F1 2020 Thread

[Halm]

I am not a Hamilton fan, but for me, that race shows his greatness.

[Reg]

Yes, I agree. He mastered the race. Stroll is quick but race craft like Hamilton? No.

[legion]

It seems like the Racing Points were set up to heat their tires quickly--which also caused them to wear them out early.

Mercedes? They were in it for the long game. One driver could manage the car (and tires) and adjust as needed. The other could not.

Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg need rides for next year. Look at Hulkenberg on the points standings--and consider that he ran only two races. He's 15th and ahead of Raikonnen!

[Deschodt]

Never been a fan of either Hamilton or stroll but big ups to both. Lewis showed how good he is with tires and strategy - on top of his talent. And it was nice to see how much it means to him. History being made.

Stroll proved he’s got it too and his race was ruined by his team’s pit strategy. If my dad was this rich I may not risk my life in an F1 car - dunno... either way he can drive.

Leclerc showed his talent too almost getting second and no shame in trying IMO... I’m glad he muffed that last corner and vettel got a podium for his horrible season...

Sainz is the man of the future to me. Smart. Clean. Patient. Good genes from his WRC dad. Was damn close to Max in the past ans nobody’s come this close since he left.

[Henry Schmidt]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

Never been a fan of either Hamilton or stroll but big ups to both. Lewis showed how good he is with tires and strategy - on top of his talent. And it was nice to see how much it means to him. History being made.

Stroll proved he’s got it too and his race was ruined by his team’s pit strategy. If my dad was this rich I may not risk my life in an F1 car - dunno... either way he can drive.

Leclerc showed his talent too almost getting second and no shame in trying IMO... I’m glad he muffed that last corner and vettel got a podium for his horrible season...

Sainz is the man of the future to me. Smart. Clean. Patient. Good genes from his WRC dad. Was damn close to Max in the past ans nobody’s come this close since he left.

vettel got a podium for his horrible season... even though his team f-ed up his pit stop.....again!

[arcsine]

I enjoyed the race on the non-ideal track. Kind of a nice break from the normal procession. Everyone raced on the same surface and I'm pretty sure that car setup had little to do with performance especially once the rain started. It all came down to the driver knowing what they could do and what they could get away with and the Top 10 certainly is populated with guys that know how to drive.
Hamilton moving up from 6th to win by 30 seconds and lapping up to 11th on inter-slicks was a champions drive. Congratulations to him.

[GH85Carrera]

It really makes me wish F1 rules makers would eliminate MOST of the downforce and huge wings. Not all, the car needs to be stable at 200+ MPH but a lot less traction in the corners would be a great thing. When the cars can follow close and pass because the aero is not all disrupted it will make a better race. We all want fewer long processions.

And make the white line the absolute track limits on all tracks. I guess Monaco has no issues with track limits as concrete and armco barriers tend keep them honest. But all 4 tires over the line at any point on the track needs some sort of penalty if they are gaining an time or speed advantage. If they are sliding over the line and loosing time, well that is the penalty right there.

[David]

As a Senna fan in the 80’s and 90’s I didn’t appreciate Schumacher’s greatness until his 7th championship. I’ve always known Hamilton’s a great driver but it’s just now that I’m starting to see him as one of the goats.

[Rtrorkt]

Track limits are an interesting discussion. Having flagged for the IMSA race at Laguna, we asked race control about limits. Basically if its paved they can drive on it. Watch Castroneves in turn 2, all four to the right of the white line to turn in to the corner. Made for some interesting racing.

Maybe no track limits allows more racing/passing.

As for HAM, that race shows what a complete driver he is. Let the race come to him then manage the field along with his tires.

[GH85Carrera]

In F1 the telemetry makes it easy to know if a car is past the limit. I just wish they were consistent.

When I was running on Roebling Road track near Savannah, GA the track if dead flat, and lots of sweepers and one straight. My instructor for that track kept telling me to run over the curbs and rumble strips and use more track. I explained to him this is a street car, and tomorrow I will load it up with luggage and my wife to drive it home to Oklahoma. I have no intention of abusing the suspension to gain half a second when the lap is not even timed. No doubt, going over the limits can be faster or the drivers would not do it. But why have white lines for the track limit if they can just go where they want. Cutting a corner would be faster yet. Where is the limit?

[astrochex]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

In F1 the telemetry makes it easy to know if a car is past the limit. I just wish they were consistent.

When I was running on Roebling Road track near Savannah, GA the track if dead flat, and lots of sweepers and one straight. My instructor for that track kept telling me to run over the curbs and rumble strips and use more track. I explained to him this is a street car, and tomorrow I will load it up with luggage and my wife to drive it home to Oklahoma. I have no intention of abusing the suspension to gain half a second when the lap is not even timed. No doubt, going over the limits can be faster or the drivers would not do it. But why have white lines for the track limit if they can just go where they want. Cutting a corner would be faster yet. Where is the limit?

I figure a simple rule would be no more than two tires over the white line. Beyond that, penalty.

One thing that bugs me about abusing track limits is that you are losing the challenge of the track. You gain an advantage when you can go wider onto tarmac, of course drivers are going to do that if they are not penalized.

[GH85Carrera]

Exactly. Every one of the drivers drives street cars on the streets. I bet they have no problem staying between the lines, and on the road. And if any driver can gain a 1/10 of a second in any way they will take it.

It has to be easy, if all 4 tires are over the while line, some form of penalty needs to be enforced. Make it a stop and go penalty, and they will never be crossing the line again.

[sammyg2]

[Jeff Higgins]

I understand the need for safe runoff areas. The advances made in track safety in my lifetime are fantastic. The drivers, however, have been abusing these safety improvements to gain an advantage. We all see that. That was never the intent. So, maybe the next "improvement" would be to eliminate paved runoff altogether. Have the sand traps start right on the other side of the white line and eliminate the curbing. The tracks would remain every bit as safe as they are today, but the drivers would certainly learn to color inside the lines.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

I understand the need for safe runoff areas. The advances made in track safety in my lifetime are fantastic. The drivers, however, have been abusing these safety improvements to gain an advantage. We all see that. That was never the intent. So, maybe the next "improvement" would be to eliminate paved runoff altogether. Have the sand traps start right on the other side of the white line and eliminate the curbing. The tracks would remain every bit as safe as they are today, but the drivers would certainly learn to color inside the lines.

That is one solution, but the tacks are mostly open to motorcycles and other car races. Also if they do spin or slide too far and come back on the track they drag all the sand or gravel back onto the racing surface. Just a big penalty for exceeding the limits is easy for any track. Monaco has a bigger penalty for exceeding track limits. Walls seem to always work as a limit and no one argues about the limit.

[Noah930]

At the same time, having large run-off areas encourages the drivers to be racy. Look at Monaco, where the race seems to be won on Saturday. Then I think about that CART race at Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport (from about 1995?) where there were banzai passes (and passing attempts) galore.

Perhaps the trick to is design and create a track that is safe, doesn't encourage exceeding track limits to gain advantage, yet still encourages actual side-by-side racing.

[sammyg2]

They could replace the concrete run-off area with grass, but we all know that when race cars slide onto grass, they speed up

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

That is one solution, but the tacks are mostly open to motorcycles and other car races. Also if they do spin or slide too far and come back on the track they drag all the sand or gravel back onto the racing surface. Just a big penalty for exceeding the limits is easy for any track. Monaco has a bigger penalty for exceeding track limits. Walls seem to always work as a limit and no one argues about the limit.

The idea is to make the sand trap so soft, and the sand so deep, that there is no getting back to the track if you land in it. This should work for motorcycles and everyone else who uses the track as well, shouldn't it? It seems to me that not just F1 should be required to obey track limits, even the weekend duffers like me doing track days.

[GH85Carrera]

Weekend duffers try to stay on track, but we all have a whoopsie and for a fun day event and not a race no point in making a tow truck visit the track.

In the end it will be a track owners decision on how to change a track. At COA in Austin they are not going to dig up the runoff and put in sand traps.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

They could replace the concrete run-off area with grass, but we all know that when race cars slide onto grass, they speed up

Well, at some circuits (Paul Ricard?) they have replaced the grass and sand traps with concrete of varying levels of friction, which theoretically slow the cars down, but don't let them get bogged down like in kitty litter. I guess that's one option, but I think the place looks terrible, like a giant car park with red, white, and blue stripes all over the place.