Three F1 teams afraid car not built for new sprint race
Jul.1 - Three teams are warning they could sit out practice sessions as a result of the new 'sprint qualifying' trial that is set to debut at the British GP.
Due to the format change, parce ferme conditions will be pushed forward to Friday - and some teams are warning that their cars' clutches will not cope with having to tackle the full race weekend.
Auto Motor und Sport claims Aston Martin, Alpine and McLaren typically change or service their clutches ahead of normal Saturday qualifying.
"These clutches were built for a different purpose," confirmed Aston Martin team manager Andy Stevenson.
"They need new washers and maintenance after 300 kilometres. If we had known what to expect before the season, we would have made a different clutch.
"If we have to use a clutch for an entire weekend, we cannot guarantee that it will hold up."
It is believed the early feedback from the FIA is that the concerned teams should simply do fewer practice starts during a weekend.
"This has nothing to do with the number of starts we do," insisted Alpine's operations boss Alan Permane.
"It's just wear and tear. The clutch is used constantly. The problem is not the starts, the problem is the gear changes."
The affected teams intend to raise the matter with the governing body once again this weekend in Austria.
"If the FIA doesn't give in, we might have to skip a practice session, which I can't imagine was the intention of the regulator," Permane warned.
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"It is believed the early feedback from the FIA is that the concerned teams should simply do fewer practice starts during a weekend."
Or maybe allow clutch service, not rebuild or material improvement...service. C'mon, you want theatre, let the teams give you a show.
Theyll have to do something next yr when they have 6 races, , typical fia though, Ross should have thought about clutches before it was announced
The British Grand Prix weekend from July 16-18 will see Formula 1 trial a brand new race weekend format, with traditional qualifying moving to Friday evening, followed by the new sprint qualifying concept on Saturday and then the main British Grand Prix on Sunday.
Sprint qualifying will consist of a 100km sprint race, with the grid for that determined by the traditional Q1, Q2 and Q3 format. But this had created a bit of confusion. Which of these qualifyings would actually determine who was recognised as the pole-sitter for the British Grand Prix?
Brawn has stepped in to confirm ‘pole’ will indeed be awarded to the winner of sprint qualifying.
“The one who finishes the sprint in first place is at the front of the grid and has pole position for the grand prix on Sunday. And we will count that statistically for the number of pole positions,” said Brawn, Formula 1’s motorsports managing director,
So thats 16 laps to decide pole for sunday, interesting definately
Clarify for us, oh knowledgeable one. Let's say that Driver A (see how I am avoiding conflict) is fastest in quali 1, 2 and 3. He/she smokes the field for the first 14 of 16 laps in the sprint race and is leading by 11 sec. Oops, flat tire and a retirement. 1. Where does he/she start on Sunday? 2. Is the entire Sunday grid set by finish positions in the sprint race? 3. Why should the slow guys/gals even bother with quali 1-3?
well i suppose it depends whether your thinking about the lucky black lad from the slums of stevenage or the middle class white lad with a fist happy dad, you'd need to specify really, i'm not that knowledgeable i've been told.
One can only presume he or she would start LAST, which would result in some whinging to a Mr Masi, and yes good point ref your 2nd question, id say without sounding to condescending and saying to many things that might sound like Facts .... that its probably in the Fia rule book they must take part in Quali, or do at least a lap, now like i say, whether that's a fact or opinion is up to cleverer people than me to decide im afraid . .
Sorry I missed your 2nd question ill try to give my opinion on this, yes I presume so but i really haven't a clue , we need someone a lot wiser to answer that one, i'm a bit short on facts as always , i should really do more research before i spout off .
No worries, I did the research. They have some work to do on this format.....yikes.
FRIDAY:
- Practice 1
- Normal 3 tier quali -establishes starting grid for sprint race - why bother if you know you will be last 2 rows, just concentrate on good sprint race result.
---PARC FERME---
SATURDAY:
- Practice 2 - kinda' silly if you can't change parts
- Sprint Race - points 1st 3 pts., 2d 2 pts, 3rd 1 pt. Establishes final grid for GP. Heaven help you if you have a schlermozzle.
SUNDAY:
- GP for full points
I think that I've got it right. If so, great that Liberty is pushing for more excitement but this seems to have a bunch of holes in it. We'll see.
Thanks for doing the research on this Ror, so 4th place is as worthless as 20th in terms of points, seems a winner for the first three but kinda pointless ( excuse the pun) for the rest, combine that with safety car/vsc or a red flag/heavy rain during the sprint race and it gets very complicated,and if its just to establish the grid , isn't that what quali is for?
From what i understand, there's no practice FP3 so in terms of mileage on the engines , it should be about the same as the sprint race, except in fp3 they aren't fully on it as per a race speed. So it'll be on 6 race weekends they'll have 33% more wear on all the components at race speed, im thinking over a season , that's the equivalent of an extra 2 Gps at race pace . now is that opinion or fact? .
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