29 replies to this topic

[Disgrace]

In the spirit of the Todt Watch thread.

He was at it again in the GP3 race. Perhaps it's not the same for everyone, but Charlie Whiting is one of the main factors that sap my enjoyment from some F1 races.

- His technical word is not final, often wrong and then overruled by stewards at race meetings.
- He takes far too long considering the opinions of selfish F1 drivers regarding circuits conditions under safety cars.
- He is trigger happy with the red flag.
- He falters when the time is right to resume racing after SC or red flag situations.
- The threat of rain is now a threat of incompetent officialdom.

I'm sure someone else can do the job better. Yay or nay?

[PNSD]

what happened in the GP3 race?

In the past I don't think he's made wrong decisions. May have been more cautious than need be but you can not fault him for that. Here we are sat behind a TV, we could call the shots better in our chair but making the decisions on the stand? I doubt it. He is responsible for not only 24 drivers lives but 24 of the most expensive race cars built.

[Rob]

In the spirit of the Todt Watch thread.

He was at it again in the GP3 race. Perhaps it's not the same for everyone, but Charlie Whiting is one of the main factors that sap my enjoyment from some F1 races.

- His technical word is not final, often wrong and then overruled by stewards at race meetings.
- He takes far too long considering the opinions of selfish F1 drivers regarding circuits conditions under safety cars.
- He is trigger happy with the red flag.
- He falters when the time is right to resume racing after SC or red flag situations.
- The threat of rain is now a threat of incompetent officialdom.

I'm sure someone else can do the job better. Yay or nay?

I don't know if I could present a better argument than that. Let's get shot of him.

[Kvothe]

In the spirit of the Todt Watch thread.

He was at it again in the GP3 race. Perhaps it's not the same for everyone, but Charlie Whiting is one of the main factors that sap my enjoyment from some F1 races.

- His technical word is not final, often wrong and then overruled by stewards at race meetings.
- He takes far too long considering the opinions of selfish F1 drivers regarding circuits conditions under safety cars.
- He is trigger happy with the red flag.
- He falters when the time is right to resume racing after SC or red flag situations.
- The threat of rain is now a threat of incompetent officialdom.

I'm sure someone else can do the job better. Yay or nay?

I agree

Burn it, burn it with fire..or just sack him.

Edited by Kvothe, 21 July 2012 - 17:00.

[Yellowmc]

Couldn't agree more. He can keep his position as the F1 starter but I'd like to see someone else, with race experience, as race director and technical head.

[Wingcommander]

I think he's doing fine. He's got probably the most ungrateful job in the sport, and people only notice when he screws up.

[TFLB]

He's got to go, he's out of touch and has been for a while. Seems to think he knows better than the drivers, whereas in fact he's clueless.

[CHIUNDA]

what happened in the GP3 race?

In the past I don't think he's made wrong decisions.

Because of Whiting, i think they will have to get rid of the wet tyres ... for him, any races that qualifies for wet tyres nowadays is not safe and will either be red flagged or run under the SC

[ayali]

I've got no problem with Charlie and neither have FiA so it seems
I expect he'll be around for many more years

[Fastcake]

Couldn't agree more. He can keep his position as the F1 starter but I'd like to see someone else, with race experience, as race director and technical head.

So take away his actual job and leave him with 5 seconds of work every other weekend?

I think it would be best if the technical head and race director roles were separated going into the future. They are too different roles, one needing engineering experience one how to run the race. Might also be a good idea for an ex-racer to take the second role, although there's more to it than just throwing out flags.

Still I see no reason why any Charlie replacement would do anything differently, has there ever been a decision made by him that's been heavily opposed from within the paddock? Perhaps the first step should be to stop listening to whining drivers.

Edited by Fastcake, 21 July 2012 - 17:53.

[Watkins74]

I have no beef with Charlie. I think he has a difficult job. On some of these red flags he is relying on the honor of the drivers because that is who he is trying to protect and it seems like the drivers want the red flags. Today at least Alonso, Schumacher and I believe Vettel complained about the track during Q3.

JMHO

[P123]

I have no beef with Charlie. I think he has a difficult job. On some of these red flags he is relying on the honor of the drivers because that is who he is trying to protect and it seems like the drivers want the red flags. Today at least Alonso, Schumacher and I believe Vettel complained about the track during Q3.

JMHO

Agreed. He's got info coming in from 24 drivers and 12 teams.... too wet, he blocked me, he ran off track, etc, etc

[Dispenser89]

Yeah, i don't think he's the right man for the job. Someone with race experience for the race director job. As for technical matters, have someone with the stewards as the tech consultant guy.

[Sakae]

We need a replacement for the sake of replacement (denotes interjection of fresh blood). He is there far too long, he is now predictable in his reactions to all players, and I would bet that some individuals just play the scene to theirs advantage because they "know" what he will do. Finally, this is not a job for life, and someone new at the table could be change like fresh air you let in.

[SpaMaster]

How can someone remain in such a decisive position for so long? Absolute power corrupts abruptly. He should have been changed long time back. Some of the ways FIA work is unfair to say the least, and crooked to be fair!

[ashley313]

Is Charlie the race director for GP3? I thought in his interview with Will Buxton re: Conor Daly's incident in Monaco he said something about not having an opinion on the lack of heavier penalty because he hadn't seen all the info and isn't in charge of GP3.

[fdspd]

I agree with the view that his job is extremely difficult. He has a safe rather than sorry approach as far as handling the wet periods/safety cars are concerned, which is what most people seem to have a gripe with. I think he's only trying to avoid situations like Nurburgring 2007 and in doing so ends up having to walk a very thin line between letting the spectacle continue till someone eventually goes off and stopping the race before an incident happens. In either case, he's bound to come under criticism albeit from different camps, so naturally he chooses the approach which is safer.

[Ross Stonefeld]

How they handle rain situations is getting a bit silly, but it's only annoying. It'd be an issue if he was forcing them to drive in what they were considering unsafe conditions. Being a little too cautious for the TV window isn't a sacking offense.

[ryan86]

On the one hand it can be easy to make the decisions if you don't have to face the consequences, another if you do.

If tomorrow is very wet, we can say why don't they race, because ultimately all that will happen to us is that we'll be a bit sad or disappointed if something happens to one of the drivers, but we'll go to work to the following day and principly nothing will remain the same. Charlie's decisions however leads from him to being directly responsible for what may occur aftewards.

I do think there is a certain playing of the system by the driver (for instance Silverstone), but I also feel there is a lack of personal responsibility from the teams on occasion.

Edited by ryan86, 21 July 2012 - 19:51.

[BRG]

Time for a change. Term limits are a good thing, both for politicians and for race directors. Bring in some new blood and new ideas.

[joshb]

The GP3 race was a farce

4 laps of racing in 45 minutes

During the suspension, the clock ran down still and they kept the SC out way too long. Was never a SC start to begin with

But to be fair, the F1 Q3 was good watching world class drivers handle the cars in very difficult, but not impossible conditions. It was borderline, as Hulkenbergs big spin showed but quickly became driveable.

Edited by joshb, 21 July 2012 - 23:15.

[Jejking]

Anyone with a replay on GP3?

[Lee Nicolle]

The GP3 race was a farce

4 laps of racing in 45 minutes

During the suspension, the clock ran down still and they kept the SC out way too long. Was never a SC start to begin with

But to be fair, the F1 Q3 was good watching world class drivers handle the cars in very difficult, but not impossible conditions. It was borderline, as Hulkenbergs big spin showed but quickly became driveable.

Yes, it was quite good except for the whinging drivers!
Alonso whinged but still got pole.
Really the cars are the problem,,No suspension and little ride height. And I doubt that those wets are very special either. They have raced in far wetter conditions in the past with no major problems.
Q3 was really not all that wet yet it really got the drivers attention.

[Fergo]

I have several main gripes with him, both are going to make me sound like a massive Hamilton fan boy but they are valid points I think.
He has a very selective use of the Safety Car, if they deployed it in Valencia then why not today in Hockenheim? His decisions there are extremely dubious. I'm not saying he's biased but there's a definite lack of consistency.

My other point is how he acted back in 2008 at Spa, told McLaren all was fine and that they didn't need to let Raikkonen back past. With the input he has and i'm sure he was responsible for the directive that was about letting drivers back past in that situation, I think it's fair to say his behaviour was inappropriate.

There's also his reaction to a few drops of rain, seen in Silverstone Q2 and the increasing amount of red flags for rain. From 2003-2007 there was only two races red flagged. I can't even remember how many red's we've had since 2009. Obviously this isn't entirely down to Whiting as the new Pirelli wet's aren't as half as good as the Bridgestones but the rain at Silverstone this year seemed very similar to the amount of rain in 08.

On the other hand though, i'm sure the experience he has over the past 30 years is invaluable, and I don't know who could come and take his job and perform better than he does..

Edited by Fergo, 22 July 2012 - 13:05.

[Disgrace]

Whiting trying to restart a GP2 race today without the medical helicopter at the circuit.

[Fastcake]

And then telling Maylander just after the lights went off so everyone lurched forwards three feet before rapidly stopping again and no one had a clue what was happening. Might as well just let them start at that point.


Just for the record, as someone who lives near a helicopter base, I feel obliged to tell you that it's completely impossible to miss one of them coming and going.

[w00dy]

I am not really sure who is in charge of a race, him, the 4 stewards or Bernie himself, but the decisions during the race have been awfully slow and there is not much consistency. And let's not get started about the technical what's allowed or not decisions/clarifications...

His replacement is much more needed than Hartstein's but it's not up to us fans.

Bottom line: It is all politics in the FIA, and Whiting probably knows to much about Todt's Ferrari days to get fired.

[Sakae]

I have several main gripes with him, both are going to make me sound like a massive Hamilton fan boy but they are valid points I think.
He has a very selective use of the Safety Car, if they deployed it in Valencia then why not today in Hockenheim? His decisions there are extremely dubious. I'm not saying he's biased but there's a definite lack of consistency.

My other point is how he acted back in 2008 at Spa, told McLaren all was fine and that they didn't need to let Raikkonen back past. With the input he has and i'm sure he was responsible for the directive that was about letting drivers back past in that situation, I think it's fair to say his behaviour was inappropriate.

There's also his reaction to a few drops of rain, seen in Silverstone Q2 and the increasing amount of red flags for rain. From 2003-2007 there was only two races red flagged. I can't even remember how many red's we've had since 2009. Obviously this isn't entirely down to Whiting as the new Pirelli wet's aren't as half as good as the Bridgestones but the rain at Silverstone this year seemed very similar to the amount of rain in 08.

On the other hand though, i'm sure the experience he has over the past 30 years is invaluable, and I don't know who could come and take his job and perform better than he does..

Surgeon holding a scalpel in his hand with experience is an invaluable factor in hospital. Whiting with “experience” trying to control 21st century an F1 race merely means, that old errors and no fresh ideas hampering path to better F1. His call on Schumacher in Hungary this year was an embarrassment, and if MM could be replaced, I am sure this guy can be as well. Pushing Start button should not be a career, which is what he made of it.

[Baddoer]

It was funny to see messages DRS DISABLED and DRS ENABLED in the frame of few corners

[Disgrace]

Welcome to 2013, Charlie.