Marbles ~ Laura Marieee: 10-13-2009
October 14, 2009 by Negative Camber
Filed under F1B Op-Ed, Marbles by Laura Marieee, Parc Fermé, Top Story
So, Bernie Ecclestone has hinted that testing on a Monday is a great idea for F1 for 2010. And, as Todd, Grace and I said on podcast 128, we agree. So I thought I’d do what I do best, or at least try to, and open this up for debate with you- the great F1 fans that you are…
Personally when I heard this piece of news I thought, ‘Great! This is just what we need!’ It’s cost effective- the teams are already at the track. It means the test drivers will be able to get in the cockpit and get a feel for the car and all its latest upgrades. It means that should drivers such as Felipe Massa or Timo Glock be injured during the season, reserve drivers have already got that feel for the car, in order to get behind the wheel and stand in. It also means that the fans have more to see on a race weekend, and if the testing was accommodated in the price of a weekend ticket in some way, then all the better for the fans.
So while we all said this would be great, should it be on a Monday? Should this test day be about setting up the car for the next race, or testing new parts? Would it be more worthwhile for the teams to send their drivers or test drivers out on a Thursday to test new upgrades ahead of the race and work on the set up? Or would it be more worthwhile to give the test drivers a chance to gather data on the Monday in order to help development between races? Would the fans attending the weekend prefer to see this testing before or after the race?
Like I already pointed out, testing on a Monday would give the test drivers, or the drivers of the future, a chance to help develop the car and get a feel for how it works- lets face it, the in-season testing ban hasn’t helped either of Felipe Massa’s replacements get the best out of the F60- but as the peak of the F1 weekend is the race itself, would the fans want to stick around after?
If you are a die-hard fan then the answer is yes you probably would. These are Formula One cars after all, any chance to see them in action is a good enough reason to stick around and watch.
But if you look at it from a revenue point of view, Thursdays would surely bring in more fans and therefore more money, because for many people it is about the build up to a race. However, if testing was on a Thursday would it be manipulated into just another day of track time where the no.1 and no.2 driver dominates the session, and reserve drivers don’t get as much time as perhaps they should.
Scheduling the testing for Mondays would mean that racing would be out of the way, so it would be about collecting additional data to make developments before the next race, but while every circuit differs, Thursdays would enable the teams to get the best shot at getting the performance out of the car required for that specific track. So, you could look at it as Thursdays being part of the show, part of the build up to the end result, whereas Mondays wouldn’t be a show, it would simply be about testing and developing the car.
So what do the fans want? Of course the main point to make is that any extra day of testing, regardless of when it is, is beneficial to the teams, and a bonus to the fans, particularly with it being held at the circuit on the exact same weekend. Of course more track time is what the fans want, and needless to say the teams need it. This season has proved that without being able to test, it has been harder for the slower teams to catch up with the front runners- McLaren and Ferrari were prime examples of this at the start of the season, and it has taken several race weekends to develop their cars, where testing would go a fair way to solving that problem. This season we have also seen Luca Badoer struggle as Massa’s replacement, and Fischella hasn’t done as well as he was expected since he filled the role. Is this down to the ban on in-season testing? Kobayashi will fill the second race seat at Toyota this weekend filling in for Timo Glock, but without any solid testing, how exactly will he cope?
Of course as always, I’ll leave this open for your opinions, but to me this is a great idea for both fans and the teams- it’s just what we want, and just what they need…
In the meantime enjoy Brazil and I’ll see you next week, when I could very well be talking about the 2009 world champion… Now that is an exciting prospect…
Loading ...
I just had to say, the more the exquisitely accented Laura says she is a “naughty little girl” on the podcast…the better.
Go Jarno!
LOL. No comment…this is a family friendly site. She does have the most charming accent and of course us Yankee’s love us a good English accent. I am particularly fond of her writing and insight…even if she missed the whole Senna era. :)
“Personally when I heard this piece of news I thought, ‘Great! This is just what we need!’”
I could not disagree more.
Monday testing is dumb idea and I doubt if the teams would even stick around to participate. Collecting data that would then be rendered redundant by a year until the teams returned to the circuit the following season is virtually worthless compared to data collected on the Thursday prior to the GP. With the main event on Sunday, not even hardcore fans would stick around. Monday is a travel day for most fans and participants, and life goes on as most of us attend to some form of employment or slavery.
Let’s not forget this was proposed by Bernie E (Mr Kookoo).
Laura, Grace and I did discuss that we thought it would be better on Thursday on podcast #128. We actually thought that Monday would be after the event and not as good while Thursday would be helpful in building the excitement toward Sundays race. In essence, I think Laura is suggesting that “testing” is what we need.
Testing on Thursday but restrict it to reserve drivers.
That’s a great idea Clayton. Since it is testing and we are to be giving third drivers a chance to keep in shape and develop; this makes sense to me.
One take on this myself and friends have from a fans POV is in respect to using the extra test day not as part of GP weekend package itself but as an ‘intro’ day for friends and family. As myself and my friends group is based less than 30 minutes away from Silverstone we used to frequently visit F1 test days. It used to cost £10 a day, and you got paddock entry and one test session was always run during the week building up the Brit GP. Myself and friends used to use this opportunity to take parents and intrieged friends to see an f1 car in the flesh and it was just the perfect way to expereince f1 without the cost. But all of this has stopped and is worse off for it. Those tests days used to be packed with people and had a really good atmosphere and went some way towards that thing that is talked about so much but never achieved – ‘bringing F1 to the people’.
With this is mind i think thursdays are best, Thursdays help make these ‘newbies’ feel part of the GP build up, these people will more likely tune in on the Sunday having been there on the Thursday would they not?
If im honest re myself, if Testing was part of gp weekend on a monday i wouldnt hang around for it. After going to the GP for years, however much of an F1 addict i am i know that after getting to Silverstone on the Thursday, Walking around continuously all Friday, Saturday and Sunday, sun burnt, unwashed, tired etc with the race done and dusted i know i just want to head home by then. Testing on Thursday though? Yes i think id head over half a day earlier to see that…
So far, this seems to be the consensus SRT. I think it would kick off a weekend of fun instead of tagging it on the end. Great info on the Silverstone package though and I think it would work well if they would do Thursdays for all the reasons you have explained.
What a novel idea – have discount packaging of practice days to get people to the track to experience F1. It would be a way to get people to try going to an event, without dealing with credit card companies sending you to collections.
Good show, ole’ chap!
Regardless of the day it is on, we need testing back in the sport. I think it should build up to the race, but if the teams already are strapped for tires, and they are scared to death to put miles on another engine or transmission – what value would these practices sessions serve?
What about both a Thursday and Monday session? On back to back race weekends, you will see some teams stay to develop their car further, and you will see some teams pack it in. Allow for other engine/transmissions to be swapped in. And for goodness-sake bring enough tires for the teams to actually drive on the track and collect data.