Qualifying change to happen for Bahrain
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From: West Henrietta UPSTATE NY
Qualifying change to happen for Bahrain
I think this is a good thing, as it apprears some drivers are not smart enough to know on their own to stay the hell off the racing line when you are going slow...
FIA to tweak qualifying for Bahrain
By Jonathan Noble
Friday, March 28th 2008, 18:19 GMT
The FIA is to revise the rules for qualifying in time for the Bahrain Grand Prix in a bid to ensure there is no repeat of the controversy that marred the session in Malaysia, autosport.com has learned.
In Sepang, a quirk in the current regulations meant that several drivers were touring slowly back to the pits in a bid to conserve fuel while other drivers were on their final qualifying laps.
This led to dangerous scenes when Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso had to weave their way past much slower cars, and resulted in Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton being penalized for blocking their rivals.
With that scenario having prompted widespread calls for the qualifying rules to change, the FIA is to issue an imminent clarification to the teams imposing a maximum laptime for drivers in qualifying.
This will prevent drivers from going too slowly after they have finished their qualifying runs.
It is similar to the rule that is in place for drivers on their reconnaissance laps to the grid - which was prompted by fears of collisions between cars going slowly to conserve fuel and those going fast to evaluate their set-up.
An FIA spokesman confirmed that teams will be notified of the decision to impose a maximum time limit, which is likely to be 120 percent of a normal lap.
"The matter is under discussion and our clarification to the teams and drivers will be that cars returning to the pits having completed their flying lap or laps will be required to do so within a time that we will set," the spokesman told autosport.com.
"This could be approximately 120% of the 'normal' time as we do to prevent drivers going very slowly to the grid to save fuel."
By Jonathan Noble
Friday, March 28th 2008, 18:19 GMT
The FIA is to revise the rules for qualifying in time for the Bahrain Grand Prix in a bid to ensure there is no repeat of the controversy that marred the session in Malaysia, autosport.com has learned.
In Sepang, a quirk in the current regulations meant that several drivers were touring slowly back to the pits in a bid to conserve fuel while other drivers were on their final qualifying laps.
This led to dangerous scenes when Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso had to weave their way past much slower cars, and resulted in Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton being penalized for blocking their rivals.
With that scenario having prompted widespread calls for the qualifying rules to change, the FIA is to issue an imminent clarification to the teams imposing a maximum laptime for drivers in qualifying.
This will prevent drivers from going too slowly after they have finished their qualifying runs.
It is similar to the rule that is in place for drivers on their reconnaissance laps to the grid - which was prompted by fears of collisions between cars going slowly to conserve fuel and those going fast to evaluate their set-up.
An FIA spokesman confirmed that teams will be notified of the decision to impose a maximum time limit, which is likely to be 120 percent of a normal lap.
"The matter is under discussion and our clarification to the teams and drivers will be that cars returning to the pits having completed their flying lap or laps will be required to do so within a time that we will set," the spokesman told autosport.com.
"This could be approximately 120% of the 'normal' time as we do to prevent drivers going very slowly to the grid to save fuel."
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From: West Henrietta UPSTATE NY
Originally Posted by s2ksimon,Mar 31 2008, 08:39 AM
wow, a decent implemention for a change from the FIA 
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What constitutes a "normal" lap?
It just like the FIA to leave the door open to interpretation, so they can argue the "Sprit" of the rules instead of having a black and white case when problems arise.
It just like the FIA to leave the door open to interpretation, so they can argue the "Sprit" of the rules instead of having a black and white case when problems arise.
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From: West Henrietta UPSTATE NY
Originally Posted by Cypher09,Mar 31 2008, 09:19 AM
What constitutes a "normal" lap?
It just like the FIA to leave the door open to interpretation, so they can argue the "Sprit" of the rules instead of having a black and white case when problems arise.
It just like the FIA to leave the door open to interpretation, so they can argue the "Sprit" of the rules instead of having a black and white case when problems arise.
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From: Toronto
Originally Posted by Cypher09,Mar 31 2008, 09:19 AM
What constitutes a "normal" lap?
It just like the FIA to leave the door open to interpretation, so they can argue the "Sprit" of the rules instead of having a black and white case when problems arise.
It just like the FIA to leave the door open to interpretation, so they can argue the "Sprit" of the rules instead of having a black and white case when problems arise.
I think this is a good rule change for once!
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From: Toronto, ON
120 or 115%, still have to get off the racing line. Maclaren should have gotten stiffer penalties IMO, that could caused a huge crash!
Good move by FIA but i still think they need to tweak qualifying a bit more...
Good move by FIA but i still think they need to tweak qualifying a bit more...
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From: La Habra
I suppose this might help but the it is not like the drivers don't know the racing line. All they had to do was stay off it and I was cringing when I saw them idling right to the apex and out, directly on the racing line. There is some serious playing-dumb going on there.
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From: Longmont, CO
I wish they'd just let the teams pick whatever fuel load they wanted during qualifying. Who the frack cares that they carry their fuel load to the start of the race? Granted we might see limited laps for the first half of the Q3 session, but I wanna know who can drive their car the fastest in race trim. None of this guessing who's on a light fuel load BS. It would also allow for more interesting strategies - qualify on pole, then put in enough fuel to do a one-stop race. It would be really exciting to see that driver get hounded by lighter cars on a two-stop strategy.
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From: Longmont, CO
Also, "stay off the racing line" isn't enough if you have a situation that forces drivers to go ultra-slow due to fuel regulations. The racing line gets to both edges of the track and the slower cars will have to cross that line twice for every corner.