The 2013 Season

[tooncheese]

I think its because the teams already pay the drivers fines.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Personally I cannot believe that we are four races in and the FIA haven't managed to sort out the bloody telemetry system for DRS and flags, how long has this system been around for now?

Maybe the teams should impose a 50 grand per team fine on the FIA for each race they fail to fix it, each team would be 200 grand better off at present.....

 

[Jen]

Re: the pit lane speeding fines - could it be that the FIA are now putting the emphasis on the 'team sport' concept, thereby reducing the driver to an adjunct!

 

[Jos the Boss]

The FIA have new telemetry for this season, I read somewhere that they would be going back to the old one if it was still messed up after Bahrain

 

[sushifiesta]

Lots of long breaks this season...

3 weeks between Malaysia and China.
3 weeks between Bahrain and Spain.
3 weeks between Canada and Britain.
3 weeks between Germany and Hungary.
4 weeks between Hungary and Belgium.

It's going to be a serious test of patience.

 

[Brogan]

Suits me fine.
I get a decent break from the site and can actually have a life

 

[Boyle]

Keep telling yourself that Brogan

 

[Westy]

So I wonder why there are son many big breaks this season? We do have 6 back-to-back GP weekends as well as these big breaks. I don't understand the differences in breaks between some of these races. It can't be the proximity of the race tracks as that seems to play little or no part (see AUS and MAL [1 week] compared to GER and HUN [3 weeks]). The 3 week gap before the Hungarian GP comes right before the mandatory shutdown month. Bad timing me thinks.

The F1 circus also seems to jump around the globe in a chaotic manner. Surely there should be an East to West (or West to East) flow for the season. Instead we go from the Eastern hemisphere to Europe, to North America, back to Europe and then to the Middle East before returning to the Americas. Not very cost effective for shipping parts.

I am sure that there are lots of things that make up the big picture that I am ignorant of, like clashes with other series, but surely something could be done.

 

[Brogan]

Money is also involved with circuits paying to host the final race for example, as Abu Dhabi did in 2010.

 

[Kamui-FastestChefInTheWorld]

Calendar should start in Australia and middle east, 3 week break, Europe, 4 week break, Americas and East Asia, end of season. Makes a lot more sense.

 

[Johnny Carwash]

Isn't one of the breaks in mid season longer as the circuit in New Jersey was ment to be raced at this year, but they are now holding it next year instead.

 

[Brogan]

Yes.
The TBC race was never actually C.

 

[Brogan]

Teams with rookies are getting an extra set of tyres for Friday practice, from the Spanish GP onwards.

Pirelli has proposed to supply an additional set of tyres, built to the same construction as the current race rubber but using a more durable compound, for any team running a rookie driver on Friday mornings.

Teams are currently allocated 11 sets of tyres for the weekend, with one set of the harder compound returned after the first practice sessions.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/106779

Not any longer: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/107236

Plans to encourage Formula 1 teams to run rookie drivers during free practice in exchange for extra tyres have been abandoned for now, with all outfits getting another set for the Spanish Grand Prix.

 

[Westy]

Boo!

 

[no-FIAt-please]

Looks like the teams didn't want to comprimise. Pirelli need to take a firm stance or risk becoming a whipping boy.

 

[Brogan]

Pirelli are just the tyre supplier so in theory shouldn't have the authority to decide this.

Force India came up with the idea, no doubt it was Bernie and/or the FIA who made the final decision.

 

[sushifiesta]

They're still getting extra tyres, just without the rookie restriction.

 

[Fenderman]

Just posted a thought elsewhere on this subject.

... the teams that have been running rookies and reserve drivers on Fridays will surely continue to do so since they need to develop them at every opportunity. The biggest incentive surely has to be the fact that they want such drivers to be race ready if/when they need them to step up. In fact, having an extra set of tyres to spare might encourage all of the teams to give more track time to their reservists.

One of the big issues for people watching FP1 is how often the teams sit out the first 30 to 45 minutes. One of the reasons (apart from the weather) is their reluctance to use up their tyre allocation. What I do hope to see is more running on Friday mornings not just for the rookies but for the drivers.in general.

 

[gethinceri]

How very lovely that we seem to think that they need a break. Does it take three weeks to move all their shit from Bahrain to Barcelona?
No
What a crock.

 

[Bill Boddy]

Surely the biggest incentive for running rookies is that they pay.