New Safety Car in Formula 1

[mike]

get one of these HRTs to be the safety car....

[WilliamsF1]

With NK driving it would not be safe

[MIKEY_!]

That would be slower than the current safety car wouldn't it???

[raymondu999]

Yes f1 needs a new safety car, i suggest a zonda or koenigsegg. Or if they want 4 wheel drive, Porsche 911 gt3, Audi r8 v10, Lamborghini Gallardo or even Ferrari FF.

Other than the zonda and koenigsegg - would those other cars be quicker than an SLS? I'd think not by much. FWIW IIRC DTM used an R8 as the safety car last year

[TeamSideways]

i suggest because there is a contract with mercedes i think to supply the SC and MC , they could get sls amg gt3 car it will much faster and can resolve the problem with heating tyres , and just fit a bigger fuel tank there

[raymondu999]

Is the safety car a road SLS? I seem to rmemeber the old safety car from 08/09 wasn't just the road car, but rather a lighter, leaner meaner version of the... What was it? CLK?

[Giblet]

The only difference other than the obvious lights and equipment is the exhaust, and it was modified for tone. Trackside it sounds very deep and concussive. Opposite sound of the cars it leads.

[raymondu999]

I love it. Sounds like an American muscle car even though it technically isn't one. I love that guttural sound. Sounds even better in places like Singapore or Monaco where it just reverberates off the buildings.

[Giblet]

I took this standing trackside in Canada with stereo mics.

[raymondu999]

You should try for a city race if possible. The buildings sort lf create an artificial echo chamber and the sound is absolutely gorgeous.

[Giblet]

I used to live in Vancouver, and we had the Indy there and its support races. When it was C.A.R.T. that is. It sounded incredible, but the people who lived in the trackside condos complained, even though most of them were erected after the race was already going on. The city eventually dropped the race because of one stuffed up neighborhood.

I don't think I will be going anywhere but Canada or Jersey or Austin for the next few years anyways, so I guess Jersey would have the reverb you are talking about.

[raymondu999]

It should do. I hope it would. I fully intend to see the rce there at some time.

[xxChrisxx]

I wasn't thinking of performance, although Lambo was SC 30 years ago. Now, if 1 or 2 seconds advantage is something which modern Mercedes SC can laugh for at old Lambo, than it is really pathetic. What has F1 achieved since than (performance-wise) if modern SC with all possible electronics, ECU, carbon fiber etc. has just slightly better performance than car designed in early 70s, still having carburetors in 1983.

I don't know if it is deliberate or not, but that statement contains a stunning level of ignorance.

[Lycoming]

the SLS AMG is mostly aluminum lol. The amount of CFRP you would need in a giant car like that would be hideously expensive.

[Jersey Tom]

Until you actually go with a full blown race car, anything is going to be much slower than a F1 car. Even if you use like a LMP car, it will sill be 20-30 sec a lap slower than a modern F1 car. And who will pay for the maintenance, running, and setup for a "racing" safety car?

Besides, the point is to put the field on a controlled pace that is safe for the marshall to do their work...

This. Though I must say I got a good laugh out of the HRT safety car comment!!

Don't like cold tires? Options really are:
1. Deal with it, as in Indycar or NASCAR
2. Have Pirelli bring tires that run cooler and/or aren't bricks at ambient