"I Don't Believe It!"

[Galahad]

I don't know whether anyone has mentioned it yet, but Mark Hughes in Autosport commented that the nonsense over the hot-blowing diffusers would have complicated McLaren's calculations for fuel consumption quite a bit too. Of course, nobody else (that we know) made the same mistake, so it isn't an excuse, but may be an explanation.

For as long as F1 cars have raced without refuelling, they've run short of fuel. First piece of evidence in my defence is the San Marino GP 1986, when even Professor Prost ran short. The laws of physics compel the teams to cut it as fine as they possibly can; the more adventurous have always cut it too fine on occasion.

 

[Brogan]

For as long as F1 cars have raced without refuelling, they've run short of fuel.

Indeed.

 

[RevMaxPower]

Thanks Mr B for again proving my point. It boggles my mind that a full on, flat out race involving Championship points and therefore money and Podium positions which result in considerable kudos, plus all the other reasons why people are in the sport in the first place, is jeopardised because the Team would rather underfuel a car than overfuel it. Now that the cars are so reliable it makes no sense at all to risk everything in this way. It is no different to failing to replace a wheel properly...

So much to play for - and lose!

 

[Incubus]

And that list isn't exhaustive either. Rosberg and Senna also ran out of fuel at that German GP where Prost tried pushing his car to the finish. Senna's momentum carried him to the finishing line but Rosberg ran out with half a lap to go.
I think during the turbo era the problem was exacerbated by the fact the onboard fuel consumption computer, a new thing back then, often gave incorrect information. The same Prost later confessed after pocketing his second title in 86 at Adelaide he'd been on the verge of a heart attack at every corner in the closing laps, becuse his computer had been teeling him he had run of fuel five laps from the finish.

 

[RasputinLives]

Even without Turbo's Senna managed to run out of fuel at Silverstone on the last lap in exactly the same place in 90 and 91!

I agree with you its frustrating but at least Mclaren got him to the finish line with enough fuel left in the car to not be DQed at the end. Got him a hatful of points. Guess they just have to hope Red Bull do something similar in future races - of course for Red Bull to make that error they have to have someone pressuring them - I'm pretty sure with the speed advantage they've had they've been playing it safe on the fuel.

 

[Slyboogy]

Massa 2009 Spain? He didn't retire, but his case was much worse than Hamilton's and Rosberg's.

 

[no-FIAt-please]

Massa 2009 Spain? He didn't retire, but his case was much worse than Hamilton's and Rosberg's.

If I remember correctly, that was an electronic fault and the team had correctly fueled his car, the problem was that the team were reading incorrect fuel level figures.

 

[RasputinLives]

If I remember correctly, that was an electronic fault and the team had correctly fueled his car, the problem was that the team were reading incorrect fuel level figures.

Yeah which was even more annoying for him as he actually let 2 people past him in order to try and save the fuel!

 

[ExtremeNinja]

I sound like a bit of a Hamilton fanboy here, but I think that the FIA should set a fuel weight (sorry, mass the scientists around here!) for all cars each season. With turbos (like we are supposed to be getting in 2014) it is up to the driver then to use that boost button wisely, too many boosts will end up with the car out of fuel before the end.

It would seem that I want to bring back the eighties set up!

But different teams will have different fuel efficiency. Teams will still try to max the return on thier fuel whilst trying to burn every last drop over the course of the race, so if this is a proposed solution for short fueling it just doesn't work. There are more than one variable and so removing one makes litlle to no difference.

 

[sobriety]

I sound like a bit of a Hamilton fanboy here, but I think that the FIA should set a fuel weight (sorry, mass the scientists around here!) for all cars each season. With turbos (like we are supposed to be getting in 2014) it is up to the driver then to use that boost button wisely, too many boosts will end up with the car out of fuel before the end.

It would seem that I want to bring back the eighties set up!

Better than that, they should set a maximum amount of energy allowed to be carried as fuel, then unfreeze the fuel restrictions and engine regs, to allow any fuel types to race against each other. Oh and they should reduce the energy requirement each year to encourage efficiency/alternate fuels...