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Everything Technical in F1

scarbsf1.com

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Re: Everything Technical in F1

#3

I could never get interested in F1 again after Senna's tragic death.

That's a risk you take with racing. It's taken a while but they've put a lot of safeguards in place. Over the years I've seen things which should have seriously injured drivers but they managed to walk away. Probably the worst thing I saw was when Felipe Massa got hit in the head with a suspension spring in 2009 during a race.

Re: Everything Technical in F1

#4

I could never get interested in F1 again after Senna's tragic death.

He was the last driver to die in an F1 crash. Unfortunately not the last person, but I think the road-side crews haven't seen a fatality in years.

My interest in F1 stopped a few years ago when they downgraded the engines and made things all weird for a while. I hear it's getting back to awesome nowadays.

Re: Everything Technical in F1

#5
post #4

I could never get interested in F1 again after Senna's tragic death.

He was the last driver to die in an F1 crash. Unfortunately not the last person, but I think the road-side crews haven't seen a fatality in years. My interest in F1 stopped a few years ago when they downgraded the engines and made things all weird for a while. I hear it's getting back to awesome nowadays.

It was partly due to the weird changes they started making 5-7 years ago that the sport is so good now. For the last few years the championships have been fought down to the last race or two, not to mention that we have 6 world champions on the grid. I don't feel strategy plays as important a role now as it did but they have certainly made it more entertaining to people with less knowledge of the sport.

Re: Everything Technical in F1

#7
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He was the last driver to die in an F1 crash. Unfortunately not the last person, but I think the road-side crews haven't seen a fatality in years. My interest in F1 stopped a few years ago when they downgraded the engines and made things all weird for a while. I hear it's getting back to awesome nowadays.

It was partly due to the weird changes they started making 5-7 years ago that the sport is so good now. For the last few years the championships have been fought down to the last race or two, not to mention that we have 6 world champions on the grid. I don't feel strategy plays as important a role now as it did but they have certainly made it more entertaining to people with less knowledge of the sport.

Ending refueling during the race did a lot reducing the time required and therefore positions lost when you come in - so _some_ changes are good, though I agree most don't move the needle at all. This season is great - coming down to the last race to see who comes out on top between Vettel & Alonso...even if only mathematically, I couldn't really ask for too much more.

A few years ago they were discussing making qualy 3 short "sprint" races where the fastest of the pack start at the back of the next sprint - now that would be cool.

Edit: Forgot to mention how much I love seeing anything F1 related on HN.

Re: Everything Technical in F1

#8
post #3

I could never get interested in F1 again after Senna's tragic death.

That's a risk you take with racing. It's taken a while but they've put a lot of safeguards in place. Over the years I've seen things which should have seriously injured drivers but they managed to walk away. Probably the worst thing I saw was when Felipe Massa got hit in the head with a suspension spring in 2009 during a race.

Knowing how heavy those springs are and how fast those guys travel, that was one of the most painful things to see. I'm blown away he survived without any kind of serious disability and continues to race.

Re: Everything Technical in F1

#9

I sometimes have a hard time trying to fathom all the regulations imposed on the teams. Can anyone shed some light on eg. the dangers of wing design?

If not done right, it will not make enough downforce to corner properly. The cars are designed to have no air underneath them, so as to create a vacuum to the track. If air does get underneath them, the car becomes (briefly) an airplane...

edit: A lot of the regulations are also based around making the cars somewhat slower(safer), so they dis-allow massive wings so you can't fly around corners at 200per... And then everyone trys to take advantage at any cost, so they bend the rules to the limit. To the point where it could almost be seen as cheating.

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