In the round-up: Formula One drivers have again criticised tyre supplier Pirelli for imposing high minimum tyre pressures.
Links
Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more from hundreds of sites across the web:
Drivers blast Pirelli for ‘joke’ tyre pressures (Crash)
"I've never run such high tyre pressures like we have, to be honest in my whole career. This is a bit of a joke to be honest."
Felipe Massa Q&A: I want to stay at Williams in 2017 (F1)
"Believe me: a lot of teams will need experienced drivers next season. Drivers who already have the experience of the sort of cars that we will see in 2017 in their career."
Hamilton trying to be 'squeaky clean' (Autosport)
"As far as I'm aware I'm going into qualifying to try and qualify, to try and go fastest, but if they decide different, whatever is the best option for the race is the most important for us."
Pirelli plans to use safer construction from Malaysian GP (Motorsport)
"If we are successful – not successful in terms of integrity, that was assessed with indoor testing – but the drivers are happy with the performance and handling of the tyre, we want to introduce the new specification from Sepang."
Security beefed up for Formula One race after recent terror attacks in Europe (The Sun)
"After what happened in Nice, we have to separate pedestrian areas from vehicle traffic lanes, so we removed for example all of the shopping areas in front of the La Source corner."
Long runs 'a big struggle' for Ferrari - Raikkonen (F1i)
"Everything was pretty OK in the afternoon but then I was running quite badly with the supersoft and running off the circuit. Then in the long runs it was a big struggle for whatever reason, but it was one of those days."
Stewart: Mercedes should quit F1 (Motorsport Magazine)
"It can’t get better, and they can’t afford to be second. Remember what they did in the 1950s: come in for two years, win everything, walk away."
My Race Weekend Diary: Jenson Button - Friday (McLaren)
"In the drivers’ briefing, Charlie Whiting (Racing Director), is the headmaster. All the drivers get together and talk about issues from the previous meeting, issues that we think might arise from this meeting, and other things. Everyone is involved – no-one is scared to make a comment, but I can’t tell you what we talk about, as that part is private!"
F1 sale news smacks of deja vu (ESPN)
"For the past two-and-a-half years, Malone has kept an eye on Formula One and on the potential opportunities the sport can afford him for both profit and content for the impressive network infrastructure his company currently controls. But he has not been disengaged from the world of motorsport either - Liberty Global bought a majority shareholding in Formula E in March 2015."
Grand Prix Drivers and Teams Lost in a Complex Maze of Rules (The New York Times)
"As the series returns to action this weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix after a one-month summer break, and heads into the final nine races of the longest season ever — with 21 races — Formula One has begun to realise that it has become so complex that it is no longer just some fans who do not understand the subtleties, but the drivers and team personnel themselves."
Cal Crutchlow’s MotoGP triumph in Brno deserves Olympian acclaim (The Guardian)
"His success on Sunday reminded me of watching Keke Rosberg at Monaco in 1983, when Nico’s dad took a gamble on starting on slicks in damp conditions in his underpowered Williams-Ford and ran away from the turbo-engined Renaults, Ferraris and Brabham-BMWs, whose drivers all opted for wet-weather tyres."
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Slow getting in today. Extra security checks at the Belgian GP. Understandable. pic.twitter.com/gG3fdDDsU4
— Ben Hunt (@benjhunt) August 26, 2016
Huge cheer from the crowd as Max Verstappen goes fastest! #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/QTCT2Br78o
— James Roberts (@JRobertsF1) August 26, 2016
Self-driving autonomous race car? I did try it yesterday.. Scary stuff… pic.twitter.com/HTlqKCoBea
— LUCAS DI GRASSI (@LucasdiGrassi) August 26, 2016
Better pace than expected, very happy. Great to see all those fans cheer when I took P1! #Dutchlion #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/IJSGj0lyDo
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) August 26, 2016
.@MercedesAMGF1 confirm both drivers are using an upgraded specification of PU. 5 tokens spent in total. #F1
— Jennie Gow (@JennieGow) August 26, 2016
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Mercedes and Hamilton have taken lots of penalties in order to stock up on spare power unit parts. Some have suggested the rule needs to be toughened up, but there are practical problems to using something other than a grid penalty:
The problem with taking away points is that a team like Mercedes who are leading the constructors standings by 159 points are not going to be hurt much if you take points away while teams a bit further back could drop two or three spots down the order if they lose just a few points and that could hit them hard when it comes to prize money distribution which is based on the constructors standings.
It was felt that the grid penalty system was the best was to remove any incentive for the top teams to change components just for the hell of it.
@StefMeister
From the forum
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On this day in F1
Felipe Massa won the Turkish Grand Prix ten years ago today while Fernando Alonso extended his points lead by holding on to second place under fierce pressure from Michael Schumacher.
Flip J (@flipjj)
27th August 2016, 0:15
Sir Jackie “forgot” why Mercedes left F1 in 55, it seems. They didn’t “quit”, they left because of the accident at Le Mans. There’s a pretty substantial difference between the two.
Boomerang
27th August 2016, 6:47
Yeah, even wise man can say stupid things.
N
27th August 2016, 10:38
Stewart should retire from offering his opinion.
Tony Hunt (@tonyhunt)
27th August 2016, 12:36
But maybe it would have been a smart thing to do even without the crash – in terms of bang for advertising buck.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
27th August 2016, 17:00
Stewart is real funny… Those were fifties, they left to save grace…
Now we are in 2010s not 10, 20, years later but more than 60 years later.
Mercedes came in F1 then to show off, now they come to reap commercial and engineering benefits.
You cannot reap commercial benefits by saying “We were F1 champions in 2014…” when it is the year 2016. You dont see McLaren try to sell their awesome 1998 title, no they sell “cutting edge F1 tech”.
You cannot claim to be cutting edge F1 tech if you are not in the race next Sunday.
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
27th August 2016, 0:34
Felipe should retire. He is well past his best. He was a very good driver before the 2009 accident, but after that he was never the same.
renatoarj
27th August 2016, 4:48
I agree. After the accident he lost that razor sharpness of the great drivers, having really great races esporadically and being just mediocre most of the time. Although I think he could still race in other categories at europe or at least in the brazilian stock car.
skull
27th August 2016, 10:46
his pole in austria 2014 and the start in silverstone 2015 were his last pieces of magic
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
27th August 2016, 17:02
I disagree, Filipe is mostly as good as ever, but his car is nowhere and other drivers are simply better. Lots of people blame the accident, but that is nolonger an issue. He just isnt that fast, and neither is his car.
mfreire
27th August 2016, 1:28
A self-driving autonomous racing car? That has to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of. They might as well call it “Formula A.I.”- it’s a battle of how computer programmers program the car’s brain. It’s “Battle Bots” but with racing cars. God, how boring does that sound…
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
27th August 2016, 6:15
It will be the greatest IT show to broadcast live hacking during the race with Snowden as an anchor. At least until Formula AI decide to enforced radio silent.
altitude2k
27th August 2016, 10:01
It’s not going to be a prime race series – it will support Formula E iirc.
Having teams program the machines to be the best racers might not be the most exciting spectacle (although I’m interested to see how much difference it truly makes), but the tech and its relevance to road cars is incredibly exciting.
Sonics (@sonicslv)
27th August 2016, 10:37
Exactly, what with all the hate with autonomous car? No one ever said non AI racing will be banned. Just follow whatever interesting for you and left other stuff for people who can enjoy them
Aapje (@aapje)
27th August 2016, 10:50
Not really. It’s pretty easy to make a car drive autonomously on a track where all traffic goes the same way. Add in crossings, stop lights, lanes that split & merge and especially, stupid people doing weird stuff; then it becomes interesting. None of that happens on the track (unless they let Maldonado drive among the autonomous cars).
anon
27th August 2016, 12:21
@aapje, not to mention the complexities of pedestrian and cycle traffic in urban environments, given that in many cities they share the same space. Equally, they are pretty poor at coping with roadworks and cannot cope with manual signalling either (for example, if a policeman is diverting traffic because of an accident or manually operated stop-go signs at roadworks).
Asides from that, they are still unable to cope with adverse weather conditions (Google’s current generation of autonomous cars cannot cope with wet weather, for example, since the onboard sensors cannot detect the road markings or traffic signs).
In one sense, starting out at a racetrack is perhaps not a bad point given that you would have a well defined route and the absence of additional complications that would allow for some experimentation to take place under controlled conditions. However, given it is very unrepresentative of real life conditions, like yourself I doubt that there really is much potential for a significant amount of technology to be transferred from the track to the road.
Sonics (@sonicslv)
27th August 2016, 12:36
@aapje Driving autonomously is easy, racing them is another matter. Look at racing games AI, they can lap easily but really bad at racing. I think it will be interesting show in itself (Formula AI).
Aapje (@aapje)
27th August 2016, 20:20
I’m not saying it’s not interesting per se, just not very relevant to autonomous road cars.
Tony Hunt (@tonyhunt)
27th August 2016, 12:41
In terms of the cars racing among themselves, we’re 90% of the way there already. Think Gutierrez wouldn’t win any races in a Mercedes?
Philip (@philipgb)
27th August 2016, 13:23
I don’t see people watching a 2 hour GP of it, and it will never replace having men… sorry people having a driving series as well just like the automobile didn’t end horse racing or running.
I’m fairly sure there is a considerable audience that would find the rapid development and competitiveness of an AI based series fascinating, myself included.
Charles King (@charleski)
28th August 2016, 11:06
@philipgb That would require broadcasters fielding presenters who don’t shut down an interview as soon as the subject shows a sign of mentioning something technical. [grinds teeth in frustration.] At least with an AI-based series we won’t have to put up with gossip about the drivers’ latest Instagram photo or what funny remark they passed in the press conference.
lockup (@)
27th August 2016, 2:00
Of course Mercedes can afford to come second. Stewart will say anything if he thinks it sounds smart. He hasn’t noticed that people actually like Red Bull better since they stopped winning all the time, or that it takes decades to become a revered F1 team like McLaren, Ferrari, Renault & co, with ups and downs. If Merc left now F1 fans would just think it was all cynical and lump them in with Toyota, Sky and CVC.
Robbie (@robbie)
27th August 2016, 4:43
@lockup I agree. What happened to teams/manufacturers competing for the love of it, while making good livings for themselves? Only one driver can win, one team win the WCC, and yet the others keep coming back and trying. It’s simply what they do.
As to clear number 1’s and 2’s…I’m not a fan. I find it depressing to think that one guy is there to not compete against the number 1. What’s the point then? Forgo one’s dreams to help another achieve his? Nah. There’s little enough racing as it is. Both drivers should have an equal chance on a team and that is what creates the storyline of F1. The Ferrari one-rooster way, when it has been employed, has not been for me, and the MS/Ferrari way where his teammates were actually contracted to not compete, disgusted me. That said I’m fine with a natural 1 & 2 where a team has a senior and a young up and comer, but I still want them to have an equal chance.
MarkM
27th August 2016, 2:39
Massa is just trying to justify himself being needed, I think he is not in his prime anymore and should retire, regardless of his experience.
Phylyp
27th August 2016, 5:43
Re. COTD – how about tagging the grid drop penalty to the component itself, and applying it to every GP that it participates in until the grid drops are used up?
So, assume someone has earned a drop of 25 positions due to changing 5 components (for simplicity, I assume that changing any component gives you a 5-place drop, instead of a 10-place drop for the first component). If that car can only drop 16 places, then the remaining 14 places are associated with 3 components (5, 5 and 4) and the next GP that those components are used, the pending grid drops are again applied.
If specific components with pending grip drops are not used in subsequent races, then the grid drop doesn’t apply, but is deferred to such a time when the component is used.
This ensures that a car is penalized as long as it benefits from the use of new components and has pending grid drops. It does require the order of components to be defined so that grid drops may be taken off the components in that order.
martin
27th August 2016, 11:09
What if someone is crashed into by another driver and loses their last PU because of it. Are you really suggesting they should have to suffer a dnf and grid drop penalties for the subsequent races over an incident that was neither theirs or the teams fault? Seems crazy to me
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
27th August 2016, 6:20
Re: Pirelli. As long as the new tyre spec ruin Mercedes domination, this is a good news.
grat
27th August 2016, 7:34
Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari can adapt to changes in tire spec better than the smaller teams, because they can throw more money and engineers at the problem.
Sonics (@sonicslv)
27th August 2016, 10:40
@ruliemaulana Nope. The tire spec should be neutral for all teams. If Mercedes able to exploit them more again, then that’s good for them.
Balue (@balue)
27th August 2016, 11:31
Changing tyre specification mid-season is a complete scandal IMO. Talk about being unprofessional. This has the potential to upset the whole championship. Saying that performance is equal to previous spec is such obvious BS.
Robbie (@robbie)
27th August 2016, 14:22
@balue So you didn’t read the article then.
Balue (@balue)
27th August 2016, 21:15
I did. Why do you ask?
Balue (@balue)
27th August 2016, 21:17
@robbie I did. Did you?
Neel Jani (@neelv27)
27th August 2016, 6:34
Massa, “Believe me: a lot of teams will need experienced drivers next season. Drivers who already have the experience of the sort of cars that we will see in 2017 in their career.”
Really? I doubt that. It’s just a subtle way of advertising your services but I don’t blame him.
Kgn11
27th August 2016, 8:51
It’s time for Jackie to be sent to a. Urging home… What utter crock!
Interesting he didn’t state who should be the number 1 and 2 at Mercedes and the reasons as to why they withdrew from the sport in 1955.
But this I do know, had Nico been the one to win the last 2 WDC”s, he would not have made such a stupid suggestion.
Kgn11
27th August 2016, 8:52
*nursing home..
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
27th August 2016, 11:41
Jackie Stewart really does talk some rubbish sometimes doesn’t he!
Blazz
27th August 2016, 12:38
Hmm is Stewart saying this perhaps because he is at risk of being usurped as the most successful British F1 driver in WDCs? Merc pulling the plug now would be like closing the doors on a very profitable business that owns the largest market share. That would be astute decision making for business wouldn’t it? Merc are in F1 to win and market their world class engineering. They have two highly marketbale drivers who appeal to different audiences and they are cleaning up championship after championship and getting their investments back with big fat bottom lines. Not very smart comments from Stewart I must say, to find a kinder way of putting it.
WeatherManNX01
27th August 2016, 17:38
Drivers during the week: The cars need to be harder to drive. It’ll make things more exciting!
Drivers at race weekend: Waaaah! My car is too hard to drive!