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Engineers, not racers, are the true drivers of success in motor sport

economist.com

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Re: Engineers, not racers, are the true drivers of success in motor sport

#11

Post by Swizec »

segmondy wrote: post #6

This entire argument is simply because Hamilton is black. He sets records and all of a sudden he can't shine by himself. Of course the team is important and very good but also so is Hamilton as is evident by his teammate who has the same car unless you truly believe Mercedes is giving his teammate a handicapped car.

It’s like genetics in other sports. You need the best car to win, that’s a given.

But if you can’t drive at the car’s max, you won’t win.

Just like a poorly trained athlete with perfect genetics won’t win. But comparing great athletes, the one with best genetics wins.

Re: Engineers, not racers, are the true drivers of success in motor sport

#12

Post by draklor40 »

Mostly because modern F1 is more less about driving and more about optimzing fuel consumption, tyre wear, pitstop strategy and KERS. The driver is merely a pilot doing what is instructed over the radio, unlike the V12 , V10 era where the driver had more autonomy.

Re: Engineers, not racers, are the true drivers of success in motor sport

#14

Post by systemvoltage »

I mean this in the most respectful way: Can someone please explain the allure of watching F1 race on TV? I honestly sat down with a few friends and we watched Kimi Raikonnen but it was not a lot of action in terms of overtaking and drama - it was mostly inching forward and making time. I fully understand and appreciate the amount of skills that go into driving an F1 car, but what is in for the spectator?

Re: Engineers, not racers, are the true drivers of success in motor sport

#15

Post by serf »

segmondy wrote: post #6

This entire argument is simply because Hamilton is black. He sets records and all of a sudden he can't shine by himself. Of course the team is important and very good but also so is Hamilton as is evident by his teammate who has the same car unless you truly believe Mercedes is giving his teammate a handicapped car.

Let's talk about the 'same car' thing.

The cars are from the same engineering firm.

They are setup by different teams of people, worked on by different teams of people, and maintained by different teams of people. There is overlap, of course, but the cars' basically have their own groups individually for specific tuning/troubleshooting/telemetrics.

If you think Valteri is getting the best and fastest crew to work on his car, the question turns into "Why would Mercedes use their best and brightest on their second in points?"

The point is : there isn't a handicapped car per se, but one of the two teams that gravitate around the drivers' is better at it's job -- thus, one of the cars has an edge.

It's a simple concept, but it has to be true. Mercedes can't simply clone their driver-centric teams over and stamp them to both sides -- so they have to prioritize their better driver having the faster team with more skill and better communication.

Sucks for Valteri, but as we've seen race after race -- he gets by just fine.

Re: Engineers, not racers, are the true drivers of success in motor sport

#16

Post by moron4hire »

systemvoltage wrote: post #14

I mean this in the most respectful way: Can someone please explain the allure of watching F1 race on TV? I honestly sat down with a few friends and we watched Kimi Raikonnen but it was not a lot of action in terms of overtaking and drama - it was mostly inching forward and making time. I fully understand and appreciate the amount of skills that go into driving an F1 car, but what is in for the spectator?

I think Twain explains it best: http://mrbazilewich.weebly.com/uploads/6/2/0/4/6204690/twain...

You see things differently when you know how they work.

Re: Engineers, not racers, are the true drivers of success in motor sport

#17

Post by girvo »

systemvoltage wrote: post #14

I mean this in the most respectful way: Can someone please explain the allure of watching F1 race on TV? I honestly sat down with a few friends and we watched Kimi Raikonnen but it was not a lot of action in terms of overtaking and drama - it was mostly inching forward and making time. I fully understand and appreciate the amount of skills that go into driving an F1 car, but what is in for the spectator?

I watch the first few laps intently: there’s lots of overtaking, tactics and contact. I then tune out and leave it on in the background until the last few laps.

Sort of like how I watch Cricket actually

Re: Engineers, not racers, are the true drivers of success in motor sport

#18

Post by serf »

systemvoltage wrote: post #14

I mean this in the most respectful way: Can someone please explain the allure of watching F1 race on TV? I honestly sat down with a few friends and we watched Kimi Raikonnen but it was not a lot of action in terms of overtaking and drama - it was mostly inching forward and making time. I fully understand and appreciate the amount of skills that go into driving an F1 car, but what is in for the spectator?

>I mean this in the most respectful way: Can someone please explain the allure of watching F1 race on TV?

I watch it because I drive/drove race cars. I love auto-racing. I love the noise, the personalities, and most importantly the cars.

I can't answer your question, really. If there isn't any draw to watch it, you probably just don't enjoy it. No shame in that.

I don't really understand why people watch football/basketball/soccer; but I understand why I don't get it -- I have no interest in the sports.

My father watches the Tour de France every year. He was an extremely in-depth established cyclist for years and years.

When I watch the Tour with him, I fall asleep. He falls asleep if I put him through auto-racing.

I think it's the same kind of thing.

If it's any consolation : your problem is a widespread one. The FIA is trying to make it more spectator-interesting next year by establishing a big wall of rule changes.

Re: Engineers, not racers, are the true drivers of success in motor sport

#19

Post by eindiran »

tartoran wrote: post #10

If we go down this path we’ll watch autopilots racing soon. Not fun

I don't know, commentated matches between eg Stockfish and Alpha Zero can be fascinating. An analysis of SOTA self-driving technologies racing at a post-F1 level sounds pretty interesting.

Re: Engineers, not racers, are the true drivers of success in motor sport

#20

Post by itsoktocry »

draklor40 wrote: post #12

Mostly because modern F1 is more less about driving and more about optimzing fuel consumption, tyre wear, pitstop strategy and KERS. The driver is merely a pilot doing what is instructed over the radio, unlike the V12 , V10 era where the driver had more autonomy.

>The driver is merely a pilot doing what is instructed over the radio

I think this severely understates the skill of some of the highest paid athletes on the planet.

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