[anachronix]

Originally Posted by Hatari

F1 has got sucked into the massive development in technology each year, as a result rules need to be more restrictive, which has led to most cars looking very similar and having similar technical characteristics. Aero is taking over and we had no overtaking.

How does one change that?

DRS, KERS were and are a big help.

I understand the reason for bringing restrictions on the aero. KERS is a great way to bring more greener technology into F1.

DRS... I dont know how much fun it brings to watch a staged overtake. It doesnt excite me at all! I rather feel bad for the driver being overtaken by an unfair advantage.

Which other motorsport uses DRS!?

The only avenue left are tires. If you do really think about it, it is far less "artificial" than DRS & KERS.
Teams need to understand them better and setup cars differently. How can people object to something that is 100% fair! One tire manufacturer ensures not tailor made to suit any one team.

Pirelli is less artificial. But the problem I see with Pirelli is degradation and not tire wear. It degrades before it wears out!

A softer tire thats less durable than the medium tires is ofcourse good. If the softer tires can have an lap time advantage over the medium but less durable is good. But I dont want the soft tires to fall off the cliff with degradation when the driver pushes the tires for 3 laps and is left to nurse those worn tires for the rest of the laps.

If soft tires have a life of 10 laps, it should stand the abuse for those 10 laps and then go its own way of wearing out. The Pirellis in 2012 dont let the driver do what it is supposed to. I am happy if the tire wears out, but the degradation is something I cant stand with the Pirelli. The degradation issue with the Pirelli forces the drivers to drive the car below its limits to use the tires for a longer time doing consistent lap times which are ofcourse slower. This is the delta time that Michael was complaining about.

Comparison of the drivers VS Sebastian Vettel Race Chinese GP 2012 / unofficial fansite McLaren Racing Rosberg&dr2=Jenson Button

Check out the lap chart of Rosberg and Button!

Nico's pole lap was 1’35.121. Look at the lap chart in the above link and not once he got below 1'40.xxx with his fastest lap at 1'40.967 in the race! Do you still think its good for F1?

One more point to note, there is no refuelling in F1. Look at the lap times in first stint and also check out his lap times in the last stint. The drop off is between 2 - 3 seconds only! ~150 Kgs of fuel lost should translate to lap time improvements in the range of atleast 4+ seconds. But where has the time gone!?

This is never a good thing for F1. Bernd will only be a shade slower than the F1 cars now in his AMG powered Merc!

So, the slower drivers are having an advantage, while the faster and more aggressive drivers are forced to take it easy which is not good for racing!

THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST THING TO HAPPEN TO F1!

It really baffles me how so many people here are bashing the tires. Dont forget F1 was losing its fan base due to the earlier snooze fest days. This is Bernie's last throw of the dice.

Well, its your opinion and I respect it! But F1 is close to becoming Vince McMahon's business IMO and I am not going to post more on this tire debate

[mgh]

Formula one's official site Formula 1 , is not loading at all (get a blank page) for me for the last few days. Anyone else have the same experience?

[go-pg]

Originally Posted by mgh

Formula one's official site Formula 1 , is not loading at all (get a blank page) for me for the last few days. Anyone else have the same experience?

Yes, the website has been down for a couple of days.

Well apparently some hacker brought the website down! Source - http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/a...ormula-1/11661

[amitku]

Formula1 website down. This is unfortunate as now Tata Communications is responsible for hosting and maintaining the website.

Server error
The web page at Formula 1 is currently unavailable. It may be overloaded or down for maintenance.
Here are some suggestions:
Reload this web page later.
HTTP Error 503 (Service Unavailable): The server is currently unable to handle the request. This code indicates that this is a temporary condition and that the server will be up again after a delay.

[polopm]

This version of F1 is akin to T20 Vs Proper Cricket in the 80s (golden period for Indian Cricket). For the sake of entertainment, we can't have tyres which melt and wilt.
So will there be artificially induced rain with sprinklers next to the track to make sure folks like Massa have a swell time in the rain ;-)

You don't have sportsmen like The Schum opening up on trivial issues. The issue is real, how much of this nonsense can be put up by the pure racers is anyone's guess. (Alas, the disappearing breed).
Please please please, make tyres they were a couple of years back. There are enough aero techniques which can make the car go faster.

[asr245]

'Mercedes consider quitting F1' | Planet F1 | Formula One News

Rumors of Mercedes planning to quit F1 following a disagreement with Bernie.

[anachronix]

Nobby doesnt think so...

Haug says no truth in Mercedes quitting F1 | YallaF1.com

[PuntoMania]

I think the Pirelli discussion on the Bahrain GP thread is out of place, this is better place to discuss it, along with other F1 related news


Schumacher continues his criticism of the Pirellis :

Michael Schumacher continues to criticise Pirelli tyres | Mercedes | Formula 1 news, live F1 | ESPN F1

Originally Posted by Michael Schumacher

"The other point that I'm not too keen about is these tyres," Schumacher said. "I just think they are playing much too big an effect, because they are so peaky and so special that we don't put the cars or ourselves to the limit. We drive like we're on raw eggs and don't want to stress the tyres at all otherwise you just overdo it and you go nowhere."

He's now pretty vocal about not getting to drive on the limit with the Pirellis. Having followed Schumacher's career for so long, I can say with definite certainty that the man is not one known for whining a.la Barrichello or Button. I think Pirelli should really listen to the man and his comments.

[myavu]

Originally Posted by asr245

'Mercedes consider quitting F1' | Planet F1 | Formula One News

Rumors of Mercedes planning to quit F1 following a disagreement with Bernie.

Originally Posted by anachronix

Nobby doesnt think so...

Haug says no truth in Mercedes quitting F1 | YallaF1.com

Then this Mercedes teams up with IWC Schaffhausen | News | F1PULSE.com

I don't believe Merc will quit anytime soon.

Cheers!

[anachronix]

For those interested, here is a video of Michael talking about the 2012 season and driving on raw eggs

Schu on tire troubles: 'It's like driving on raw eggs' - CNN.com

If not for their PR, there are lot of other drivers who would echo his thoughts! As of now CNN reports that Whitmarsh is under the same impression as Michael. I am hoping, the drivers and teams get together and push Mr.Hembrey to make tires better for racing.

In an attempt to take racing to another level Mr.Hembrey is bringing HARD & SOFTs to a tire hungry Barcelona. God save F1

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by anachronix

In an attempt to take racing to another level Mr.Hembrey is bringing HARD & SOFTs to a tire hungry Barcelona. God save F1

This actually simplifies things for the teams. The performance differential between the two compounds is simply to great, making the strategy very straight forward... Softs for qualifying and then a small stint in the race to get them out of the way.

Bringing the medium and hard would have been very interesting.

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by anachronix

I understand the reason for bringing restrictions on the aero. KERS is a great way to bring more greener technology into F1.

DRS... I dont know how much fun it brings to watch a staged overtake. It doesnt excite me at all! I rather feel bad for the driver being overtaken by an unfair advantage.

Which other motorsport uses DRS!?



Pirelli is less artificial. But the problem I see with Pirelli is degradation and not tire wear. It degrades before it wears out!

A softer tire thats less durable than the medium tires is ofcourse good. If the softer tires can have an lap time advantage over the medium but less durable is good. But I dont want the soft tires to fall off the cliff with degradation when the driver pushes the tires for 3 laps and is left to nurse those worn tires for the rest of the laps.

If soft tires have a life of 10 laps, it should stand the abuse for those 10 laps and then go its own way of wearing out. The Pirellis in 2012 dont let the driver do what it is supposed to. I am happy if the tire wears out, but the degradation is something I cant stand with the Pirelli. The degradation issue with the Pirelli forces the drivers to drive the car below its limits to use the tires for a longer time doing consistent lap times which are ofcourse slower. This is the delta time that Michael was complaining about.

Comparison of the drivers VS Sebastian Vettel Race Chinese GP 2012 / unofficial fansite McLaren Racing Rosberg&dr2=Jenson Button

Check out the lap chart of Rosberg and Button!

Nico's pole lap was 1’35.121. Look at the lap chart in the above link and not once he got below 1'40.xxx with his fastest lap at 1'40.967 in the race! Do you still think its good for F1?

One more point to note, there is no refuelling in F1. Look at the lap times in first stint and also check out his lap times in the last stint. The drop off is between 2 - 3 seconds only! ~150 Kgs of fuel lost should translate to lap time improvements in the range of atleast 4+ seconds. But where has the time gone!?

This is never a good thing for F1. Bernd will only be a shade slower than the F1 cars now in his AMG powered Merc!

So, the slower drivers are having an advantage, while the faster and more aggressive drivers are forced to take it easy which is not good for racing!



Well, its your opinion and I respect it! But F1 is close to becoming Vince McMahon's business IMO and I am not going to post more on this tire debate

Here are my closing arguments as well..

1. DRS. No other sport needs it afterall. F1's dependence on advanced aero tech is ahead of others by leaps and bounds which reduces the effect of mechanical grip that other series can rely on.

2. Degradation vs tire wear. Agree with you.

3. Lap times. Do you think fans care if lap times are 1-2 seconds slower? Look at the racing that has resulted as a result! Thought you would be happier as DRS plays a lesser role. and FYI.. Bernard will be about 35-40 seconds slower, meaning he will be lapped every 3-4 laps.

[PAVAN KADAM]

Looks like Massa is in trouble again

Ferrari urges Felipe Massa to raise his game in Monaco - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com

I foresee, another 3 races before he's shown the door, Its high time Ferrari finds someone to match Alonso.

[sajands]

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

Looks like Massa is in trouble again

Ferrari urges Felipe Massa to raise his game in Monaco - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com

I foresee, another 3 races before he's shown the door, Its high time Ferrari finds someone to match Alonso.

I am sure, these words will be echoing in Massa's head,

'Fernando is Faster than you'!!!! confirm that you have understood the message

-Sajan

[Hatari]

Feel its about time Massa got the sack. Ferrari losing valuable Constructors points.
Since it cant get any worse there is no risk in getting a new driver in.