13 replies to this topic

[DanTra2858]

After watching the China GP last night I was wondering how safe the rubber left on track by the cars is becoming.

I have never seen pieces so large flying from the cars as they ventured into the marble area i am sure that if one was hit by one of these pieces at 200mph+ it could have a bad outcome, it is also leading to only one line around the circuit thus restricting overtaking.

Has the amount of marbles now become a safety issue ?

[Lee Nicolle]

I watched the last 10 laps or so and the marbles were huge. Even on the straights. And as most are aware those rubber marbles also contain a lot of gravel pulled from the track so it would be diabolical.
Modern F1 with all its contrivances in silly looking cars ultimatly is going backwards.

[DanTra2858]

I watched the last 10 laps or so and the marbles were huge. Even on the straights. And as most are aware those rubber marbles also contain a lot of gravel pulled from the track so it would be diabolical.
Modern F1 with all its contrivances in silly looking cars ultimatly is going backwards.

I am not so sure Lee that F1 is going backwoods but I agree with you that the amount of rubber left behind is far greater than ever before.

If F1 is so enviromently friendly then why are they leaving so much rubbish behind, or do I have it wrong!

[elansprint72]

Ah yes; I'm feeling nostalgic for the days when the rubber marbles were mere grains of sand.

I think this thread might be better placed in a forum where everybody who comments is interested in modern F1; I know that many of us here have no interest whatever. This might be a better thread to obtain more meaningful responses than mine.

China GP in Racing Comments

Edited by elansprint72, 16 April 2012 - 07:12.

[Stephen W]

After watching the China GP last night I was wondering how safe the rubber left on track by the cars is becoming.

I have never seen pieces so large flying from the cars as they ventured into the marble area i am sure that if one was hit by one of these pieces at 200mph+ it could have a bad outcome, it is also leading to only one line around the circuit thus restricting overtaking.

Has the amount of marbles now become a safety issue ?

I noticed the "marbles" very early in the race - maybe some were left over from a support race?

As for a "safety issue" then MAYBE with respect to the size of the chunks of rubber BUT cars that ventured onto the "marbles" didn't fly off the track they just seemed to have grip issues at the next corner however I don't think any crashed out as a result!

[Julian Roberts]

In 1995 or 96, whilst driving a McLaren F1 at Anderstorp, Andy Wallace was hit in the screen by a cricket ball size lump of rubber 'pick up' which had been accumulated in the wheel arch of the car ahead. This penetrated his screen and he had to pit with glass in his eyes.

[chdphd]

Paul di Resta quote from Malaysia last year:

“There are a lot of marbles out there, maybe too many,” said the Force India driver, who finished 10th for the second successive race to keep up his point-scoring habit in his debut season. “Come the end of the race, it gets difficult to overtake.

“The other big thing is that they kept coming up and hitting me in the hands. In the middle of a fast corner, these lumps of rubber would be smacking into my hands as I turned the wheel.

“Rubber is not the softest material and if it got you in the right place, it could hurt. It happened quite a few times over the weekend and as you go into the corner, the rubber runs across the tyre and flicks up.”

http://www.telegraph...er-bullets.html

[Glengavel]

When did 'marbles' first start being a real problem? I think I first started hearing about them in the mid-80s, but were they earlier than that?

[DanTra2858]

When did 'marbles' first start being a real problem? I think I first started hearing about them in the mid-80s, but were they earlier than that?

Prior to the 70/80 it was known as the Dirty Line.

[Lee Nicolle]

Marbles have been around as long as I have circuit raced. Which is 81. But it is FAR worse at F1 level this last 2 years with these dumb tyres that last 5-10 laps.
V8 Stupidcars have the same problem to a lesser extent.
6 tyres for the meeting per car. It will make for better racing. And the whole track will be useable some where near the line. And all of the straights.

[john winfield]

I thought there were 'marbles' in Grand Prix racing back in the early 1970s, not long after the introduction of wide slicks. But I might be muddling tyre debris with deteriorating tarmac.
For example, I know that the mess at Zolder in 1973 was caused by (newly laid?) track breaking up, but at Brands Hatch in 1972 I thought there was a bit of both. Didn't the hot weather in Britain contribute to tyre and track debris making Paddock and Druids very tricky that year? Or did tyre marbles have nothing to do with it?

[David Beard]

I thought there were 'marbles' in Grand Prix racing back in the early 1970s, not long after the introduction of wide slicks. But I might be muddling tyre debris with deteriorating tarmac.
For example, I know that the mess at Zolder in 1973 was caused by (newly laid?) track breaking up, but at Brands Hatch in 1972 I thought there was a bit of both. Didn't the hot weather in Britain contribute to tyre and track debris making Paddock and Druids very tricky that year? Or did tyre marbles have nothing to do with it?

I walked out onto the track at Brands after the 1970 GP. There were plenty of marbles. I recalling rolling some rubber up in my hands. This was just before slicks I think.

[GrzegorzChyla]

A friend of mine drove in a support race (Formula Easter) just after Grand Prix on Hungaroring in 1986.
He told me that he started the race on Barum tyres and (without a pit stop) finished on Michelins ;-)

[HeskethBoy]

Interestingly, there was very little evidence of marbles during the telecast from Sakhir.