Making a cool million bucks on a test Friday

[woohoo]

Who, apart from Bernie "needs" excitement Friday ?
F1 is not a "show" it is a sport. Sportsmen need to practice.

[Conceptual]

It looks like some people just don't want to see their favore backmarker being hunted for points...

That's ok. It is better for them to be worthless rolling chicanes that pull over for their betters to come through than to actually make them an integral part of the racing dynamic.

Some people actually believe it is better to be worthless than be hunted. I guess that is why they arent F1 drivers, the pressure would split them wide open...

[Miguel]

Well, Conceptual, I don't know about you, but I certainly don't enjoy being hunted.

[mx_tifoso]

It looks like some people just don't want to see their favore backmarker being hunted for points...

Formula One is not a video game for simple and mundane amusement, there are traditional and historical values which should be respected and honored. Leave such tactics for lesser series which have already been disected and mutilated.

And I very much agree with 'woohoo's' last post, practice makes perfect and 'increasing the excitement' only means something to money grubbing fiends.

Miguel, acuerdate que el le llama monos a la gente, por eso cazarlos esta perfectamente bien con el. No tiene mucha importancia la vida humana para ese tipo de gente, a caso no te acuerdas de las leyes que proponia para imigrantes en los EU?

[panchito401]

8. Reduction of helmets to one per team per race. Sunglasses remain legal for both drivers.

[Conceptual]

Well, Conceptual, I don't know about you, but I certainly don't enjoy being hunted.

Well, lets hope that you are never on pole, and more likely when you are 19th on the grid, I'm sure that you would welcome the excitement!

Formula One is not a video game for simple and mundane amusement, there are traditional and historical values which should be respected and honored. Leave such tactics for lesser series which have already been disected and mutilated.

And I very much agree with 'woohoo's' last post, practice makes perfect and 'increasing the excitement' only means something to money grubbing fiends.

No, it is not a video game. It is a competition that has billions of dollars invested into it, and every few weeks we see these spectacular cars fly around top level tracks all across the globe.

We see the "luck of the draw" and rainy weather make all of those billions invested not matter a single bit, and the most passing action happens under blue flags. You speak of historical values, yet forget that blue flags are a recent invention to appease huge ego teams and drivers. And to say that "increasing the excitement" only means anything to the money grubbers does the average F1 fan a huge injustice. Can you name one reason that anyone would watch other than excitement? Because if people are only watching for the pit babes, or the catastrophic accidents, I would have to question their class.

And to WooHoo and the other guy that made the remark about sunglasses. It was funny in a little kid kind of manner, but completely rediculous when compared to the very realistic post I made concerning point scoring. When Bernie is talking about making F1 a rolling Olympic event, to make fun of a suggestion that would increase on-track action and passing for points/retirement is rather childish.

How about you write Bernie, and suggest a few more retarded additions to HIS idea. At least my suggestion requires talent and nerve.

Whatever tho, carry on, carry on.

[WhiteBlue]

Bernie's point is entirely aimed at encouraging drivers to go for the fight. No tactical driving. It would certainly improve the entertainment value. In this context I do not understand why they introduced the new point system against Ferrari. The old system with 6 points for second was more rewarding in terms of going for a pass.

The constructors championship can be a team championship in my view. Teams buy loads of standardised bits anyway. and they should have a choice if they want to use something on the market or make it themselves. with this freedom you would not have a spec series. those who want can design chassis and those who don't will not. why not have a bit of freedom? the current rule is just there to make it more expensive for small or new teams.

Generally it is much better to allow choice than to nail everything down. This is why I support general principles that drive the technology in the right direction. The rich manufacturer teams should be allowed to spend money on things that they can use for their road cars. but the customer teams should have access to these things quite rapidly to force the manufacturers to remain innovativ. If F1 had made tubular frames mandatory we would still have dead drivers each year. innovations that improve the safety and the energy efficiency should be promoted. designing the 11th variety of seamless gearbox is pointless. Performance improvements should be restricted to fields that fit into the needs of the automotive users.

[WhiteBlue]

double post

[donskar]

This whole thing is a flaming bucket of BS:

Martin Whitmarsh: "So we say, is this good value? Does it help the show? [Not "the race, "the show."] Or do you perhaps do something where you say, let's cut it down to 45 minutes only, maybe you give a completely different specification of tyres, a really hard tyre, and you create a mini competition where everyone tries to set the fastest time and you give a million dollars to the winning driver?" [Give a prize for being fastest on a non-race tire? Why not have a competition to see which pit cerw could push their car around the course fastest? Have all the pit crews practice refueling while smoking large cigars? Shades of NASCAR's pit crew competition.]

"It means there would be something to write about [?!] and it introduces the weekend. It is separate from the race." [Preparing for the race is separate from the race? ]

This is so very sad.

On a peripherally related point: go back to the 9-6-4-3-2-1 format, or if we must devalue the whole thing, then go to 10-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.

Whatever, let's try to avoid cheap tricks and party favors.
[-X

[rodders47]

Am I just mising something here?

When I was chief mechanic for a race car, well back in the early 80's, we used the free practice sessions as a way to TUNE the car to the track and conditions, we didn't have all the bloody computer detail they have these days but I still feel that "Time to get to know a track" is vitally important in order to gain places, and this can only be done on the race weekend, due to difference in track temps/surface/improvements/etc.

It seems to me today with "Park Ferme" that the teams can never really "get on top of the car handling" with such short track time on the given day, and I suspect this is why we see such a variance in car performance from track to track, purely due to lack of "PRACTICE TIME" at the venue on the given weekend.

some teams get it right others never achievie what their full potential could be, due to, I suspect, lack of track time

[panchito401]

Conceptual> Have you watched NASCAR? It was brewed in the United States, and I'm sorry to admit it being an American... It's horrible racing. I can watch a race here for five --- hours and it is useless until I see the last 15 laps. My roomate drives a Camaro with an LS-7 engine and swears that its the best thing going since strippers. I enjoy hurting his ego with my lowly infiniti. without strippers. He's a shitty driver. I am not.

A formula one team should be a backmarker if they dont provide the best drivers and engineering/research that the money can buy... and they deserve the lack of points that they dont score. I'm a full believer that F1 nowadays cant be supported by teams like Jordan and Williams... manufacturers need to step up to the plate, and they have. I feel that Honda could probably be a great team if they put the heads/$ behind it. I dont think they have.

I've followed Williams for as long as you can imagine, and I'd love to see another red 5 dominate... but this series isn't for Williams or Jordan anymore. It's for whats in your driveway or carport or whatever. I like the blue white black. Thats what I drive when I race. Formula 1 is why I sport it.

-f

[woohoo]

....

Im sorry Conceptual, but I found your suggestions just at childish.
Sport is for participants, theater is for spectators.
So, if the teams need Friday to get ready, let them.
Limiting their testing on Friday would give you a worse result on Saturday and Sunday!
But, Mario Thiessen has said that he wouldent mind testing (the same testing that goes on outside the grand prix) to also be done on fridays, to limit the traveling back and forth. So you might get your action then.

Personally I think Friday is a good day, as you can walk around the stands and shops, and sample the atmosphere (or local brew..) I wouldent mind seeing some more Formula BMW or GP2 on Firday's but that is another thing.

[Conceptual]

....

Im sorry Conceptual, but I found your suggestions just at childish.
Sport is for participants, theater is for spectators.
So, if the teams need Friday to get ready, let them.
Limiting their testing on Friday would give you a worse result on Saturday and Sunday!
But, Mario Thiessen has said that he wouldent mind testing (the same testing that goes on outside the grand prix) to also be done on fridays, to limit the traveling back and forth. So you might get your action then.

Personally I think Friday is a good day, as you can walk around the stands and shops, and sample the atmosphere (or local brew..) I wouldent mind seeing some more Formula BMW or GP2 on Firday's but that is another thing.

Woohoo,

When your head returns from wherever it goes while reading my posts, how about you remind it to actually read what I wrote instead of letting it try and interperet what I wrote. It is obviously not capable of doing so.

What I wrote had nothing to do about Fridays at all. So finding my post "childish" and then claiming that I stated something that I didnt kind of makes you look like an idiot.

It looks as if your mind has taken a permanent vacation, and subjective selective reading has led you into idiocy. Please, if you are gonna try to slam me for my post, at least get a legitimate argument, instead of making one up out of thin air.

I find your level of irrationality to be unbecoming of a man.

[ISLAMATRON]

They should keep the friday test sessions and in between them have the F1 drivers have a sprint race in GP2 type cars with a bump in power, no pits stops, just hard racing, winning driver gets a million, add in gust drivers and maybe past champions and it definatly improves the show.

CAll it GP1 or whatever you want but I would definatly pay to see all these guys in equal equipment go at it.

Test drivers are still alowed to drive on fridays as it is now, but all the teams have the reg drivers go at it.

[woohoo]

....

Im sorry Conceptual, but I found your suggestions just at childish.
Sport is for participants, theater is for spectators.
So, if the teams need Friday to get ready, let them.
Limiting their testing on Friday would give you a worse result on Saturday and Sunday!
But, Mario Thiessen has said that he wouldent mind testing (the same testing that goes on outside the grand prix) to also be done on fridays, to limit the traveling back and forth. So you might get your action then.

Personally I think Friday is a good day, as you can walk around the stands and shops, and sample the atmosphere (or local brew..) I wouldent mind seeing some more Formula BMW or GP2 on Firday's but that is another thing.

Woohoo,

When your head returns from wherever it goes while reading my posts, how about you remind it to actually read what I wrote instead of letting it try and interperet what I wrote. It is obviously not capable of doing so.

What I wrote had nothing to do about Fridays at all. So finding my post "childish" and then claiming that I stated something that I didnt kind of makes you look like an idiot.

It looks as if your mind has taken a permanent vacation, and subjective selective reading has led you into idiocy. Please, if you are gonna try to slam me for my post, at least get a legitimate argument, instead of making one up out of thin air.

I find your level of irrationality to be unbecoming of a man.

Interesting how a man claiming to be intelligent, cultural, and capable of discussion simply offends the man, not his argument.
...
More to the point, A more intelligent man would, I think, deduct that the two top lines should have been separated, and that the "you" in the second line is in plural. So that the post would be that the first line would be directed to the quote in hand, while the rest would be on the main topic.

Oh well.