Aren't things like movable wings, F-ducts and Kers just as gimmicky? Just to play the devil's advocate, but rain happens. Is the objection then to it being artificial?
Yes and yes. Remember I'm one of those that believes better racing could be attained through subtraction not addition. Get rid of a lot of the electronic gizmos, make the drivers shift and possibly increase the minimum weight while decreasing the amount of available downforce. Read: not poking such a large hole in the air and the cars not being so dependant on Aero downforce, giving the drivers the ability to catch and pass without loosing the handle. Then as Sir Stewart alluded to; give the tracks back some character and natural obstacles such as elevation changes, off camber corners and tighter turns..... But they don't pay me crap for my opinion, do they.... LOL
I do think those other things are a bit gimmicky as well. Rain is natural but it brings other factors into play besides a wet surface. Rain brings clouds that block the sun causing bigger swings in surface temp. There is also a flattening of the light making visibility a factor too. There is also a bit of unpredictability as to the amount of rain too, from alight mist to a torrential downpour and it does not effect all parts of the track equally. The proposed method of adding a wet period takes out a lot of the variables, just makes for a slicker surface. While it will help some drivers and hurt others it doesn't bring all the factors that natural weather does. The drivers will quickly adapt to artificial "rain" while the real thing keeps them guessing.
You make very good points about the rain Nathan!! To defend my position about the cars themselves, I would put forward the V8 Australian Supercars, some of the best racing to be seen I might add... Watch the rerun of last years race at one of those boring tracks, Abu Dhabi. It was a very good race with lots of head to head competition because of the package they were racing and because of it the drivers could push the other drivers into making mistakes.
OK, how about wind then? Place some of those industrial lab fans capable of hurricane level winds to blow across the track to mess with those ground effects. :devil:
.....again dodging the occasional on track clown would really mix things up...lol .....matter fact Bernie wouldn't even have to rent a costume.
Clown abuse is a serious problem in our society and shouldn't be made light of..... Maybe that's why I harass them so much.... ROFLMAO..:cornut:
Here's Murray Walker's take on artificial rain. Murray Walker: Artificial rain not Formula 1 (gpupdate.net)
Remember the guy who ran out on the track a few years back carrying a sign? He was protesting something if I remember it right. Wasn't he wearing a kilt too? Can't remember whether that was during an actual race or earlier in the weekend.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a_urdgrl2E]YouTube - F1 Silverstone 2003 Lunatic Runs Onto The Track[/ame]
I assume (and hope) that track marshall drank free at any pub in England for at least a year after that take-down.
The second Barcelona test is underway. Here's some more wacky new McLaren test gear...bit of rhinoplasty... What about this one, test gear or not test gear?
That was my first thought...or Global Hawk, or Predator B (now called Reaper), but it's definitely like a cross between the bottle-nose and the Predator(s). There was apparently a bit of speculation about whether the rig might also be used on pre-race days at GP weekends. Rules say no. I guess this means they can't use it during practice unless they run it during the race as well?