Another weekend another Verstappen win. I’m going to keep my Merc thoughts to myself for fear of saying something people won’t like. I assume RedBull will be strong agin next year, but McLaren drivers could well be close behind and I think are scrapping it out for the title of “next big thing”. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top.
Next years schedule is out . They are the penultimate race , and it will be 6 eeeks later than this year . Talking of next year . 24 races . Season starts in Feb , ends in December
From the BBC Qatar Grand Prix: Drivers feel the heat during 'brutal' race Formula 1 drivers said conditions in Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix were "beyond the limit" and "too extreme". A number of drivers needed medical attention for either dehydration or heat exhaustion after a race run in high temperatures and humidity. And Alpine driver Esteban Ocon said he had vomited in his helmet. Mercedes driver George Russell said: "It was an absolutely brutal race, by far the most physical I have ever experienced. I felt close to fainting." Russell added he had "never experienced anything like that before". Williams driver Logan Sergeant retired because he could not cope with conditions any longer. The team said he had later been "cleared by the medical team on-site after suffering from intense dehydration during the race (having been) weakened by having flu-like symptoms earlier in the week". The American's team-mate Alex Albon was taken to the medical centre and treated for acute heat exposure. He, too, was assessed and cleared by the medical team. Aston Martin's Lance Stroll sought out an ambulance to receive treatment for dehydration and many drivers lay down in the garage of governing body the FIA after the race as they sought to recover. The race was held in temperatures of more than 30C with high levels of humidity on a track with many high-speed corners. The decision to limit stint lengths to just 18 laps because of safety concerns about the tyres exacerbated the situation as it meant drivers were pushing harder than usual. F1 grands prix have been generally defined by tyre management since Pirelli became the supplier in 2011. Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who won his third world title on Saturday and followed it up with victory in the grand prix, said: "These kind of temperatures are just too extreme. "When I saw the weather before I came here, I wasn't looking forward to it. It has nothing to do with more training; some of the guys struggling are extremely fit and probably fitter than me. "The whole day you walk around (like you are) in the sauna and then in the night the humidity goes up. "But there are a few places like that. Singapore is like a two-hour race and it's very warm and it's on the limit of what should be allowed. It was way too hot." McLaren's Lando Norris, who finished third behind team-mate Oscar Piastri, said: "Today we probably found the limit. Sad we had to find it that way - some people ending up in the medical centre or passing out. A pretty dangerous thing. "We are in a car that gets extremely hot, in a very physical race. On TV it probably doesn't look that physical but when you have people who end up retiring it is too much; for the speeds we are doing it is too dangerous. It's something we need to speak about because it shouldn't have happened in the first place." Russell said: "I felt ill during this race. It was insane how hot it was. It was like you were inside an oven. "I sometimes train in saunas and you push your body to the limit and you get to a point where it's too hot and you're like, 'I want to get out.' That was the feeling from about lap 12. "There were points when I thought I was going to faint. It was unbelievable." Ocon said: "Lap 15-16, I was throwing up for two laps in the cockpit and I was like: 'It is going to be a long race.' Then I tried to remember the mental side is the strongest part of the body. I managed to get that under control. I was not expecting the race to be that hard." Ferrari's Charles Leclerc said: "You can't see as well. The reflexes are much slower; many things are happening in the body and it makes it more difficult to be precise at 200mph with the vision not as good as at the beginning." Leclerc was one of several drivers who expressed relief that the Qatar race has been scheduled for six weeks later next season, on 1 December. But he added: "Even that I don't know if it's enough. It was at the limit of being on the dangerous side in the last few laps. "We had time to rest (immediately after the race) and you could see many people were not feeling well. "We will have to regroup and speak abut it to anticipate these things a bit."
I live in an extremely humid part of the world. It can get above 100°f (around 40°c) for extended periods of time, and it's not fun. If I go out outside to do 2 hours of yard work I come in drenched and feel unwell. Humidity and heat are no joke. It literally saps the life from you. Imagine that strapped to an F1 car
ah bless, they got a lot of money for actually driving hard for a change. this is what I get out of this a) they actually had to push for a whole race. b) they are supposed to be supremely fit c) they clearly do not have any sort of mandates on cooling of drinking water nor minimum carrying capacity. if I were the fia I would be looking to force the teams to design actual proper fluid system thst should last a 2 hour sauna. they have loads of rads on the cars but their drinking water gets hot and they run out? go fix that.
It’s probably fair to say that peak fitness levels have dropped in the Pirelli era - this is probably the reason we see more drivers in their late 30’s and even into their 40’s now. In this instance however it seems to have affected nearly everyone pretty badly irrespective of age or fitness. I’d see this as a genuine safety concern, both from dehydration directly, or the possibility of a crash being caused by it’s effects. The driver’s are obviously pushing for changes from the scheduling side of things primarily, but I also wanted to note that you’re talking a significant amount of weight and package space to add a cooled drinking system for a couple of races a year. The demands for cooling a human and for cooling an F1 powertrain are totally different things, see your road car for a less extreme example.
Yes, I think it is over enthusiasm to be back at the top. There is more burning inside him than he lets on. He is perhaps a little tunnel focused, seeing a chance to get in front of Max. It was however a basic error and he knows it.
Seems to me that was more dangerous than some of the wet races that get stopped. Who knows if there might even be long term health issues in later life from that amount of heat exhaustion. It must have felt like hell for the drivers. All credit to their professionalism. As for Liberty and the FIA the first is commercially greedy at any cost and the later we know borders on incompetence at times, this being one of those times.
its actually far easier cool a human form 50 degrees down to normal body temp than cool and engine. you only need a water flow and radiator and you can have what they have in sapce suits if you want. you do not have to do it with air. plus doubling the drinks bottle size should be extremely simple.
it's also shown off by radio chatter at the start. he knew he was boned by going softs early if he couldn't get right up there and push on so went for it. with respect he knows full well the antics of weaving Russell gets up to at the best of times let alone refusing to pull over for the good of the team. he's gone for it there put of desperation. simple as and knows he ****ed it, but he would do it all again
Sorry if this has been mentioned , but at least one driver pointed out that because of the rule that tyres had to be changed every 18 laps , made each stint a sprint race so they were going flat out every lap .
wurz has stated that new fire protection suit regs are contributing to this as they are highly insulated. he also stated the regs should move hot electrical parts away from driver seat area and re-route hydraulic piping (not sure how you do this for front end of the car) He has stated that teams shoudl build 2cooling seats" as other forms have them. I fail to see how the suit and a cooling seat work together really.
