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I really don't understand why they dismissed the skirts on cranes idea as impossible - didn't they do exactly this in the USA?

I understand that the FIA did not want to go down the route of accepting that an F1 car can be allowed to crash into a truck.

Remember that there are always pedestrians around these trucks. Perhaps the FIA thinks that passive protection could be perceived (subconsciously) by drivers as a leeway to keep playing with the yellows, which would keep the marshalls exposed.

The only measure that can protect everyone is cars not leaving the track at high speed in working area, i.e. yellow flag discipline and driver responsibility. The FIA took a good measure towards that with the virtual safety car system, and that will help more than a thousand skirts.

Driving around at safety car speeds doesn't rule out the possibility of an F1 car hitting a truck, nor the possibility of subsequent head injuries. If they were smart they'd work the problem from both ends by adding the skirts or looking at cranes behind the walls.

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I'm still uncertain how the VSC affects the race and when exactly it is implemented. For example, in Monaco most of the stopped cars are collected by the marshals without a need of SC. Still, the marshals have always been on the track while cars have passed them quite close. Obviously something could go wrong, even though it has rarely happened (Maldonado in 2005 injuring marshal). Will there be a VSC period every time when marshals enter the track next year?

It's not even a virtual "safety car" if i understand it correctly as you only slow down in a specific sector? The cars won't bunch up together.

If they do like Le Mans/ACO, then it will be great, imo.

No gimmicky bunching up to spice up the race(well, a lot of people like this. So make your own mind about it) and still full safety as car's speed will be 80kmh at the particular zone where there will be marshalls working.

they need to get the variable speed limit signs that they have over the motorways in the UK

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Motorways

Cause over here they only have to flash the signs for 30 seconds at a time and the whole f**king motorway network comes to a grinding halt.

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I think you should do what you want.

It's your forum and I paid the bills this year..

and if people don't like it they shouldComplain here

Unless you're a Government Minister of course, in which case you just ignore the sign and get your wife to pay the fine.

Remind me Ian, how many Government Ministers currently race in F1?

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BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

6.

Thats not what they will be doing, They tested it at Abu Dhabi & decided against using it.

Anthony Davidson also said on the Sky broadcast that in WEC they have found it not to work as well on the shorter circuits as it did at Le Mans which is why they didn't use the system much after Le Mans.
He also said there were concerns about fairness, Using the example that if 1 driver went through the slow zone but it was cleared before a car behind got there then the car behind would make up a massive amount of time.


The feeling seems to be that slowing everybody down all round the circuit via the Virtual Safety car is a fairer system as theoretically nobody should gain or lose any time to other cars if everybody has to slow down to the same speed. It should also be a bit safer as you don't have cars suddenly slowing/accelerating when they get to a specific sector & managing the slow down round the full circuit should be easier & again safer to do.

Other points aside, I don't see how this is any different to a normal SC...

It wasn't fair previously either. If there was an accident ahead, cars would or at least should have slowed down due to double yellows (though usually they didn't). First car on the scene might have to skip a chicane or even spin while avoiding debris, while it was already green for some cars passing the scene. Just because some are unlucky doesn't mean the system is unfair. Luckiness is a part of the game.

What's the use of VSC if the only difference is lack of Bernd Mayländer? The whole point was, that cars driving at Kemmel straight need not to decelerate if marshals are working at the La Source.
How about automatically and gradually slowing cars 500 meters before the yellow flags?

I didn't at Brazil's WEC round either when you had a pretty hard smash into the barriers before turn 1 covered by a VSC yet Webber's race ending kablammo was normal SC
Where's the line? Webber's shunt was huge and a justifiable use of the SC but the first crash was pretty big too and its not like an accident has a pre-determined size before it crosses from VSC to SC

Also the thing that strikes me about it is anyone who has read Professor Sid Watkins book will remember his thoughts on Monza '00 where he was calling for a Red Flag but Charlie only put out the SC because of TV timing concerns
More than the safety concerns of drivers hitting Marshals/tractors, The Prof also reported how logistically hard it was for him to continue working on the marshal while communicating with his fellow Doctors and other marshals with the noise of the pack coming past every 2 minutes and also having to wonder if anyone else will have an issue as a result of the damage from the initial pile up and join them in the barriers.
He didn't exactly imply that the end result of that tragic crash would've been different because of the lack of red flag (obviously because its was heavily vetted by FIA lawyers before being released) but he did say it would've been a hell of a lot easier to do his job without the worry of the pack circling by the accident zone

While the noise is lower these days, I'm sure this problem will now get worse. It won't be every 3 minutes the noise and threat is there, it will never stop at all under VSC

The Irony being this is a problem that wouldn't have needed any changes if Charlie had just put out the freaking SC in the first place.

However I have the feeling he has been told to keep the races as unimpeded as possible for TV reasons. And TV is king.

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RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley

I think the difference between the two crashes in Brazil was one was a single car accident off the racing surface, and the other two cars that were both left on the track, one of them in the middle of the racing line with the driver 'incommunicado'.

The Monza race is the shortest of the season, real bullshit excuse by charlie to not throw a red flag. There is plenty of time for a red flag and restart

That's irrelevant. It's probable that the Monza tv time limits are reduced because it's normally a much shorter / quicker race.

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BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

man my memory of the 2014 season is a mess. What happened in Monza?

They're talking about the 2000 race, not this years.

That was a 100% red flag.

(Thinking back, apart from that crash, what a lovely season 2000 was)