FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[Gaz]

Looks like there is going to be another wet race...



Hope that it won't be too bad so that it is not possible to race.

Yeh also depends on the lighting with the rain.

furthermore i hope Lewis does not make the same mistake in qualifying again.

[Denthúl]

The pitlane is sufficiently narrow, in my view, to hand out penalties if we see any repeats of what happened in, say, Valencia.

I'm pretty sure that, with Super Aguri no longer competing, any team or driver would be able to take the fine without considering it anything more than losing a pound coin.

In Valencia, you could just about have two cars going side-by-side. At this venue, there is no chance of that, so a drive-through penalty bare minimum should be dished out this weekend. The FIA should make that clear to the teams in the pre-race briefing.

I don't think that's fair, to be honest. If such a penalty has not been handed out thus-far, I don't see why they should start now. It would add yet more to the inconsistency debate. If such a ruling had been imposed at the start of the season, I'm pretty sure Lewis wouldn't have run in to the back of Kimi, and Nico in to the back of Lewis, at Canada earlier this year.

[texasmr2]

Just imagine if quali is a wet affair!!! I'm very excited about this race, Ferrari and McLaren are neck to neck, Alonso may have some trick's for qualifying, the track is very slippery and very demanding, etc etc.

I think we are all in for a treat !

[Denthúl]

:eek: Just imagine if quali is a wet affair!!! I'm very excited about this race, Ferrari and McLaren are neck to neck, Alonso may have some trick's for qualifying, the track is very slippery and very demanding, etc etc.

I think we are all in for a treat !

If it's wet, I'd really want to put my money on Bourdais getting somewhere up top. The STR hasn't looked too fast today, but the guy has raced around street tracks at night before and, as we've seen from the rest of the season, he's pretty handy in the wet.

[7UpJordan]

Remember folks, because qualifying is at 10pm Singapore time it will be 2 hours later than the time you would normally have for a European race, so for me it'll be 3pm GMT. Think I'll have a longer lie in tomorrow morning then.

[McLaren Fan]

I don't think that's fair, to be honest. If such a penalty has not been handed out thus-far, I don't see why they should start now. It would add yet more to the inconsistency debate. If such a ruling had been imposed at the start of the season, I'm pretty sure Lewis wouldn't have run in to the back of Kimi, and Nico in to the back of Lewis, at Canada earlier this year.

The rules cannot get any worse, in my view. Some drivers are being penalised for leaving their pit box earlier, where as some others are not - and this is happening in GP2 as well. At a lot of other tracks, one can get away with leaving your pit box early in a situation that the regulations deem unsafe because there is enough room for two cars to go side-by-side. At this track, however, you can barely get one car down the pitlane safely, never mind two. If you were driving up the pitlane having completed your stop and another driver suddenly came out in front of you, you would have to slam on the brakes so as not to him, losing a hell of a lot track time as a result. The offending team and/or driver would benefit from leaving his box in an unsafe situation. This is unfair and must be punished.

[texasmr2]

:eek: Just imagine if quali is a wet affair!!! I'm very excited about this race, Ferrari and McLaren are neck to neck, Alonso may have some trick's for qualifying, the track is very slippery and very demanding, etc etc.

I think we are all in for a treat !

If it's wet, I'd really want to put my money on Bourdais getting somewhere up top. The STR hasn't looked too fast today, but the guy has raced around street tracks at night before and, as we've seen from the rest of the season, he's pretty handy in the wet.

Yah SB has alot of experience regarding the points you made but unless he get's his car up to par, regarding his dismay via the team radio as to the car's handling, skill and experience may not be what is needed but an act of God. I hope he atleast finish's in the points.

[Denthúl]

I don't think that's fair, to be honest. If such a penalty has not been handed out thus-far, I don't see why they should start now. It would add yet more to the inconsistency debate. If such a ruling had been imposed at the start of the season, I'm pretty sure Lewis wouldn't have run in to the back of Kimi, and Nico in to the back of Lewis, at Canada earlier this year.

The rules cannot get any worse, in my view. Some drivers are being penalised for leaving their pit box earlier, where as some others are not - and this is happening in GP2 as well. At a lot of other tracks, one can get away with leaving your pit box early in a situation that the regulations deem unsafe because there is enough room for two cars to go side-by-side. At this track, however, you can barely get one car down the pitlane safely, never mind two. If you were driving up the pitlane having completed your stop and another driver suddenly came out in front of you, you would have to slam on the brakes so as not to him, losing a hell of a lot track time as a result. The offending team and/or driver would benefit from leaving his box in an unsafe situation. This is unfair and must be punished.

Right. But if it is deemed unsafe at a track where the lane is two-wide, then it's still unsafe, therefore a penalty should have been dished out, no? Otherwise, that would suggest that the rules should be left open for interpretation because the circumstances will always be different. But then there are complaints about them not being written down properly and enforced in the correct manner. Which is it to be?

[texasmr2]

I don't think that's fair, to be honest. If such a penalty has not been handed out thus-far, I don't see why they should start now. It would add yet more to the inconsistency debate. If such a ruling had been imposed at the start of the season, I'm pretty sure Lewis wouldn't have run in to the back of Kimi, and Nico in to the back of Lewis, at Canada earlier this year.

The rules cannot get any worse, in my view. Some drivers are being penalised for leaving their pit box earlier, where as some others are not - and this is happening in GP2 as well. At a lot of other tracks, one can get away with leaving your pit box early in a situation that the regulations deem unsafe because there is enough room for two cars to go side-by-side. At this track, however, you can barely get one car down the pitlane safely, never mind two. If you were driving up the pitlane having completed your stop and another driver suddenly came out in front of you, you would have to slam on the brakes so as not to him, losing a hell of a lot track time as a result. The offending team and/or driver would benefit from leaving his box in an unsafe situation. This is unfair and must be punished.

In that situation my opinion is the team should be fined and not the driver unless they are using that stupid electronic pitboard or whatever it's called.
What I'm saying is I agree with you about all these silly rule's, whatever happened to pure racing?

[McLaren Fan]

Right. But if it is deemed unsafe at a track where the lane is two-wide, then it's still unsafe, therefore a penalty should have been dished out, no? Otherwise, that would suggest that the rules should be left open for interpretation because the circumstances will always be different. But then there are complaints about them not being written down properly and enforced in the correct manner. Which is it to be?

In my view, penalties should be given for a team releasing their driver in at an 'unsafe' time regardless of how wide the pitlane is, for it compromises the car who has to swerve or brake so as not to hit him. Your assertion that I am somehow being hypocritical is wrong. I want the rules to leave as little grey area as possible and for them to be enforced. We don't, however, has rules like that, so I can only offer an opinion based on what we do have. And what we have is a hazy regulation which is and is not being enforced willy-nilly, often on the grounds of whether the situation was dangerous or not down to the width of the pitlane. I, therefore, I am working on exactly the same precedent as the FIA. (Because this precedent counts, you see, unlike their ruling at last season's Japanese Grand Prix that time penalties can be appealed.)

[Denthúl]

Right. But if it is deemed unsafe at a track where the lane is two-wide, then it's still unsafe, therefore a penalty should have been dished out, no? Otherwise, that would suggest that the rules should be left open for interpretation because the circumstances will always be different. But then there are complaints about them not being written down properly and enforced in the correct manner. Which is it to be?

In my view, penalties should be given for a team releasing their driver in at an 'unsafe' time regardless of how wide the pitlane is, for it compromises the car who has to swerve or brake so as not to hit him. Your assertion that I am somehow being hypocritical is wrong. I want the rules to leave as little grey area as possible and for them to be enforced. We don't, however, has rules like that, so I can only offer an opinion based on what we do have. And what we have is a hazy regulation which is and is not being enforced willy-nilly, often on the grounds of whether the situation was dangerous or not down to the width of the pitlane. I, therefore, I am working on exactly the same precedent as the FIA. (Because this precedent counts, you see, unlike their ruling at last season's Japanese Grand Prix that time penalties can be appealed.)

I'm not asserting that you're being hypocritical, merely that it would lead to issues because offences would not be punished consistently. Which is what we have now. If you were penalised for an offence every time, regardless of whether the pit lane was one lane wide or two (as an example since it is the subject at hand) then it would help the ruling of the sport in a huge way, otherwise there will always be outcries from people who judged differently to the stewards on the day.

[McLaren Fan]

I'm not asserting that you're being hypocritical, merely that it would lead to issues because offences would not be punished consistently. Which is what we have now. If you were penalised for an offence every time, regardless of whether the pit lane was one lane wide or two (as an example since it is the subject at hand) then it would help the ruling of the sport in a huge way, otherwise there will always be outcries from people who judged differently to the stewards on the day.

Again, I agree, but I note the word 'If' in your reply. At the moment, we have a situation in which we have different stewards at each race and each has their own idea about what is dangerous and what isn't. One criterion for this is how wide the pitlane is. In my view, a stop-gap measure would be declare what is and what is not safe at the race briefing. In addition to this, the sport needs to at least have the same stewards at every race to ensure consistent rulings. Personally, I feel that is inadequate. The stewards need to be same each Grand Prix, yes, but the rule book needs completely rewritten.

[Denthúl]

I'm not asserting that you're being hypocritical, merely that it would lead to issues because offences would not be punished consistently. Which is what we have now. If you were penalised for an offence every time, regardless of whether the pit lane was one lane wide or two (as an example since it is the subject at hand) then it would help the ruling of the sport in a huge way, otherwise there will always be outcries from people who judged differently to the stewards on the day.

Again, I agree, but I note the word 'If' in your reply. At the moment, we have a situation in which we have different stewards at each race and each has their own idea about what is dangerous and what isn't. One criterion for this is how wide the pitlane is. In my view, a stop-gap measure would be declare what is and what is not safe at the race briefing. In addition to this, the sport needs to at least have the same stewards at every race to ensure consistent rulings. Personally, I feel that is inadequate. The stewards need to be same each Grand Prix, yes, but the rule book needs completely rewritten.

But unfortunately, that's not what we have (which is a shame).

[McLaren Fan]

More gurning by the drivers, from autosport.com:

Drivers seek Singapore track improvements

By Jonathan Noble Friday, September 26th 2008, 18:31 GMT

Formula One race director Charlie Whiting has been asked to consider making overnight improvements to the Singapore Grand Prix track amid concerns from drivers about the lighting, bumps, and pitlane entry and exit.

Although most drivers are impressed with the challenging layout of the Marina Bay circuit, a number expressed concerns about the lighting quality at certain parts of the track during their regular Friday night drivers' briefing with Whiting.

Jarno Trulli, in particular, led calls for modifications to be considered overnight to help improve matters.

"Myself and some other drivers complained about it in the driver's briefing, so definitely there is still some work to do," said the Toyota driver.

"There are some spots that are still quite dark, (as well as) the bumpiness and some kerbs. In general we have been talking quite a lot, well nearly one hour, in the drivers' briefing. It was quite amazing how many things came up after the first two practice sessions."

Renault's Fernando Alonso said his view of the lighting had changed since he walked the track yesterday.

"In terms of the lighting, when I walked the track I was impressed, but behind the wheel at 300 km/h some parts of the track are a bit dark," he added.

Trulli said that the bumps on the track were the worst he had experienced in F1, even though there is probably little that can be done to solve all the track issues before Sunday's race.

His thoughts were echoed by BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica.

"It is pretty bumpy. I think it is even too bumpy but this is how it is," the Pole said. "We have to make some compromise for the set-up because of this bumps. They are making our life much harder."

However, modifications are more likely for the pitlane entry and exit - both of which are on the racing line at the high-speed first and last corners.

Further work may also take place at the Turn 10 chicane, where some high bumps on the kerbs were ground down before first practice on Friday.

Trulli added: "There has been a lot of talk about the pit entry and pit exit because it is quite dangerous. But at the moment I don't know what we can do or what can be done for tomorrow."

Speaking about the Turn 10 solution, Trulli said: "We have gone through this, and maybe there is another opportunity to change it for tomorrow and make it a little bit safer and better."

Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais was also unimpressed by the chicane at Turn 10.

"It's bloody dangerous and I hate it," said the Frenchman.

[Denthúl]

I think that the pit lane may need some work as it could cause issues with some cars slowing down immensely to reach the pit lane speed limit, whilst other cars will be racing round the corner at higher speeds. Aside from that, everything else seemed fine to me. I actually liked the high bumps at turn 10, to be honest. Throws in an extra challenge for the drivers to be pushing their car to the limit but also leaving less of a margin for error.