F1 - A Change of Seasons?

[FB]

F1 has always been a summer sport but the start of this season has seen wet qualifying and races which have put more excitement into the events than any technical and rule changes have managed. So, is it time for F1 to review when races take place?

The season usually starts in March, would the European races be better scheduled for the start of the season so there is a risk of mixed up weather? The southern hemisphere races could be moved to European summer time, again to offer the chance of unpredictable weather. I appreciate that the races in the Middle East are unlikely to be anything other than dry and swelteringly hot regardless of when they take place but should FOM look the change the calender for those races which where the weather cannot guaranteed?

 

[snowy]

Whilst I can understand where you are coming from, the idea that every F1 race should become a lottery appalls me.

 

[Brogan]

If F1 needs inclement weather to make it (more) exciting then there is something drastically wrong.

I actually don't like wet weather races too much as it doesn't so much reward good drivers as lucky ones, or those who are on the right tyres at the right time.

Even getting on to the right tyres can be a lottery as a driver can be just starting a lap on slicks and it starts raining and then they have to try and make it back to the pits.
Meanwhile, the people who were behind him by 10 seconds or more are able to pit for inters/wets and then get the jump on him.

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

But you could argue if there was a greater likelihood of inclement weather then just maybe the teams would plan for it. We reach new heights in car design but it's amazing how a few drops of rain can still flummox even the best teams.

 

[FB]

I'm not sure rain turns the race into a lottery, it rewards the driver who chooses the best tyre strategy, is best able to use the wrong tyres in damp conditions and, as has been commented in the past, a driver who is a rain master is often the best driver (if any of you have a copy of Autocourse from 1980 there is a wonderful article about this). Yes there are more accidents and sometimes good drivers get taken out by the numpties who can't control their cars in the rain but that happens in the dry as well. I sincerely hope the next race is dry and we see close, competitive racing but somehow I doubt we will.

If it needs a bit of rain to spice things up I'm happy. To see Lewis Hamilton carving his way through the field in China, passing cars in places other drivers wouldn't have thought of and proving his race craft was brilliant, Meanwhile Button was calmly doing what he does best, driving a controlled race, being on the right tyres at the right time and proving himself a top class driver (he says through gritted teeth). Damn sight more interesting than watching the Red Bulls scamper off into the distance whilst the other teams sit on the pit wall hoping their cars break

 

[snowy]

Damp, changeable and wet races are more often than not just as predictable as dry ones. Once the guy who have the best setup and has chosen the right tyre asserts himself these races get written in stone just as early as dry ones. We got pretty used to Michael Schumacher waltzing off into the distance throughout his early career. We were got used to Lewis waltzing off during 2007 and Sebastian during 2008. We will most likely grow tired* of watching Jenson waltz off into the distance in 2010.


* This is a prime example of why the American spelling of tyre is so wrong... I spent 10 minutes trying to figure out if I had spelled tired correctly!

 

[teabagyokel]

Not sure I agree with that snowy! If you look at 2007 then there are a few wet races where Hamilton is not beggering off into the distance, but sliding into bizzare pitlane gravel traps. The same can be said for Vettel.

I agree on too much of a good thing, but I don't think we really saw Jenson romping away into the distance - he won by 1.5 seconds, not a minute á la Hamilton in Britain in 2008. And we saw an interesting race behind him there coupled by a brilliant performance by Nick Heidfeld in 2nd*.

*Yes, I am continuing to defend him

 

[RickD]

Not sure I agree with that snowy! If you look at 2007 then there are a few wet races where Hamilton is not beggering off into the distance, but sliding into bizzare pitlane gravel traps. The same can be said for Vettel.

I agree on too much of a good thing, but I don't think we really saw Jenson romping away into the distance - he won by 1.5 seconds, not a minute á la Hamilton in Britain in 2008. And we saw an interesting race behind him there coupled by a brilliant performance by Nick Heidfeld in 2nd*.

*Yes, I am continuing to defend him

Yes, he won by 1.5 seconds due to him slowing down at the end and a bizarre safety car brought out for no reason. If it was not there, he would have won by about 20-25 seconds from Nico at least.

FB - That is certainly an admission coming from you.. lol

I think the problem with moving the season around would be that Bernie would not be able to charge the circuits as much, as people wouldn't go due to it being too cold and wet, therefore the circuits not being able to afford to host a race. You would only get real die-hard fans there (like us lot)..

 

[teabagyokel]

Yes, he won by 1.5 seconds due to him slowing down at the end and a bizarre safety car brought out for no reason. If it was not there, he would have won by about 20-25 seconds from Nico at least.

But SCs are a staple of wet races, bizzare or otherwise.

 

[Brogan]

Although it's true the safety car did cut Button's lead by a significant amount, he admitted himself that his tyres had gone and going off track compounded the problem as he then lost heat.

I think it might have been closer than a lot of people assume if there had been no safety car as although everyone was struggling towards the end, Hamilton did seem to be able to put in faster laps.

Here are some images of the tyres after the race.
As you can see, there's not much in it

Probably off-topic for this thread, I perhaps should have posted it in the JB or Fizzy v Smooth thread.

 

[RickD]

I would have liked to see what Jensons tyres would have been like had he not lost temp in them when he went off at the hairpin.

 

[slickskid]

I certainately wouldn't be in favour of mixing up the schedule just to get a higher probability of rain affected races and the hope of mixed up grids.

But just to touch on the Lewis v Jenson and who was quicker just going slightly off topic. If you consider both stopped on lap 20 to switch to inters then had a saftey car (under which Lewis made up in the region of 52 secs), if you look at times posted till the end with one stop each remaining (laps 26 to 56) Jenson had the most quicker laps outdoing Lewis 17 - 14, but Lewis was 1.7 secs quicker overall mostly attributable to Jenson's lap 51 indescretion and Lewis having pitted first on the last stop, so i would say JB was quicker on that particular day error free.