Is the safety car start, the beginning of the end?

Is the safety car start, the beginning of the end?

Author
Discussion

Vocal Minority

8,582 posts

151 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
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Also for the record I am also an anti social hyper nerd and I thought the safety car sort was OTT

Eric Mc

121,779 posts

264 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
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Vocal Minority said:
Also for the record I am also an anti social hyper nerd and I thought the safety car sort was OTT
Me too.

Iva Barchetta

44,044 posts

162 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
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Vettel was gifted his first win,Monza 2008 due to the safety car start.

I was there and the lead he had when the safety car finally went in was not insubstantial.

G321

574 posts

203 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
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ferrisbueller said:
Quite right. I'd much rather see all the cars buried in the armco with several drivers, mashalls and/or fans injured in the name of "sport".

Genius.
Don't be such a drama queen

The Surveyor

7,576 posts

236 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
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G321 said:
ferrisbueller said:
Quite right. I'd much rather see all the cars buried in the armco with several drivers, mashalls and/or fans injured in the name of "sport".

Genius.
Don't be such a drama queen
Maybe they're taking a sensibly cautious approach in light of the Jules Bianchi accident and the recent legal action. the safety car didn't spoil the race but a mass pile-up in the first corner at the start certainly could have.

Trabi601

4,865 posts

94 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
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Nothing wrong with a rolling safety car start - so long as they pull it in after a lap, if not practical to pull it in earlier.


GroundEffect

13,819 posts

155 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
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Iva Barchetta said:
Vettel was gifted his first win,Monza 2008 due to the safety car start.

I was there and the lead he had when the safety car finally went in was not insubstantial.
So we'll ignore that he walked away from the field? In a slower car?

Today was probably too long a safety car period but what's the point in losing 10 of the cars in a first corner melee?

johnoz

1,012 posts

191 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
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All three of do days races started behind the s/c..
Both Porsche and Renault finished early due to accidents and a wet track!

Adrian W

Original Poster:

13,848 posts

227 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
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The Surveyor said:
Maybe they're taking a sensibly cautious approach in light of the Jules Bianchi accident and the recent legal action. the safety car didn't spoil the race but a mass pile-up in the first corner at the start certainly could have.
Yet someone got a penalty for going to slow in a safety session, aren't Bianchi's family saying that speed inching the safety car and having to keep up was a major contributor to his accident,

Z3MCJez

531 posts

171 months

Monday 30th May 2016
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C70R said:
Eric Mc said:
Also, one of the great spectacles of Grand Prix racing is and always has been the massed start and charge down to the first corner. It is really upsetting for everybody, especially those who have paid not insubstantial amounts of money to attend the event, when that exciting moment is wiped out purely because of the requirements of sticking to a fixed start time for the benefit of TV schedulers.
What a silly thing to say. Without TV money, F1 would be nothing.
Rubbish. It would be different: it wouldn't necessarily be worse. But it will still exist, much like it existed before the TV money went mad.

Jez

Z3MCJez

531 posts

171 months

Monday 30th May 2016
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MNASCAR isn't everyone's cup of tea, but races start when the track permits. They race only in the dry which drives this but if they'd left it for 30 mins I can't help but think they could have started properly. Actually, today, I think they could have started properly anyway.

Jez

Some Gump

12,671 posts

185 months

Monday 30th May 2016
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Eric Mc said:
Don't be silly.

Just because a circuit is damp does not mean the race can't go ahead,. If they were monsoon conditions, there might be good reason for postponing the start until conditions got better - but to crawl around behind a saloon car for 6 laps on a wet (but not soaking) track is not motor racing. As I said on the "proper" Monaco GP thread, these rolling starts behind safety cars are nothing to do with "safety". They are purely to ensure then race starts at the time stipulated by the TV contracts.

The correct solution is, if it is considered too wet to race - don't start the race.
Riiiiight. What would have happened in the dry then? Contracts are black and white - no-one in their right mind would offer one subject to weather and safety car. Especially with the values involved.

Adrian W

Original Poster:

13,848 posts

227 months

Monday 30th May 2016
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Z3MCJez said:
MNASCAR isn't everyone's cup of tea, but races start when the track permits. They race only in the dry which drives this but if they'd left it for 30 mins I can't help but think they could have started properly. Actually, today, I think they could have started properly anyway.

Jez
In (I think)all other classes of racing you go at the start time whatever the weather, if it's a rolling start the safety car is only out for one lap, F1 is supposed to be the pinnacle, for a lot of people it's all about the start, for the majority of races after five laps the race is done.

G321

574 posts

203 months

Monday 30th May 2016
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The Surveyor said:
G321 said:
ferrisbueller said:
Quite right. I'd much rather see all the cars buried in the armco with several drivers, mashalls and/or fans injured in the name of "sport".

Genius.
Don't be such a drama queen
Maybe they're taking a sensibly cautious approach in light of the Jules Bianchi accident and the recent legal action. the safety car didn't spoil the race but a mass pile-up in the first corner at the start certainly could have.
Point taken. I think I was still annoyed at seeing Justin Bieber at the podium celebrations...

Eric Mc

121,779 posts

264 months

Monday 30th May 2016
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Like this smile

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUglLyxZ5sM

One Monaco's most memorable moments.

C70R

17,596 posts

103 months

Monday 30th May 2016
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Z3MCJez said:
C70R said:
Eric Mc said:
Also, one of the great spectacles of Grand Prix racing is and always has been the massed start and charge down to the first corner. It is really upsetting for everybody, especially those who have paid not insubstantial amounts of money to attend the event, when that exciting moment is wiped out purely because of the requirements of sticking to a fixed start time for the benefit of TV schedulers.
What a silly thing to say. Without TV money, F1 would be nothing.
Rubbish. It would be different: it wouldn't necessarily be worse. But it will still exist, much like it existed before the TV money went mad.

Jez
Yes, it would exist as a toy for rich playboys, as TV and sponsor revenues would be non-existent. If you think it's bad now, can you imagine how much worse it would be full of owners like Briatore?

Eric Mc

121,779 posts

264 months

Monday 30th May 2016
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C70R said:
Yes, it would exist as a toy for rich playboys
It's not exactly a working class activity now, is it? In fact, one of the major faults of F1 is that the mega bucks it CAN generate (it doesn't always), don't filter through to grass roots level motor sport. So you can even use the TV money as an example of how wrong the structure of modern F1 currently is.

24lemons

2,629 posts

184 months

Monday 30th May 2016
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Don't forget that teams are no longer allowed a spare car. Gone are the days of drivers running back to the pits to make the restart. F1 can't afford to have another Belgium 1998 style start because there would be barely anyone left on track! I hate the Safety car starts as much as anyone and I'm not defending them as such but F1 as it is currently doesn't have a plan B for when things really go tits up!!

Vaud

50,289 posts

154 months

Monday 30th May 2016
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I didn't want to see 10 cars out in the first lap. Nor did I want to see 5+ laps under safety car, but then again, I didn't have access to the safety car audio feed or all that race control can see, and they have a lot more experience than me.

In my armchair expert mode... 2 laps under the safety car to let them get a feel for the grip levels then release.

C70R

17,596 posts

103 months

Monday 30th May 2016
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Eric Mc said:
C70R said:
Yes, it would exist as a toy for rich playboys
It's not exactly a working class activity now, is it? In fact, one of the major faults of F1 is that the mega bucks it CAN generate (it doesn't always), don't filter through to grass roots level motor sport. So you can even use the TV money as an example of how wrong the structure of modern F1 currently is.
It's interesting that you took my point to be about their money - it wasn't. It was an observation that a pitlane full of teams owned by MASSIVE egos/tts (like Bernie and Flavio) would be more detrimental to the sport than anything else we've discussed.