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Other responses
I agree with you on all your major points. (Reference
Heretic 3-12). It
seems very likely that the Ferrari has a suspension weakness that needs to
be fixed, but no doubt will.
Part of the fascination F1 has for me [I suppose motorcycle GP too] is that
the components are at the limits of all their parameters - strength,
lightness, flexibility, etc.
The TV coverage I saw indicated that the McLaren pits were suggesting that
Mika should be steady - could they see something on telemetry that he didn't
know ?
That raises the point about how to communicate with drivers. I realise that
drivers operate at a level of focus and concentration that I can't begin to
understand, so I guess it's possible that they simply don't hear when they
get radio messages, although that makes the idea of seeing pit boards [and marshal's'
flags?] a bit problematic too.
In a way I feel the F1 cars at the end of the race should almost emulate the
car at the end of the Blues Brothers movie, and just disintegrate, having
lasted exactly as long as they were designed for at that level of stress.
But if I were driving one, I'd really appreciate it [if it's true] if they
are only reaching 40% of their design maximum, as suggested by Brawn.
Keep up the great analyses - I always enjoy your thoughts - David -
Australia
The Heretic replies:
With 20-20 hindsight
Ferrari did not seem to suffer any problems (suspension or other) in
Austria. On the other hand Williams is now looking unreliable again,
although it is not the engine this time.
Mika seems to either run flat out or flat - his performance was not
inspiring. Maybe he can explain why he did not slow down when there was no
need to go fast in Spain and go fast when there was no need to be slow in
Austria, I can't.
On your other thoughts: I suspect that these cars are built to just make
the most taxing race of the season (probably Monza) so one must assume
that these medium speed circuits should leave some car in reserve by the
end of the race. Otherwise I agree with you, if it can last for more than
a few laps after the end of the race it was over engineered and too heavy
(or at least did not have the weight in the right places)
In my day I could see my pit board and, providing that it did not have the
first chapter of War and Peace on it, I seemed to have time to read it,
almost out of the corner of my eye. I was not going that fast so maybe in
F1 it is harder to read. I tend to agree with you, at that level of
concentration it would be hard to get a driver's attention over the radio
but I think it is more likely that the variation in signal strength and
interference from several nearby engines makes it difficult and
frustrating and most choose to ignore it.
The
Heretic
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