Australian Grand Prix ***SPOILERS***

Quote
senninho
Spin turns just haven't been as awesome since Jean Alesi left F1

I 100% agree, but I'm not sure Rubens does after Magny-Cours '94.

BBC Showed Alonso onbaord, but it might have been the onboard channel only. It was a little close, but he wouldn't have know the Virgins were there. Drivers at the front don't care if drivers at the back are on the grid or in the pit lane. You'd expect the medical car not to jump past a car that was sitting there like that too. It was all just unlucky really.

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It a way this year is better.

Over the past few years Alonso would have got a penalty for that as would Webber for the crash with Lewis.

One thing I did notice over the weekend was quite a few drivers were really running wide at turn 5 I think it is, the corner after Brundle crashed at. Maybe the should just make it more of a sweeping corner? If the drivers are going to go beyond the curb anyway its a bit pointless or should the drivers have been warned?

They could make the kerb a touch higher/longer.

The way it is is a challenge though. If you go over it like that, you run the risk of losing control when coming off of it. It's why Nakajima hit the wall last year.

They've been doing it for years now. It's hardly a new trend.

What annoys me more is grasscrete, and yeah, it's been around for a good 15 years or so too. What the @#$%& is it for? To stop the grass getting worn from those running wide? Well that works well, doesn't it... they just extend the track to include the grasscrete and hey presto, they still run wide onto the grass proper. I don't blame the drivers for using it - it's motorsport and half the battle is eeking out every minute bit of time - but please, stop lashing tracks with it and plain tarmac run-off areas, or at least penalise drivers properly for running over them. Even the traditional tracks are just big car-parks with lines drawn over them.

Spa bugs me the most as drivers can totally mess us and get away with it, when in the past it took balls to go flat out and know if you get it wrong your in the gravel. As much as I think saftey is better etc its just makes it a bit easier now days knowing if you go off at 150mph you can just carry on and region.

yup...

we need more tracks like Suzuka, all those guys putting the car in the wall in qualy was fun to watch

apart from Timo of course...

but yeah... gravel or sand traps worked well for years, and now we have a big grid again, we need to put them back to thin the field out a bit when Webber makes a big mistake and ends up in the kitty litter...

now there's a phrase which hasn't been used in F1 for a few years...

The thing with tarmac is that it's partly
'for safety'... what if a car has a massive brake failure? a gravel or sand pit is more likely to slow a car down than a big carpark... so what if a driver spins accidentally and beaches it. Tough cheese, you're sposed to be the best in the world! MotoGP - you make a mistake, you're flat on your arse skidding towards some tyres/wall/trees/godknowswhatelse. Yes it's dangerous, but the riders know it! Why should f1 be any different, just because the things have 4 wheels?

if i get chance, i'll have a look back through a few races and see how many retirements we would have had if there'd been some nice deep gravel pits on some corners at Spa or Turkey or somewhere...

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Team Japan Owner - GPGNC

The thing with tarmac is that it's partly 'for safety'... what if a car has a massive brake failure? a gravel or sand pit is more likely to slow a car down than a big carpark... so what if a driver spins accidentally and beaches it

It is actually safer. When you go straight through the gravel, the car will bounce up into the air and in the air the car obviously can't slow down either. The chance of all four brakes failing is pretty slim. When you have some braking power left you rather want to be on tarmac than on gravel. Only when all four of your brakes fail, you might be better off in gravel, but I doubt it'd make much of a difference anyway.