Not yet. Having to tell a driver to slow down is a pretty good thing me thinks. Beats trying to speed one up.
Slow down dammit, you're winning too fast! :biggrin5: Yeah, they also tried to get him to cool it towards the end too, but then the weather changed and they told him to go for it.
Actually, he did ease up enough to grow the gap much more slowly for most of the rest of the race. But I'm not so sure that means he could have run away and lapped the field. You know part of the slow down "order" was about the team not wanting to stress any aspect of the car more than necessary but my guess is he would have had trouble with tires or fuel if he'd kept his foot in. His pace after those first laps may have been down to running to a strategy which they might have had to change if he'd kept up that early speed. I think he would have won with a less conservative strategy (w/ another tire change) as well but suspect the math said he could win the way he did without putting as much stress on the car (plus you can't change a fuel burn strategy if you can't refuel). And any option that puts less stress on the car will obviously always be the favorite for nearly everyone on the team other than the driver. I like the idea that teams and drivers have to think of more than just going fast and have to manage their equipment and work different strategies, but part of me says I'd rather every driver had the option to go all out all the time and figure it out himself without so much direction or even help from the team once the race starts. If that means a driver needs an extra stop for tires and it ruins his race or he runs out of fuel, then he screwed up and has to deal with the consequences. Tough luck, that's part of racing. Learn and do better next time or continue to fail.
Unfortunately this has always been (modern era) and will continue to be a team sport, thus the team will have a plan that the driver will be expected to follow.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8eQ9wMaO9I]Tooned 50: Episode 3 - The Emerson Fittipaldi Story - YouTube[/ame]
Can't remember whether this was mentioned during either the race broadcast or post-race show. Lotus say Raikkonen's brake issue was due to a blockage of one of his brake ducts. Full article here. I've always wondered whether any of those things ever wound up scooped/sucked into unfortunate places.
I have the BGP taped, so I've had to scroll quickly through your posts to avoid learning he results. Argh! Be happy to join in the discussion once I've viewed the race. I enjoyed the qualifying, though 100% dry roads would have been nice. Hamilton loves that pole position, doesn't he?
Remember when the leading driver didn't have to worry about tires and fuel? They would lap almost the entire field by the race end.
F1 silly season gets sillier as Kimi Räikkönen linked to McLaren seat McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh considering making pitch to Lotus driver Martin Whitmarsh on Tuesday threw a new spanner in the Formula One silly season works, refusing to rule out a return to McLaren for Kimi Räikkönen. Following the Finn's rumored moves to Red Bull or Ferrari, it was looking more and more likely the 2007 world champion would simply stay at Lotus. But McLaren boss Whitmarsh on Tuesday admitted he has considered making a move to bring Räikkönen, who drove for the British team between 2002 and 2006, back to McLaren. "Yes, we have [considered it]," Whitmarsh told Formula One's official website. "Kimi has always been great, and I am a big fan of him. There is a lot of speculation out there at the moment, so let's see what happens." Whitmarsh's comments on Tuesday are a surprise, as the latest reports suggest Jenson Button will certainly stay with McLaren in 2014, while the McLaren boss said at Spa at the weekend that Mexican Sergio Perez deserves another chance in a better car. Read more: F1 silly season gets sillier as Kimi Räikkönen linked to McLaren seat - Autoweek
I (most of us, I think) try to wait a day before posting in order to avoid spoilers but it isn't easy given I tend to be most eager to chat about a race when I've just finished watching it.
Formula 1′s governing body, the FIA, could penalise organisers of the Belgian Grand Prix, after the headline grabbing Greenpeace protests at Spa-Francorchamps. Hitting out at race sponsor Shell’s apparent plans for Arctic oil drilling, the environmental activists took to the skies with banners, scaled Spa-Francorchamps’ main grandstand and interrupted the post-race podium procedure. “It’s a worry,” Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko told Bild newspaper. ”Imagine if it was an organisation that didn’t want to unfurl banners, but wanted to set off bombs.” The German newspaper said that the FIA could penalise the race organisers for not having adequate security measures in place. Swiss newspaper Blick said that the penalty could run into the millions.
That is a good point about banners vs bombs. I don't think that the Spa organizers should pay a fine though, I'm confident they put bomb-sniffing dogs through the whole park and that banners don't smell like bombs.
I read somewhere that those banners were put there weeks in advance. Guess they need banner sniffing dogs. :wink: Yep Bernie will use this to line his pockets with more millions. :incazzato:
Booing was evident as Sebastian Vettel stood atop the Belgian Grand Prix podium. The reason was obvious, too. At least for a moment. Formula One media and fans alike nodded sagely: the Red Bull Racing driver is not a popular man with the fans. But then, as a second thought, a further possibility emerged. Environmental group Greenpeace's PR pre-and-post-race protests against Shell. Ah, maybe it was not as clear cut as first considered. Greenpeace's stunt involved deploying previously-hidden, radio-controlled banners on the podium balcony, on which the "SaveTheArctic.Org" web address read, with a logo similar to the start-finish straight banner (put up immediately prior to the start) emblazoned with: "Arctic Oil: Shell No!" The protesters’ ingenuity and planning was impressive, but they failed to make much of a global splash on television as F1’s burghers ensured that the only photographers’ still images appeared. The last time political protests interrupted a grand prix was in Turkey in 2006; in the aftermath the organising club were hit with a huge fine by the FIA.
Ecclestone denies that Michelin could replace Pirelli in Formula One Teams not pushing for change, seem to be happy that Pirelli has addressed 2013 issues Bernie Ecclestone insists that Pirelli will remain as F1's sole supplier 2014, despite Michelin having thrown its hat into the ring. The French company has now confirmed to the FIA that it is interested in the role, leaving both the teams and Pirelli in limbo as they prepare for 2014. Some top teams are known to be interested in at least discussing a change, despite the short lead time Michelin has before the start of testing for next season in late January. Ecclestone has always been close to Pirelli, and has a lucrative commercial deal with the Italian manufacturer for trackside advertising and so on. Meanwhile, FIA president Jean Todt is known to be sympathetic to Michelin. One senior team figure told Autoweek at Spa that it would require a bold decision by Todt to open the door for Michelin at this late stage, and given that an FIA election is coming up, such a controversial move seemed unlikely. When asked by Autoweek about Michelin's chances, Ecclestone said simply that "FOM and Pirelli have a contract." Asked why there was not yet a contract between the FIA and Pirelli -- the one that Paul Hembery says he is awaiting -- Bernie dismissed its relevance. Read more: Ecclestone denies that Michelin could replace Pirelli in Formula One - Autoweek Racing F1 news - Autoweek