Can't they just up the minimum weight limit? Seems unfair that genuinely talented drivers like Hulk are going to miss out because he happens to be a little taller than the average F1 driver. It's going to end up like the MotoGP, where unless you're under 3 foot tall, you have no hope in hell.
As a cox for rowing, I'm a participant in a sport with a minimum weight limit that's going to cause me to lose out, it's one of the things that happens. The fact that I'm taller than most puts me 10kg over the weight limit - I can't lose that weight without becoming essentially a skeleton - which has a detrimental effect on speed. When you get to the elite level, the margins you are choosing between are so fine that I will probably not be significantly different from any other coxswain on the water - except those coxes might be bang on the weight limit. In which case the decision is pretty clear really. F1 is different in a way, because the driver and the car have to be weighed together, which means that you're kind of weighing two different things simultaneously as one thing. If you will recall, a few years ago half the teams opted against using KERS because they felt it would suit the cars better to use that extra 20kg as movable ballast (and, for the most part, were probably right, but as KERS has improved, obviously matters have changed). The FIA should raise the weight limit if the actual weight of the cars is likely to increase, but equally it would be farcical if they were to increase the weight limit and then discover that the cars will be the same as this year. The real point, perhaps, is that the FIA should plan their rule changes a lot more in advance...
Its obviosu that the base weight of the cars will increase due to the technical changes and whilst F1 is at the forefront of design it is crazy to disadvantage X No of teams/drivers. I cant understand why "some" teams with smaller driver would object to a weight increase of say 5 or 10Kg because if the "objecting" teams are within the existing weight limit it would give them more ballast which is surely an advantage? Moreover its just unsporting, the likes of Webber & Button seem painfully thin already and asking existing drivers to lose futher weight to comlpy with a regulation which would not negatively affect any team is just plain stupid.
Massa fears 2014 F1 show will suffer because of new rules "It can be definitely very frustrating to do the race saving fuel from the beginning, but it's not just at the beginning - it will be [the whole] championship. "It is difficult to complain about something we don't know how it's going to be, so let's wait and see. "But if it's really like that, it won't be very interesting, it won't be very nice talking about the driver." So the Merc engine drivers are going on about weight, the Ferrari engine drivers worried about efficiency. So another season of Renault engine supremacy
Swipe.......... "Fernando Alonso does not expect Kimi Raikkonen to deliver a dramatic transformation to Ferrari next season as he believes that Felipe Massa is no slower than his future team-mate" http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/110497
I'm fairly sure Kimi is one of the least caring guys when it comes to mind games so Alonso is wasting his breath
I dont think Alonso is in a position to comment on previous Ferrari driver based on results. Kimi is Ferrari's last WDC and Massa came within the final corner of being one aswell, both of which is agtleast equal to or more than he has achieved. By definition if he believed Massa to be better or equal to Kimi, then surely Alonso will outscore Kimi next season in the same fashion - time will tell? A silly comment (if accurate) to make IMO.
ah, a return to the 80's? Those renault turbos were fast, it was a shame the engines rarely lasted the race without pretending they were members of the red arrows and giving us a trail of white smoke around the track before they trundled to a halt.
And here's Vettel about to cross the line, oh no! his engine blew... Alonso will surely take victory now.... BUT WAIT! he's stopping on track he has ran out of fuel. This will surely be an easy win for Lewis then.... *2hrs later* "Lewis Hamilton has been excluded from the race as it seems the weight of him and the engine manipulated the suspension to classify it as (ride height) for being a fat bastard and all." Max Chilton wins the WDC being the only driver slow enough/ light enough to conserve fuel over a race weekend and survive.
Nice to see McLaren reacting to this season aggressively. Shame that they apparently won't get him until 2015, but things are looking good for the Honda era.
How can anyone know this? They won't run for another six months. Any issues that have shown up on the dyno will be being fixed and they'll have a load of testing before they ever race. Unless you have a crystal ball you won't know which engines are unreliable until its cars start stopping on track. Great signing for McLaren. Newey gets most of the plaudits but he doesn't do it all himself and Prodromou and Marshall are hugely important to them. I wasn't expecting it to be either of them, I can't see why you'd leave such a successful team, I can only assume McLaren have offered him a lot of money. I think Goss and Prodromou will be a pretty powerful design partnership if McLaren get the structure right.
Maybe it's not just money perhaps McLaren will give him a more senior role then he currently has at Red Bull.
So according to this Hulkenberg has signed for Lotus. Brundle was saying earlier that he was talking to Hulk on the plane to Japan and a deal was done or something. I know it's not really a source or anything but it's better than nothing I suppose
Sure hope it's Lotus, Eddie was only saying; "I think he is going to Force India" so it's likely Hulk has contracts for both but only one option on his part.
