With the new radio restrictions coming into play in Melbourne, drivers may have felt more alone than ever in the car. For some – the now iconic “leave me alone, I know what I’m doing” springs to mind – this might be a welcome relief, but a lot of people, both on and off track, fear the restrictions might have gone too far.
The driver must drive the car unaided, say the sporting regulations. Well, what does that actually mean?
There are now 31 things the drivers can be told from the pit wall whilst they’re in the car. And that’s pretty much it. Those are listed below.
The FIA brought in these restrictions to make sure the drivers get as little assistance as possible from their engineers back in the garage, following the technical advances that have been brought in over the years. They say this will make the driver more in control of his own race.
Whilst almost everyone wants drivers to be drivers and not puppets for the engineers – well, maybe not the engineers who stress over what the driver needs to be doing to win the race – a lot of people think the restrictions may have gone too far, with Red Bull’s Christian Horner saying the clamp down is bad for the fans and Mercedes Toto Wolff saying it will lead to more errors.
However, Formula 1 race director Charlie Whiting told Autosport the restrictions is the only way to stop the “intolerable level” of coaching from the pit wall.
“The main point is the driver should be doing things. He should be driving the car and he should be doing the things a driver is normally expected to do.”
What can they say?
1. Indication of a critical problem with the car
2. Indication of a problem with a competitor’s car
3. Instructions as to when to pit
4. Marshaling information (flags, race start aborted, etc.)
5. Make the driver aware of wet track, oil, or debris in certain corners
6. Instructions on swapping places with other drivers (whether the driver wants to hear this or not is another matter…)
7. Acknowledgement that a driver’s message has been heard.
8. Lap or sector time information
9. Lap times of a competitor
10. Gaps to a competitor
11. “Push hard”
12. Warnings about traffic
13. Gaps between cars in qualifying to help them get into a better position for a clear lap
14. Tyre choices
15. Number of laps a competitor has done on a set of tyres
16. Tyre specification of a competitor
17. What a competitor’s likely race strategy is
18. Safety car window
19. Driving breaches by the driver or a competitor
20. Notification of DRS disabled or enabled
21. Dealing with a DRS system failure
22. Change of front wing position in the next pit stop
23. Oil transfer
24. When to enter the pits
25. Reminders to check for white lines, bollards, or weighbridge lights when entering or leaving the pits
26. Reminders about track limits
27. Passing on messages from race control
28. Information concerning damage to the car
29. Number of laps remaining
30. Test sequence information during practice sessions
31. Weather information
----
Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
No copyright infringement intended
No comments:
Post a Comment