I have just watched the Russian GP F1 forum . Eddie Jordan mentions that Alonso has made the worst decision of his career . I thought he was / is always going to McLaren if he left Ferrari , where has this Mercedes rumour come from ?
The Mercedes rumour has been floating around a while. Much like the Hamilton -> Red Bull rumour last year, it seems to be based on Mercedes being Alonso's preference (well obviously any driver would want to be in the unequivocal best car on the grid). There seems to be less to substantiate the claims on Mercedes' side, it mostly appears to be a combination of Hamilton's contract negotiations stalling and the belief that Alonso is one of the best drivers on the grid (who they would thus obviously want to sign). As I've heard no concrete figures I'm inclined to believe it's bullshit for next year. It *could* happen come 2016 if Alonso gets his one-year deal or takes a sabbatical. Truly a modern-day Prost
Probably still finalising the details of Alonso's rather huge salary, OR the major problem is the length of the deal and when it will kick in.
Alonso could be angling for an initial 1-year deal with performance breaks, if meet then the second part any contract will be invoked. If McLaren/Honda are ****e next year, he could walk away, maybe to Merc for 2016, should they not agree a deal with Hamilton..
Much knicker twisting about the Brazilian GP tyres from the ever calm and thoughtful Massa... Felipe Massa has called Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli's decision to take its medium and hard compounds to the Brazilian Grand Prix "dangerous". http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116347
I did at that but, in his defence and in light of recent events, if any current and conscious driver has the right to complain about danger, it's Felipe. Incidentally, I've heard he does a mean 'Thong Song' at karaoke...
Erm, not for nothing, but what exactly would Massa rather they do, take the supersofts? I'm confused.
I often wonder if Felipe Massa jumps on the phone every morning to Rob Smedley for a scream down it describing the need to get out of bed as "Dangerous and potentially life threatening". I know his history perhaps makes him more "Placed" to say things like that (Even though his accident was a freak occurrence), but he is way OTT on way too many relatively trivial matters, it has long gone past the point where people have stopped listening to his concerns, genuine as they may be, purely because he has so many all in the "OMG, THIS IS THE END OF THE WORLD IF THIS HAPPENS" tone.
Kobayashi may be out the door sadly. http://www.f1today.net/en/news/caterham-very-surprised-to-hear-kobayashi-claims?
Well it worked! Petr Hlawiczka ‏@hlawiczka 25s25 seconds ago #F1 #Pirelli reacts to critics and alters tyre nominations for #BrazilianGP: now soft & medium! [h=4]2014 F1 tyre allocations[/h][TABLE="class: thin"] [TR] [TH]Circuit[/TH] [TH]2014 Option[/TH] [TH]2014 Prime[/TH] [TH]2013 Option[/TH] [TH]2013 Prime[/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Melbourne[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Super Soft[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Sepang[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Hard[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Hard[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Shanghai[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Bahrain[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]Hard[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Catalunya[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Hard[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Hard[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Monte-Carlo[/TD] [TD]Super Soft[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]Super Soft[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Montreal[/TD] [TD]Super Soft[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]Super Soft[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Red Bull Ring[/TD] [TD]Super Soft[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]n/a[/TD] [TD]n/a[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Silverstone[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Hard[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Hard[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Hockenheimring[/TD] [TD]Super Soft[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]n/a[/TD] [TD]n/a[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Hungaroring[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Spa-Francorchamps[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Hard[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Monza[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Hard[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Hard[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Singapore[/TD] [TD]Super Soft[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]Super Soft[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Suzuka[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Hard[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Hard[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Sochi[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]n/a[/TD] [TD]n/a[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Circuit of the Americas[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Hard[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Interlagos[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Medium[/TD] [TD]Hard[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Yas Marina[/TD] [TD]Super Soft[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]Soft[/TD] [TD]Medium [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]
... How does bringing softer tyres make the race LESS dangerous? What am I missing? I mean, I'm sure it'll be more exciting and less one-stoppy, but...
Cold, non-abrasive surface means it's much harder to get tyres up to their operating temperature. Less grip means more danger. But the Russian GP probably had the lowest tyre deg we've seen since Pirelli came in, and it wasn't a safety issue.
Please excuse my bold, DHC. I understand where you're coming from and you're spot on about getting up to operating temperatures; but when discussing grip in terms of racing, the safety argument is essentially moot*. In reality, less grip means 'drive more slowly than if you had more grip'. Bearing in mind that a race driver's job is to explore whatever grip is available, right up to 'the edge' (ideally about 99.99% of a personally perceived limit), danger is nothing more or less than a product of exceeding one's ability to utilise and stay within the bounds of what is available. The consequences of exceeding grip are clearly of greater concern when this perceived limit – at any given moment – occurs at higher, rather than lower, speeds. Therefore I hope you'll forgive me for suggesting a modification to your statement, thus: less predictability means more danger. Perhaps the clearest example is racing on a surface which offers varying grip, such as usually occurs in wet weather. Inevitably, some parts of the surface are wetter than others, and this also evolves (predictably or unpredictably according to one's perception at any given moment) as the race progresses. * It can be argued that when a loss of grip occurs at lower speeds, safety actually increases, so long as the 'predictability factor' is constant. As discussed above, it is this lack of predictability which is really the cause of increased danger. It is also why skid-pans are the safest way to learn to 'get to grips' with a loss of grip since it occurs very early – and deliberately – at lower speeds! To sum up: human error is more likely to occur when circumstances are less predictable. Less grip does not necessarily mean 'less predictable', especially if this is due to tyres, since less grippy tyres usually take longer to 'evolve' and are therefore usually more predictable! Whether or not Pirelli's change of heart makes things more or less predictable, is an altogether different subject. In this instance, either Massa perceived the harder tyres as less predictable, or he chose the wrong words to express his concern, or he has been misquoted…
Thank you for the explanations, DHC and cosi. My preoccupation was with the dangers of tyres "going off" too quickly or even getting shredded (as happened in the farce at and immediately following the British GP last year where Pirelli tried to "correct" issues with the tyres and ended up making them worse). Hopefully that will not be the case!
Firstly, I confess to not knowing exactly what Massa was quoted as saying, or his motivation for expressing concern, but one can only guess that he considered Pirelli's initial tyre choice for his home Grand Prix more likely to be less predictable - unless he truly believes they would have fallen apart! The final paragraph in my earlier post was in part, an attempt to concur with your, "What am I missing?" question because I think it's likely that Massa has been quoted at least partly out of context. At face value, I agree with you that tyres designed to last longer should not be less safe, all else being equal; so either Massa knows something we don't or he has some other motive for wanting softer tyres - or he has not been quoted in full! That said, DHC's response about cold, non-abrasive surfaces is relevant because it can lead to a 'graining' of tyre surfaces, due to the increased slip-angles associated with less grip. Oddly enough, this can actually lead to the counter-intuitive situation where a softer compound lasts longer because it slips less!
