318 replies to this topic

[ToxicEnviroment]

No, I meant based on their current skills, would you take Pag, Hinch etc over the top 6 in F1 for any drive. Up to you to name your top 6.

If pag and hinch would drive merc one of them would end up being champion.

If they were to drive manor they would never score a point in a normal race.

F1 title means nothing anymore. Not that it mattered since 1981 but still.

[discover23]

I think this thread is wandering way past the OT, which was the tracks are neutered...which turns the drivers issue on it's ear, if F1 tracks are easy and indy tracks are difficult, then it could be possible that HAM, VET, ALO and RIC are not as good as they seem. Most of them would find the wall rather quickly on a Detroit or an Oval...

Just sayin'

 

Ask Coletti...

http://www.motorspor...-to-race-ovals/

Alonso raced alongside Montoya in F1 and IMO he was the better of the two and that was when Alonso was 23 years old and Montoya at his peak. Alonso is just as good a racer as Montoya was/is, probably faster and more consistent.

 

And this is coming from a Montoya fan who has followed his career since his F3000 days.

Edited by discover23, 09 June 2015 - 16:46.

[August]

Indy has all of the ingredients to be as big as F1 and overshadow it, the only thing missing is guys like Lewis and Alonso . It has double headers, cool tracks, good racing overall (except the cautions) and a combination of oval, road and street courses that makes it pretty cool and less boring to watch.

 

That's quite optimistic to say. They can't afford having the very best drivers, that's what they should have to be the no. 1 series. For IndyCar to grow, the viewership must grow first. Then you are more attractive to sponsors and manufacturers. Then you can start alluring better drivers. Meanwhile you need to keep on growing the viewership. Not very likely to happen unless F1 f***s up totally.

[Red17]

C'mon guys! Surerly there is a great T1 track out there!

[HeadFirst]

Paul Tracy would have been 16!

 

My bad (PCS), it was Benneton-Ford 1994.

[HeadFirst]

If pag and hinch would drive merc one of them would end up being champion.

If they were to drive manor they would never score a point in a normal race.

F1 title means nothing anymore. Not that it mattered since 1981 but still.

 

But that wasn't the question.

[Zeroninety]

Da Matta -- well, I was always baffled as to how he got an F1 seat.  Truth be told, there were many Champcar drivers at the time who I rated higher (Castoneves, Tracy, Kanaan, Franchitti), and his 2002 championship always felt like a fluke to me (probably helps to drive for the Lola importer).

 

Plus, he was *tiny*. He had a major weight advantage, since they still weren't weighing the car and driver together in CART. (He was a generous 130 lbs in those days).

Edited by Zeroninety, 09 June 2015 - 22:16.

[whitewaterMkII]

Plus, he was *tiny*. He had a major weight advantage, since they still weren't weighing the car and driver together in CART. (He was a generous 130 lbs in those days).

Great point.

I've seen him a couple of times since he caught that deer in his grill, and unfortunately he didn't seem all there. I hope he's doing OK, I haven't heard much of him in the last few years.

[PayasYouRace]

F1 title means nothing anymore. Not that it mattered since 1981 but still.

I can never understand statements like this. As if anything happened in any particular year that changed anything that drastically.

[SenorSjon]

I thought this was a thread about the tracks, not the drivers?

[Buttoneer]

It should be. Please curtail the driver discussion.

[FerrariV12]

Thinking of the tarmac runoffs, I still like my idea of having polystyrene walls between the tarmac runoff and the track/curb. I'm talking the type they make the advertising and brake marker boards from as seen in the DTM clip above. It would:

 

- Make the circuits more visually interesting, both in a static sense and when they explode after being hit.

- Mean that he driver who makes a mistake and goes off will hit something, but it won't be dangerous.

- Could force a driver to pit after, to clear out the radiators and intake, meaning a natural penalty.

- Provide an easy cue for stewards if an additional penalty is required.

- Could provide a bit of psychological effect on the drivers, as they'll not see the runoff.

- Cheap and easily replaced, plus provide a bit of extra advertising space for the circuits.

- Suitable for most types of racing.

 

Part of me thinks this is a great, if slightly crazy idea 

 

But also, I believe it was the 1989 German GP IIRC, Emmanuele Pirro had a big accident when his Benetton smashed through one of those polystyrene blocks and he was actually knocked unconscious briefly, or at best heavily dazed. Maybe more lightweight blocks might help there though.

[sjakie]

http://www.dailymoti...si-a-pirro_auto

 

it was in Hockenheim 1989 indeed, see link

[PayasYouRace]

Part of me thinks this is a great, if slightly crazy idea 

 

But also, I believe it was the 1989 German GP IIRC, Emmanuele Pirro had a big accident when his Benetton smashed through one of those polystyrene blocks and he was actually knocked unconscious briefly, or at best heavily dazed. Maybe more lightweight blocks might help there though.

 

That's true, but I was envisioning a wall about an inch thick (with some kind of wide base to keep it standing I guess) rather than the foot thick blocks tried in 1989.

[sjakie]

That's true, but I was envisioning a wall about an inch thick (with some kind of wide base to keep it standing I guess) rather than the foot thick blocks tried in 1989.

Well, that was giant Lego indeed in 1989

[ANF]

http://www.dailymoti...si-a-pirro_auto

 

it was in Hockenheim 1989 indeed, see link

I don't think the way they lifted him out of the car did him any good.

[johnmhinds]

A polystyrene wall next to the track would block the view for the fans wouldn't it?

 

And it would probably take 3-4 laps of safety car for the marshals to replace them and clean up the track each time someone runs wide.

[PayasYouRace]

A polystyrene wall next to the track would block the view for the fans wouldn't it?

 

And it would probably take 3-4 laps of safety car for the marshals to replace them and clean up the track each time someone runs wide.

 

I'm not suggesting anything particularly tall, maybe about tyre height and only on the edges of tarmac runoffs. Any broken sections would be replaced after the session ends. A few bits of expanded polystyrene on track would not pose any danger so no need for a SC, but it might be enough of an annoyance by blocking radiators or whatever and forcing a pitstop that the drivers might think twice about just smashing through them.

 

Track advertisers would love them though.

[johnmhinds]

I'm not suggesting anything particularly tall, maybe about tyre height and only on the edges of tarmac runoffs. Any broken sections would be replaced after the session ends. A few bits of expanded polystyrene on track would not pose any danger so no need for a SC, but it might be enough of an annoyance by blocking radiators or whatever and forcing a pitstop that the drivers might think twice about just smashing through them.

 

Track advertisers would love them though.

 

It could cause issues if it got stuck in the wings, and that could happen to people who weren't involved in the incident if it is just left on the track.