Debris cleaning after prang....

[waspie]

I've noticed that when accidents occur and bits and pieces are left on the track...track officials all rely on the good old broom to try and get rid of the small bits of flotsam that may cause punctures etc.
With the modern air blowers like the one we have at work made by Stihl that straps to your back and has the force of a small jet engine, why aren't these deployed at various parts of the tracks, bends and the like so that the small dangerous bits of shrapnel can be removed quickly and more efficiently? After all the broom people only sweep the debris to the side of the track.
With the blowers in use the job would be done more efficiently and more importantly more thoroughly and with out doubt more quickly therefore getting the race going again sooner.
Just a thought.
Waspie.

[ESPImperium]

This was tried in a FP2 in 2005 and again in 2006. Idea was good however they found that the blowers were blowing and sweeping marbles (or what there was of them then) awayand this was causing an advantage for certain drivers.

Also the fact that it costs to have theese machines transporded arround the world (Or even for tracks to have them) that a good old broom is cheaper.

A broom cost like £5 for a adaquate wooden one, those machines cost £500+ for the industry standard gardening ones, ands they need servicing. When a broom needs servicing they buy a new one, or replace a screw. Sadly its all down to cost. You would have to have a couple of machines at every marshall station, whitch on average there is about 20 to 25 at every track, whitch is £100,000 in machines, or if you have half a dozen brooms at every station thats £1,000. And when bernie is asking €25m for a race, and you the promoter of the event are trying to extract evert € and cent out in profit you will happily provide brooms and not machines.

The only series theese are used is in IndyCar with the Team Green Safety Team. They have 150 full time guys supporting every event and 3 full transporters to carry all their gear and they have their own helicopters now i belive as well. In a spec series where they provide all their own safety staff and marshalls it would work. But in F1, where there is no homologated marshalling staff and as large a professional staff you just cant afford the expence.

However in recent years, this is one area that Professor Sid Watkins was looking at for the FIA, having a team of professional and homologated staff to marshall at every event, the idea was to have a set of 3,500 marshalls that follow F1/GP2/GP3 and they are all paid say €20,000 a year and go to say 12 GPs every year as every GP needs a different level of staffing. It was also thought that this professional lot could also go and marshall at other FIA homologated events closer to home when in limbo between GPs. This was thrown out due to cost, but can you put a cost on safety and preservation of life???

I think not.

[bhall]

[...]

However in recent years, this is one area that Professor Sid Watkins was looking at for the FIA, having a team of professional and homologated staff to marshall at every event, the idea was to have a set of 3,500 marshalls that follow F1/GP2/GP3 and they are all paid say €20,000 a year and go to say 12 GPs every year as every GP needs a different level of staffing. It was also thought that this professional lot could also go and marshall at other FIA homologated events closer to home when in limbo between GPs. This was thrown out due to cost, but can you put a cost on safety and preservation of life???

I think not.

That's €70,000,000, or nearly $91,000,000. Are you sure about those numbers?

[Pierce89]

This was tried in a FP2 in 2005 and again in 2006. Idea was good however they found that the blowers were blowing and sweeping marbles (or what there was of them then).

There were tons of marbles back then, too. The marbles are the one thing I hate to see blamed on Pirelli. The Pirellis might suck, but, the 2009 Bridgestones made as many marbles as any race tire I've seen. Even much harder Nascar tires make marbles galore.

[FW17]

Why carry it around, every track can afford to lease a few of these every race weekend



Sing GP first SC period was so long, it was as if the FIA were trying to make sure that no more tyre stops were required for the front runners.

[ESPImperium]

[...]

However in recent years, this is one area that Professor Sid Watkins was looking at for the FIA, having a team of professional and homologated staff to marshall at every event, the idea was to have a set of 3,500 marshalls that follow F1/GP2/GP3 and they are all paid say €20,000 a year and go to say 12 GPs every year as every GP needs a different level of staffing. It was also thought that this professional lot could also go and marshall at other FIA homologated events closer to home when in limbo between GPs. This was thrown out due to cost, but can you put a cost on safety and preservation of life???

I think not.

That's €70,000,000, or nearly $91,000,000. Are you sure about those numbers?

I am sure, but those numbers you have shown is the reason that the idea was thrown out! Why spend €70m on stewarding staff when you are wanting teams to cut their costs. It was thought that it was a little hypocritical. And there would have to be some way for the stewards to be paid, whitch was another grey area.

However the idea recently floated was a team of 600 professional stewards, with 250 being at any event. Supplemented by stewards from that ASN. Whitch would be a cost of €12m a season, a much more realistic figure. However every steward would not do 3 GPs in a row, 2 on 1 off in effect, so that there was fresh stewards at every event. They are looking at it, it is on a table somewhere, it just needs to be decided on by those who have the power.

[waspie]

So a few 'marbles' get shifted off at the same time so what?
It's always being said by various pundits that " if he goes on those marbles he's had it".
So by using the blowers things are made safer all round what's the harm?
20 blowers at each track....@ even £500 a time is still small change (£10,000) for not damaging a F1 car.
After all it's not as if they are thrown away after each race!
Get the teams to buy the track two each....peanuts.
AND...who cleans the marbles AFTER the race and what with...I know...brooms.

[jdlive]

Why carry it around, every track can afford to lease a few of these every race weekend



Sing GP first SC period was so long, it was as if the FIA were trying to make sure that no more tyre stops were required for the front runners.

Unbelievable there aren't just say 5 of these present at various equally spaced out points along the tracks. They could be financed by the FIA and transported for each race. It's not rocket science