Following on from comments in the Malaysian thread in relation to Radio Transmissions around certain drivers, I’m keen to understand what the general thoughts are on the principle of what is allowed and what isn’t. The reason I ask is that people’s perception of where a driver is benefiting from information differs. At present (my understanding, so please correct me if I am wrong) drivers are prevented from asking for, or being given information which helps establish where advantages are held etc. Example 1. A driver requests information on driver lines, gearing etc…. on a specific part of a track, or being coached to save fuel by driving style is deemed unacceptable/non-compliant and is often given a straight bat by the corresponding engineer. Example 2. A driver is told to drive to a certain delta time - or a delta time minus X tenths - which has been calculated, will catch the driver in front. This will have been calculated by the race engineer taking into account fuel levels and tyre degradation which is beyond the scope of a driver. For me Example 1 is clear cut, but Example 2 is debatable. Example 2 gives us a situation whereby the driver may drive too fast in the initial stage of a stint and be fuel & grip restricted at the end, or a driver that drives too slowly at the beginning of the stint leaving them with unused fuel & grip at the end. In both cases it’s more than likely that the driver’s decision will be + on the delta of the engineer’s calculation. By definition I would consider this a form of driver coaching or information that benefits a driver as per example 1, however others may not. My belief is that the control of information being restricted and the rules that stipulate what can and can’t be said are dubious, as per Example 1. In an ever complex world and formula it seems hypocritical that information that drivers have access to over race weekend is not allowed to be transmitted. After all, Example 2 is just a condensed and coded message of information. The flip side is maybe all communications should be ceased except for safety related instructions? I’m keen to understand what everyone’s thoughts are in relation to the rules and what really should be permitted or not.
For me the simplist way to make it fair is that either all information is allowed or no information is allowed - to have something inbetween is too grey and open to debate and change. Due to this I would vote only being given information on saftey: i.e Saftey car deployed, yellow flags, red flags, slowing cars, terminate the race due to car/component failure etc.
Everything should be allowed. At the end of the day, it's the driver driving and even if they get a lot of help from the engineers. I don't see what's wrong with asking how you're doing on fuel and tyres compared to someone else, it shows you're reading the race and know who you're racing. I can see why they got rid of it but I don't think it was the right decision.
I'd like to see some of the telemetery banned, namely the throttle and braking traces and GPS accurately showing where drivers turn in. Basically all the data the drivers would analyse with their engineers to find lap time. I'd like to see it revert to the driver finding lap time and setup based entirely on feel, and a weak team mate would be unable to free load off his team mate's data. I'd also like to see the fuel remaining made available only to the driver so they have to manage it themselves. Everything would still be available to the FIA though for investigations and such. Then I'd have the radio transmissions 100% open. No grey areas.
I think too much information is given over the radio and this is what can lead to boring races, as the drivers know exactly what they have to do to retain position etc. I disagree with AG's suggestion of banning telemetry analysis out of the cockpit as this is fundamental to a racing driver understanding his car and how he can be quicker and making improvements throughout a weekend, though I would say most drivers still drive based on how a car feels, so they won't need telemetry to tell them if a car is unbalanced, has too much oversteer etc as they will feel it in the car. Whether you could extend that to a ban on looking at other drivers data is debatable, though that would be quite good) It's a team analysis telemetry/GPS through a race and passing it on to the driver that I would not agree with, as that is then instructing a driver how to drive i.e. a driver should take a different line at certain points in the race because of tyre wear/track conditions etc. The driver should evolve his driving style with the tyres/track conditions himself during a race and work out the best line to take at any given point. General data can still be shown on a pitboard as normal, so drivers can be made aware of gaps to other drivers, but the information is basic and only tells the driver what he absolutely needs to know, so stuff like 'cool brakes', 'cool engine' etc can still be shown but it won't tell them how and where they should be doing it, like they are told on the radio now. I think it takes away a from a drivers skill when an engineer comes on the radio and says 'ok driver A, take a higher line into turn 8 and watch kerbs on exit of turn 10 to preserve tyres' or stuff like that.
I'd like to see things made more of a balancing act, all radio messages broadcast (would have to online click and chose joby) so that teams are even more careful how much they give away. Then just let them say what they want
I'd like to see no radio broadcasts apart for safety reasons, no stopping of engine development, no fuel limits, no car able to alter the wings to overtake the bloke in front, and the best driver win on his merit. You cannot legislate to make everyone equal in life or in F1. Try, and you end up with the mess that is the Radio system now.
Good debate this. I'm in the camp of allowing whatever transmissions the teams want. First and foremost, it's a team sport and artificial limits on inter-team communication seem to work against that. It does have to be all or nothing though, otherwise we end up with messages carefully worded to circumvent the rules, which if anything make things more complicated for the viewer. I also like the fact you get insight from the teams that the lousy commentary teams often miss. If there was an option to listen just with extensive team radio and a decent graphics package, I'd love that.
As strange as it sounds, i think the ban on driver coaching but other info is (almost) correct as it is. It just gets silly when you have the likes of Rosberg asking how other drivers are driving, what lines to take, what gears others are using. Part of being a driver is the driver doing that himself and finding himself where he can improve. I have no issues with a driver being told something like "your team mate is 2 tenths faster in sector 2", time info, tyre info even but when it comes to telling a driver where to put the car on the track and how to take specific corners better, that's not on.
Good thread, Smithers. I think the balance is about right at the moment, hence my vote as per current rules. However, nothing is perfect and I agree that anything in between comes in various shades of grey. Yet despite greater clarity, 'all or nothing' both lead to undesirable extremes. (Precisely the same argument can be applied to politics). The idea behind the rule. Essentially, this rule was introduced to prevent driver 'coaching' during competition. The idea is to address the perception that today's drivers are becoming less autonomous and more automaton, especially with ever more sophisticated telemetry – which may also differ between teams – by outlawing certain 'driver aid' type interactions regarding driving technique (be it for driver, team-mate or other team's drivers) or how lap time might be improved, for instance. Critical comments such as "driving an F1 car is easy" or "F1 is all about the car" diminish the perception of driver skill. Indeed, they suggest drivers are roughly interchangeable within the sport and reinforce the negative idea that World Champions achieve such status by dint of being in the right car at the right time (rightly or wrongly)* – or worse: that top drivers are little more than robots programmed by boffins in the pit lane who might actually prefer driverless, radio-controlled cars! Such thinking undermines the definition and status of 'Grand Prix' and 'Grand Prix Driver' as something / someone no longer to be regarded in awe – thereby cheapening the whole sport from top to bottom. I do not believe a sense of awe is encouraged by the perception that drivers are helped through external influence to physically drive the car; for instance, by telling a driver how to find a quicker way through a corner or how another driver may be achieving it! This is quite different to re-defining a strategic objective. Hence the reason for the rule (originally intended to be black or white), and its subsequent 'greyer' modification. *Regardless of the validity of such statements, it is clearly not in the sport's interest to add weight to such derision. - - -o0o- - - [Edited after becoming irritated at my own writing! (Previous wordiness was more than a bit 'Ron Dennis'!)]
Bit busy so I can't go in depth at the moment and will read others replies later, but in short it should be unrestricted. All the drivers can maximise their teams/engineers capabilities to get the best out of them, less excuses for the driver then after a race. Obviously the driver needs to learn to make informed decisions for themselves rather than relying whole heartedly on the teams/engineers ideas. I do side with the drivers in that they do have a lot to think about behind the wheel, some help from the team shouldn't be of any harm.
I think that the drivers should be the ones getting the car round the track but the engineers can tell them about things the driver can't see or feel. The problem is that is a very difficult line to draw. So all radio traffic should be public. If that has to be via a website so be it. But all radio traffic should be available to everyone in a live format. Mind you saying that if Bernie reads this he will see a money making opportunity.
