The F1 thread

hotpot

I thought Baku was a great race for last minute thrills & spills but Silverstone didn't disappoint, What a Great  race. Verstappen & Ricciardo were just sublime to watch.

Fretwired

hotpot said:

I thought Baku was a great race for last minute thrills & spills but Silverstone didn't disappoint, What a Great  race. Verstappen & Ricciardo were just sublime to watch.

Ricciardo was my driver of the day ... some excellent overtakes

chillidoggy

Verstappen was the driver of the day for me. He's clearly destined for stardom, that lad.

boogieman

chillidoggy said:

Verstappen was the driver of the day for me. He's clearly destined for stardom, that lad.

Glad to see his car lasted this time round, he's a great driver. I can understand why RB called him in for a tyre change at the end but what a shame, he could've been on the podium. 

Fretwired

boogieman said:

chillidoggy said:

Verstappen was the driver of the day for me. He's clearly destined for stardom, that lad.

Glad to see his car lasted this time round, he's a great driver. I can understand why RB called him in for a tyre change at the end but what a shame, he could've been on the podium. 

Or in the wall .. I assume they had data and he was complaining about his tyres so the team thought it was best to be prudent.

boogieman

Fretwired said:

boogieman said:

chillidoggy said:

Verstappen was the driver of the day for me. He's clearly destined for stardom, that lad.

Glad to see his car lasted this time round, he's a great driver. I can understand why RB called him in for a tyre change at the end but what a shame, he could've been on the podium. 

Or in the wall .. I assume they had data and he was complaining about his tyres so the team thought it was best to be prudent.

Exactly. That's why I said I understood why RB called him in.

chillidoggy

If it came to him, Alonso or Hamster, I reckon there wouldn't be much to choose between them.

fretmeister

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/130844/halo-set-to-be-introduced-despite-opposition

Halo is coming in next year.

It looks shit.

The visor / shield thing looked fine but I understand the curves in the glass interfered with vision when Vettel tested it. They should fix that - not use the stupid halo thing.

Fretwired

fretmeister said:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/130844/halo-set-to-be-introduced-despite-opposition

Halo is coming in next year.

It looks shit.

The visor / shield thing looked fine but I understand the curves in the glass interfered with vision when Vettel tested it. They should fix that - not use the stupid halo thing.

Bonkers ... there will always be an element of risk. This could make things worse if it impairs a drivers vision. Keep the cars with open cockpits.

thumpingrug

Its a terrible decision. Its ugly and not fit for purpose.  I give it 2 races max before the controversy has it banned.

Hoof

Horrible. It looks like the front bar off a pushchair. 

This is the result of the F1 insiders including the FIA who insist that F1 has to be an open cockpit formula. What is that so important? I've been an F1 fan all my life but whether the drivers have a roof over their heads is neither here not there. The most important thing is that it has the fastest cars with the best drivers thus making it the pinnacle of motorsport. 

What about the aerodynamic implications? It disturbs the flow into the engine airbox and creates dirty air over the top of the car. I dread to think how they might look when the designers start looking into not just getting around this but actually using the halo for aero advantage.

fretmeister

The drivers sit so low now you can hardly see the helmet colours anyway.

Go closed cockpit and have done with it.

Fretwired

fretmeister said:

The drivers sit so low now you can hardly see the helmet colours anyway.

Go closed cockpit and have done with it.

With a closed cockpit how would they get out in a crash? Serious question as I don't know.

chillidoggy

Explosive bolts on the canopy. Might need a bit of finessing, granted, but it could work.........

stickyfiddle

chillidoggy said:

Explosive bolts on the canopy. Might need a bit of finessing, granted, but it could work.........

Yep - this. Auto-release bolts based on a G-force trigger, and a button on the car for marshals to access to release it, similar to how they have neutral and fire extinguisher controls (see below)

If they really want to do head protection they need to do it comprehensively, as an integral part of a major change to the F1 car specs, not just a bolted-on, compromise half-measure.

stickyfiddle

This is the sort of thing they should be looking at, surely...

sinbaadi

I would prefer they decide that it is an unavoidable and acceptable risk of open-wheel and open-cockpit racing.

Open wheels are just as dangerous, perhaps more so from a spectator's point of view, cars get launched much more easily when tyres contact tyres.  If they do not draw a line then we will end up with LMP style F1 cars.

Nobody likes to see things hitting drivers in the head and it's also a purely aesthetic complaint, however, I don't think the halo device would have necessarily prevented Massa's injury.

Fretwired

stickyfiddle said:

This is the sort of thing they should be looking at, surely...

How do you get out if a car is upside down? At the moment a driver can crawl out. How would it be kept clean? You're OK if you are on pole but a guy like Palmer will find his vision blurred  with oil, dirt and rubber residue. And what happens when it rains.

stickyfiddle

You have auto-exploding bolts that release the canopy under sudden high g-force or being inverted. 

And you have a combination coatings on the screen to stop stuff sticking, plus tear-offs for pitstops and maybe even wipers if you *really* need them. I don't think any of those aspects are big dealbreakers

sweepy

The cars will capable of 250mph with those canopies, interesting but the purist in me would rather have open cockpits