All-purpose open-wheel (F1, IRL) racing thread

F1 never needed to change the format since 1993, the last true year of the series. Panic from Schumacher being so dominant in 2002 really caused most of this, and none of the changes have been for the better. The 60 minute qualy shootout was much more exciting than the single car format they first went to, and now the 3 period format still isn't as good. Refueling, mandatory tire usage, silly engine rules, too much electronics and driver aids, all work to make the series less than it was, not more.

F1 should be different from any other series, but they've managed to make it just as ho-hum as all the others. The fastest, twitchiest cars, on the most challenging circuits, may the best driver win is what it should be, but those days are gone for good.

 

You got that right. They drive 230 mph and never lift, even in the turns. It's no wonder they flip. I drove 25 laps there in a Richard Petty Driving Experience stock car and got as high as 165 mph on the straights. The idea of driving in a low-riding, open cockpit IndyCar, well, I'd pass.

 

I agree, though I will say they were kind of forced into the latest change in engine regs. The manufacturers made it clear they were pulling out if F1 didn't shift to a more road-relevant formula. (The most adamant about the change was Renault, and they're now whining the loudest about the regulations.)

 

I would rather they just go back to DFV engines, manual gearboxes, no aero packages and just race. Fans don't watch because of any new technologies, they watch because the racing is good. Something F1 never seems to understand.

 

Repost from Racer.com. The Mayor of Hinchtown had a rough one. Looked like a heck of a shot, but had no clue it was THIS bad:

Indycar Racing News | Racer.com - Indy 500: Quick safety team response key in critical Hinchcliffe crash

 

In the past, a car sliding off the wall after a hit like that would have either kept spinning or kept sliding on the ground. In Hinch's case, the car slid and went over. I just watched the video again and it was indeed briefly upside down before flipping back onto its wheels. As the car was sliding in the short chute, air got under the left rear and the car went over. That's why I argue it's not different than the previous crashes: when the cars are crashing this year, they have an alarming tendency to flip. If that trend continues Sunday, it will be much worse because cars will be much more tightly packed together than they have been in these practice crashes.

 

Start your engines.

 

That was a hell of a good race Sunday. Juan Pablo Montoya has only raced in three Indy 500s and has won two of them - 15 years apart. That's nuts. I realize that if not for the CART-IRL split, he would have one more under his belt, but still.

Nascar fines will deride him as the guy who hit the jet dry truck, but he's made a serious claim to being the greatest driver of this generation. At this point I'd love to see him chase the Triple Crown and try to get a 24 Hours of Le Mans win.

 

I'd disagree, at least until the last 20 laps. There was a lot of stupid out there Sunday (Takuma Sato trying to go three-wide through the short chute being the most glaring example), and it was quickly apparent that there were about five cars capable of winning the race, none of them Honda-powered. That said, the ending made it at least interesting, but I don't think that came anywhere near stuff like Hildebrand wrecking in the last corner or Hornish passing Marco at the line.

 

Oh, I'd say that one car running a second car into two members of a third car's pit crew is up there, as well.

 

Pippa Mann didn't run James Davison into Vautier's pit. Mann had the right of way and it was Davison's crew that screwed up giving him the all-clear to pull out. Certainly was stupid, just stupid that shouldn't be blamed on the driver who did nothing wrong.