If he were to think as Riff Raff he would think of a new F1 race on the planet "Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania"
Timely article given the WEC races at COTA this weekend (schedule below in case anyone else is interested). Watch out F1, the WEC is staking their claim as the top form of motorsport (motorsport.com) Read the full story here. And here's the schedule:
Felipe Massa on Bernie's claim that the drivers wanted team radio banned: "Maybe he asked some drivers from the 80s..." Bernie Ecclestone: I banned team radio advice for drivers (bbc.com)
Drivers have different views about the potential effects of radio use restrictions. Seems some rely on that chatter and feedback more than others. I wonder whether it will have any relative performance impacts or just cause greater likelihood of catastrophic failure type issues...or both...or neither. There's obviously concern though since it doesn't all seem to be talk goaded by sensation seeking media.
Seems to me Nico is always asking for help. Lewis seems to also, but not near as much. It will be interesting to see how the teams do with code taking.
I believe they both have also complained about the amount of request for data/button pushing that has come from the pit wall.
This is the schedule for the WEC race: On Saturday 20 September 2014 the second half of the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) will get underway with the 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. For the first time American endurance racing fans will be able to watch the FIA WEC live on a major US network as Fox Sports 2 will show the entire six hour race as it happens from start to finish. The race will start at 6:00pm ET/ 5:00pm CT, with the large field of Le Mans Prototypes and Grand Tourers racing into the Texan night. The chequered flag will be shown six hours later at midnight ET/ 11:00pmCT, with the entire race being broadcast live. clipped from here
Nico & Lewis, Lewis & Nico complaining about what the other does. Next they will complain who has the best code talker on pit wall. :wink: I agree, let the driver's drive the cars & figure things out on their own. It's all Marconi's fault!
Lots of good stuff here: RACER’s IMSA & World Endurance Championship Circuit of The Americas Resource Guide
Yup. I read late last night (early this morning?) that the team principals went in for their regular pre-race weekend meeting with Whiting predicting it would be a long one because of all their radio-related concerns. Whiting left the meeting after saying something like "I'll think about it". Imagine being a driver or one of the engineers who've been trying to decide where the line is and probably practicing. Changing something equipment-wise is one thing, it's black and white and there's no uncertainty when you're done but this is more difficult. No one takes the radio away and there's no switch to turn off the things you've developed a habit of chatting about, you have to make mental adjustments. And then they keep changing the rule and moving the line. It has to be frustrating. On the plus side, imagine how angry Bernie is right now. He was planning to go further and try to ban even more 'driver aids'...though he'll probably do that anyway.
*SPOILER ALERT* . . . . . . . . . . Sweet!! Probably won't last but nice to see anyway... 2014 Singapore Grand Prix – Practice 1 Times 1 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:49.056 16 2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:49.178 0.122 23 3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:49.205 0.149 24 4 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:49.874 0.818 27 5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:50.122 1.066 21 6 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:50.539 1.483 11 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:50.783 1.727 19 8 Jenson Button McLaren 1:50.922 1.866 21 9 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:50.990 1.934 26 10 Sergio Perez Force India 1:51.131 2.075 23 11 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:51.217 2.161 24 12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:51.604 2.548 23 13 Felipe Massa Williams 1:51.953 2.897 20 14 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:52.125 3.069 25 15 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:52.146 3.090 19 16 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:52.171 3.115 15 17 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:52.237 3.181 22 18 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:52.906 3.850 26 19 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:54.113 5.057 15 20 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:54.475 5.419 26 21 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1:54.607 5.551 21 22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:55.170 6.114 17
^^^ Yep Practice 1 is not on the tele, just practice 2, quali & the race. I think practice 1 was steamed live.
I am in Matchett's camp on the radio issue. I say let them talk with the drivers as much as they want on any topic they want. The only restriction should be No Coded Messages. The F1 analysts, at the very least, should be able to tell the audience what every message means and its consequences.