F1

Hulkenberg ‘too heavy for McLaren’

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 31 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #133702
    Aish Heydrich
    Participant

    Apparently ideal weight for a Formula 1 driver is now 60-65 kgs. and our talented green monster is not getting the coveted McLaren seat because he weighs too much (74 kgs for a frame of about 5’11”).
    Soon there will be an army of short Chinese/Asian men who’ll invade F1 and tall German/Scandinavian drivers will get the axe.
    http://www.racingfanatic.net/2013/10/nico-hulkenberg-too-heavy-for-2014.html

    #242520
    wsrgo
    Participant

    Aish, any news of late on Total and their status w.r.t. Lotus F1?

    #242521
    Matthijs
    Participant

    Maybe we should call him “Bulky”, rather than “Hulky”. Having said that, I find it quite worrying that 74 kg is considered too heavy. There goes my chance of becoming an F1-driver… ;)

    #242522
    electrolite
    Participant

    Enter Kobayashi…

    On a serious note, I do hope this isn’t a serious reason that a top team would dismiss a driver of Hulkenberg’s talent. Now, I maybe have a chance of being in F1 now, I just need a few million.

    #242523

    Anyone got a link to the original version of the Hulkenberg story?

    #242524
    wsrgo
    Participant
    #242525
    Prisoner Monkeys
    Participant

    @matthijs – Vitaly Petrov had the same problem. He was the tallest driver on the grid, so even at the peak of his physical fitness, there was still, quite literally, more of him compared to the other drivers simply because he had longer bones. It was a real challenge for Renault to design the R31, mostly because Nick Heidfeld was the shortest driver on the grid at the time.

    Anyway, thus story about Hulkenberg being too heavy smells funny. It reads like something a fan club might come up with: they see a vacancy at McLaren, and they see Hulkenberg without a contract for next year. To their minds, it’s a perfect fit, but when it doesn’t happen, they’re left trying to explain why in such a way that McLaren passing on Hulkenberg sounds as ridiculous to us as it does to them. It’s the kind of thing Petter Solberg’s fan club in the WRC used to do.

    #242526
    andae23
    Participant

    It’s a bit like the fashion industry, isn’t it? Drivers are already lighter than they probably should be, and they still get turned down for being too heavy.

    I hereby predict F1 anorexia will be the next F-duct :P

    #242527
    DC
    Participant

    @keithcollantine
    This is pretty close
    http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/110292
    @prisoner-monkeys
    What did Petter Solberg’s fan do?

    #242528

    Thanks guys but from looking at the link @Aish posted it seems the original was in AMuS. I had a look there but didn’t spot it. Perhaps they didn’t put it online.

    #242529
    Fisha695
    Participant

    This begs the question, if the FIA raises the weight and it helps talented drivers get rides will the fanbase react positively even though they usually react negatively whenever talk of raising the weight (for various other reasons) comes up?

    #242530
    Aish Heydrich
    Participant

    Lol I totally agree with @andae23. It’s ridiculous isn’t it? I mean, they might as well control the car with a remote and it could be another robot wars like tv show. No need to put a human in it at all.

    @wsrgo: Seems Total will stay as business is booming for them and Lotus really needs them now more than ever.

    #242531
    MuzzleFlash
    Participant

    Shouldn’t be a problem if weight’s going up next year surely?

    #242532
    Iestyn Davies
    Participant

    Hmm I am only average height (175cm) for the UK and usually under 10 stone. Yet this makes me ideal for F1 – so anyone taller or heavier than average is already disadvantaged. Time for Anthony Davidson to make a comeback? :D. I do remember being quite a tight fit in the McLaren sim cockpit with all the padding that was about..

    Why not make it 695/700kg for 2014, 685/690 for 2015, gradually reducing to say 675 when engines are frozen in 2016? I’m sure the cars have weighed this much in the past, I’m going off memories of Top Trumps! Early 90’s Lola perhaps? I know Keith did a piece on historical car weight..

    #242533
    Prisoner Monkeys
    Participant

    @dujedcv – They’re just notorious for starting rumours about Solberg, which sometimes get picked up by the media and reported as fact. Strangely enough, they don’t do it for his brother, and they’re not doing it for his brother’s step-son.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 31 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.