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Archive: 2011 April

Why is so much bodywork falling off?

9 April 2011 17:42

Categories: *, Formula 1

While it is by no means unheard of for pieces of bodywork to come off an F1 car from time to time, there has already been quite a lot of it this season. In fact, after one and a half race weekends, I can think of four big bodywork failures.

Firstly, there was Kamui Kobayashi’s engine cover detatching itself during practice in Australia. Sauber have since modified the bodywork.

During the Australian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton’s floor became loose.

Nick Heidfeld also had a substantial amount of damage to his car’s bodywork, and it’s not clear how it happened. There is apparently no TV footage of it, and to my knowledge there has been no real explanation of what actually happened to cause the damage.

Then this morning the qualifying session for the Malaysian Grand Prix was halted after Sébastien Buemi’s left sidepod flew off his car and settled on the racing line.

There is every chance that this is all a coincidence, but I do find it intriguing that so much bodywork has fallen off the F1 cars this season already, and the second race hasn’t even started yet.

Update: I have been reminded by The F1 Times on Twitter that two onboard cameras have also fallen off this season already. Felipe Massa’s came off in Practice 3 in Australia, while Sebastian Vettel’s detatched in Practice 3 in Malaysia.

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Channel 4’s April Fools’ idents

8 April 2011 14:30

Categories: Television presentation gem of the week

Last Friday for April Fools’ Day, Channel 4 removed the famous ’4′ logo from their idents.

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72 mandatory pitstops per race

6 April 2011 22:57

Categories: *, Fota ideas to improve the show

Guy Slick

Hi, I’m Guy Slick, Chief President and Vice Team Operations Principal of Scuderia Schattspeed Formula 1 Grand Prix Engineering Solutions Racing Team, and representative of the Formula One Teams’ Association.

As you know, at Fota we are always looking for ways to improve the show in order to acheive maximum optimal audience satisfaction. To this end, we have put together a working group known as the Show Heightening Initiation Team.

This working group has analysed exactly what the spectators like to see from the show. It has come up with some solutions that will enable us to strategically position grand prix racing at the very forefront of the excitement pinnacle.

Since the removal of refuelling from the strategy mix, there has been a perceived deficit in the participation of the strategy portion towards show excitement maximisation. We have discovered that there is still a considerable interest, among the audiences in the ‘dedicated’ and ‘potential’ categories, in the role that could be played by strategy in a show.

While our new tyre suppliers Pirelli have done a fantastic job in improving the show by initiating a necessity for additional pitstops, we still feel that there is potential improvement to be found in this area.

As such, we have put forward a proposal for there to be 72 mandatory pitstops per race. This will maximise time spent by drivers in the pitlane, widen up increased open possibilities for variable strategy decisions, and will inevitably result in further potential show excitement heightening maximisation.

It has been pointed out to that there are some potential flaws in our solution. But I can assure you that Fota have covered all the bases in the ‘unforeseen circumstances’ quadrant of the two-dimensional known / unknown / unknown / known solution viability field.

While it is true that most races do not contain 72 laps, we have put forward a proposal for all of the circuits to build additional pitlanes to allow drivers to take multiple pitstops per lap if required.

We are fully aware of the cost implications of this, so we have taken all measures necessary to reduce to cost to the teams. Each team will have just two mechanics per pitlane, and only one tyre can be changed at a time.

Some have expressed a concern that this initiative is a gimmick that will make a mockery of racing, with drivers racing on a mixture of fresh and old rubber, mixed compounds and reusing the same tyres over and over again. We are fully aware of these concerns, and are prepared to tweak the rule throughout the season if the desired consequences are not reached. Perhaps we could have 67 mandatory pitstops instead, or 80, or perhaps even π. We have an open mind on this.

There has also been a concern that spectators will not have a clue what is going on, and that the races will now be too complicated to follow. But do not worry. We have been working with TV broadcasters in assisting with the development of a new graphic that will signify to viewers something about tyres. The new graphic will even flash, so viewers are sure to be fully informed at all times.

Alternatively, we could just forget the show and hold a race, but that wouldn’t make us feel important enough.

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Is this the year to start watching MotoGP again?

5 April 2011 11:18

Categories: *, Formula 1, Motorsport

It is a given that I love motorsport. But there is also no doubting that my interest is primarily in cars, especially single-seaters. Over the past ten or so years I have always kept an eye on MotoGP, but it is a relationship that blows hot and cold.

Last year in particular was a pretty poor year for MotoGP in my view. It was all too predictable. Even the prospect of someone other than Valentino Rossi winning the World Championship was not enough to reel me in. The reality was that Rossi’s mid-season injury made the championship a shoo-in for Jorge Lorenzo.

It had all just become a bit boring and predictable. But I hadn’t even realised that was the problem — until this year.

2011′s big MotoGP shakeup

MotoGP in 2011 has a very different feel to it. The pecking order is very definitely different. Valentino Rossi has switched to the temperamental Ducati bike. Casey Stoner has moved to Honda, who have stepped up to the plate. Meanwhile, Jorge Lorenzo has become the definitive team leader at Yamaha. This has all given MotoGP a fresher feel.

Last weekend’s MotoGP race at Jerez was an absolute sizzler that had it all. In damp conditions, there was more action in that race than the whole of last season. Everything that MotoGP has been lacking recently was here.

An amazing race

Valentino Rossi, struggling on his Ducati, started from the middle of the grid, and slowly worked his way up. Out front, Stoner was struggling more than form would suggest.

Sensationally, Marco Simoncelli took the lead on the satellite Gresini Honda. The fancied youngster has a great record from the more junior categories, but up to this point his best race finish had been fourth. I am a Simoncelli fan, and I was personally getting quite excited at the prospect of a race victory for him.

Stoner had dropped to second, and Rossi was up to third. In an audacious move, Rossi overtook Stoner — but fell off his bike, taking out Stoner in the process. Rossi rode on, but needless to say, Stoner was not too impressed.

This was a moment of high drama that only the likes of Rossi can produce. I probably haven’t been so excited about a moment of MotoGP since Rossi’s incredible last-corner move on Lorenzo at Catalunya in 2009.

From there it should have been easy for Simoncelli, but he fell off his bike of his own accord in the damp conditions.

This allowed Lorenzo, who had been unspectacular for the whole race up to this point, to breeze by into the lead. The race became a Lorenzo masterclass. A study in precise riding — reaching the edge while never exceeding it.

It could even have been a Yamaha 1-2, as Ben Spies was also able to capitalise on all the mayhem, as well as passing Dani Pedrosa, to run in second. That was until he, too, fell off his bike. Colin Edwards was then running in third when he beached it in the gravel.

All the while, there were developing issues with Pedrosa’s pace dropping off as he continues to struggle with arm issues from a crash at Motegi last year. It was the opposite story for Rossi, who, despite the big accident earlier on in the race, managed to fight his way back up to fifth again.

I concur with Pat Wotton. If you haven’t seen this race, you really ought to watch it. It is up on iPlayer.

MotoGP has all the ingredients for great racing

I loved the race not just because of the madness or the wet weather. I was hooked even before riders started falling off left, right and centre.

What struck me was that I was watching racing. It wasn’t a procession by any stretch. But nor was it an overload of devalued overtaking that bike racing sometimes seems like to me.

I saw riders fade in and out of contention. They slipped away because of fatigue. They fought through in inspired bursts. They defied the odds. They raced tactically, and with no mandatory pitstops in sight.

And there was no need for an “overtaking working group” to come up with half-baked and ill thought-through ideas like F1′s DRS. There was no contrived nonsense about tyre compounds. No flexi-wing controversies. No stewards’ decisions.

I love Formula 1. But right now it looks like MotoGP has the right recipe for racing excitement. And what is most promising about it all is that it is not contrived. It is so free of gimmicks. It is pure racing, and I am looking forward to taking it all in this year.

Because even when everyone was getting excited about the magical combination of Casey Stoner and Honda dominating rather than the Yamaha routs we had become accustomed to, Jerez showed that the reality is much more complicated than that — and more exciting too.

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