In the round-up: F1 drivers give their support to proposals to limit their lap times when yellow flags are being used for safety reasons.
Links
Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more.
Drivers back ‘virtual safety car’ (BBC)
Lewis Hamilton: “The problem with flags is that you want to be safe but you want to lose as little time as possible. So you’re always on the knife-edge with it.”
Is a foolproof virtual safety car the future for a safer F1? (The Guardian)
Anthony Davidson: “In reality it doesn’t work because you have a slow-down zone before the slow zone itself. We didn’t slow down in the slow-down zone, we just treated the slow zone as a pit lane-limiter kind of line, so we went barrelling in towards the line itself, way past the slow-down zone.”
BBC Formula One editor Mark Wilkin: “The worst scenario would be if we are live and got no warning about when they will interfere with the frequencies. Then we could go blank for a moment.”
Alonso says no big risk of him leaving F1 (Reuters)
“Asked how much of a danger there was that he could end up without a seat next season, the double world champion told reporters at the Russian Grand Prix on Saturday: ‘Probably not a big risk’.”
Mercedes hints it will block unfreeze (Autosport)
“You don’t want to have regulations changing three months before the start of the season. That translates into escalating costs, out of control costs, and this is why there is a process in place and that it needs to be unanimous after a certain date.”
“Q: How did you learn about your promotion? Who was the bearer of good tidings?
DK: I have to be very honest, (Toro Rosso team principal) Franz Tost. Then I walked to Red Bull to get an official confirmation that it is really real and I haven’t been dreaming.”
Stefan Johansson shares his thoughts about the ‘radio ban’ in F1 (LinkedIn)
“It’s a classic F1 knee-jerk reaction without much logic. In my opinion it’s like giving someone with a broken leg an aspirin.”
Tweets
More great overtaking from @MaxVerstappen3 at Imola. Shame he'll be in a DRS championship next year. #F1 pic.twitter.com/5rMyXHwOn1
— F1 Fanatic (@f1fanatic_co_uk) October 11, 2014
Before today's qualifying, the #WTCC drivers and personnel paid tribute to Jules Bianchi. #ForzaJules #F1 #WTCC pic.twitter.com/AfgB98iDJ8
— Castrol Honda WTCC (@hondaracingwtcc) October 11, 2014
#ForzaJules #FIAF3 #Imola #F3 family is with you @Jules_Bianchi ! pic.twitter.com/75fCLrWVAT
— fiaf3europe (@fiaf3europe) October 11, 2014
Ferrari WEC guys at Fuji are thinking of Jules Bianchi. @JamesCalado shares his manager and knows him well pic.twitter.com/gPQAoDtKMu
— Adam Cooper (@adamcooperF1) October 11, 2014
Remarkable spot by @f1broadcasting: the official @F1 Twitter account is following the teams, its app and… who? #F1 pic.twitter.com/GMe5DXCoIe
— F1 Fanatic (@f1fanatic_co_uk) October 11, 2014
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
I don’t think Jolyon Palmer’s done enough in his GP2 championship-winning year to deserve an F1 seat – @RJOconnell disagrees:
The title was never in question after Bahrain. Compare to Leimer, who had to capitalise on Coletti and Nasr’s respective collapses and could have also lost the title to Sam Bird. Or Valsecchi, whose closest rival was a driver who was only the third-best rookie in Indy Lights this year despite being 4-5 years older than Jack Harvey or Matthew Brabham.
Palmer didn’t win six consecutive feature races the way that Maldonado did in 2010, but he’s been so consistent and so quick when it matters most – I can’t wrap my head around how this campaign could be considered anything but dominant.
And if you are just hiring him for his funding through MSV and Comma, I think you’re getting more for your dollar than Max Chilton, who is a very bright and intelligent driver, just not quite fast enough. Or Marcus Ericsson, who has only just started really outpacing Kobayashi. Or anyone on Sauber’s payroll, consisting of a 100-plus race veteran who’s never stood on a podium, a bust prospect, a driver who won just one more race in GP2 in four seasons than Palmer has this year alone, and a 19-year-old Russian who projects to have maybe a third of the upside that Daniil Kvyat does.
@RJOconnell
From the forum
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to F1Abw!
If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is via the contact form or adding to the list here.
On this day in F1
More moves in the driver market took place 20 years ago today.
The administrators of the financially troubled Lotus team sold Johnny Herbert’s contract to Ligier, and he switched to the team immediately in place of Eric Bernard.
Image © Singapore GP/Sutton
@HoHum (@hohum)
12th October 2014, 0:19
I’m glad the idea of a virtual-safety-car is gaining traction but I do hope that in an effort to cover their backside and show themselves being “tough” on safety they don’t, as previously suggested, slow the cars all around the track rather than the yellow flag area plus a short braking area before the 1st. yellow flag. To slow the entire field for a whole or several whole laps will introduce potential dangers in the form of cold tyres and brakes without any positive increases in safety in the actual danger area and like in the US cause a snowball effect in accidents.
Scalextric (@scalextric)
12th October 2014, 2:31
And it would mess with everyone’s ERS. But there’s enough computing power in those cars to enforce relatively gentle, uniform, safe braking prior to a yellow zone. Just like at the local indoor carting track…
@HoHum (@hohum)
12th October 2014, 9:11
Idealy the braking zone should before the corner prior to the double yellow flags.
@HoHum (@hohum)
12th October 2014, 9:30
……should BE
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
12th October 2014, 6:53
@hohum It’s not tight gap, I don’t like it at all, this rule is not accounting for track surface issues as water, debris and oil. I say make quicker safety car periods as in get a couple deployment spots and drop back the lapped cars to lessen the pain. I know why they don’t want to think about safety cars, they want standing restarts…
@HoHum (@hohum)
12th October 2014, 9:21
@peartree, the safety car has to wait for the leader to arrive and then there are still another 21 cars spread around the track that need to be fast enough to catch up with the safety car, there is nothing particularly safe about this period. I am not suggesting we do not still have the safety car , it is needed for situations where marshalls are actually on the track like the situations you mention, cleaning oil, debris etc. We just don’t need to wait for a safety car for off-track work, a car doing 60kph behind a safety car is just as dangerous as a car doing 60kph on it’s own.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
12th October 2014, 11:30
@hohum I said that I would introduce safety car deployment spots, so a safety car would catch the leaders faster, similar to what LeMans does aided with yellow zone rule they introduced in this years race, I prefer the idea of a safety car because in this case you get a reliable individual to give you unadulterated information on the track conditions and also because of the possibility of a fail in the virtual safety car system.
@HoHum (@hohum)
12th October 2014, 23:13
@peartree, sorry I misunderstood that, does that require multiple safety cars stationed around the track?
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
14th October 2014, 1:32
@hohum Just like this years LeMans.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
12th October 2014, 0:22
Good old Daily Mail. This paragraph just sounds awful. It’s motorsport, not a war zone: “Both team-mates at Marussia and Ferrari, where he is on their young driver programme, are sleep-starved through anxiety. Their desperation tells us that Formula One’s younger generation are not hardened to serious injury and death at the track.”
Colossal Squid (@colossal-squid)
12th October 2014, 1:05
And why does it sound that not being hardened to serious death and injury is a bad thing? Daily Mail is a rag.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
12th October 2014, 1:32
That picture of Bernie and Putin in the Daily Mail …
Stig Semper Fi (@stigsemperfi)
12th October 2014, 4:50
It has been reported that Nigel Stepney made changes to his life insurance policy before he was killed.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
12th October 2014, 6:56
@stigsemperfi that did not imply human error, I see… Now seriously people die in accidents all the time and as american dash cams show, the side of a motorway is like the trenches of WW1.
Stig Semper Fi (@stigsemperfi)
12th October 2014, 8:40
@peartree, but it was said he leaped in front of the truck, though.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
12th October 2014, 9:56
@stigsemperfi By who?
Stig Semper Fi (@stigsemperfi)
12th October 2014, 11:33
@keithcollantine, Mirror.co.uk
I don’t remember how to post a link. Sorry.
DonSimon
12th October 2014, 16:10
Copy and paste the url of the website. At least give us a google search in quotes so we can copy and paste it. Otherwise it’s just accusation and not helpful to anyone.
PaulK (@paulk)
12th October 2014, 8:32
So they put Max Mosley to manage F1’s twitter account.
greg-c (@greg-c)
12th October 2014, 9:18
Sorry Guys,
Off Topic , but Bathurst 1000k V8 super car race is on, Sunday, before the Sochi F1 Race
Matt Clark (@mattc888)
12th October 2014, 9:22
Wow, is that F1 Broadcasting tweet for real? According to wiki Asa Akira is an American pornographic actress and adult film director! Lol nice spot Keith :)
Bathurst 1000, WEC Fuji, F1, GP2 and GP3 races today, strap yourselves in everyone!
greg-c (@greg-c)
12th October 2014, 10:29
@mattc888
Epic days motor racing,
Bathurst just ran over 7 hours, (stoopid stoppage for pothole on a new track 1/2 hr, )
But the most Epic race i’ve seen this year, easy,
and Sochi tonite (Australian Time)
Trying to keep up with it all , run a family, Keep a marriage,
(hour 2 of Bathurst-“Is that over yet?”-Wife) bhabhahahahaha,
I’ll be on the coffee for Sochi ,
Hoping for a great race,
@HoHum (@hohum)
12th October 2014, 9:29
Meanwhile down-under 195,000 people watched the 1000km race for V8 sedans at Mt.Panorama near Bathurst, 200 k west of Sydney, they weren’t disappointed.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
12th October 2014, 9:55
Good comeback reply under that Max Verstappen overtake tweet. The problem is indeed not DRS, but the fact that F1 is much too dependent on aero. Which makes it pretty much impossible to overtake without DRS.
In normal circumstances it’s still difficult to overtake even with DRS. It still takes a mistake from the leading driver or a substantial performance difference. That’s the problem though, the tyres do create massive performance differences. A different compound or age of the tyres and they drive just straight past each other. Even without DRS actually.
Oddly enough, viewers massive cheer for those when a driver strings a couple of these “drive by’s” together after switching to fresh softer tyres at the end of the race.
MattyPF1 (@mattypf1)
12th October 2014, 10:03
@keithcollantine does that picture in the last tweet (the one with the Formula 1 twitter (I don’t know how to describe it cause I don’t have Twitter)) represent that Formula 1 follow a pornstar on Twitter?
Jonathan Sarginson
12th October 2014, 11:15
…firstly, as to the WEC inspired ‘slow-zones’, I am all in favour…as to cars running into each other with an automatic system, it would be easy with today’s technology to separate close running cars by slowing the trailing car first by say a second. Secondly, as to Fernando’s future, no-one seems to have mentioned that his salary is paid by Santander, which kind of makes him a ‘pay-driver’!…and oh to see those chrome and red Santander McLarens again!…
Mouse_Nightshirt (@mouse_nightshirt)
12th October 2014, 11:16
I wonder if there’s more than meets the eye for this engine unfreeze debacle.
Is there a possibility Ferrari and Renault have been working full steam ahead on a different unit for just this possibility whilst Mercedes have been working to the rules not expecting the regulations to change?
ColdFly F1 (@)
12th October 2014, 11:22
FIA probably has a huge responsibility in Jules’ accident.
What was Charlie/FIA doing the past races when drivers did not slow down for double waved yellows (drivers must slow down and be prepared to stop)?
On Friday Charlie said that they knew that drivers were not slowing down enough under double waved yellow. Why did they not warn and penalise drivers in the past when that happened? Were they too busy banning radio communication? Where they too busy checking who crossed which track limits? Where they too busy doubling the points for the last race (2×25=?)? Where they too busy checking the fuel flow meters?
Charlie/FIA will probably conclude that (also) Jules drove too fast under double yellow. But it is the FIA to blame that they never effectively implemented or policed this important safety rule.