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Coulthard: "F1 drivers not happy with 2014 turbo cars"


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#151 spacekid

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 08:27

As ever when a comment is made by a driver there's this over reaction that they should just shut up.

 

If a professional F1 driver with years of experience, who has driven many different iterations of F1/racing car, is asked (maybe in private by DC) - what are these cars like to drive, and compared to other regs that particular driver finds them poor to drive as racing cars, what are they expected to say?

 

Those guys know what they are talking about, I haven't seen any of the drivers threatening to go on strike or asking for much sympathy about it, its just an opinion based on their professional experience.

 

Do we want to hear that or not? Apparently not.



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#152 boldhakka

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 08:48

It's a job first and foremost in a business first and foremost.


Not really.

#153 Lazy

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 08:49

As ever when a comment is made by a driver there's this over reaction that they should just shut up.

 

If a professional F1 driver with years of experience, who has driven many different iterations of F1/racing car, is asked (maybe in private by DC) - what are these cars like to drive, and compared to other regs that particular driver finds them poor to drive as racing cars, what are they expected to say?

 

Those guys know what they are talking about, I haven't seen any of the drivers threatening to go on strike or asking for much sympathy about it, its just an opinion based on their professional experience.

 

Do we want to hear that or not? Apparently not.

Maybe people want to hear it and be able to make their own judgement about whether it's a justified complaint or not.



#154 spacekid

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 08:56

Maybe people want to hear it and be able to make their own judgement about whether it's a justified complaint or not.

 

Who said its a complaint? Why is it not simply feedback or an opinion on what the cars are like to drive?

 

In any case, whose opinion on what these cars are like to drive is more valid - someone who has driven many different F1 cars, or someone who has never driven an F1 car? Hmmmm....



#155 boldhakka

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 08:59

Yeah, that's a perfect analogy  :rolleyes: Driving F1 cars is boring now? ffs

 

Eh, it's a better analogy than the one with prostitutes in it. 

 

Point is, they trained for X and are now being put in a position to do Y (or X/10, if you prefer). 



#156 Lazy

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 09:15

Who said its a complaint? Why is it not simply feedback or an opinion on what the cars are like to drive?

 

 

"The cars are less fun to drive, not as pure. Much better, I love it!" Ofc it's a complaint ffs.

In any case, whose opinion on what these cars are like to drive is more valid - someone who has driven many different F1 cars, or someone who has never driven an F1 car? Hmmmm....

Yeah, lets close the forum and just read statements from drivers.

 

Sometimes drivers talk a load of crap.



#157 Lazy

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 09:24

Eh, it's a better analogy than the one with prostitutes in it. 

 

Point is, they trained for X and are now being put in a position to do Y (or X/10, if you prefer). 

Drivers are trained to drive race cars and now have to drive race cars. 



#158 Massa_f1

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 09:39

As ever when a comment is made by a driver there's this over reaction that they should just shut up.

 

If a professional F1 driver with years of experience, who has driven many different iterations of F1/racing car, is asked (maybe in private by DC) - what are these cars like to drive, and compared to other regs that particular driver finds them poor to drive as racing cars, what are they expected to say?

 

Those guys know what they are talking about, I haven't seen any of the drivers threatening to go on strike or asking for much sympathy about it, its just an opinion based on their professional experience.

 

Do we want to hear that or not? Apparently not.

 

Obviously it seems drivers are not allowed to have an opinion. Most drivers know if they go on record saying that the 2014 cars are rubbish they will get into trouble, and a section of f1 fans and media would also most likely have a go at them.

 

I bet the majority of the grid are not very happy with them, including the Mercedes drivers.



#159 SenorSjon

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 09:47

Remember the 2013 outcry from drivers about the tires? Come Spain(?) and they suddenly were very modest and nice about the tires. You bet they received a memo (with a cut-off horsehead) stating that you cannot discredit F1 and her partners, or else...


Edited by SenorSjon, 06 June 2014 - 10:30.


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#160 Lazy

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 09:52

Well, if they are slow and heavy, that's for safety reasons, mostly the drivers safety. I wonder, if they were told the cars were being made lighter and faster, and therefore more dangerous, so they were more fun to drive and were more entertaining for the public, what their reaction would be.



#161 spacekid

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 09:56

Well, if they are slow and heavy, that's for safety reasons, mostly the drivers safety. I wonder, if they were told the cars were being made lighter and faster, and therefore more dangerous, so they were more fun to drive and were more entertaining for the public, what their reaction would be.

 

Heavy cars are more dangerous, as Energy=MassxVelocity squared.

 

So if you keep the speed a constant (and there are plenty of ways to achieve that), then heavier is more dangerous.



#162 spacekid

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 09:58

"The cars are less fun to drive, not as pure. Much better, I love it!" Ofc it's a complaint ffs.

Yeah, lets close the forum and just read statements from drivers.

 

Sometimes drivers talk a load of crap.

 

For ****s sake? Bit of a strong response to my point, don't you think? 

 

I think a complaint is actively seeking out someone and explaining the 'problem'. Being asked 'whats this like' and saying 'well, not very good actually because of x,y,z' is just giving an opinion answering a question.



#163 Lazy

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 10:29

Heavy cars are more dangerous, as Energy=MassxVelocity squared.

 

So if you keep the speed a constant (and there are plenty of ways to achieve that), then heavier is more dangerous.

Complete nonsense. Yes there is more energy, but not for the driver. The risk to the driver comes from his own momentum and structural failure of the car.

 

Clearly the drivers weight is not effected and the structural integrity will most likely be enhanced. The point of the minimum weight is to remove the temptation to make cars too light and therefore weak.

 

If there's a crash between an S- Class Merc and a Fiat Panda, you're better off in the Merc.



#164 Lazy

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 10:35

For ****s sake? Bit of a strong response to my point, don't you think? 

 

I think a complaint is actively seeking out someone and explaining the 'problem'. Being asked 'whats this like' and saying 'well, not very good actually because of x,y,z' is just giving an opinion answering a question.

If you're having a Burger and the waitress comes up and says "Everything ok?" and you say "No, the Cheeseburger is cold and it's got no cheese.". That's a complaint.



#165 Darren1

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 11:34

If you're having a Burger and the waitress comes up and says "Everything ok?" and you say "No, the Cheeseburger is cold and it's got no cheese.". That's a complaint.

If you have no cheese it would be a burger, not a cheeseburger.  Therefore #1 is not an accurate complaint!



#166 Lazy

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 11:50

If you have no cheese it would be a burger, not a cheeseburger.  Therefore #1 is not an accurate complaint!

So if you ordered a Cheeseburger and it had no cheese in you wouldn't complain?



#167 4MEN

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 12:04

I've never been in one and I don't like bullfighting but i would be very worried if a bullfighter complain about the bravery of the bull.



#168 MrMan

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 12:16

I'm assuming the missing cheese equates to 25% of the downforce of the burger? No wonder the drivers look so emaciated, trying to drive a cheeseburger rather than eating it!

This could be part of the problem as to why they aren't happy.



#169 Jon83

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Posted 06 June 2014 - 12:40

Although his main motivation is to clinch that third title, he is not motivated by driving the current cars. In the BBC interview, Alonso was critical of the 2014 hybrid turbo cars, claiming that they are not as sharp or challenging to drive on the limit,

“The new F1 cars are heavier, slower, difficult to understand what the car is doing, you cannot push all through the race,” he said.

“You push two laps and then you save tyres until the next stop. Sometimes you don’t even push. This is not something racing drivers like to do.

“It is not a problem of how long you can keep this level, it’s a problem of how much fun I will have driving those cars in the future.”

 

 

From James Allen's website.


Edited by Jon83, 06 June 2014 - 12:41.


#170 spacekid

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Posted 07 June 2014 - 08:29

Complete nonsense. Yes there is more energy, but not for the driver. The risk to the driver comes from his own momentum and structural failure of the car.

Clearly the drivers weight is not effected and the structural integrity will most likely be enhanced. The point of the minimum weight is to remove the temptation to make cars too light and therefore weak.

If there's a crash between an S- Class Merc and a Fiat Panda, you're better off in the Merc.


If you are going to be so rude you should probably try to also be correct. You clearly have no clue what you are talking about.

#171 Shambolic

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Posted 07 June 2014 - 23:22

If you are going to be so rude you should probably try to also be correct. You clearly have no clue what you are talking about.

 

To be fair, you could say the wall hits the car just as much as the car hits the wall. And when the car is comparable to an egg, and the wall is comparable to a baseball bat, I know which I'd rather be in.

 

It's a lot more complicated that that, because lightweight materials can still be very strong and things can be designed to shatter in controlled ways to disipate energy, but my gut feeling is it doesn't hurt to have a little more mass wrapped around the fragile organic component of an F1 car.

 

I also think drivers have had far too easy a time of it for a while now, and need to learn to adapt to driving these new, seemingly less tame, machines. In the times of F1 legends the gaps between team mates could be in the seconds, they've come down to being in the 100ths. And drivers complaining about not being able to push for more than a couple of laps have a very short memory, if that's a surprising discovery for them...