F1 to review rules after criticism of Belgian GP

(Might be a "Mock Auction" con job announcement - i.e. just say it whilst everyone is looking and then do nothing once everyone has forgotten and has moved on to whatever Simon Cowell has next etc - Tony Blair got away with it for 10 years and he isn't alone of course)

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/f1-review-rules-criticism-belgian-121010333.html

On 31/08/2021 7:49 am, Mr Gobrien wrote:
> F1 to review rules after criticism of Belgian GP
>
> (Might be a "Mock Auction" con job announcement - i.e. just say it whilst everyone is looking and then do nothing once everyone has forgotten and has moved on to whatever Simon Cowell has next etc - Tony Blair got away with it for 10 years and he isn't alone of course)
>
> https://uk.yahoo.com/news/f1-review-rules-criticism-belgian-121010333.html
>

I say, sure, award half-points based on the quali line-up, if the main
race is abandoned short of a real race..

But a more realistic number of competitive laps to be required to call
it a race for 'normal' racing results to apply.

And that in totally hopeless circumstances such as that day at Spa,
there was no point in the cars going out at all, rather than the cynical
farce that was.

Yes, get something rational sorted out before it happens again, and no
points to the FIA for the way it was handled this time. Maybe even a
penalty !.

geoff

On Monday, 30 August 2021 at 23:23:07 UTC+1, geoff wrote:
> On 31/08/2021 7:49 am, Mr Gobrien wrote:
> > F1 to review rules after criticism of Belgian GP
> >
> > (Might be a "Mock Auction" con job announcement - i.e. just say it whilst everyone is looking and then do nothing once everyone has forgotten and has moved on to whatever Simon Cowell has next etc - Tony Blair got away with it for 10 years and he isn't alone of course)
> >
> > https://uk.yahoo.com/news/f1-review-rules-criticism-belgian-121010333.html
> >
> I say, sure, award half-points based on the quali line-up, if the main
> race is abandoned short of a real race..
>
> But a more realistic number of competitive laps to be required to call
> it a race for 'normal' racing results to apply.
>
> And that in totally hopeless circumstances such as that day at Spa,
> there was no point in the cars going out at all, rather than the cynical
> farce that was.
>
> Yes, get something rational sorted out before it happens again, and no
> points to the FIA for the way it was handled this time. Maybe even a
> penalty !.
>
> geoff
My two-penneth on what they should do to the rules:-
Yesterday at spa will probably not be repeated, but on reflection these are the things I'd change:--
- write it into the rules that if the race can't be run without at least 10 laps
without a safety car that 1/4 points are awarded based on the qualifying
- set a minimum of 10 laps as above for a race to be declared a race,
and award 1/2 points if it has to conclude at less than 75% race distance
- create a requirement for race officials to consider bringing the start forward
by up to 4 hours (with a minimum notification period of say 12 hours) if the
weather forecast by midnight preceding the race indicates the potential
for the race to be cancelled otherwise due to weather

The biggest joke is the 2 laps behind the safety car being equivalent to
a half-points race. Someone should have spotted a long time ago that that
was a possibility and fixed it.

On 2021-08-30 6:22 p.m., geoff wrote:
> On 31/08/2021 7:49 am, Mr Gobrien wrote:
>> F1 to review rules after criticism of Belgian GP
>>
>> (Might be a "Mock Auction" con job announcement - i.e. just say it
>> whilst everyone is looking and then do nothing once everyone has
>> forgotten and has moved on to whatever Simon Cowell has next etc -
>> Tony Blair got away with it for 10 years and he isn't alone of course)
>>
>> https://uk.yahoo.com/news/f1-review-rules-criticism-belgian-121010333.html
>>
>>
>
>
> I say, sure, award half-points based on the quali line-up, if the main
> race is abandoned short of a real race..
>
> But a more realistic number of competitive laps to be required to call
> it a race for 'normal' racing results to apply.
>
> And that in totally hopeless circumstances such as that day at Spa,
> there was no point in the cars going out at all, rather than the cynical
> farce that was.
>
> Yes, get something rational sorted out before it happens again, and no
> points to the FIA for the way it was handled this time. Maybe even a
> penalty !.

They were hoping that 20 F1 cars going around the circuit could move
enough water that a safe amount of visibility could be maintained, and
at a circuit shorter than Spa, it might have worked.

On Monday, August 30, 2021 at 12:49:41 PM UTC-7, Mr Gobrien wrote:
> F1 to review rules after criticism of Belgian GP
>
> (Might be a "Mock Auction" con job announcement - i.e. just say it whilst everyone is looking and then do nothing once everyone has forgotten and has moved on to whatever Simon Cowell has next etc - Tony Blair got away with it for 10 years and he isn't alone of course)
>
> https://uk.yahoo.com/news/f1-review-rules-criticism-belgian-121010333.html

Should try running the race the next day.

On 31/08/2021 20:39, XYXPDQ wrote:

> Should try running the race the next day.

Running the race the next day is probably doable, finding marshals etc.
who would all be back at work, not so much.

On 31/08/2021 20:47, Calum wrote:
> On 31/08/2021 20:39, XYXPDQ wrote:
>
>> Should try running the race the next day.
>
> Running the race the next day is probably doable, finding marshals etc.
> who would all be back at work, not so much.

There is also the TV consideration. Most TV stations have paid for a
race on the Sunday and their schedules cannot be changed to handle the
race on the next day so these TV stations will demand their money back.

Cheers

Geoff

On Tuesday, 31 August 2021 at 21:46:20 UTC+1, Geoff May wrote:
> On 31/08/2021 20:47, Calum wrote:
> > On 31/08/2021 20:39, XYXPDQ wrote:
> >
> >> Should try running the race the next day.
> >
> > Running the race the next day is probably doable, finding marshals etc.
> > who would all be back at work, not so much.
> There is also the TV consideration. Most TV stations have paid for a
> race on the Sunday and their schedules cannot be changed to handle the
> race on the next day so these TV stations will demand their money back.
>
> Cheers
>
> Geoff
I think the broadcasting deals are the biggest cost in all of this in making sure
a race "happens". F1 has been flexible with quali times in the past in response
to weather (ISTR) but for all the reasons above in terms of marshalls, logistics
and most of all money I can't see a "contingent" Monday race ever being part
of the planning.

It either happens on the Sunday or not at all.

I wonder though this year if there might have been an opportunity to create
a Sunday race on one of the weekends where Covid has resulted in a free
weekend spot. Though equally possible that Spa would have had weather
at times later into the autumn.