Time Wars

"Menebrio" (menebrio) 08/31/2013 at 11:15 • Filed to: Racing, F1, MotoGP, Qualifying

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This morning's Silverstone Qualifying was great. All weekend long we've had reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo and ¿Rookie of the decade? Marc Marquez trading the top slot around the British circuit. An thus, once again it just leads me to believe that my beloved F1 has lost its way.

Gone are the days of the tire wars, so fans can no longer argue that a car only wins because of its rubber. Plus point for the fans that want a more equal playing field. Given that this is the only contact patch with the ground its great to see the engineering prowess of each team as the FIA keeps clamping down on aerodynamics and down-force generation devices and trickery. I'm not turning this into a lets "Laissez-faire" article on aerodynamic regulation. I've argued enough for it before to the reply of "what about safety." So this time, I'm going to focus on the only contact patch there is between the machine and the road.

"There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games."- Ernest Hemingway

Leaving DRS and KERS aside, Pirelli has introduced a great variable on F1 racing. The variation in degradation rates of each compound has introduced the teams to a new variable. Generating the most downforce can now be a penalty on the long run for the car's tires. Mercedes seems to be a team that has been very aggressive in my view. Hamilton's and Rosberg's poles have been spectacular (when they get the balance right). But as in most races, they fail to capitalize on the premium spot due to the Silver Arrow chomping up its tires way to quickly. So most teams sacrifice the quick speeds for a more friendlier set-up to stretch out pit-stops as much as possible.

This in turn has ended the psychological driver battles. Sure cool-headedness, has always prevailed in F1, but its seems that the time wars are long gone. It use to be that teams and drivers would go out onto the circuit and set the fastest possible times from Practice 1. It wasn't necessary for the team to tell you that "Fernando is faster than you," you could simply look up at the screen and see it for yourself. The driver had to search and fight within himself to find that pace, that extra .001 second. The team had to convince the driver he could be quicker, not slow him down to preserve the tires. F1 now resembles more of a magic show where teams try to mask there true pace. It's not about raw speed any more, because more than likely you'll overcook your tires in a lap or two (maybe less), and throw away your points. This has turned F1 into more of a mathematician game of adding variables, where accumulating points is more important than outright-winning.

"The whole category is geared around tyres at the moment. Everything is around tyres. Tyres, tyres, tyre, tyres, tyres. Obviously you go around way under the potential of the car. It's not a lot of fun but that is how it is" -Mark Webber, on On Formula One in 2013

This weekend's MotoGP sessions have all been great, though I couldn't watch all of them, even reading the time swaps on both top riders was amazing. Even look at previous races, and you'll find a Carl Crutchlow who on a satellite team beat the official riders to pole. And that is what I want back in F1. That war, that competition of pummeling your competition, about the drivers given it their all without a care for their tires. Having them hoon and wrestle those cars to the top spot to the very edge and even beyond their capabilities when duty calls for it.

It was like I was in a tunnel. Not only the tunnel under the hotel but the whole circuit was a tunnel. I was just going and going, more and more and more and more. I was way over the limit but still able to find even more.- Ayrton Senna

If you want, keep those degrading tires for the race (for me you can get rid of them all). But give us back those intense practice sessions, that qualifying lap that would go down for the ages, that lap to which you can not dispute who was fastest. Give me a tire that doesn't degrade when you put your foot down, when you do with it what it was intended to do, and that is to simply go FAST.

DasWauto > Menebrio 09/03/2013 at 18:40

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Great post. It'll be in the Best of Oppo shortly.

Menebrio > DasWauto 09/03/2013 at 19:10

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Thanks!

And by any chance did you see the MotoGP race? It was quite epic.

DasWauto > Menebrio 09/03/2013 at 19:17

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I didn't have the opportunity, unfortunately. I've only managed to catch a couple of MotoGP races. While still more than I've managed in the last few years, I'm still disappointed to have missed so much. I have been fascinated by the success of Marquez and Crutchlow though. Hopefully I'll be able to catch more of the remaining races and next season.

Menebrio > DasWauto 09/03/2013 at 19:27

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Still got 6 races to join in, either Marquez takes the title (which I'm hoping for) Lorenzo snatches it back like the 2007 F1 season and or we could crown Dani Pedrosa for the first time. Unfortunately Dr. Rossi ain't doing to good.