prix/
sato113 (@sato113)
12th September 2014, 10:20
yeah no worries, don’t mention it.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
12th September 2014, 12:16
:) Thanks a lot @sato113
Enjoyed it all, apart from a few of the radio messages that really show why it’s a good idea to ban their sort…
pastaman (@)
12th September 2014, 14:02
thank you!!
Michael C
12th September 2014, 0:32
Hehe it could be that MC Hammer was claiming copyright and the only way the FIA could guarantee Peter Bonnington to not say “HAMMERTIME!” was to ban driving advice altogether.
^Just a joke thought
Atticus (@atticus-2)
12th September 2014, 0:36
Haha, that Tommy Batch and Alex Brundle tweets are gold.
trublu (@trublu)
12th September 2014, 1:04
I’d wager Hamilton would trade the luck he’s had so far for Rosberg’s.
George (@george)
12th September 2014, 1:04
Was Rosberg just being petulant? Hamilton won because a) he was faster and b) Rosberg made a mistake, even after he had a technical issue on the grid. Unless Rosberg knows something we don’t.
Scalextric (@scalextric)
12th September 2014, 2:04
Also BILD is not a reliable news source.
ElBasque (@elbasque)
12th September 2014, 7:11
Is Bild the German equivalent to the Sun? Full of Teutonic puns and immigrant horror stories?
And a horrible nationalistic slant when it comes to F1 driver news?
Although in this instance it was broadcast on telly so its hard to skew that story surely.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
12th September 2014, 8:36
@scalextric @elbasque Note the Muretto Box Tweet. The person who runs it often provides translations of Ferrari’s Italian radio messages and posted that interpretation of Rosberg’s comments before the Bild article.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
12th September 2014, 11:31
I’ve just updated the article with a fuller translation from Enrico at Muretto Box.
Yoshisune (@yobo01)
12th September 2014, 9:06
It’s true that Rosberg said that Hamilton was lucky. Along with a lot of swearing. But then the Mercedes engineer said something like: “you need a bit of luck in life, you’ll get it” and Rosberg replied: “No, I already got it”.
There’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elowvxr_KeA
I wouldn’t pay too much attention to Rosberg’s comments. He was visibly frustrated and he hadn’t had time to think about what happened.
I was surprised to hear Rosberg talk like that, he knows a lot of bad words in italian!
frood19 (@frood19)
12th September 2014, 9:41
my italian is pretty limited but even i could pick out the bad language. if it was english, people would have complained. i guess hamilton was lucky that rosberg went off, but rosberg was even more lucky that he didn’t get humiliated by hamilton making a clean pass on him and then driving off into the sunset.
this season gets better and better.
magon4 (@magon4)
12th September 2014, 9:58
btw Bild is a horrible newspaper in may ways, but it is very reliable in terms of info.
Oli (@dh1996)
12th September 2014, 10:06
BILD can’t be taken serious for anything BUT F1 news. They have proven their inside scoop over the years.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
12th September 2014, 10:11
That’s like people who believe everything Eddie Jordan says.
Oli (@dh1996)
12th September 2014, 15:07
Pretty much, yeah. Because he is right most of the time.
Neil (@neilosjames)
12th September 2014, 4:43
Maybe he saw Hamilton’s own late lock-up that he got away with, and considered that ‘lucky’.
Asanator (@asanator)
12th September 2014, 13:23
I think he was talking about the race start, not the lockups.
TribalTalker (@tribaltalker)
12th September 2014, 14:52
Surely the race start for Hamilton was bad luck? Minimising the damage and driving back for the win… that was definitely not luck.
Feuerdrache (@xenomorph91)
12th September 2014, 21:34
Not getting a DT for a jump start was lucky.
matiascasali (@matiascasali)
12th September 2014, 1:05
i think that a line must be drawn: it’s ok to say to a driver “stop the engine, it’s about to blow up” but, to say “lift your right foot 3 cm and brake 87cm later” it’s kind of too much for me…
Breno (@austus)
12th September 2014, 2:14
They are probably going to create some protocol and use the buttons and switches on the wheel to do the same communication.
matiascasali (@matiascasali)
12th September 2014, 4:27
at least it’s going to be harder, so the drivers will become more error prone, and the races will be quite unpredictable
mantresx (@mantresx)
12th September 2014, 7:21
Yeah but that’s the whole point, to see drivers using all their skill, if there’s more driver errors I guarantee you they will not be from the top drivers (Alonso, Vettel, etc) but from the pay drivers who shouldn’t be in F1 in the first place.
Breno (@austus)
12th September 2014, 2:12
Thats stupid, there is no other word for it. Hopefully this brings problems in some sort of low speed section, causes a harmless crash, so the world can go knock on FIA’s door.
Chris (@tophercheese21)
12th September 2014, 2:42
This is just a thought, but it seems that the SkyF1 commentators have quite a bit of influence.
I dunno, I mean, David Croft has been complaining and essentially lobbying for quite a while now, for drivers to stay within the white lines all the time, and so this season we’ve seen some ridiculously inconsistent application of the rule.
‘Crofty’ has also been complaining about drivers getting radio info that he thinks makes the drivers jobs too easy.
And now this announcement has come.
It’s probably just a coincidence (I think), but it seems to fit. lol
Chris (@tophercheese21)
12th September 2014, 2:47
Also, I’m not really a fan of this banning of certain messages.
I mean, it’s the same thing as telling a coach that he (or she) can’t give advice to their players on what they’re doing wrong, and what they can do to improve.
I mean heck, if a driver doesn’t want to be told to “drink”, then he can just tell the engineer “Don’t tell me that”.
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
12th September 2014, 9:12
Whilst a coach can offer general advice to players, they can’t directly communicate private information mid game in any other sport. The best they can do is huddle during down-time or shout it across the pitch.
JKorz
12th September 2014, 9:54
So it would be ok if football, rugby, and other sporting participants all wore earpieces while playing games!? It would be ok for the ‘coach’ to give them detailed and private instructions that none of their competitors can hear!?
I find it preposterous that they allowed them to give vocal instructions in such detail in the first place..
But then this is all a result of improving technology, and the rules should evolve accordingly.
I suppose Radio’s didn’t work well enough in bygone era’s of f1, such phone like conversation was impossible and instructions were often misinterpreted, radio couldn’t have such an effect?
Now in this complicated technology fueled formula we were losing something very important, drivers are becoming more and more robot like with computers and engineers making the decisions.
Drivers radio in because they can see their teammate gaining on them, wanting to know what they are doing differently with regards to brake bias, engine settings, fuel used etc so they can copy them and try to negate any advantage they have!? This is fair!?
F1 should relate and transfer to what we see in road cars, this change in regulations will see teams innovating new sensors and ways of displaying information to drivers.
Most important is that the best driver on the day should now shine.
In my opinion , this rule couldn’t come soon enough.
JeffreyJ
12th September 2014, 13:39
It is in American Football… and what about rallying?!
I dunni man. A competitor striving for performance using every opportunity to improve is what we want no?
Senna was the first to study telemetry overlays and data on the workings of the car to minute detail, then it became the standard. Was he cheating in your view?
beneboy (@beneboy)
12th September 2014, 11:37
Many sports ban coaching during competition, even in our local amatuer pool league there’s a rule that specifically bans coaching at the table while a match is taking place.
The teams will still be able to offer as much coaching as they want up to the start of the race and if they want too they can also increase the amount of information available to the driver in the car through gauges, warning lights and digital displays.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
12th September 2014, 2:51
I am happy to know today that free speech isn’t being monitored with this new mid-season ruling, the FOM just wants to clear the airstream of this mundane communications, keep them out of sight because honestly to many they are comical and diminishing but they are still going to be there as many things in F1 in secrecy which is more 007 therefore better.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
12th September 2014, 10:12
FOM could also simply not replay them on the live feed.
kenneth chapman
12th September 2014, 2:58
i have no problems with the latest crackdown, after all it has been in the rule book for quite some time. i don’t see it as indicative of a drivers skill when he is told precisely what to do vis-a-vis his team mates driving. i was totally stunned when some time back button called in and asked ‘who am i racing?’ i mean that is just silly. whilst this a singular incident it just serves to show how drivers are too dependent on the pit wall.
ns
12th September 2014, 3:08
100 percent agree. Learn how to get faster off the track, race when you’re on it.
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
12th September 2014, 9:25
The ‘Who am I racing’ quote is not a ‘teaching to drive’ thing, it’s purely strategy.
A 3-stopping drivers race can be ruined if he comes across a driver who is 2-stopping and doesn’t know how to approach the situation. Granted, he shouldn’t be told ‘let him go into turn 3 then follow in his wake for 2 laps’ – that’s just silly.
But for a driver to know the car ahead is running different tyres and stopped 2 laps ago is just common sense – this is not banned.
Toxic (@)
12th September 2014, 3:27
I don’t mind at all this ruling to be frank. It’s many years now from the time when we really could see the real drivers talent. I don’t like when all the “thinking” is made by engineers and driver is just a small part of the equation. Are we going to finally see the smart vs the quick driver duel? I’ve seen many disputes over who’s the smartest driver out there. It was actually said many times about Mercedes rivalry with many describing Rosberg as the smarter of the two. I never really agreed with that but the ban of the radios may highlight a bit more drivers intelligence and feel for the car.
Having said that the teams will probably come to terms with it and find the ways to walk around the issue. I just hope that FIA will be very quick to limit it as much as possible.
I would choose no radio over too much radio every day. Some say that it will make the racing more dangerous… well, it’s racing! It should be dangerous. Back in the days, the drivers were like heroes, nowadays it’s a child’s play when they’re guided by their engineers all the time like kids really. They even cry over the radio like children do when things are not the way they like it.
OOliver
12th September 2014, 6:15
But they were private conversations until the FIA decided to make them public.
drmouse (@drmouse)
12th September 2014, 9:20
I think this is the important point to make.
It is only over the last few years that we have actually been able to hear this stuff. I think it is highly likely that such communications have been going on for as long as there has been radio in F1, and it will not be stopped by this ban. We will get coded messages, just as there were for team orders. The only difference will be that even we, the fanatics, will not be able to understand them (if the FIA even bother to play messages like “We are putting the drinks orders in, we think your third pint should be later but you should drink it quicker”).
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
12th September 2014, 7:51
This!
+1
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
12th September 2014, 10:32
I thought we saw plenty of the real drivers’ talent at Monza, with Hamilton and Ricciardo.
Compare Rosberg’s driving, along with some not very smart, rather desperate-looking behaviour (“don’t tell me the gap” and the podium room Italian thing) and he’s looking like a beaten man.
I enjoyed watching Lewis’s response to the instruction to stay 2 seconds behind (but, of course, we didn’t hear any more of the conversation) but it’s a worry that these “hold station”/”use overtake”/”you’re not racing Fred” orders will still be allowed, under “tyre strategy” or “team orders” – they spoil the racing much more than a driver being advised his team mate’s doing turn 7 in a higher gear.
Spencer Ward (@)
12th September 2014, 3:29
It seems that lately once the FIA have come down with something it seems to be implemented immediately. Imagine during a football match a guy is horribly offside, scores on the play, but is called for the foul. Then at halftime, FIFA says we don’t like this offside rule. No offsides the second half. The other team scores in the second half on a play that was offisde. It would be ridiculous.
Or better yet, why don’t we just ban coaching in sports altogether? Because you know, the guys should know what they are doing out on the field at all times, right? Why correct anything to help them?
TribalTalker (@tribaltalker)
12th September 2014, 15:01
Using other sports as analogies can be confusing. As far as I am concerned, F1 is a team sport. While the race engineer isn’t in the car, he or she is certainly a key part of the immediate team.
When I played team sports, we had lots of communication which was withheld from the opposing team; if we saw a technique being used against us we would spread the word. F1 is just like this. The imperative is to use every advantage at your disposal short of outright cheating.
Bruno (@brunes)
12th September 2014, 4:59
I don`t think reducing radio will do much to “improve the show”
What I strongly believe, is that Telemetry should be limited. It should still be available to the teams, but with certain limitations. They shouldn’t be able to tell how much a car is sliding and lots of other over the top info.
The FIA should determine which sensors are allowed to be read by the team in the garage.
Or, another crazy idea to spice things up.
Completely stop car-to-pit data transfer, and only allow data to be transferred during the pit stop – like a massive download of data. (except for data regarding safety)
That would be more road relevant, would probably force a few extra pit stops, ensure drivers were managing their own race AND telemetry technology would still be used.
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
12th September 2014, 9:32
@brunes The thing is, I don’t think a lot of stuff like lateral sliding etc is necessarily ‘beamed from the cars’. It’s the fact that a lot of money and engineering talent has gone into computer modelling based on simple things like tyre temperatures, engine speed and GPS.
They’d never get away with completely banning car-to-pit data and it’s actually *not* relevant – reliably transferring data from a moving vehicle at speed is an art that can have many real world applications and it also has several safety and sporting reasons, what with the technical regulations as they are.
OOliver
12th September 2014, 6:04
Pit to car radio is all about optimising performance and maximising potential.
There are some aspects of car functions that never existed in the past and are only there just to get things to work.
The drivers in the past didnt always drive perfect laps even if they may have driven fast.
ERS is one of the areas we hear radio communications about. It is not always intuitive getting efficiency from the system it is not a linear system likewise the brake by wire.
These new crop of drivers are way much better than many drivers of past generations, including some of the so called greats. It is the FIA and thier stupid pig headed need to be in control and punish stupidly that is the biggest challenge to the public perception of the drivers. The biggest jokes are the driver stewards and stupid penalties. That is where the rot has set in.
The drivers used to be great until Mosley made them look like kindergartens with childish penalies and over control.
Art (@artanonim)
12th September 2014, 6:46
Dear FIA, please, open that windowless basement where you keep the decisionmakers in. Show them the year 2014. Show them the last Bahrain race. Show them how modern racing looks like. Do anything that would make them realize that they are looking for problems in wrong places. Double points, sewing the engineers’ mouths up midway through a season for no apparent reason whilst keeping the rules regarding them extremely vague, or even banning FRIC – an universsally-accepted technology that nobody complained about or been protesting – there are no winners here.
It’s a shame that a season with such fantastic on-track action still attracts so much negativity because of silly decisions made by higher-ups.
bosyber (@bosyber)
12th September 2014, 7:34
I think I agree with that Alex Brundle tweet, mostly. Also, like @carlitox, I too think we get a better idea of what decisions a driver and his engineers make in preparing for and during a race. Before it was hidden, and that isn’t better . I thought sniffpatrol: teams reaction to radio ban to be quite an apt post.
drmouse (@drmouse)
12th September 2014, 9:25
@bosyber That sniffpetrol post is hillarious! Thanks for the link
BasCB (@bascb)
12th September 2014, 12:19
Yes, I agree with that too @bosyber.
These cars are increbibly complex and being able to tell the driver tips and tricks also makes it possible to get a little bit closer to the edge of what they can get out of the car, because if they see signs of things going wrong, the team can just radio back. Also telling its a young driver telling his ex-racing driver dad this.
And yes, it does add a lot to the whole feel of this being a team sport (also making it a real interest to learn not just about the drivers but also about the thousands of other F1 teammembers)
A different thought on this I had after reading some articles about “what does this mean” mentioned above and Wolff stating it needs clarification was: How on earth can it be safe to introduce this in the middle of the season, without ANY possibility to test out what info the driver needs, how he can request more and what warnings will be allowed if this is rule from FP1 in Singapore?
It does make some sense to cut down on an abundance of “driver tip” kind of messages (but Massa has been getting those for most of his career, so nothing new!).
But surely that should be done at the start of a new season so that teams can develop the right tool set (what to show on the big display, how to react, what should the driver request from the car, how often etc) and practice it during testing, or even install that big display in the first place (see Williams, RBR and Lotus not running it).
So let me summarize: 1. Its a shame if it means far less radio insight in what is happening, 2. it allows far more risky strategy and engine settings because you can more easily adapt, 3. It beautifully shows how much teamwork there really is in the sport, 4. introducing a new rule mid season, without even getting any time nor on track running to adapt is not a good idea in general. 5. I do get that people want drivers to “figure it out themselves” but really, this is the modern world.
I admire the likes of Alonso and Vettel (and lately Ricciardo) for seeing the strategical big picture, I an intrigued by Rosberg requesting a lot of detailed information about the car and very much like seeing Hamilton starting to think about using the information but interpreting himself that he has shown in recent races (instead of following instructions leading to getting stuck in the gravel with bald tyres – see 2007).
kpcart
12th September 2014, 19:21
I think you are looking into this with too much of an analytical mindset. the cream will still rise to the crop, and Hamilton will make mistakes every year like he has, no matter what. and the best thing is we wont have to hear hamiltons Justin beiber like voice on the radio asking where he can make up time on a lap, he can work it out for himself now, and so can the other spoilt brats. at the end of the day – it is one driving aid removed, so we can see more pure racing AND it is the same for all drivers, so it is still equal, so nothing is actually lost. this is one of the better rule changes the FIA has come up with, I for one found it incredible irritating that the 2 Mercedes drivers rely on their teammates lap data to improve their own driving.
kpcart
12th September 2014, 19:15
this rule change is great, it will bring the best drivers to the fore. sure it is a rule change mid way through the season, but it is for the best, the drivers have it way too easy these days. with no tyre and break data being fed to them, they will have to drive how the true masters used to do it, by feel.
hzh (@hzh00)
12th September 2014, 7:11
So going very much faster and thus winning the race is considered luck!
Excuse me, but this is not luck, this is driving at your best.
ElBasque (@elbasque)
12th September 2014, 7:21
I’d like the safety and cost-related messages brought down to perhaps a dashboard system – a series of lights or one word notifications – and then knock the pit-to-car radio messages on the head entirely.
I guess Red Bull could even experiment with bleeps and boops like getting them to short-shift in Malaysia. Although some Wiley folk would make it so if, say, they hear the first 2 bars of the Swedish national anthem, that means cool brakes at the entry to acqua-minerali or whatever.
Ab576
12th September 2014, 7:46
I think the RBR beeps for breaking/lifting are outright cheating. What’s next? A virtual racing line in the visor for driver to follow? I’m all for technological advancement in racing but spoon feeding drivers is NOT the way forward. Maybe this clampdown will separate the boys from the men now. Excited.
Kazihno (@kazinho)
12th September 2014, 8:07
The fact that this is banned:
Q: Are warnings about the condition of the brakes or tyres (slow puncture) still allowed?
FIA: No, this should be displayed to the driver from data gathered onboard, again like a fuel gauge.
Yet this is allowed:
Q: What about team orders (overtake, do not overtake)?
FIA: This should be OK.
…shows that it is something thought up after a long session at the pub. It’s a poor joke from a bunch of administrators who are quickly turning the sport into a satire.
Strontium (@strontium)
12th September 2014, 17:40
@kazinho they can’t ban team orders again. Last time banning them just did not work, and nor would it this time, and I think on this one occasion they have made the right decision in keeping them.
That said, the entire idea is very stupid.
KeithR (@)
12th September 2014, 9:25
Bit dim of Rosberg to think that just because Hamilton won’t understand Italian at that moment his words will forever remain secret.
Now it’ll be News and everyone will know he was so weak and unsporting as to call the win ‘luck’, while playing the noble sportsman on the podium and in the bullpen saying “Lewis drove a great race and he deserves it”.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
12th September 2014, 10:16
Indeed, this demonstrates how incredibly disingenuous Rosberg really is.
People were saying before that Rosberg is such a nice guy and therefore assumed that all those dubious moves were most likely not on purpose. They will now see things in a different light.
N
12th September 2014, 10:32
Completely agree, and if this little snippet of news gathers pace online, he’ll only be boo’d further. It only adds to the impression that hes incredibly two-faced.
Considering Hamiltons issues on the formation lap, and Hamiltons mechanical issues over all, all season, its not going to do Rosberg any favours to describe Hamiltons win as lucky.
Wil-Liam (@wil-liam)
12th September 2014, 11:24
+100
Asanator (@asanator)
12th September 2014, 13:29
You assume he was calling the win lucky and not something else, like Lewis’ start.
KeithR (@)
12th September 2014, 15:36
@asanator Rosberg won’t have known anything about Lewis’ start mode problem – he’d just got out of the car. And if he had known he’d have had to call it BAD luck. It was Rosberg who was lucky – to have had the lead in the first place.
It was poor to call his teammate’s win luck, and poor to pretend a different attitude to camera.
His character is so deceitful, it’s scary that I used to think what Derek Warwick said, that he was totally honest. I suppose I am in good company, at least.
And of course word will get round the team directly, from Evan Short.
AbeyG (@1abe)
12th September 2014, 9:58
If Lewis was lucky to win the race, then Nico was stupid to be making the same mistake twice in the race. I wanted Nico to win the championship coz I feel the sport need a new champion. But now I think Nico is mentally weak to be a champion.
Formula Indonesia (@)
12th September 2014, 17:02
me too, i thought he was a really smart person and able to handle several problems, but now we know he even weaker than Lewis. the only thing that he could save is beating Lewis on the next races.
Strontium (@strontium)
12th September 2014, 17:38
@f1indofans @1abe because of two braking mistakes and a small complaint he is suddenly mentally weaker than Lewis? Honestly, if we counted up the mistakes or problems over the season and the both drivers’ reactions, I’m quite sure Hamilton would be much weaker.
Lawrence Adekoya (@ladekoya)
12th September 2014, 19:51
Well considering that Lewis is still within a shot of the championship given how luck keeps turning against him, and that he keeps bouncing back from it rather than giving up shows that Lewis is strong mentally. He is vocal about how he feels but it may be his best way of controlling his emotions, so he looks as if he’s sulking because he’s not keeping his thoughts behind closed doors. Also, it’s not like Rosberg hasn’t made mistakes before either. The difference is that most of his errors have benefitted him.
Robbie (@robbie)
14th September 2014, 14:03
Given that this is NR’s first time with a WDC capable car, I think he should be allowed some mistakes, similar to how LH has thrown away WDC’s that were his to lose, and nearly threw away the one he did win.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
12th September 2014, 10:06
I don’t get why people claim there will be coded messages. Why would there be if they can simply put the info and warnings on the dash of the car? They don’t need radio for that, it’s simply safer and easier to do it over the radio rather than have the driver keep an eye on the dash for these figures.
Maybe the car itself can even transmit it as a spoken phrase to the headset of the driver. No need to even look at the dash.
Girts (@girts)
12th September 2014, 11:55
Keith, language! Max Verstappen might be reading your articles, you know.
Seriously though, what Rosberg said does not reveal much (except that he is well prepared for a career in the porn industry after he hangs up his F1 helmet), but speaking Italian seems like an attempt to make Hamilton feel less comfortable. They both have said quite a lot about each other this year and this might only fuel rumours of a different driver line-up at Mercedes in 2015. Here is an excerpt from Jonathan Noble’s AUTOSPORT column yesterday:
I think it would be sad to see this fascinating fight between Nico and Lewis end up the same way the intra-team battle ended up at McLaren in 2007.
MOMENTUM85 (@momentum85)
12th September 2014, 12:14
I am having a hard time understanding this part of conversation. Can someone explain what situation they are talking about exactly? Thank you.
Rosberg: “I didn’t expect so much margin.”
Massa: “Me neither.”
Massa: “When I saw you was flying away, I tried to save the situation.”
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
12th September 2014, 12:43
@momentum85 Massa and Rosberg both expected to be closer to each other.
MOMENTUM85 (@momentum85)
12th September 2014, 12:59
Thank you!!
BasCB (@bascb)
12th September 2014, 13:41
Margin as in excess speed it seems (also going on the Bild translation ito German), most likely both refer to the speed Hamilton had when catching them (and then driving away) @momentum85
MOMENTUM85 (@momentum85)
12th September 2014, 21:50
@bascb I thought Nico was referring to the gap between him and Massa after taking a look at result.
W-K (@w-k)
12th September 2014, 12:33
I would have thought that the FIA should just have reminded the teams about the rules and told them that all radio transmissions in future would be available to all along with their exact time of transmission. That way we would then see if any of the drivers are needing to be coached all of the time.
Michael Brown (@)
12th September 2014, 12:50
The FIA is trying really had to make me stop watching F1.
ColdFly F1 (@)
12th September 2014, 12:53
“Driver should drive car unaided.”
One should assume that the radio is only used to help (=aid) the driver, as meaningless chats would distracting. Thus NO further radio contact can be legal.
Except maybe for driver instructing pit (“other driver is cheating! Did you see that?”). And the congratulations after the race.
Needless to say: another stupid decision by FIA!
Asanator (@asanator)
12th September 2014, 13:32
Discussing race/pit strategy is not driving the car!
Michael Brown (@)
12th September 2014, 14:14
It’s winning the race.
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
12th September 2014, 16:31
I’m starting to lose all respect for Rosberg. Hamilton’s win lucky? He had a launch mapping problem at the start which is why Rosberg got ahead. Hamilton was faster than Rosberg for the whole weekend but he can’t accept it. You made the mistakes Rosberg, because you don’t know how to deal with pressure. Now get over it.
Strontium (@strontium)
12th September 2014, 17:32
But at least Nico just says it and moves on, instead of spending the next two weeks sulking about it.
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
12th September 2014, 18:31
@strontium No he doesn’t. I remember in Belgium when Rosberg was still moaning about what happened in Hungary which was a MONTH ago, and now these comments are very immature and are full of swearing and make Rosberg look like Maldonado. If Rosberg wins, he will probably be the weakest champion since Jacques Villeneuve. Lewis can also be an idiot sometimes but he has never said something as unsporting as this. All respect for Rosberg (and I had a lot until this season) are gone.
KeithR (@)
12th September 2014, 18:58
@strontium at Spa Rosberg was still complaining about Lewis not letting him past 4 weeks before in Hungary. It’s quite credible it was nursing that resentment, and maybe prior resentments like Bahrain, that led to the ‘make a point’ collision.
Are you suggesting someone else sulks for two weeks? If so who and when?
On top of which there’s no evidence Rosberg has moved on, at this point.
Solo (@solo)
8th December 2014, 21:16
That exactly the opposite actually. Hamilton looks like being full emotion but is just the moment and after a day or two he gets back to it normally while Rosberg seem to hold things inside and show it later with moves on track, words etc.
Formula Indonesia (@)
12th September 2014, 17:00
Nico show what you can do in Singapore, stop Blaming Lewis and just drive
Strontium (@strontium)
12th September 2014, 17:30
So drivers will have to read even more while driving at 200mph? Dangerous? No, in fact, let them send text messages while they’re at it.
I don’t think it will be difficult for an engineer to simply let something slip accidentally.
kpcart
13th September 2014, 17:39
motogp drivers do it, and they only have 2 wheels. this is a step in the right direction, bring the real driver back to the fore.
manu
12th September 2014, 18:27
So what happens if the teams ignore this and give advice anyway, do the drivers get black flagged? Or is it just a monetary fine? Or a driver through penalty? Or maybe just 5 sec? Anyway what I see happening is teams using what they can legally say on the radio as a way to make coded messages. The FIA in this instance will find it very hard to prove that it was an instruction. All of a sudden messages like “we need to pit 3 laps after the target lap” might mean you’re losing time in sector 3, or it may mean Strat Mode 3 please, so in this case how will the FIA know that it is an instruction? Personally if the FIA whats to ban something it should be messages like “carry more speed into that corner” or “brake a little bit earlier” or “you’re team mate is using more rear brake balance” or even worse a driver asking the team “Driving advice please”, thats okay to ban, but not information that the teams can and will find other ways of getting to the driver.
kpcart
12th September 2014, 19:12
autosport just published a great article about what will and wont be allowed to be said over team radio, and the FIA have said coded messaged will be banned, thank god.
manu
12th September 2014, 19:57
How do you ban coded messages, if you can’t prove it was a coded message?
Strontium (@strontium)
12th September 2014, 19:57
And how do they know what a coded message is? Teams could code them in a way that makes them appear non-coded legal messages so they would appear genuine.
kpcart
13th September 2014, 17:19
I think it will be pretty obvious when it is coded – but you guys are getting paranoid. teams wont bother to go to the length of cheating, they will accept this and get on with the job. in a few races it will be a non issue. the playing field will be relatively the same.
Timothy Katz (@timothykatz)
12th September 2014, 21:14
A couple of days ago (sorry, I can’t find the original comment) about how horribly expensive tickets to Silverstone will be next year; something like 700 quid for grandstand tickets for the three days.
Well, my partner is seething this evening having tried to buy his nephew Manchester United tickets for the lad’s 21st birthday. according to Ticketmaster I think each Man U versus Cheslea ticket would be £177 plus an overall booking fee of £125. Three tickets are to be bought, so that’s £177 + £41.66 per person for 90 minutes of entertainment. That’s £2.43 per minute. the next ticket grade up is £250.
Outraged and disgusted, we phoned Manchester United themselves and were told that as it was a ‘special game’ we would have to enroll each person as a member of the Supporter’s club (£33 per person) in order to enter a lottery to see if we might win the tickets (and no guarantee that we’d win three tickets or membership refunds).
Now, at Silverstone, over the three days of the Grand Prix, I suspect there would be about 18 hours of racing, practice and qualifying for all the categories. So that’s 1080 minutes, which makes the cost per minute of the Grand Prix weekend just 65p.
I’m not saying it’s comparable or as exciting, it’s just an exercise in comparisons.
Montyinct
13th September 2014, 7:56
Nico Rosberg, I can’t believe you are calling Hamilton lucky there. Because it was anything but luck. http://plus.autosport.com/premium/feature/6180/how-hamilton-made-rosberg-choke/?_ga=1.142712565.1795588372.1398836076. Have a read Rosberg.
The Dude
13th September 2014, 10:17
Extreme dieting is a problem? Can someone give me more info on this?