The F1 thread

[DjchunKfunK]

Most overtakes were DRS assisted but it does appear that cars are able to follow more closely and therefore take advantage of DRS. It is early though as some of you have said, I think we need a larger sample size before we make definitive conclusions. There have been opening races in the past where there have been a fair few overtakes only for that to be an outlier.

What on earth is going on at Maclaren? After being on the rise for a number of years have they somehow managed to produce another dog of a car? I hope it's just a case of unlocking the potential there and not a more serious long term issue, the drivers didn't sound too confident after the race.

[Snowy]

The concern was that DRS would make overtaking too easy but I didn't feel that from the race. Early signs are promising that they have finally resolved the challenges posed by dirty air issues after only what, four decades?

[Raid]

It's one of those issues I get with watching the highlights programme only; they only ever show overtakes, not cars following each other building up towards them. It's difficult to judge whether things are working or not. I agree that we need a little more time to really judge properly, but the initial impressions I'm seeing seem positive.

[eny]

Houthi attack just down the road:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/2 ... -by-attack

[Raid]

Nothing says "F1 is proud to be in Saudi Arabia" better than an oil fire and black smoke billowing over the circuit.

[DjchunKfunK]

Read up on what some of the drivers have said after Bahrain regarding overtaking and quite a few are saying it is much easier to follow behind, you are not feeling the dirty air coming off the car like you used to but once you get within a second tyre wear is still a major issue. Alonso was saying he doesn't think it is making overtaking easier just DRS overtaking. So yeah more races required to get a proper feel for the changes I think.

[Raid]

Hoo boy.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/60880598

The drivers went into a meeting with Domenicali and managing director Ross Brawn about an hour after the end of practice and that meeting did not end for another four hours, as various senior figures came and went.

BBC Sport has learned that a significant number of drivers had concerns about the safety of the event following the attack.

But eventually they were convinced to go ahead and race after being given further information by bosses.

Part of this information involved the possible consequences of not racing, such as how easily teams and drivers would be able to leave the country if the race did not happen.

(my emphasis)

Someone on F1 Fanatic made reference to something similarly troubling that may have happened to a WWE event a few years back. I think to say that this event is now even more problematic is understating it a bit.

And someone from Reddit:

[DjchunKfunK]

I think they might need to re-think some of these DRS placements.

[Wrathbone]

Spoiler

The circumstances of Verstappen’s ‘victory’ yet again raise questions, such as how he got away with having a 4 second gap to LeClerc at the start of the virtual safety car period and a 1 second gap at the end of it. Other drivers also closed their gaps in that period and it’s not like it’s the first time it’s happened, but I can’t recall it ever having such a direct impact on a race win before. Because let’s be honest, if the delta of 4 seconds had been maintained then it’s near certain that Verstappen would not have won, and yet there’s not so much as a whisper of it from the FIA. I suppose they’d have to admit that VSCs are flawed or not properly enforced.

And to top it off, Verstappen’s petulant complaints are becoming farcical. His final lap outburst of “How’d he close the gap? It’s not fair!” veers into teenage Anakin Skywalker levels of tantrum. The whole thing leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

[DjchunKfunK]

Spoiler

I don't have an issue with the closing of the gap, I don't think it is a case of Verstappan cheating. He would have followed the deltas it's just the system doesn't work well and so the gap got bigger and then arguable too small by the time the period ended.

One of my big issues with the race yesterday was how yet again a drive was screwed out of a possible victory by the safety car. I think we might need to either have a grace period where the pit lane is closed for a time during the safety car or just not let people pit at all. Perez got screwed over so badly because Letifi binned it and then Hamilton got screwed out of a bigger collection of points later in the race when Alonso and Riccardo's engines failed and they clogged up the pit lane. (Although some of that might be down to Mercedes not making the call quick enough, I'm not sure where he was on the track at the time of the incident, he may have been too close to the pits for the team to make the decision in time.)

[Wrathbone]

Spoiler

See, I have a problem with the exact opposite things you do.

The timing of the safety cars was unfortunate, but they were necessary. That’s just bad luck for those who lost out, which is a reality of racing.

The closing of the deltas is not as intended, though. The purpose of a VSC is to slow cars down and maintain the gaps between cars, and whether it’s Verstappen’s fault or the FIA’s fault, Verstappen very clearly closed his gap and gained a huge advantage from it (it got him in DRS range) in a way that should not have happened. That needs addressing.

[DjchunKfunK]

I don't think a race should be possibly decided by luck, especially when it is within the hands of the sport to regulate against it being such a factor.

[Wrathbone]

I don't see how it's possible to change safety car rules so that the timings of when they come out and leave never disadvantage anyone. If the car comes in before someone's pitted, they have the disadvantage. If the car stays out until everyone's had a chance to pit and rejoin the pack then you may be disadvantaging drivers who need that time to race and gain positions. As soon as you start legislating safety car rules beyond safety and consistency then you end up with situations like Abu Dhabi where things end up worse.

Racing is inherently not 100% fair at all times. It can't be, and like it or not luck does play a part.

[Raid]

I hate to see a driver disadvantaged by a poorly timed safety car, but yeah, I really don't see how else they can do it. Back in the late 2000s I think the pitlane used to get closed when the safety car came out, and it lead to cars driving on canvas if it happened during their planned pit window. I think you just have to accept that the undercut is a risk.

What I can't decide is whether that scrap between Max and Charles in the last ten laps was brilliant or ridiculous. I've never seen a driver deliberately give up a place to make sure they get the DRS advantage down the following straight (we've seen drivers refuse to overtake before the line, but never actually give up track position as far as I can recall). Clearly DRS down the main straight was too powerful if that's the best way to prevent being overtaken, but it did at least show that even on an extremely fast circuit like Jeddah, cars can follow each other well enough to have the chance to overtake every lap.

It was a pretty good race overall, which is annoying because I don't want to enjoy that event. The track is dangerous, the 2021 race was one of the worst F1 events I've ever seen, and that's before you even get to the fact that there was a missile strike 7 miles from the circuit on friday, the event organisers may have hinted at preventing team personnel from leaving the country, and the assorted backward stances the people in charge force on the public.

[DjchunKfunK]

I think not allowing cars to pit during the safety car window would help smooth things out. Cars are going at slow speeds behind the safety car and often pit way before a tyre becomes dangerously worn so it is unlikely that you would have serious issues with tyres.

What I can't decide is whether that scrap between Max and Charles in the last ten laps was brilliant or ridiculous. I've never seen a driver deliberately give up a place to make sure they get the DRS advantage down the following straight (we've seen drivers refuse to overtake before the line, but never actually give up track position as far as I can recall). Clearly DRS down the main straight was too powerful if that's the best way to prevent being overtaken, but it did at least show that even on an extremely fast circuit like Jeddah, cars can follow each other well enough to have the chance to overtake every lap.

The scarp at the end was stupid, the whole DRS situation that race was dumb, you shouldn't have drivers messing around in the breaking zone like that as it can easily lead to accidents. Because the sport has been so devoid of overtaking everyone was going crazy about it even though it felt very false and a bit silly. The new rules have clearly made DRS too powerful but in this situation I think it's that the two sectors are too close together. They need to make sure on subsequent tracks that either the zones are far enough apart or that the detection zones are changed so you don't have a similar situation.