Half-Time report : TC Ban

[Conceptual]

So, half way through the season, and I am interested in what everyone thinks about the TC ban now. I remember reading how alot of people thought that it was going to be a magical fix for overtaking. I also remember alot of people talking about how horrible the rain races were going to be without it.

So,

1. Has it increased overtaking this season?

2. Has it ruined rain-race performance?

3. Has it high-lighted any particular driver(s)?

4. Can it be directly linked to any accidents/passes?

I look forward to your comments!

Chris

[RH1300S]

Highlighted any drivers??????? Massa..........Australia, Silverstone anyone????

I'm all for it.

We can see and hear drivers controlling their cars now.

Alonso was heroic (or fighting to learn how to control his car ) at Hockenheim.

Very few drivers seem to have too much trouble without TC (as should be tha case).

I'm sure that it's improved over-taking - I can't name a race of a place, but for sure some drivers have been caught having a wobble or bit of wheelspin.

Definately more mistakes coming in on the brakes than we used to see (especially in the wet).

[axle]

It's a shame we had to resort to a std ecu to do it but I feel it's been very effective and very positive. I'm looking forward to the increase in mechanical grip next year with a decrease in aero grip....that should really make things interesting.

[wesley123]

It doesnt make difference, the drivers will block their lines so the cars cannot pass them. That is just a fact and cannot be chaged, the only thing that will help is to remove the overtaking rules.

[mx_tifoso]

It doesnt make difference, the drivers will block their lines so the cars cannot pass them. That is just a fact and cannot be chaged, the only thing that will help is to remove the overtaking rules.

TC, or the lack there of, does make a difference in the racing IMO. Without TC there is more to a corner than before, not every car shoots out of it like it did in the past. Now cars and their respective drivers have to deal with wheel spin, low torque at low revs, aspects of which they had less to deal with. As we have seen so far, an approaching car with less wheel spin and better acceleration from slow speeds, along with a proper set up, can still overtake a car with the exact opposite, regardless of the latter blocking the racing line. With more traction comes the increase in possible lines to choose from, dirty outside or even high up on the kurbs.Now those disadvantes to acceleration from slow speeds have a deeper impact, and teams and drivers who have coped and adapted to that have benefited.

One popular example of adapting and evolving would be McLarens usage of extra paddles to switch to and from predetermined map settings. If the stories are true, they have also worked a lot harder in cooperation with Mobil1 in the area of fuel and lubrication, which can realease even more performance from the engine and gearbox.

But engines like Renault's and/or Honda's, which are rumoured to have low torque or just be plainly underpowered, have not taken advantages of the many possibilities to progress and gain performance. If you stand still and lie to yourself that there is nothing to gain given the regulations, you are not going to be competitive against the top teams. Great opportunities don't come around too often, and when they do they should be taken advantage of.

There are ways to make up for the loss of TC, and it is the teams responsibility to find out what they are.

[JamesS]

There hasn't been absolute carnage as some may have expected.

But without doubt we have seen incidents occur that probably wouldn't have happened last season due to TC.

Its also good to see drivers having to fight with the steering wheel.

[Belatti]

It doesnt make difference, the drivers will block their lines so the cars cannot pass them. That is just a fact and cannot be chaged, the only thing that will help is to remove the overtaking rules.

Do you actually understand the overtaking rules???

[WhiteBlue]

Well done to the FIA for pushing this through. Races have become more interesting and the voice of the fans has been heared. Many have criticised the federation for the introduction of the standard ECU for making it a spec series. I say this is completely unfounded. They have done the right thing. It took 15 years from Ayerton Senna's criticism to sort this out. Now I hope that we will not get it back through the back door with the introduction all wheel Kers.

Eventually they will also get the downforce right. It has been an issue since 2005 that downforce in F1 should be limited to 1.2 tons. if the teams will cheat on this again we will probably see a mandatory downforce limit. I would appreciate that.

[timbo]

I don't feel it made much difference from spectators standpoint. Apart from misfires like Australia or Montreal, which were mostly caused by bad surface everything so far was calm. Nice change is the sound of car out of the corner, but this probably is the only change viewer may notice without comparing how drivers work with throttle and brake (I mean actual video not that green/red bars on the screen).
Rain? Well, it's rain - remember brazil2003 and last year's Geraman GP and Japan.
From drivers standpoint it made definetely a bigger difference, but to me their ability to cope with the changes made it clear that they worth their status.
I hope that someone post relative overtaking numbers between past years and this year then we would havemore to talk about.

[bazanaius]

If anyone has this data actually, please let me know! Would be handy for what I'm doing next year

cheers,

B

[CMSMJ1]

It has not made much difference really but it is a step in the right direction. At least nobody has been hurt or anything damaged (apart from Felipe's reputation)

If only we could sack the rev limit then all would be ell as nothing sounds nicer than an engine under full load giving it the berries.

One of the only good decisions by the FIA and TWG.

[Conceptual]

I tend to agree that it was a good decision to remove it. I find that in sims like rFactor, I simply cannot stand having TC on, even in the 2007 F1 cars. Personally, I tend to agree with what Button said a few years ago, and that is, "If you are a good enough driver, the TC never actually engages."

Now what I have found is that for Qualifying in rFactor, I keep the TC off, but in the race (hard difficulty) I tend to put it on its lowest setting. This keeps the consistancy up, because the computer drivers seem to have no problem slamming into you to get around a corner.

I think the problem came when the drivers and teams began to LEAN on the TC. I personally have no problem with a low enough setting that prevents spins, but not enough to lean on corner after corner.

But I do think that it has separated the men from the boys, drivers and engineers, this season. McMerc's paddle shifters with different engine torque mappings is simply genious, and sure to be copied. Although I'm sure the race engineers play hell trying to compute fuel usage.

And I think that when AWD KERS comes in, you are going to get a form of TC back again, but that is simply a function of the tech. I just wish that when the AWD KERS comes, that the teams put triggers on the steering wheel that allow the driver to "boost" the left or right front wheels. That would help overtaking (I believe) by allowing for an infinite number of lines through a corner.

Anyways,

Thanks for the replies!

Chris

[bazanaius]

that the teams put triggers on the steering wheel that allow the driver to "boost" the left or right front wheels.

Awesome idea!

[WhiteBlue]

The McLaren paddles certainly go some way to bring mapping based Tc functions back to F1. It would be right to ban it after the end of the season. The FIA can always do this to eliminate unwanted new technology and it would not distort the competition if it is done in the off season. Any TC effect by mapping isn't appreciated and should be removed as soon as it is appropriate under fair competition aspects.

[CMSMJ1]

It is not TC though is it?