Baku F1 GP 2018

[Nitrodaze]

https://www.pitpass.com/images/circuits/800/2016baku070602.jpg

Redbull are shining, Ferrari not at their best going into qualifying but that may change in Practise 3. And Mercedes seem to have found the twin sister of their 2017 diva. I wonder if Redbull are set to take their second win of the season. Another Ricciado win would probably quench any talk of him leaving Redbull but you never know.

Here we are at another street circuit that demands precision, consistency and unwavering focus. Last year, it was an unusual podium and a first podium for young Stroll. Bottas came from behind to steal the second step from a brilliant drive from Lance Stroll. This weekend seem set for another unusual podium with Vettel struggling and Hamilton off form, it is looking like a chance for Redbull to take the top step of the podium. In this race anything is possible. A Haas, Torro Rosso or Mclaren win would also rock the house l think.

A Hulkenburg win would definitely shake things up as well.

[Tazio]

Quali dawgz!:smokin:

[Tazio]

Wow, Gasly and Hartley almost had an almighty collision!:eek:

[The Black Knight]

Bottle it Kimi strikes again in the last lap of qualifying.

Close between Ferrari’s and Mercedes. Good to see. Looking forward to the race!

[Nitrodaze]

Great Cultural attires and dancing, now that is what it all is about; world championship. People, cultures and competition. Baku definitely understands and demonstrates this. I love it.

[Tazio]

With the gusty winds this could be a very interesting race!

[Tazio]

Here we go!

[Tazio]

dang dawgz!

[BigWorm]

Scarce space left by Ocon there

[longisland]

Hulkenberg Jin binned it. Candidate for Donkey

[Tazio]

Dang Hulk!:(

[longisland]

Max’s defense on Daniel is a bit too robust to put it mildly. It’s understandable he will not allowed Daniel to pass him on the outside but he didn’t leave Daniel enough room & they banged wheels while Daniel is trying to avoid the wall. It could have gone horribly wrong

[N4D13]

Verstappen needs a race ban.

And we've got a donkey other than him. I didn't think it was possible, but we've found the most pathetic retirement of the year, possibly the decade, in Grosjean.

[truefan72]

...and now dumbass grosjean has ruined the race. We will only have maybe 4 laps of racing. Smh

[longisland]

Daniel did a dummy but did Verstappen closed the door last second or he just ran a defensive line?

[truefan72]

Verstappen needs a race ban.

And we've got a donkey other than him. I didn't think it was possible, but we've found the most pathetic retirement of the year, possibly the decade, in Grosjean.
Yup. That was ridiculous by verstappen. Unbelievable

[N4D13]

Daniel did a dummy but did Verstappen closed the door last second or he just ran a defensive line?
The way I see it, he swerved to the middle, then back to the inside. That's the kind of bull he always pulls off and something that I'm glad has come back to bite him.

Even if I'm wrong, that's the kind of thing you DON'T do to your teammate. His defending was utterly ridiculous today and was an accident waiting to happen, until it eventually did.

[The Black Knight]

Yup. That was ridiculous by verstappen. Unbelievable

He moved before the braking zone.

What an embarrassment Romain Grosjean is as a driver. I can’t understand how that guy has a drive in F1.

[BigWorm]

Absolutely bonkers race

[truefan72]

Gutted for Bottas. I would have been happy for a p2 for hamilton. Bottas drove a perfect race. A bit melancholy victory. But congrats to perez and driver of the day is charles leclerc. This is huge for sauber. Alonso drove a stellar drive as usual. Verstappen deserves a huge penalty for his actions. Grosjean...just dumb

[truefan72]

I'm still torn on the kimi ocon incident. But kimi did a superb job to come back and get p2. Vettel blew it. Was too ambitios in trying to get the lead back and it cost him dearly.
There also needs to be a serious inquiry into that debris that took out bottas. It could have been far worse if it flew up and hit the cars behind.
But what a chaotic and memorable race.
Baku delivered. So far we have had 4 great races. Cars are more equal than ever and you never know who will win or how the race will turn out.

[Tazio]

Gutted, IO fell asleep with 18 laps to go! :angryfire

[N4D13]

It's difficult for me to feel sympathy for Bottas. He lucked into a P1 position and then Lady Luck turned her back on him. That wouldn't have been a deserved win anyway. At least Hamilton had more pace than him, and the only reason why he'd been behind him was that the team screwed up with the strategy.

It's also really difficult for me to rate the finishers. Leclerc, for instance, did a very fine job, but we wouldn't have even noticed had there not been that much attrition. Keep in mind that we lost both Bulls, Bottas, Hülkenberg and Ocon. So even though he's obviously a very fine driver, today doesn't need to be really significant.

This weekend was also embarrassing for a number of drivers. Grosjean, of course, but also Ericsson, who got destroyed by his teammate. And Räikkönen could have been on that top spot today had he not made two crucial mistakes this weekend, one in qualifying and one in trying to make it two cars into a tight corner with Ocon. Vandoorne was also given quite a pummelling this weekend.

[truefan72]

Just watched anthony davidson review of the rbr incident. And here goes dr. Marko defending verstappen by saying it was a racing incident. Verstappen clearly was at fault and i sincerely hope the steward slap him with a stiff penalty. I hate it when they are lenient if it is teammates. The same scrutiny should apply regardless of who are involved. Tbh it should be a back of the grid for the next race penalty for max.

[The Black Knight]

Gutted for Bottas. I would have been happy for a p2 for hamilton. Bottas drove a perfect race. A bit melancholy victory. But congrats to perez and driver of the day is charles leclerc. This is huge for sauber. Alonso drove a stellar drive as usual. Verstappen deserves a huge penalty for his actions. Grosjean...just dumb

I guess what goes around comes around. Hamilton should have won in Oz so hard to deny him this race as well. Bottas did an amazing job on the SS tyres today. Hamilton should have been able to make the tyres last longer than he did.

[The Black Knight]

Just watched anthony davidson review of the rbr incident. And here goes dr. Marko defending verstappen by saying it was a racing incident. Verstappen clearly was at fault and i sincerely hope the steward slap him with a stiff penalty. I hate it when they are lenient if it is teammates. The same scrutiny should apply regardless of who are involved. Tbh it should be a back of the grid for the next race penalty for max.

Disagree. Max was entitled to move as he did. He did it before the braking zone. Ricciardo should have known there was no way Max was letting him through there.

[longisland]

Last year Baku was awesome. This year it is probably as good in my book. 9/10. Hamilton & Raikkonen lucked into the podium despite having a relatively average performance. It’s a payback to Hamilton For the race win robbed in Australia. As for Raikkonen, for once Ferrari didn’t compromise his race cos Vettel was ahead of him for the almost the entire race.
My Driver of the race goes to Leclerc; a solid performance after 3 difficult races. Perez deserves a special mention. He did it again. Mercedes should give Perez a shot if they decided to swap Bottas. My donkey goes to Redbull. Many people argued there shouldn’t be team orders but the collision suggested otherwise.

[truefan72]

Disagree. Max was entitled to move as he did. He did it before the braking zone. Ricciardo should have known there was no way Max was letting him through there.

Well, he is entitled to one move which he did when Daniiel made the dummy to the outside, so max veered right. then when he saw ricciardo coming for the inside, he swerved left significantly which destroyed both cars and was his 2nd move that is not what you are supposed to do. So I do squarely blame Verstappen. This is compounded by his restart incident where he brushed into daniel on turn 1 by defending too aggressive. but clearly the last incident was his fault and does deserve a penalty.


and now this: https://www.eurosport.co.uk/formula-1/spanish-grand-prix/2018/sirotkin-gets-grid-penalty-for-spanish-gp_sto6733289/story.shtml
So if sirotkin gets grid place penalty for hit on perez for spanish gp which really didn't affect the race then I fully expect verstappen to get a grid penalty for swerving & causing a collision.

[Nitrodaze]

Disagree. Max was entitled to move as he did. He did it before the braking zone. Ricciardo should have known there was no way Max was letting him through there.

You are quite right. The Verstapenn blocking rule was revoked for this season. Drivers are allowed to make more than one move to block in the Verstapenn fashion. But this incident has shown what most critics of verstapenn's blocking maneuver have thought for some time, that sooner of later, someone is going to ram into the back of his Redbull. Ironically, it was his Redbull teammate that Rams into his backend.

This sort of defensive maneuver is dangerous as it puts both drivers at risk. The One move rule was decided for a very good reason; to avoid tail ramming. I personally put this incident down to Verstapenn. One cannot expect the pace of the overtaking car to magically vanish when the car in front makes a second move to block them.


How unlucky for Bottas, to have a puncture on a race that was very much his. A very lukewarm Hamilton lucks into a win and Kimi also gets his second place that he was due at Melbourne, karma sort of leveled the state of affairs. A very wild and unpredictable Baku race served up another seat edge roller-coaster grandprix.

Perez lucks into a podium position as well, as Grosjean throws away another Haas opportunity. But for me the star of the show was rookie Leclerc, what a great drive he put in today.

[Nitrodaze]

Lewis Hamilton leads the drivers's championship by four points to Vettel who would be kicking himself for losing all his point advantages to Lewis in a purely risky attempt to overtake. But this sort of maneuvers is what we love about Vettel. Just unlucky that it did not quite work out, but the real problem with not pulling it of is the cost of not pulling it of.
The great thing is the championship is open again. But Hamilton and Vettel are pulling away from everyone else. The Mercedes still looks be-dogged with performance sapping problems. Hence, there are surely to be future changes to the leader of the driver points table. More so because the Ferrari seem to be the car to beat at the mo. They are making it easy for the oppositions with mistakes after mistakes.

[Nitrodaze]

It's difficult for me to feel sympathy for Bottas. He lucked into a P1 position and then Lady Luck turned her back on him. That wouldn't have been a deserved win anyway. At least Hamilton had more pace than him, and the only reason why he'd been behind him was that the team screwed up with the strategy.

It's also really difficult for me to rate the finishers. Leclerc, for instance, did a very fine job, but we wouldn't have even noticed had there not been that much attrition. Keep in mind that we lost both Bulls, Bottas, Hülkenberg and Ocon. So even though he's obviously a very fine driver, today doesn't need to be really significant.

This weekend was also embarrassing for a number of drivers. Grosjean, of course, but also Ericsson, who got destroyed by his teammate. And Räikkönen could have been on that top spot today had he not made two crucial mistakes this weekend, one in qualifying and one in trying to make it two cars into a tight corner with Ocon. Vandoorne was also given quite a pummelling this weekend.

Well said, but one still need to commend those that did what it took to reap the reward of the opportunity that providence threw before them. Leclerc did what should be done to ensure that he got to the end of the race, to claim the points for the position that he ended up in. Grosjean on the other hand should have ended up on the podium today but threw it into the wall behind the safety car. So Leclerc deserves praise. And it is great to see something positive happening for Sauber.

[N. Jones]

I agree although was this just a good track for Sauber or is LeClerc the real deal?

My two cents in the Red Bull debacle - it's Maldonado's fault.

[Ari]

You are quite right. The Verstapenn blocking rule was revoked for this season. Drivers are allowed to make more than one move to block in the Verstapenn fashion. But this incident has shown what most critics of verstapenn's blocking maneuver have thought for some time, that sooner of later, someone is going to ram into the back of his Redbull. Ironically, it was his Redbull teammate that Rams into his backend.

This sort of defensive maneuver is dangerous as it puts both drivers at risk. The One move rule was decided for a very good reason; to avoid tail ramming. I personally put this incident down to Verstapenn. One cannot expect the pace of the overtaking car to magically vanish when the car in front makes a second move top block them.

They can only make more than one blocking move if they leave the driver behind a clear lane. Max did not do that.

"More than one change of direction to defend a position is not permitted. If a driver has moved off the racing line while defending their position, they may move back but must ensure there is at least one car’s width between their own car and the edge of the track."

https://www.formula1.com/en/championship/inside-f1/rules-regs/Licenses_driving_protocol_and_penalties.html

[COD]

It's difficult for me to feel sympathy for Bottas. He lucked into a P1 position and then Lady Luck turned her back on him. That wouldn't have been a deserved win anyway. At least Hamilton had more pace than him, and the only reason why he'd been behind him was that the team screwed up with the strategy.
.

Well,another view is that Ham destroyed his supersoft tyres by making a braking mistake and had to swich to softs. Bottas was able to save his supersofts and was leading. He would have gone to ultras anyway in the end. They were so much faster than softs that it is possible he would have ended first even without the safetycar which actually just allowed everyone to swich to ultras and put the group together.

[N4D13]

Well,another view is that Ham destroyed his supersoft tyres by making a braking mistake and had to swich to softs. Bottas was able to save his supersofts and was leading. He would have gone to ultras anyway in the end. They were so much faster than softs that it is possible he would have ended first even without the safetycar which actually just allowed everyone to swich to ultras and put the group together.
Very good point. I stand corrected.

[zako85]

As I was watching the replays of that Red Bull crash, I wondering about one thing. Suppose Max left the room on the inside for Daniel to pass through. After that would Daniel actually make the turn and still stay ahead? It seems like he was going so fast and so close to the braking zone of that 90 degree corner that I am having doubts about this.

[schmenke]

Disagree. Max was entitled to move as he did. ....

Yes, but not against his team mate!

Verstappen ruined what could have been significant points for Red Bull this weekend.

[BigWorm]

I blame Christian Horner!

[Bagwan]

I saw desperation in Max , with his recently being called out for being too aggressive , and all the criticism that came with it .
He missed out on that top step that Daniel got , and it obviously stung .

And , I saw frustration from the honey badger , who perhaps felt aggrieved at the earlier touch , and also felt faster , stuck to Max's bumper .

Max moved twice , and you can't do that , but Dan didn't sell the outside fake very well either , and so dove into a closing door .

Twas not a good showing by either driver .
They both deserve to say sorry to those who do the work behind them .

[Nitrodaze]

As I was watching the replays of that Red Bull crash, I wondering about one thing. Suppose Max left the room on the inside for Daniel to pass through. After that would Daniel actually make the turn and still stay ahead? It seems like he was going so fast and so close to the braking zone of that 90 degree corner that I am having doubts about this.

Ricciado left a car's width room for Verstapenn at that same corner a few laps back while overtaking him. There is a good chance Ricciado would have at least got alongside Verstapenn on the straight for a drag race. Besides it doesn't matter whether Ricciado would have pulled the move off or not, as long as they make the duel clean and not jeopardize team points.
Maybe it is time someone puts an arm over his shoulder.

[Nitrodaze]

I blame Christian Horner!

It is hard to disagree with this view. Adrian Newey was quite disgusted by the outcome which one could easily read from his face, was quite avoidable with the right action from the Redbull pitwall.

[Nitrodaze]

I agree although was this just a good track for Sauber or is LeClerc the real deal?

Baku is not the sort of track where you could make such a call. Like Williams and Stroll last year this was purely luck but you have to be good enough to take it when luck is on your side.

[Nitrodaze]

They can only make more than one blocking move if they leave the driver behind a clear lane. Max did not do that.

"More than one change of direction to defend a position is not permitted. If a driver has moved off the racing line while defending their position, they may move back but must ensure there is at least one car’s width between their own car and the edge of the track."

https://www.formula1.com/en/championship/inside-f1/rules-regs/Licenses_driving_protocol_and_penalties.html

Quite right, the move back to the racing line is the Verstapenn maneuver. The fact that he did not leave a car's width between his car and the barrier is why l think he his to blame for this incident. I don't see how Ricciado has any blame in this.

[Bagwan]

I want to toss a donkey at those crane truck operators , who seemed to be using it for the first time , and doing it in slo-mo .

Would there be a way of having some kind of bumper/barrier attached to the rear of vehicles like that , that might alleviate some of the concern Lewis brought up about the safety of travelling by it behind the safety car .
Given Romain's trip into the barriers was during the same safety car period, on a different section of track , it is certainly a pertinent question .

[Bagwan]

Quite right, the move back to the racing line is the Verstapenn maneuver. The fact that he did not leave a car's width between his car and the barrier is why l think he his to blame for this incident. I don't see how Ricciado has any blame in this.

The blame , if there is some for the badger , comes from not delivering a good enough fakey to Max to get him out wide enough to get beside him before he closed the door .
He never really got a good look in at all before the door was shut , evidenced by him locking before Max applied much braking at all , and by his hitting him squarely whilst trying to back out of it .

Had Danny gotten any part of his car beside Max's , Max would have copped a penalty for sure , but he didn't .
And , I suspect this is what the stewards considered most .

[BigWorm]

It is hard to disagree with this view. Adrian Newey was quite disgusted by the outcome which one could easily read from his face, was quite avoidable with the right action from the Redbull pitwall.

It's respectable that Red Bull let's them race without teamorders, but with their driving styles - Max moving under braking and Daniel who likes his divebombing, these incidents are bound to happen sooner or later. They we're battling eachother the whole time yesterday and none of them seemed to be able to pull away, a little bit of teamorders wouldn't have hurt.

[Starter]

Would there be a way of having some kind of bumper/barrier attached to the rear of vehicles like that , that might alleviate some of the concern Lewis brought up about the safety of travelling by it behind the safety car .
Given Romain's trip into the barriers was during the same safety car period, on a different section of track , it is certainly a pertinent question .
Sure, and it's easy to do. They're called fenders and will go well with the halo.

[Bagwan]

Sure, and it's easy to do. They're called fenders and will go well with the halo.

I hope y'all know I was talking about the crane .
A big ol' puffy bumper , covered in mink(or some non-protestable , just as soft material ) so they won't scratch the visor when it pushes in through the thong .
Maybe Force Pink BWT would sponsor it . Pink is hi-vis .

[airshifter]

I want to toss a donkey at those crane truck operators , who seemed to be using it for the first time , and doing it in slo-mo .

Would there be a way of having some kind of bumper/barrier attached to the rear of vehicles like that , that might alleviate some of the concern Lewis brought up about the safety of travelling by it behind the safety car .
Given Romain's trip into the barriers was during the same safety car period, on a different section of track , it is certainly a pertinent question .

Here in the US the highway workers often use "crash trucks" that are designed with an impact absorbing section on the back. I'm sure with the resources the FIA has they could use something similar.






As for the race, once again this season is delivering. So many unexpected things happening that you didn't know until the last minute who would take the race or even the podium positions.

Max had it coming.

Bottas had the bad luck, not putting a tire wrong all race and then the puncture.

The misfortune of the leaders in Australia flips around, and karma levels out.

The few who stayed out of trouble reaped the rewards.

Seb.... what was he thinking?



I still think tires are playing a huge role this year. With the changes everyone is still figuring them out, and strategy is being second guessed by the teams. Max got away with an "overcut", Bottas went really long on the supers, and the restarts left everyone wondering where the grip went.

As for the Max and Daniel incident, I think the Sky commentators made a good comparison. It was similar to Webber and Vettel in Turkey. A faster driver behind determined to overtake, and the slower driver simply not accepting that it would happen sooner or later. RB needs to get their drivers in check if they aren't going to implement team orders. And though I despise team orders, preserving points and high dollar machinery has to be done. If they don't get it in check they are going to end up in the situation Force India was in, dealing with drivers that disregard each other.

[BleAivano]

Here in the US the highway workers often use "crash trucks" that are designed with an impact absorbing section on the back.
I'm sure with the resources the FIA has they could use something similar.

We have those over here as well. It's called Truck Mounted Attenuator (TMA).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_attenuator
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Impact_Protection_Vehicle_01.jpg
http://stenbergstransportlosningar.se/onewebmedia/tma_ata.jpg
http://www.tma-bilar.nu/wp-content/blogs.dir/642/files/slider/slide2.jpg

[Bagwan]

We have those over here as well. It's called Truck Mounted Attenuator (TMA).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_attenuator
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Impact_Protection_Vehicle_01.jpg
http://stenbergstransportlosningar.se/onewebmedia/tma_ata.jpg
http://www.tma-bilar.nu/wp-content/blogs.dir/642/files/slider/slide2.jpg

This old hippie wonders why he thought of this before Whiting , Todt , or seemingly anyone involved in the sport , especially after the Bianchi incident .

So , a solution exists (and a thanks to my fellow forum members) that could solve a serious safety issue .
Some adaptations might be necessary to ensure it doesn't impact the speed at which cars are recovered , and to ensure the cars don't "submarine" the barrier , but it is eminently doable .

[COD]

Very good point. I stand corrected.

Not trying to correct your view, just giving another one. Speculation. The end result is what it is

[airshifter]

This old hippie wonders why he thought of this before Whiting , Todt , or seemingly anyone involved in the sport , especially after the Bianchi incident .

So , a solution exists (and a thanks to my fellow forum members) that could solve a serious safety issue .
Some adaptations might be necessary to ensure it doesn't impact the speed at which cars are recovered , and to ensure the cars don't "submarine" the barrier , but it is eminently doable .

I would think it would be easy enough to do for something that would protect both the drivers of the F1 cars and the track workers. Being that the cars are so light, it could probably be mounted on a fairly light truck that would be easier to position than a larger truck.

Being we now have the VSC function already, it might also make sense to have a limited speed section in the vicinity of the cleanup/accident/whatever. I'm sure the SC drivers alter speed as is, but the way the pack spreads out sometimes still leaves room for error.


It was great that Lewis pointed out this issue with safety. With the size and weight of F1 cars it really doesn't take much to create a potential threat to the drivers. After what happened to Bianchi the FIA could do better, and I hope they do.

[Bagwan]

I would think it would be easy enough to do for something that would protect both the drivers of the F1 cars and the track workers. Being that the cars are so light, it could probably be mounted on a fairly light truck that would be easier to position than a larger truck.

Being we now have the VSC function already, it might also make sense to have a limited speed section in the vicinity of the cleanup/accident/whatever. I'm sure the SC drivers alter speed as is, but the way the pack spreads out sometimes still leaves room for error.


It was great that Lewis pointed out this issue with safety. With the size and weight of F1 cars it really doesn't take much to create a potential threat to the drivers. After what happened to Bianchi the FIA could do better, and I hope they do.

You're right that Lewis speaking up is a great thing , and I hope he uses his top driver status to push this issue some more .
It deserves to be fixed , for everyone's safety .

I'm not sold on using another vehicle for protection , if that's what you're saying , but a smaller , protected unit , purpose designed for tight spaces might be easily doable because , as you say , these cars are pretty light .

Certainly , at least some standardization of recovery equipment at all the tracks couldn't hurt .

About the SC thing , one other bit really bugs me , and has done since they started doing it , is letting the lapped drivers go out of position to the back of the line .
In a scenario where the SC has been chosen , it is a given that there is some kind of issue that has occurred to warrant the slow-down and control , yet , they release some to speed to the rear during this period , uncontrolled .
Quite apart from the , to me , obvious safety issue this causes , it also just doesn't seem fair to negate the traffic factor when passing at all can be such a rare thing in itself . Coming upon a back marker can be your best chance to make your move .

[N4D13]

You're right that Lewis speaking up is a great thing , and I hope he uses his top driver status to push this issue some more .
It deserves to be fixed , for everyone's safety .

I'm not sold on using another vehicle for protection , if that's what you're saying , but a smaller , protected unit , purpose designed for tight spaces might be easily doable because , as you say , these cars are pretty light .

Certainly , at least some standardization of recovery equipment at all the tracks couldn't hurt .

About the SC thing , one other bit really bugs me , and has done since they started doing it , is letting the lapped drivers go out of position to the back of the line .
In a scenario where the SC has been chosen , it is a given that there is some kind of issue that has occurred to warrant the slow-down and control , yet , they release some to speed to the rear during this period , uncontrolled .
Quite apart from the , to me , obvious safety issue this causes , it also just doesn't seem fair to negate the traffic factor when passing at all can be such a rare thing in itself . Coming upon a back marker can be your best chance to make your move .
Well, people used to complain a lot when lapped drivers remained in position during a SC, which often meant that drivers weren't able to attack the car in front at the restart because there was a lapped guy in between. That's the reason why the ruling was changed and quite frankly, I prefer it this way myself. That said, there's simply no way to make everyone happy.

[Bagwan]

Well, people used to complain a lot when lapped drivers remained in position during a SC, which often meant that drivers weren't able to attack the car in front at the restart because there was a lapped guy in between. That's the reason why the ruling was changed and quite frankly, I prefer it this way myself. That said, there's simply no way to make everyone happy.

I don't remember people complaining about it a lot , but , really , that's not my point at all .
We can easily agree to disagree on whether it's either sporting or good for the show , but whether it's safe to have those back markers rejoining at the back of the field is what I am asking .

If it is deemed necessary to deploy the safety car , to slow the pack down and control it , specifically in proximity to crash sites so the track workers are protected , is it not defeating the very idea of controlling them when they release them ?

[Franky]

Why not just drop the backmarkers down the queue instead of letting them take back the lap?

[Starter]

I don't remember people complaining about it a lot , but , really , that's not my point at all .
We can easily agree to disagree on whether it's either sporting or good for the show , but whether it's safe to have those back markers rejoining at the back of the field is what I am asking .

If it is deemed necessary to deploy the safety car , to slow the pack down and control it , specifically in proximity to crash sites so the track workers are protected , is it not defeating the very idea of controlling them when they release them ?
Please understand that I am not nitpicking you. But you all must understand that track workers know exactly what they are signing up for. The danger comes with the ring side seat to the race. We know what we are doing and we are very aware of the risks. Please don't worry about "protecting" us and let us get about our jobs. That's part of doing what we do and we freely accept the risk. There's bigger fish to fry in F1 these days. Now back to your regularly scheduled program.

[Bagwan]

Please understand that I am not nitpicking you. But you all must understand that track workers know exactly what they are signing up for. The danger comes with the ring side seat to the race. We know what we are doing and we are very aware of the risks. Please don't worry about "protecting" us and let us get about our jobs. That's part of doing what we do and we freely accept the risk. There's bigger fish to fry in F1 these days. Now back to your regularly scheduled program.

If I've got nits , I'm ok with any picking going on .

And , I get what you're saying , but a big ol' bumper on the truck idea isn't about you (not that you're not important and all that , y'all understand).

It's about the driver .


The idea of releasing the back marker delays the restart , and artificially removes hard-fought positions , while removing opportunities for sometimes rarely seen passes .
All that , and endangering brave track workers as well .

[Nitrodaze]

I would think it would be easy enough to do for something that would protect both the drivers of the F1 cars and the track workers. Being that the cars are so light, it could probably be mounted on a fairly light truck that would be easier to position than a larger truck.

Being we now have the VSC function already, it might also make sense to have a limited speed section in the vicinity of the cleanup/accident/whatever. I'm sure the SC drivers alter speed as is, but the way the pack spreads out sometimes still leaves room for error.


It was great that Lewis pointed out this issue with safety. With the size and weight of F1 cars it really doesn't take much to create a potential threat to the drivers. After what happened to Bianchi the FIA could do better, and I hope they do.

With the layout of the track. This scenario was one of the question marks raised against the track at its inception. How is recovery and clear up going to work if a bad collision occurs on the parallel straights and some of those tight bends? We get to see a demonstration of one such recovery exercise at Baku this season. There would be lessens learnt but one thing was very clear, that any driver mishap that occurs in the proximity of that truck may result in a very grave incident. They would need to look at safer recovery methods like using cranes as is done in most places on the Monaco circuit. If trucks are going to go on the track, it would not matter much if it was a small one or a big one. Hence, it would have made more sense to stop the race as Hamilton suggested. Just imagine if the Grosjean mishap happened at the location of the truck.

[COD]

I like this more american style of safety car deployed on every possible opportunity. Makes the races nore interesting to the spectator at home

[Big Ben]

Why not just drop the backmarkers down the queue instead of letting them take back the lap?

And pretend they unlapped themselves? That wouldn't be fair to the others. It might create a situation where someone beats someone else having completed less laps. Or keep them one (ore more) lap down but behind everyone? that wouldn't be fair to those who were already held up... probably.