Malaysian F1 Grand Prix ***SPOILERS***

gav Wrote:
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>
> Everyone else has been calling for less tarmac
> runoffs, yet here you are campaigning for one
> where it's least needed? At least a gravel trap
> punishes silly mistakes.
>
> As Brundle once said about the old chicane at
> Magny-Cours, "there should be big spikes in
> there".


come on Gav, you know what i mean. i want gravel traps everywhere on tracks with little or no tarmac run-offs, but i don't think there's any point in having one in or around the pitlane. punish a driver harshly on the track by all means, but on the entry to a pitlane i don't think it's necessary at all. a nice concrete wall is punishment enough if they go too fast and spin off on the entry to it.

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RIP Jules, never to be forgotten. #KeepFightingMichael

Why a concrete wall but not gravel? It's enough to make a drive DNF so why cause unnecessary damage and work.

Agreed, the entrance to the pit lane is part of the track after all.

a concrete wall after a section of tarmac so they can still attack the entry to the pitlane and run wide, and even risk going closer to the wall for a faster entry, but if they get it very wrong they will retire. what i mean is that if the gravel trap in China was tarmac, with the wall in the same place as it is now, Lewis could have continued, i don't mean bring the concrete wall closer.

the extra damage to the car is the risk they have to weigh up when deciding how fast to go in.

who's post are you agreeing with Mike? do you mean they should have a gravel trap in or at the entrance to the pitlane because we all want gravel traps on the track itself?

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RIP Jules, never to be forgotten. #KeepFightingMichael



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2008 10:53PM by Muks_C.

I disagree entirely. It's much better to see something like Webber pushing right to the edge in Melbourne that it would be to see someone just entering the pit lane Monaco style, getting a little slide on and continuing having just lost a tenth.

I'm in the category of having drivers punished for making mistakes. I don't like drivers making big mistakes and only losing time because of it.

well your last sentence entirely fits in with what i've said. i want no gravel traps in the pitlane, only tarmac, so they can push harder, but if they make a mistake, they receive the highest punishment which is retirement from the race because they crashed into the wall.

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RIP Jules, never to be forgotten. #KeepFightingMichael

Yes, but then I refer to my previous comment. Why a wall and not a gravel trap? What's the point in risking safety and only giving more work to the mechanics? You're going to be out of the race either way.

but the wall is far away, they have a lot of space to drive round the corner fast.

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RIP Jules, never to be forgotten. #KeepFightingMichael

then the driver doesn't get punished when making a mistake...

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I'm against sigpics

he does if he goes too fast and loses it and crashes into the wall. they will always go as fast as they can depending on the layout of the track with regards to run-offs. if there was a wide tarmac area, they wouldn't go slowly, they'd go as fast as they could so they didn't lose much time.

instead of having to slow down so much to even get into the pitlane, i would allow them to makes faster entries by having tarmac in place of grass or gravel traps.

in China for example, i'd make the gravel trap into tarmac:



the best line for drivers would probably be around where the grass is in th above pic. if they went too fast and went wide, it'd be ok, but if they went even faster or made a mistake, then they'd hit the tyrewall (in same position as it is now).

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RIP Jules, never to be forgotten. #KeepFightingMichael

The gravel trap is there to stop the drivers from going too fast, it's a sensible thing IMO.
It's a case of getting bogged down in the gravel or ending up smashing into a barrier costing the team money and potentially slowing or stopping other cars behind from being able to get to the pits.

fair points from both of you, so we'll have to agree to disagree.

if it had been tarmac and Lewis had lost control as he did, he probably wouldn't have retired from the race. so although it was his and his teams bad decision not to come in earlier, something trivial like a gravel trap in the pitlane ended his race.

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RIP Jules, never to be forgotten. #KeepFightingMichael

Or you can look at it that a mistake ended his race, which happens all the time.