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Post by schumi on Oct 7, 2008 20:38:19 GMT
And Ferrari have dumped the automated system - for now, anyway. From www.planet-f1.comFerrari won't be using their electronic pit stop lighting system during this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix following a couple of embarrassing incidents. The system first made headlines for the wrong reasons at the European Grand Prix when a mechanic ended up in hospital after Kimi Raikkonen drove over his foot when he pulled away too soon. Another botched pit stop at the Singapore Grand Prix not only left a mechanic lying on the ground, but it also saw World Championship contender Felipe Massa leave the pits with a fuel hose attached to his F2008. The system, which tells the drivers when they can leave the pits, usually works automatically when the fuel hose is removed from the car, but in Singapore it was operated manually. Team principal Stefano Domenicali confirmed on Thursday that they will be using the "lollipop" system at the Fuji Speedway this weekend. "Right now we need calm and therefore we've preferred to go back to the old lollipop system because, even if the traffic light system gave us an advantage, at this stage it is better to give all the people who work on the car in these very tense moments an important psychological boost," he is quoted by Gazzetta dello Sport. The latest incident cost Ferrari dearly in Singapore. Massa appeared to be on course to win the race when disaster struck. He eventually finished in 13th place and is now seven points behind Lewis Hamilton in the World Championship. The Scuderia, though, have indicated that they will again switch back to automated system when the 2009 season gets underway in Australia, and they also claim several other teams could follow their example.Hmm, not so sure about that.
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Post by schumi on Oct 17, 2008 8:40:04 GMT
From PlanetF1:
The Formula One teams are currently considering a proposal for next season that would see the pole position driver awarded one World Championship point.
According to Autosport, the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) has been meeting in China this weekend to discuss various ways to make the sport more exciting.
One proposal being considered in the awarding of a World Championship point to the driver who claims pole position at each grand prix.
However, in order for this to go ahead it still needs to be signed-up off by the team boss, who will then put the plan forward to the FIA.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2008 9:01:28 GMT
The Formula One teams are currently considering a proposal for next season that would see the pole position driver awarded one World Championship point. Or in other words, because Massa is so hopeless at converting pole positions into decent finishes. I'm not really sure though, how this would make the sport more exciting. Surely a Drivers' Championship should be won through racing, not who can do one-off quick laps? [In fact, as someone who's consistent rather than quick, I have a particular antithesis to timed qualifying. I ended-up right down the grid at the weekend because of the host club used this stupid system, and spent most of the race fighting my way through the pack. I ended-up finishing less than a second behind the leader, so that possibly cost me victory. ]
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Post by schumi on Oct 17, 2008 9:43:14 GMT
I guess the logic behind it is that it might encourage the middle order teams to short-fill the cars to go for pole, then with the faster Ferraris and McLarens behind them we could see more overtaking. Maybe?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2008 11:02:47 GMT
I guess the logic behind it is that it might encourage the middle order teams to short-fill the cars to go for pole, then with the faster Ferraris and McLarens behind them we could see more overtaking. If they want to make it really exciting, why not simply reverse the grid based on the results of the previous GP? You could perhaps use timed qualifying to allow drivers to gain (or lose) a few places up or down the grid, but essentially the quicker drivers would start near the back.
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Post by schumi on Oct 17, 2008 11:36:02 GMT
I'm all for reversing the grid, but they won't do it because of the lost revenue from the Saturdays. But when you then start adding a qualifying session on top of a grid reversal it's not easy to work out where drivers stand at a quick glance. It's too complicated, especially to the outsider.
I guess the only attraction of qualifying for me is wondering whether Massa can take pole off Hamilton in the dying seconds of the session. The way the system works now times them and is displayed immediately on the screen, so you know as they cross the finish line if they've got pole, or just missed out. If you took away that element I suspect more people wouldn't bother with qualifying.
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Post by Genghis on Oct 17, 2008 11:48:06 GMT
From PlanetF1: The Formula One teams are currently considering a proposal for next season that would see the pole position driver awarded one World Championship point. According to Autosport, the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) has been meeting in China this weekend to discuss various ways to make the sport more exciting. One proposal being considered in the awarding of a World Championship point to the driver who claims pole position at each grand prix. However, in order for this to go ahead it still needs to be signed-up off by the team boss, who will then put the plan forward to the FIA. If only that rule plus 10 points for a win would have been around in 1989. Then the right man would have won the championship that year, instead of the devious French weasel (Mind you, Balestre would have just found another way to have ensured that Prost won ) F1 doesn't change much, does it? 19 years later the same shenningans are still going on, but with Lewis Hamilton as the victim instead of Ayrton Senna.
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Post by Genghis on Oct 17, 2008 12:10:23 GMT
I guess the only attraction of qualifying for me is wondering whether Massa can take pole off Hamilton in the dying seconds of the session. Schumi, I suspect he won't have to in the final two GPs - the corrupt stewards will be instructed by cheif whip Mosley to find some way to penalise Hamilton by 10 grid places. Interesting piece on the Planet F1 website, which shows had the stewards done a consistent job this year the standings would be: Hamilton 93 Massa 73
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Post by admin on Oct 17, 2008 12:12:50 GMT
That would be "chief whip".
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Post by Genghis on Oct 17, 2008 12:15:39 GMT
That would be "chief whip". Are you fixed?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2008 13:38:03 GMT
I'm all for reversing the grid, but they won't do it because of the lost revenue from the Saturdays. They seem to be all for cutting costs, so why bother with the pointless Friday sessions? In any case, people don't go on Saturdays just for the qualifying - there are support races as well. It's too complicated, especially to the outsider. The penalty system is also completely unfathomable, but that's apparently completely fine, as is tinkering with the classification after the race. The only time a classification should ever be amended post-race is for technical infringements, not racing incidents which should be dealt with before the chequered flag. You could easily run separate timed qualifying sessions for the front and back halves of the grid, based on reversed positions in the previous GP. That would be simple to understand and would mean the top drivers could never be higher than 11th at the start. Personally, I love starting at the back of the grid. It's much more fun than being off the front row.
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