Second-start debate puts Whiting in the limelight
Hockenheim certainly produced a fair degree of excitement on Sunday, right from the Magnussen and Massa incident on the first turn through to the rather robust but gritty racing produced by Hamilton, Alonso, Perez and Vettel in the later stages.
Race starts are inevitably more dangerous than any other part of a Grand Prix, as Felipe Massa again proved at Hockenheim on Sunday. Now, the powers that be want to duplicate the situation whenever there is a race stoppage. Picture: AFP
Hamilton’s 17-position rise was remarkable, but wisely he settled for third behind the Williams of Bottas.
Rosberg won his “home” Grand Prix and gave himself a handy
14-point lead over team-mate Hamilton, before next week’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
That rolling restart following the first corner incident was clean and rightly saw all the field hold station, and brings me back to the new regulation that states in 2015 we will be witness to the idea of a standing restart, rather than the rolling restart.
It’s intriguing that, in recent press releases and interviews, the FIA technical director, Charlie Whiting, claimed the idea was his, but now says the suggestion originated from someone at McLaren. One wonders what they were thinking about to even propose, let alone approve, the idea.
It appears the drivers never had a say in the decision.
The very men who fight for position on track could, under the new regulation, lose everything they’ve worked for. At least with the rolling restart, positions were fairly static, and that is exactly the point Whiting sees as a problem.
I think we are all aware that, these days, F1 is first and foremost in the entertainment business and racing is secondary.
In a recent interview, Whiting is reported as saying: “The standing restart is something that I was involved in personally. I was talking to someone at McLaren and we came up with the idea how to make this show a bit better.” He continued: “When you watch a race, what is the most exciting part? The start. So why not have a second one? It makes sense.”
Two points concern me, first his referral to “making the show better” and second that he believes the start is the most exciting part of a race – if that’s true it does not say much for the rest of the race. But he wasn’t finished yet.
After admitting the standing restart “offends some people” he then said once again that “it’s been done for the show”.
Oh dear. Will we be finishing races with the crowd calling for an encore or two?
Whiting also does not believe there is any danger in the standing restart, as it is no different to the initial start.
I don’t think the restart would be dangerous but certainly risky.
Take a look at F1 history and you will find a considerable number of cars have dropped out just after the start because of collisions. A restart would increase that risk, as we all witnessed on Sunday. It also worries me the technical director of the FIA believes there is no downside to the concept.
Whiting further states the 2014 regulations are working and that the racing is no less exciting.
Fair enough, but I cannot agree the “new sound of engines that has been talked about is excellent and F1 is better for it”.
He believes the more efficient power units is what F1 is all about – in his words “the pinnacle of excellence”.
Part of the excellence he refers to is the new, efficient engines which, he says, produce more power and use 35% less fuel. To reach this level of efficiency Whiting adds that downforce had to be reduced to make the cars more aerodynamically efficient and, without this reduction, they could not reach these figures.
This reduced downforce is pretty obvious when you watch the drivers trying to stay on track.
He continued: “But that is something the teams have to work on.” Surely this indicates more time in a wind tunnel, not exactly a cost-cutting factor.
It is also odd that he believes all is right in the world of F1, whereas Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has called for a rethink.
Perhaps even more importantly Whiting’s own chief, Jean Todt, FIA president, has agreed to look into ways of improving the sport.
Even though we enjoyed the racing, it is sobering to note the fastest lap set by Hamilton was almost six seconds slower than the record set in 2004 by Kimi Raikkonen. All that with the more efficient engines, but did I perchance hear messages to Vettel and Perez to coast and save fuel?
Makes you think, doesn’t it?
