Sir Jackie Stewart: want more overtaking in F1? Make circuits punish drivers for their mistakes
Getting F1 back on track has been in the news this week with the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix and the start of the season put back to Melbourne on March 27.
Frustrated: Fernando Alonso was the favourite to take the drivers' crown last season but found himself unable to get past the Renault of Vitaly Petrov Photo: AP
By Sir Jackie Stewart 6:43PM GMT 26 Feb 2011
It was unquestionably the right decision and I hope we are back there later in the year.
A positive to come out of it, though, is that Australia is a great curtain raiser as it nearly always produces an exciting race, something, alas, a number of circuits on the calendar fail to do.
I have my own theory on this age-old problem.
In my time I have been a very keen golfer and when I think of the great golf courses of the world – from St Andrews to Pebble Beach to Augusta – they all have green fairways and they all have sandy bunkers.
Some suit the longer hitters; others place a premium on accuracy. But they each have their own unique characteristics. Crucially, no two of the ones I mentioned were designed by the same person.
My belief is that the major reason for the lack of overtaking in modern grand prix racing is down to the modern tracks, nearly all of which have been designed by the same man, the German architect Hermann Tilke.
Yes, braking zones are now much shorter due to highly efficient brakes and aerodynamic downforce, meaning there is a much smaller overtaking zone (in my day it may have been as much as 200m; now it is more like 50m).
But the new circuits themselves must take their share of the blame. Put simply, they are largely carbon copies of each other and they tend not to penalise mistakes.
Take the last race of 2010 for example. There were four drivers who could have clinched the championship in Abu Dhabi but Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was the overwhelming favourite.
He had only to finish fourth to secure his third world crown. It didn’t happen because he could not find a way past Vitaly Petrov, a rookie in his first season in F1 and with little or no experience of being under such pressure.
Alonso ran wide at the Yas Marina track on four separate occasions as he tried to best the Renault. And yet incredibly the car behind him, driven by Mark Webber, was still not able to pass.
The run-off area was so well manicured and without obstacles that Alonso was effectively able to make fairly big mistakes and still maintain his position. That is plainly wrong.
Racetracks have changed since my day and thank God for that. Back then a driver who raced for five years had a two in three chance of being killed.
Four to six drivers a year lost their lives. It was totally unacceptable and I campaigned hard for improved safety in the sport, which happily came to pass.
It is nearly 17 years since a life was lost in an F1 car. I can’t think of an industry, a sport or a business where that standard of risk management has been achieved.
But we have now gone too far the other way. Circuits should not permit liberties to be abused without a penalty that can be instantly recognised by spectators or TV viewers. Safety is one thing; abuse of privilege is another.
Tilke has been behind almost every new circuit in F1 since the early 1990s. In some respects, he has done a great job, bringing fantastic amenities and luxuries to the sport. But I fear he has not done much for the spectators.
Unless circuits are modified, spectators and television viewers might have to live with a lack of overtaking for some time.
For years F1’s governing body the FIA has been convinced that tweaking the technical regulations – such as changing from slick to treaded tyres – would allow overtaking to return. It has not happened.
This year the introduction of moveable wings manipulated by drivers and the return of KERS devices, have been brought in to encourage overtaking. But I have another solution.
What if Tilke simply modified the corners around his circuits in such a way that if a driver runs wide he is penalised?
What if the surface of the run-off areas was changed so that a car’s traction is reduced and a driver going wide loses ground either to the car he is following or allows the car chasing him to pass?
Pretty simple really – and a lot cheaper than developing KERS.
Making mistakes is something we all do. In most cases we have to pay for those mistakes. We shouldn’t die for them but we surely should be penalised.
This is what race fans the world over want to see; the best drivers in the world, in the most advanced cars, competing to become world champion. They should not be able to get there by getting away with making mistakes.
The fee for this article is going to the Grand Prix Mechanics Charitable Trust
vitaly petrov, sir jackie stewart, hermann tilke, bahrain grand prix, green fairways, german architect, curtain raiser, fernando alonso, keen golfer, jackie stewart, carbon copies, downforce, rsquo, great golf, pebble beach, right decision, 50m, st andrews, abu dhabi, grand prix racing
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário