F1 - Why The FIA Have Made A Huge Mistake

So the Great Mercedes/Pirelli Tyre Scandal of 2013 is finally at a close with Mercedes being punished as expected. The punishment: a reprimand and a ban from taking part in this year’s young driver test. A Mercedes team statement claims that “in the best interests of the sport, the team does not intend to avail itself of any right to appeal the decision.”

No kidding. This punishment is ill advised on so many levels and Mercedes must know they have effectively gotten away with it.

First up, answer me this, FIA: how on Earth does banning Mercedes from the young driver test hurt the team? Lest we forget that Mercedes they already has two very young and incredibly fast racers in Rosberg and Hamilton, so they are not exactly crying out for young, fresh blood and therefore rendering the punishment utterly pointless.

It really does strike me as odd that the FIA has singled out the young driver test where, let’s be honest, any useful feedback on a car will be minimal because these drivers are young and will have little or no experience behind the wheel of a Grand Prix racer.

Secondly, why take out a management error out on young drivers when F1 is harder than it ever was to break into, what with the already paltry limited in-season testing? I genuinely cannot believe that somebody thought it a wise idea to punish potential stars of the future because some fat-cats at the top (who have already established themselves within F1) made an error. As far as I can see, the players involved in the decision to test get off free, whilst entirely innocent parties are punished.

Now the FIA does acknowledge that neither Mercedes or Pirelli acted in bad faith or set out to gain any unfair advantage, but the point is they did gain an unfair advantage and this is the error of the management, not the fault of a twenty-year old youngster looking for his big break.

Somebody with significant authority within Mercedes even went to the lengths of telling Lewis and Nico to wear anonymous, black helmets instead of their own easily identifiable ones. These are the actions of somebody with a guilty conscience and it is these actions that should be punished.

There are some mighty intelligent people in that team and this sort of instruction is not given on a whim. I simply cannot get my head around this.

You do have to question the FIA sometimes, even on a race-by-race process, what with its inability to deal with racing incidents during the race and instead choosing to deal with incidents after the grand prix. Yes, it must be challenging to stay on top of the countless issues that must arise and require action, but I do find it irritating when, for whatever reason, innocent parties are hung out to dry unnecessarily.

So, do you agree?

Article by Ben Hawkins

You can read more of Ben's work, and the original copy of this article, at his website http://wheelnutter.wordpress.com

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Why The WRC Ain’t What It Used To Be

Once upon a time, the WRC was to go-to place for young boys with petrol in their veins looking for heroes to worship. The cars were monsters and the drivers spat in danger's face as they tackled borderline suicidal night-stages stages. I remember sitting watching with my jaw on the floor at the driving I was witnessing as my heroes cemented themselves into my psyche: Burns with his never-say-die attitude, McRae and his "if in doubt, flat-out" mantra, Makinen the machine, Gronholm the lanky Finn and the crazy Panizzi brothers who once, on the way to victory, did a few donuts mid-stage just to please the crowds. Go back further and you had the great Ari Vatanen and Walter Rohl and the infamous Group B cars. These days however, it just doesn't do it for me in the way it used to, and I think there a few reasons for this.

The Drivers

I've already mentioned some of the greats, but these guys were and still are household names. Even my mum knows who they are. Stop somebody on the streets and show them a picture of Colin McRae and Sebastian Ogier and I'm fairly certain of the outcome. Not that this is the fault of the drivers as such, but there was an extended golden age of the WRC where we were blessed with genuine characters who made for not just great drivers, but interesting human beings. And out of this formed immense rivalries - Sainz v Makkinen, McRae v Burns. Now I get this is subjective, but my next point isn't: the WRC doesn't even have the best drivers. Yes Ken Block is good and Petter Solberg was once World Champion, but the best rally driver is Sebastian Loeb, and he doesn't play anymore. He comes back once in a while and batters the opposition with barely a bead of sweat forming on his brow. Not his fault, but I want to see the best drivers in the world racing each other. Not the best driver getting so bored of winning (because it was that easy for him) that he goes elsewhere for his kicks.

The Cars

So which WRC cars do you lust for? Delta Integrale? Subaru Impreza? Evo? Audi Quattro? Me too. These were intimidating, hard-as-nails cars which made just as good poster cars as any piece of Italian exotica. These days a 1.6 VW Polo just doesn't evoke the passion in me. I don't for one second doubt the capabilities of these cars, but they lack the "wow" factor and have an air of junior racers about them. One of the joys of the WRC has always been that you can buy the road-going version of the cars we see jumping and sliding their way through Finland, even if it's just a £500 used Impreza you were still buying into the heritage. Less so with a VW Polo. Furthermore, there are only two works teams present with VW and Citroen. Companies that once traded out of the WRC like Subaru, Toyota, Skoda, Ford, Hyundai and Mitsubishi have long gone making the sport more for gentleman racers who can knock together a bit of cash.

Would you rather own this?

Or this?

Television

I used to watch the WRC on the BBC on Grandstand - a channel with an enormous target audience. Back when we had British drivers competing at the very top, there was genuine national interest in the sport but now I'm not so sure. These days ITV4 run a highlights show, which is all well and good, but ITV4? Really? It just feels like it's been relegated and that nobody really cares too much. Perhaps the lack of potential audience is ultimately behind the WRCs decline, with manufacturers and drivers alike receiving less exposure and therefore less incentive to partake.

The Future

It's a shame that times have changed because I genuinely miss the WRC and with money and eco-awareness coming more to the fore of motorsport, the cars are unlikely to change. Perhaps what we need is an influx of British heroes to re-ignite the national interest in the sport and more manufacturers to take the plunge.

Until then, watch Ari Vatanen demonstrate what bravery looks like. Behold the Climb Dance.

Article by Ben Hawkins

You can read more of Ben's work, and the original copy of this article, at his website http://wheelnutter.wordpress.com

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How A Track Day Will Make You A Safer Driver

I like to think that I am a good driver, as no doubt do you. After all, the reason I am writing this and the reason you are reading it is because of a shared passion for the world of motoring. As a result I do take driving seriously, partly because the result of taking it lightly could result in serious injury or worse, but also because I enjoy getting it right. Sod’s law will now dictate that tomorrow morning I am smeared along the outside barrier of the A14, but overall I am confident to say that I can do it safely and properly.

But what about driving quickly? Well the law dictates that I’ve only driven at a maximum of 70, but I’ve dabbled in karting for many years and I’ve beaten a decent majority of those I’ve raced against. Now I must confess that I get the red mist when karting, daring myself to take a corner totally flat or committing to an overtaking move that is frankly daft and I do this without fear of injury because, let’s face it, you’d be mighty unlucky to have a karting prang and not walk away from it.

And I must also confess to finishing a race feeling pretty damn good about my driving skills and manly for having tamed this 30mph beast. But this hubris was shot to pieces a few years ago when I completed that holiest of all petrolhead rites of passage: the track day. The track: Silverstone. The car: a Lotus S2 Exige. 

This was to be my first experience of actually driving a car at full-throttle as, rather spiffingly, we were informed in the safety briefing that we could in fact press the loud pedal as hard as we liked, on the understanding that we were prepared to drop the anchors equal vigour. Which seemed reasonable.

Now I’ll be honest, I was nervous at the thought of racing around a track, but quietly confident in my abilities. It started with a 4 lap session with around 10 other Exiges, a handful of Ferrari 360s and a maniacal orange Caterham which was by far the fastest and most terrifying way around the circuit. My confidence lasted the full length of getting into the car, tooling out of the pit lane behind said orange Caterham, and being lackadaisically told by the instructor to “keep up with the car in front”. 

Nice idea, but it was never going to happen. Partly because my dosage of brave pills had caused short-term memory loss and I didn’t really know which way the circuit went, but mainly because my senses went into overload. It really was a barrage of bumps, screaming noise and me desperately trying to spot my braking and turning points as the scenery flew by. I’ll admit, initially it all felt a bit much. That said, I soon got into a rhythm and even overtook one of the 360s as I got ever quicker, and very soon I was going as fast as I could. I was sweating and everything!

As I said at the start, I think I am a good driver and I knew about racing lines and the best gear to be in etc, so I was feeling pretty good about myself. I even had my entry speed into Stowe compared to that of one L.Hamilton. Although in retrospect, this may have been a polite notice that I was going too quickly. (If you don’t know Stowe, it’s a long right hander that comes off the Hangar Straight, so entry speeds are significant!) 

The experience was all too short and my total of 9 laps gone in what seemed like a handful of minutes. Anyway, I did get a score of 87% from my instructor, leaving me one again feeling somewhat smug! 

At the end of the session, I received two passenger laps at the hands of my instructor and it was about 12 seconds into this experience that my smugness gave way to pure awe. My self-delusion of driving prowess decimated and destroyed in a flurry of g-force and over-steer. However talented I thought I was at car control; however knowledgeable I thought myself to be about just what a car is capable of all came crashing down. 

I was genuinely shocked at the difference between a mere driving enthusiast and a racing driver. I had no idea that you can overtake a Ferrari 360 in an Exige at Stowe corner on full-opposite lock. Turns out you can. I thought I was hitting the kerbs beautifully. I wasn’t. The ferocity with which the professional hit the kerbs caused the stiffly sprung Exige momentarily onto two wheels. 

I thought I was the last of the late brakers. Not until you brake so hard you can feel your neck giving way can you claim that one. I thought I had my braking point into a tricky chicane sussed. Turns out I shouldn’t have been braking at all and my instructor probably had me down as some kind of massive wimp. And here lies the crux of where this is going: I was holding on for dear life with the car calling the shots, whereas with my instructor, the car sang to his tune. Every movement was deliberate. Every input was made with full knowledge of what the outcome would be. It was eye-opening stuff.

I could go on all day about this, but if you have a love of driving then I urge you to have a go at a proper track day with professional instructors.  Yes it is expensive and no you don’t get many laps, but to have a front row seat and see how it’s meant to be done is an invaluable experience. You will learn a precious lesson about the respect a car deserves and its ability to bite you hard. Driving at speed really does focus the mind and you become aware of every movement the car makes, every sound it makes, every bump in the road. 

It makes you realise that at these high speeds, if you don’t know what you are doing, you can very easily wind up travelling straight to the scene of a rather unpleasant accident. Fine if you are okay with harming yourself. Not fine to put others in danger. 

It made plain as day to me the difference between driving within the speed limits and and driving at speed and the difference between what you think you can do and what you can actually do. So please, go on a professionally lead track day. Enjoy it. Learn what a car can do and what you can do. And please also learn just what liberties can and can’t be taken on the public roads. I honestly believe that it will make you a safer driver.

Article by Ben Hawkins

You can read more of Ben's work, and the original copy of this article, at his website http://wheelnutter.wordpress.com

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