Comments on: Ask the Driver ~ Paul Charsley

By: the drivers seat

the drivers seat — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:51:13 +0000

I guess I should have stated that there are always exceptions to the rule, Mclaren being the main reason for that.Apart from the Senna/Prost years when their advantage was so huge they could offered to just to let their guys race, for a while anyway. I do think sometimes management can make decisions and relay them to the team, fully knowing them not to be on the up and up, if you’ve listened to the Tommy Byrne Downshift you will be well aware of this. I’ve even been victim to this, it’s pretty disheartening when a mechanic from a team comes and tells you why the car you drove never stood a chance of competing or even finishing.
I think the practice of hobbling a car is very rare, but I beleive the focus of a team to one driver over another is fairly common.Some teams are more transparent of this, like Ferrari, than others. With F1 being as highly competitive as it is now I would say it is a valid strategy, not fair per say, but for the most part the drivers are being paid to do a job and know what they are getting into.

By: Williams4ever

Williams4ever — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:39:21 +0000

McLaren’s 2009 season (for that matter every teams) was exception, and early part of season both their drivers were not making past Q1-Q2. 2008 season was more of the norm and you could see Kovy’s Qualifying was hampered by Macca from first race. Unlike Redbull who kept alternating light fuel in Q3 on both their cars. McLaren’s post race statements about “Fuel corrected” Kovy was faster than Lewis, clearly indicated which driver was clearly the team’s favorite. I could have understood giving both drivers equal opportunity till say one is clearly having better chances.

And second part about getting pick of Mechanics, wasn’t Kovy the one who was sent on wrong tires in China’08. and then there are always whispers of tweaking Tire pressures. Car mysteriously being not ready till last moment before Qualifiers, the list can go on.

I preferred the single lap qualifying system. I am sure teams would have still had say in “fuel load” but at least additional variable like “releasing a driver in traffic” and tanking his timed lap were eliminated.

By: Chris Sim

Chris Sim — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:27:15 +0000

I think it’s mostly about a continous good rankings. If a driver is in top 3 most of the time, then I believe he will be chosen a lot more than a driver that sometimes is #1 but mostly ends on 4th or 5th position.

By: ubergreg

ubergreg — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:09:45 +0000

Nice breakdown of the issue of chosen drivers, thanks for the insight.

So would you say that Alonso’s comments in ‘07 about his car effectively being sabotaged (e.g. deliberately setting incorrect tyre pressures) were him simply overreacting? I can’t imagine top-class F1 mechanics wanting to stymie their own success by doing so…

Also, you didn’t say whether you thought this practise was A) fair and B) the best way to manage team :-)

By: royce amatique

royce amatique — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:06:09 +0000

Thanks Paul

That makes good sense