F1

[robin]

Tut,

I tend to agree.

Given the format of qualifying it's pretty much known how many sets of tyres, in total, will get used during qually. So just bring that many extra tyres - always the super soft, perhaps? - and give each car one set of tyres per qualifying round they are involved in, then take all those tyres away and discard, whether or not used.

If it's wet then the teams can run the super-soft qually tyres or whatever other wet tyre they like, but wet tyres always come from the teams normal stock of race tyres. This will make wet qualifying more like dry qualifying is now, but saves them schlepping another 50 sets of unused wet tyres around the place.

They limited tyres choices, numbers, etc., to help manage the tyre production and logistics costs; adding a known quantity will not make it fundamentally worse I think - in fact it might make it better (economies of scale).

Cheers,
Robin

P.S. In fact allow the teams to use any race tyres they like at any point in qually plus optionally whatever qually tyres they have left. Make them buy the qually tyres and they are always discarded after qually anyway.

[campbell]

Setting aside the valid logistics side of tyre supply. To ensure Q3 still puts on a show, simply require that all 10 cars set a time within 107% of their Q2 times If you don't, then you start from the back. End of.

Reg changes sometimes need time to percolate through or to evolve the behaviours of the competitors. I think that is what we are seeing now - the teams have learned ways to maximise their strategy or chances etc and are working within the envelope of the regs to achieve it.

Consider what the comms were saying on Sunday, about several different teams, with several different designers, lots of different tech, yet the top few teams' cars qualify and run within tenths of a second per lap of each other. Neat.

[robin]

But this may disadvantage the top teams to the extent that they then struggle to compete with the teams behind them, especially if some teams treat Q2 like the top teams are currently treating Q3. It doesn't seem fair to me that the faster a car is, the more sets of precious tyres it eats in qually. In the race the car is then hampered by having only worn tyres to run on and so ends up having to do more pit stops and/or shorter stints on the good tyres before switching to the slower tyre. Taken to the extremes, the really fast teams will compute it's better not to be in Q3 at all as they can make their way through the pack pretty quickly, especially when the pack are on tyres that are no better.

Cheers,
Robin

[campbell]

Perhaps then, the further you get through qually, the more tyres you get...for qually only of course. Were you and Tut not exploring that above.

Surely not rocket science for some of the FIA bods to suss it out

What's interesting is that I have found Q3 to be genuinely exciting and a great "crescendo" of activity for most of the season. It's only been the last couple that have started to drift back towards the bad old days of cars sitting in the pits and tumbleweed blowing along the track...

[Blaque]

Why not give the teams that get to Q3 a set of tyres for for that session and that session only. To be given back after Q3 and not to be used on race day. That way there is no avantage for not going out. As a spectator trackside I would feel pretty sort changed if only 5 of the 10 cars came out.

Although I do like Campbell's suggestion of 107% of Q2.

[tut]

Unfortunately it is really only the top teams that the spectators most want to see fighting it out up front. This is ignoring the partisan element, as unlike the Brits, the European and South American countries will go mad even if their driver is at the back of the grid, but that is Latino blood.

I am sure that Jen is always rooting for one driver, but how many of the rest of us are broken hearted if one of our three Brits does not win? The Japanese would self explode if every other car crashed out or self destructed as long as their hero Kobayashi was the only one left. We however want to see an exciting race, which means our guys will be up front, but are quite happy to see the best driver win, which usually means the best car as well, as long as they are fighting as hard as their car will allow them, and we are getting lots of overtaking and wheel to wheel action..

However there are times when you will be intensely patriotic, JB last car on the grid and goes through the whole field to win. That is Fangio, Clark and Senna territory. Worst scenario is number one on the grid leads from start to finish and nobody gets near him as often has happened with Vettel, then the next three are in line behind for the rest of the race. Japan was not the most exciting of races, but at least it was not a procession and there were lots of position changes, and Jenson had to drive a Champions race to put everything together and push Vettel back to third with Alonzo chasing him down.

tut

[simon]

Although I do like Campbell's suggestion of 107% of Q2.

Why, so they can trundle round at the same speed as the HRT/Lotus/Virgin mobile chicanes?

[campbell]

No, the point is to force them out in Q3 and incentivise them to set a time.

Anyway it's all moot, there's only a few races left this season and it's not as if many of us are going to them in person, so while "qualifying" is on we can probably just have a lie in (sic) except for Abu Dhabi which has pretty lights and fancy tarmac paint, and Brazil which you can watch while having your tea

[jen]

Just watched this vid, Vettel does a couple of donuts after the race on Sunday! The tv cameras missed this one!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4TV_966Drs

[kenny]

In danger of starting to like Vettel.

[campbell]

When is he up in front of the beak for that one then?

[a4drk]

Massa's a beaten man now, sadly. Stick Smedley in the driver's seat and we might have some fun!

The Jap hand puppets were awesome. Seeing Jenson showing his off after the small interview segment with Jake, as he wandered back into the garage on Saturday night, was pure gold

Did anyone else notice the camera man zooming in on the hand puppets for sale at one of the stalls?
There was a sign that said 35 yen.
I looked it up and that works out to be 29p. ??????
My friend Sean (amp3 night - bought a lot) said it would 35,000 - but that works out at £291

anyone . > ??

David

[campbell]

Might be 3500?!

[jen]

Don't ask how I know this as it's a bit of a long story, but they were 3500 yen, around £30. Bernie authorised them to sell them and all money was donated to the Save Japan charity.

[simon]

Don't ask how I know this

You read it in the Guardian?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/oc ... earthquake