Ticket's for the band wagon now on sale !!!

[Brogan]

lapped cars should not be blue flagged, which may allow time for trailing cars to catch up to the leaders.

Hang on, there's more



Edit: I should clarify that I'm not particularly in favour of blue flags as I think drivers should at least make an effort when passing back markers. It was just the idea that Heikki thinks he could make up a whole lap....in a Lotus...

 

[teabagyokel]

Surely if we've learnt anything from "Quantative easing" it's that this whole issue could just be solved by printing more passes !!!

Heikki's usual tactic...

 

[Enja]

.

Kovalainen proposes blue flag ban

Well, he would wouldn't he. I think blue flags should be banned, but perhaps this year, with the news teams being as slow as they are, it might not be the safest thing to do.

I think he's right.

 

[teabagyokel]

.

Kovalainen proposes blue flag ban

Well, he would wouldn't he. I think blue flags should be banned, but perhaps this year, with the news teams being as slow as they are, it might not be the safest thing to do.

I think he's right.

I just don't understand what the bloody point of doing it is!

 

[cider_and_toast]

Interesting comment from Alonso, "I was getting some relaxed laps".

Yeah sure Fernando, chill out man.

 

[Muddytalker]

Interesting comment from Alonso, "I was getting some relaxed laps".

Yeah sure Fernando, chill out man.

Can we expect him to be sponsored by Rizla soon?

 

[teabagyokel]

Ferrari like their lead driver to be relaxed, you know, if they retire, to feel perfectly free to persue their interests invloving vending machines, choc ices and the like.

The car was built at the end of last season with Kimi as their only fit driver. It was going to require relaxation. Probably got a jacuzzi at the bottom!

 

[Enja]

.

Kovalainen proposes blue flag ban

Well, he would wouldn't he. I think blue flags should be banned, but perhaps this year, with the news teams being as slow as they are, it might not be the safest thing to do.

I think he's right.

I just don't understand what the bloody point of doing it is!

Because the drivers at the front have to find their way past the slow cars they're about to lap - the theory is that if the lead drivers get held up for any length of time it can help the people behind them.

Personally I've thought the top drivers should just deal with it, because they're supposed to be the best. But no, blue flags are still enforced..

 

[snowy]

The problem with this sort of proposal is that it totally ignores the reality that it really isn't easy to overtake in an F1 car and nor should it ever be.

 

[teabagyokel]

Fair enough, but do you not think that Kovalainen just doesn't want to sit there watching blue, 2 red, 3 silver, another blue, another silver, yellow, some white... blurs move past him too often!

 

[Enja]

Fair enough, but do you not think that Kovalainen just doesn't want to sit there watching blue, 2 red, 3 silver, another blue, another silver, yellow, some white... blurs move past him too often!

Hey, he'd get a good look at those diffusers for next year's Lotus, so they can start devel- oh, hold on, they're banned next year!

 

[snowy]

Some interesting comments from Frank Dernie on James Allen's blog - check it out.

Wait just another gurd daurn minute!!!

Haven't we just come out of an era dominated by groved tyres and severly restricted mechanical grip?!!

Dernie is talking absolute b*ll*cks!

 

[Brogan]

Not sure where to post this so I'll stick it in this thread.

I know it's only 1 race, but the equalised data shows that overtaking is back to pre-'94 levels at 315 total passes.

Obviously this figure is going to change race by race but anyone would think there had been no overtakes in Bahrain when in fact it had the 2nd highest number since the circuit joined the calendar.
Despite the rubbish new twisty bit in the middle.

 

[fat jez]

Which is back to what others have said - Bernie can improve the spectacle at no cost by sacking the local directors and having somebody who understands motor racing and that can see if driver x on the midfield is gaining on driver y at a rate of 1 second per lap, there's a good chance driver x will overtake driver y and that he should follow this fight instead of showing driver z pootling around at the front and not under any pressure.

 

[Muddytalker]

Again, it's only 1 race so we shouldn't overreact, but there is the caveat of Nico H, Kubica and Sutil being out of position and making the majority of those overtaking manoeuvres. But, looking at each overtake, and considering a 'genuine' overtake as Class A v Class A, or Class B v Class B (but not Class A v Class B)*, then I still make 9 passes, which, given the circumstances, isn't the worst we've seen.

More experience with fuel loads, a better track, and a bit more strategy-bravery will hopefully yield a better race in Australia.

(*Class A is the top 9 teams, Class B being the newcomers,)

 

[Brogan]

Unfortunately jez a lot of "fans" think that unless it's a McLaren/Ferrari/Red Bull passing a Ferrari/Red Bull/McLaren for a podium position then it's of little relevance.
Is it any wonder that the director focusses on the leading cars when a lot of, let's call them Sunday viewers, couldn't even name half of the teams on the grid?

Fair comments Muddy, I made the same point in GM's 2010 overtaking thread.
However, go back 20 years and a lot of passes would have been made under exactly those circumstances when there was a much larger difference between the relative teams' and drivers' performance and faster cars and drivers being out of position, etc.

People are very fickle and have short memories.
They want a return to the good old days of huge numbers of passes but they now want those passes to be carried out by and on the top teams and drivers, not on the newbies who are several seconds off the pace.
It just isn't going to happen for the reasons I mentioned in the other thread.

 

[cider_and_toast]

I think this neatly sums up something that's lost in F1.

I defy anyone not to laugh themselves silly.

 

[Brogan]

I'd have to agree with Mr Hunt

 

[slickskid]

Classic!!

 

[snowy]

What Jenson actually said:

"I think that even if you had won the race, you would have thought 'where was the action?'," Button was quoted as saying by Reuters. "It's a sport that I love and it's tough to see a procession."

"I'm not going to say 'What are we going to do about it? It's terrible' because I think we've got to wait and see," said Button.

"It's only one race in, so it's not the end of the world. There's still another 18 races to go. There's still every chance it's going to be a fantastic season.

"We just have to see what happens over the next few races and then people have got to start making the decisions if it's not going in the right direction."

Then there is the slant and the words that the BBC put in his mouth:

Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button has expressed concern that new regulations could turn the 2010 season into a "procession".

McLaren's Button is dismayed by the ban on refuelling during a race and new tyre regulations which made the season opener in Bahrain a dull spectacle.

Button joins seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher in bemoaning the refuelling ban, which means cars must run with a full load at the start.

The other major rule change dictates that the top 10 drivers on the grid must begin the race on the tyres they used in the final qualifying session.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8578864.stm