How do we prevent this embarrassing spectacle whereby the most advanced racing machines in the world are scuppered by some rain, a natural event that cannot be controlled, something the sport has been dealing with for its entire 60 year history and something it seems to have been unable to come up with a satisfactory solution to. We, as fans, deserve to see the best racing spectacle the sport can offer us. However there is a balancing act, we all realise this. Trackside fan's, marshall's and the driver's safety is paramount. As is the ultimate speed of the car in a predominantly dry calendar and the design of the car to optimise pace in dry conditions ultimately seems to be the undoing of these vehicles when the rain rolls in. So what, if anything, can the teams and FIA do?
They should put a roof on the St Lawrence seaway island. Worked for Wimbledon. I think something as simple as higher ground clearances would make a significant difference.
The only alternative is to postpone the race and hold it the next day. Sod that. It's fine the way it is but perhaps they could allow a complete revision of the setup in these conditions.
but higher ground clearance is one of those things that takes away from racing in the dry? does it not also have a greater impact on an overtaking driver's ability to deal with dirty air?
First point: Yes. But they always try to slow the cars down anyway. Second point: I don't think so. The air through the diffuser is very high energy due to being compressed and accelerated as it goes under the floor. I think higher ground clearance would reduce the turbulence. Obviously the cars will be more dependent on wings for downforce, which makes them more sensitive to turbulence. I suppose it's a trade off.
Just rewatching the race, Coulthard commented early on that actually putting on the wet tyres does raise the ride height, to reduce the issues with standing water, so I don't think raising the ride height itself would have any benefit.
get a good drainage system at every track and some partytents to put over the cars as they stand on the grid , what an idea Mercedes had
Could you create a semi-porous tarmac, with some way to drain the water out from the layer under the tarmac?
True, it had crossed my mind. Also, it would kind of ruin the current situation where different tracks have different grip levels. I don't know what the solution is really, and I guess the argument after that it, do we need one? When rain is predicted for race day, would it not be worth bringing the start time forwards? That way if we have a red flag, there's more daylight left for a restart?
It's up to the designers if they choose to build a car that's great in the wet; they can if they like. The fact is that this is unusual though, so they don't. In my view the Safety Car was out longer than it needed to be after the restart, but we got a race and it was a fantastic spectacle. I think we should celebrate F1's success in the face of adverse conditions, rather than complain that it wasn't perfectly to everyone's taste. Nature isn't always obliging, but for the most part, F1 gets on with it and I think any true fan of F1 realises that it was the whole sport which won in Montréal.
Less turbulence occurs when the air is more controllable. This happens if the car is as low as possible, as well as reducing drag. Therefore a higher ground clearance creates more turbulence.
