DC : nancy boy or real racer?
Discussion
I see that DC is worried about tyre warmers being banned and the introduction fo slicks in 2009...
Speaking to autosport.com, Coulthard said: "I am quite concerned about the temperature differential between the cars, especially in qualifying.
"I have talked to quite a few drivers about it and they all shared the same opinion that without the blankets (tyre warmers), when a car from the pits joins the track when other cars are on a hot lap, it is pretty scary. There is such a big difference of speed."
So what DC?
Difference in speeds = more overtaking.
Come on now, your paid £millions to drive in F1, stop being a spoilt little nancy boy and start racing. If you are scared get out and let someone else have a go. You don't become champion by worrying all the time - maybe that's why you have never won it...
I don't have tyre warmers in the morning when I start my drive to work, if they are very cold I adjust my driving style to suit and so should you.
Motorsport is dangerous or have you not realised that!!!! Yes I do not want people to die, but I also want to watch men with big balls keeping these machines on the black stuff without being wrapped in cotton wool.
Speaking to autosport.com, Coulthard said: "I am quite concerned about the temperature differential between the cars, especially in qualifying.
"I have talked to quite a few drivers about it and they all shared the same opinion that without the blankets (tyre warmers), when a car from the pits joins the track when other cars are on a hot lap, it is pretty scary. There is such a big difference of speed."
So what DC?
Difference in speeds = more overtaking.
Come on now, your paid £millions to drive in F1, stop being a spoilt little nancy boy and start racing. If you are scared get out and let someone else have a go. You don't become champion by worrying all the time - maybe that's why you have never won it...
I don't have tyre warmers in the morning when I start my drive to work, if they are very cold I adjust my driving style to suit and so should you.
Motorsport is dangerous or have you not realised that!!!! Yes I do not want people to die, but I also want to watch men with big balls keeping these machines on the black stuff without being wrapped in cotton wool.
motormania said:
I see that DC is worried about tyre warmers being banned and the introduction fo slicks in 2009...
Speaking to autosport.com, Coulthard said: "I am quite concerned about the temperature differential between the cars, especially in qualifying.
"I have talked to quite a few drivers about it and they all shared the same opinion that without the blankets (tyre warmers), when a car from the pits joins the track when other cars are on a hot lap, it is pretty scary. There is such a big difference of speed."
So what DC?
Difference in speeds = more overtaking.
Come on now, your paid £millions to drive in F1, stop being a spoilt little nancy boy and start racing. If you are scared get out and let someone else have a go. You don't become champion by worrying all the time - maybe that's why you have never won it...
I don't have tyre warmers in the morning when I start my drive to work, if they are very cold I adjust my driving style to suit and so should you.
Motorsport is dangerous or have you not realised that!!!! Yes I do not want people to die, but I also want to watch men with big balls keeping these machines on the black stuff without being wrapped in cotton wool.
F1 is one of the very few championships that allow tyre warmers. Champ Car dosen't permit them and it certainly stops them beltimg out the pits at 99% race speed.Speaking to autosport.com, Coulthard said: "I am quite concerned about the temperature differential between the cars, especially in qualifying.
"I have talked to quite a few drivers about it and they all shared the same opinion that without the blankets (tyre warmers), when a car from the pits joins the track when other cars are on a hot lap, it is pretty scary. There is such a big difference of speed."
So what DC?
Difference in speeds = more overtaking.
Come on now, your paid £millions to drive in F1, stop being a spoilt little nancy boy and start racing. If you are scared get out and let someone else have a go. You don't become champion by worrying all the time - maybe that's why you have never won it...
I don't have tyre warmers in the morning when I start my drive to work, if they are very cold I adjust my driving style to suit and so should you.
Motorsport is dangerous or have you not realised that!!!! Yes I do not want people to die, but I also want to watch men with big balls keeping these machines on the black stuff without being wrapped in cotton wool.
[quote=motormania]
I don't have tyre warmers in the morning when I start my drive to work, if they are very cold I adjust my driving style to suit and so should you.
quote]
Not really a valid comment.
But with this and with the case of Safety car being brought out because of rain - it's the same for everyone so just get on and race.
I don't have tyre warmers in the morning when I start my drive to work, if they are very cold I adjust my driving style to suit and so should you.
quote]
Not really a valid comment.
But with this and with the case of Safety car being brought out because of rain - it's the same for everyone so just get on and race.
Mr_Thyroid said:
motormania said:
I don't have tyre warmers in the morning when I start my drive to work, if they are very cold I adjust my driving style to suit and so should you.
Not really a valid comment.As for the original question, DC: nancy boy.
I do think safety is important, but I am getting a bit tired of this kind of thing from F1 drivers: straighten that, soften this, slow that down, where's my blanky?
You don't hear rally drivers asking organisers to cut down the trees that are eight inches from the side of the road, moving gate posts that are barely far enough apart to fit a car through or flattening yomps that go straight into a bend.
One of the cool things about racing is watching people who have the balls to drive faster than anyone else and the ability to handle the car they're given, no matter how extreme. Don't get me wrong, I'd get scared in an F1 car long before DC would, but that is one of the (many, many) reasons that I'm not a racing driver. As the old saying goes: if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Whether it's tyre warmers or traction control it does seem that any move to eliminate things that makes driving F1 cars easier has one driver or another complaining.
If they really are the best of the best they shouldnt need to worry about it. The risk element is not substantially different is it? Would you expect Stirling or Ayrton to bleat about cold tyres? I don't think so.
If they really are the best of the best they shouldnt need to worry about it. The risk element is not substantially different is it? Would you expect Stirling or Ayrton to bleat about cold tyres? I don't think so.
Tyre warmers do increase the safety, so DC has a valid point about them being removed. I can think of a major injury caused by cold tyres, that of Alex Zanardi leaving the pits following his pitstop and tyre change, losing the car and spinning into the path of a car at full speed, resulting in his massive shunt that took his legs off.
If you have driven on cold slicks, you will realise just how bad it can be, with the levels of downforce the cars will have in 2009, much less than current champ cars, it could be a big issue so it's worth debating the merits and the safety implications, as there will be some.
If you have driven on cold slicks, you will realise just how bad it can be, with the levels of downforce the cars will have in 2009, much less than current champ cars, it could be a big issue so it's worth debating the merits and the safety implications, as there will be some.
MrKipling43 said:
Mr_Thyroid said:
motormania said:
I don't have tyre warmers in the morning when I start my drive to work, if they are very cold I adjust my driving style to suit and so should you.
Not really a valid comment.johnfelstead said:
If you have driven on cold slicks, you will realise just how bad it can be, with the levels of downforce the cars will have in 2009, much less than current champ cars, it could be a big issue so it's worth debating the merits and the safety implications, as there will be some.
Yep.Anyone who's ever driven a powerful racecar on cold slicks on a cold track will know how horrible it is. Throw in carbon brakes and you've got a pretty interesting recipe. I sort of like the FIA's thinking with regard to this and I can see why they want to do it, but from a common sense standpoint I'm with DC on this.
Hmmm, not like me to sit on the fence (it's cold out there anyway).
DC's correct, it's safer for drivers to have tyre warmers for F1, why risk their safety by banning them? (Oh God, not carbon footprint please!) I don't think he lacks courage for saying this, I think anyone who races F1 has b@lls.
However, since long before he was in F1, I had him down as a bit of a robot. Give him the best car and minimal competition and he'll win. Give him a challenge, and he'll crumble. Overhyped IMHO.
Let's just say he is/was not a 'natural'...
DC's correct, it's safer for drivers to have tyre warmers for F1, why risk their safety by banning them? (Oh God, not carbon footprint please!) I don't think he lacks courage for saying this, I think anyone who races F1 has b@lls.
However, since long before he was in F1, I had him down as a bit of a robot. Give him the best car and minimal competition and he'll win. Give him a challenge, and he'll crumble. Overhyped IMHO.
Let's just say he is/was not a 'natural'...
Edited by Ordinary Bloke on Tuesday 11th December 22:32
johnfelstead said:
Tyre warmers do increase the safety, so DC has a valid point about them being removed. I can think of a major injury caused by cold tyres, that of Alex Zanardi leaving the pits following his pitstop and tyre change, losing the car and spinning into the path of a car at full speed, resulting in his massive shunt that took his legs off.
If you have driven on cold slicks, you will realise just how bad it can be, with the levels of downforce the cars will have in 2009, much less than current champ cars, it could be a big issue so it's worth debating the merits and the safety implications, as there will be some.
In Zanardi's book he says, "almost certainly there was oil and water on the track. A few laps before, Tracy had gone into the pits with a smoking engine and was sent out immediately afterwards so that the engine could take some air. But this is only one theory. More likely, a support vehicle leaked some fluid from an overflow pipe."If you have driven on cold slicks, you will realise just how bad it can be, with the levels of downforce the cars will have in 2009, much less than current champ cars, it could be a big issue so it's worth debating the merits and the safety implications, as there will be some.
A more valid comparison would be from Touring Cars. In the first BTCC race without tyre warmers, James Thompson went off at Dingle Dell after his pitstop. Whilst he had a nasty shunt, this was more likely a case of a driver putting too much faith in his car at the wrong time. Since then there hasn't been a problem.
Reminds me of when the HANS device was introduced and drivers complained of reduced peripheral vision. I don't think they're so worried now after accidents such as Kubica's. It just takes getting used to.
custardtart said:
isn't he the GP drivers representative?
Exactly! He's not being a nancy, he's raising potential safety issues which he, and the other drivers, are rightly worried about.It doesnt matter how much these guys get paid their safety should still be the no. 1 priority.
The reality is that if tyre warmers were banned then all cars would need to run on a much softer compound tyre to allow them to work from the word go. This will in turn cause higher tyre wear which = more pitstops. It is also highly likely that the increase in tyre wear will lead to more 'marbles' on the track slightly off line, this will make it more difficuly and more dangerous for the drivers to overtake - the one thing the spectator wants to see more off!
Ahonen said:
johnfelstead said:
If you have driven on cold slicks, you will realise just how bad it can be, with the levels of downforce the cars will have in 2009, much less than current champ cars, it could be a big issue so it's worth debating the merits and the safety implications, as there will be some.
Yep.Anyone who's ever driven a powerful racecar on cold slicks on a cold track will know how horrible it is. Throw in carbon brakes and you've got a pretty interesting recipe. I sort of like the FIA's thinking with regard to this and I can see why they want to do it, but from a common sense standpoint I'm with DC on this.
However, with this in mind (banning tyre warmers) I'm sure that Messrs Bridgestone can work on the compound to give better cold grip to make up for over exuberantly driven cars.
It'll also be interesting to see how futile the GPDA's comments are in trying to get the FIA to meddle with the rules in the "right" direction.
Rob.
Mr_Thyroid said:
MrKipling43 said:
Mr_Thyroid said:
motormania said:
I don't have tyre warmers in the morning when I start my drive to work, if they are very cold I adjust my driving style to suit and so should you.
Not really a valid comment.This is what the real art of racing drivers is and Senna was probably the finest of them all which is why, before his untimely death, he was very vocal in his dislike to the way that F1 was turning and I bet he's turning in his grave now at the way Mad Max has fu#ked us F1 today...
Edited by motormania on Wednesday 12th December 09:07
It is short sighted of him to say that the sport is unsafe without them. I think the onus is on Bridgestone to create a softer tyre to give grip when the tyres are colder.
Things have changed somewhat with these new tyres anyway, Brundle was saying how these cars handle like they are on ice if the tyres aren't at full heat and at full temperature (did anyone else see that on one of the GP warm ups?)
Things have changed somewhat with these new tyres anyway, Brundle was saying how these cars handle like they are on ice if the tyres aren't at full heat and at full temperature (did anyone else see that on one of the GP warm ups?)
Plenty of other slicks and wings formulas have banned tyre warmers and don't have deaths on every corner. It's part of the driver's art to predict grip and heat them up.
The problem with contemporary F1 cars is they have too much grip anyway. And if you ban tyre warmers and scheduled pitstops there wouldn't be a problem with speed differentials.
The problem with contemporary F1 cars is they have too much grip anyway. And if you ban tyre warmers and scheduled pitstops there wouldn't be a problem with speed differentials.
Edited by kevin ritson on Wednesday 12th December 10:22
Nobody is saying the drivers can't drive around the problem and stay on the track . What is being said is that having drivers going round cautiously warming up their tyres at the same time as someone who is going full speed is inherently dangerous.
The speed differential is too great.
Th ecar on cold tyres may even be weaving to warm them up too.
As for making the tyres 'grippy' when cold by being soft. Then they just wouldn't last two minutes.
Tyres that grip when cold would then overheat and then become unstable again.
Tyres have an optimum working temperature range betwwen being too cold when the surface is not elastic enough to mould itself onto the roads minute indentations.(which is what causes grip) and being too hot where the outer layer becomes so soft that it just shears from the tyre which then becomes like driving with mud on your wheels and the car starts to slide again.
The speed differential is too great.
Th ecar on cold tyres may even be weaving to warm them up too.
As for making the tyres 'grippy' when cold by being soft. Then they just wouldn't last two minutes.
Tyres that grip when cold would then overheat and then become unstable again.
Tyres have an optimum working temperature range betwwen being too cold when the surface is not elastic enough to mould itself onto the roads minute indentations.(which is what causes grip) and being too hot where the outer layer becomes so soft that it just shears from the tyre which then becomes like driving with mud on your wheels and the car starts to slide again.
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