There are certain sections of the Mugello circuit that look very narrow to me - the site of the first crash for instance. Perhaps that is one reason why F1 had never gone there before - maybe a little too dangerous in places. The track is regularly used for motorcycle racing of course, but then the width is of lesser importance in that case.
What do members think of the pile-up at the rolling restart after the first crash. No circuit-width issues on the pit straight of course, but Bottas did seem to be rather close to the safety car, and the subsequent bunching-up may have been a contributing factor.
Monaco is a slice of history, and although perhaps not conducive to too much overtaking, it is the most glamorous of locations, of perhaps the most glamorous sport in the world. Other street circuits have the same issue regarding overtaking, so why simply ditch Monaco, when Montreal and Singapore suffer from much the same problem.
the pile up was people reacting to one car that left too big a gap, then booted it,. Warnings for inconsistent use of brake and throttle given to Magnussen, Kvyat, Latifi, Giovinazzi, Sainz, Alexander Albon, Lance Stroll, Daniel Ricciardo, Sergio Perez, Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon and George Russell.
And theyāve been considering a āLondon Street Circuitā too I believe. If they did have one I wonder if the teams would have to pay the congestion charge on all their vehicles, including the race cars?
The age of Monaco is part of itās trouble, it was fine for the cars around at itās inception but it just isnāt fit for racing the current cars. The sight of a 1000bhp racer being driven flat out around city streets may look good, but thatās all youāre going to get; a stream of cars doing exactly the same, round and round and round, until someone piles into a wall or suchlike, or a pit-stop is f****d up, Iād much rather see them driving on a proper track where they can do proper racing. A major reason why Monaco is still part of the F1 calendar, is MONEY, nothing more, nothing less. There are plenty of ex-racing circuits that could be brought back for real racing, if there were enough MONEY available. This is just me thinking(?) out loud!
I much preferred the standing starts after the red flag I think introducing that after a full safety car would mix it up a bit and also be far safer than the backing up of the field that is currently done.
From a spectator point of view, a bit of crashing is great to watch and can definitely mix things up. Obviously we do not want any injuries, but unless you are really unlucky, the cars are very safe these days and the gravel run offs and crash barriers take a lot of the G Force injuries out.
However, this is not racing per se, as racing is about watching the fastest drivers compete to see who wins. But this involves comparable machinery and you will not get that. I know that the balance of power calculations have tried to level things out in other motorsports and is not well received. The other issue with that is the manufacturers who have to put up the teams will give up as their efforts will not be rewarded. In the end it is a manufacturers championship, which is why they have team orders, rather than a drivers championship. The best drivers will usually get the best teams and will be at the front, but this is never perfect. Given comparable cars it would be great to watch quite a few of the drivers fighting it out, but this will not happen unless there is an outside factor, which goes back to crashes and tyres etc, which is not in the drivers control.
There have always been periods when one make of car/driver dominates proceedings, just look up F1 history and personally the idea that crashes make F1 āexcitingā is not really what itās about, if someone thinks crashes make racing more fun then their sport is āBangerā racing, not F1. Even with all the safety devices in a modern race car at the speeds they travel at even a small āincidentā could turn into a major disaster, why should we expect the drivers to accept additional risks just to ālivenā things up for a few āfansā. Think Nikki Lauda, Ayrton Senna et al.
Iāve never been to Monaco - although we were going to Monaco Historique this year - but I did go to the rather less glamorous Grand Prix du Birmingham . It remains one of the most thrilling experiences in my 50 odd years of going to race meetings . āOnlyā 450bhp F3000 cars , and not a huge amouht of overtaking (except by a brilliant Roberto Moreno one year ), but the proximity to the track was amazing , as was the noise .
Mugello was best experienced during the in car footage in qualifying - the grip these cars have creates its own problems but Jeez these things are fast . 5g loading ā¦ ye gods and little fishes .
Having not been a fan of the āHaloā if you replay the crash form Sainz cockpit you will clearly see that it potentially saved his life, it certainly saved him from serious injury!
LH may be in a wee bit of politcal soapy bubble with the FIA regarding his Tshirt it seems.
Toto is standing by him, but another issue mooted is his covering up hyper expensive advertising with it with no apparent concern for the eye watering cash these racing suits are adorned with in terms of corporate logosā¦Ineos being just one.
I doubt it will escalate much this timeā¦butā¦Iād not be one to advise him to carry on and do what he pleases just becauseā¦he is LH.
For me, promoting personal agendas ( however dreadful the particular case involved) with your profession is mixing oil with water. You end up with sludge.
Itās a shame the finest and most successful British born F1 multiple champion in British F1 history should choose to taint the profession thus.
What any person in their privileged position chooses to say or do in their own time is one thing. Feel free. Itās not N.K. or China after all.
During events using global media platforms afforded to them? Quite another.
One core issue, very open to debate isā¦"Is it political, or is it strictly, and only, a BLM matter.
Whichever, hyper expensive corporate advertising was compromisedā¦no questionā¦and we all know F1 is where money is God.
I think that the kneeling protest is fine however by acting as a one-man āprotest billboardā he risks damaging the cause heās supporting and his own credibility, I can see why heās doing it, heās famous and in the news and therefore a good platform, but by pushing too hard with āin your faceā slogans he could possibly trigger a substantial backlash, and if there were spectators at these events there would be a risk of trouble making groups resorting to violence a-la football supporters. I hope something positive comes out of this investigation in the way of a sensible compromise solution to the matter.
Agree with richardn, based on all the evidence and facts being stated.
Each and every one of us is entitled to an opinion on the matter.
Just because someone has an opinion on some subject does not always mean that āHe/sheā is correct or right. You canāt force everyone to accept your opinions as that does not even work in true communist states. Nothing wrong with sticking to oneās own principles at the proper and correct platform.
Well, when you read ALL the media, he seems to have lost a āGreat Dealā of support through his political antics using F1 as his tool and platform. Thereby, breaching the professional conduct of the sport, (hence all the complaints and being investigated). Creating division now when it was not there in the first place. Personally that is ānot a good ideaā.
A Truely great racing driver to which I did admire and is one of the greatest racing drivers around, but should just keep quiet and just do the job he is good at and that is Racing cars.
Just my opinion on the current matters, (as it has been brought up in posts above).
In an ideal world, sport and politics should never mix.
Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world, and people have used sport as a platform to promote their views for as long as I can remember - Black Power salutes by American athletes at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games spring immediately to mind.
Indeed governments have also used sport to apply pressure to other governments in the past too - remember the England cricket tour of South Africa in the late 1960s, which was called off because of their objection to us including Basil DāOliveira in our team.
Call me an old cynic if you like, but itās a sad fact of life that politics will probably continue to invade, not just sport, but music, and perhaps other forms of entertainment too, as long as there is human life on Earth.
The Olympics went through a bad spell due to politics:-
1968 Mexico - Protests
1972 Munich - Massacre
1976 Montreal - Boycott
1980 Moscow - Boycott
1984 Los Angeles - Boycott
1988 Seoul - Boycott (smaller than previous)
Then there were various boycotts/bans over racism that affected cricket, rugby and athletics.
Nations as well as individuals will use whatever they can to give publicity their message/point of view.
If they did have one I wonder if the teams would have to pay the congestion charge on all their vehicles, including the race cars? 