Japanese GP 2009 - Suzuka

[James]

Velcro!

[WhiteBlue]

Don't get me wrong, generous run offs are required for safety. They just need to to be rough & awkward enough to penalise drivers who use them, just like the chicane at Monza. That means stewards have no need to interfere and "ruin" the race.

I'm afraid that you cannot have your cake and eat it. If you put anything like curbs into asphalt run offs you are defeting the objective of slowing the cars down at maximum rate in case of desaster. It will fall to sensible application of rules and penalties to stop drivers abusing run offs.

There are solutions other than kerbs. For Spa, they could use the polystyrene blocks they had on the chicane at Monza this year. They could be placed on the exit of the run off to slow a car's return to the track.

Do you honestly think that would stop a determined driver not to go through there? And then you would have the mess on track distracting the drivers or requiring a safety car to clean it away.

Stiff penalties for abuse is the right cure for such antics. Once the drivers know that they have to loose track position if they get on the run off they would start to behave. The same is true for pushing other drivers off. There should be no difference if a driver pushes someone off track in a gravel bed or on an asphalt run off.

[n smikle]

Hooooooooold on!!

Correct me if i am wrong..But I thought Glock was cut on the inside of his leg..at least that is where I saw all the padding under the bandage.. So it can not be that the monocoque tore if that is the case..

[andartop]

Superglue. Loads and loads of superglue, sprayed all over the run off areas right before the start of each race. Does anyone know if it's waterproof as well? What an amazing material..!

[James]

Superglue. Loads and loads of superglue, sprayed all over the run off areas right before the start of each race. Does anyone know if it's waterproof as well? What an amazing material..!

as long as they leave the track in the 3 seconds before it drys and becomes an ice-like surface

[tok-tokkie]

Run Off:
How about a variation on the Italian traffic police action (or so I am told0? Minor offence & you have to stay parked where they caught you for 30 minutes (variable according to your sin & attitude to the police). So; run off track & you have to remain stationary for 1 second (or whatever).

[ISLAMATRON]

IN champ car, if you missed the chicane, you had to come to a complete stop before rejoining

[ds.raikkonen]

IN champ car, if you missed the chicane, you had to come to a complete stop before rejoining

Probably thats why Sebastien Bourdais was so slow... old habits die hard eh?

[WhiteBlue]

IN champ car, if you missed the chicane, you had to come to a complete stop before rejoining

that would be a suitable penalty. but there should also be a penalty for the driver who pushes other drivers off the track on the run off. Drive through with 10 s.

[axle]

But then too many punishments will stop dueling as drivers will be afraid of being penalised for every attempt.

[raceman]

But then too many punishments will stop dueling as drivers will be afraid of being penalised for every attempt.

right said. then the races will be more dull as no or VERY LESS overtaking attempts and this is the lifeblood of any motorsport

[WhiteBlue]

If you ask for fairness in sport you have to draw a line somewhere. In the old times drivers gave each other room because they knew the risks of crashing. Today you will only get this kind of ethics if you impose drastic penalties to those who do not respect their competitor's right to use the track.

[ISLAMATRON]

If you ask for fairness in sport you have to draw a line somewhere. In the old times drivers gave each other room because they knew the risks of crashing. Today you will only get this kind of ethics if you impose drastic penalties to those who do not respect their competitor's right to use the track.

Not allowing proper racing room is a really bad problem these days, We've seen Sutil do it several times this season, Kubica in Australia, DC all last year, but not one penalty, fine or even a reprimand... it is outrageous.

But then too many punishments will stop dueling as drivers will be afraid of being penalised for every attempt.

right said. then the races will be more dull as no or VERY LESS overtaking attempts and this is the lifeblood of any motorsport

Punishments will not stop the drivers from dueling, it will stop the bad behavior of some driving into others lines... if proper racing room were given we would see more side by side action and less crashing and SC's.

[n smikle]

I think they should allow drivers to change paint. make it so that they can only hit the front half of the opponents side pod. It is the drivers job to stay on the track right?

[WhiteBlue]

Glock's accident wasn't such a trivial thing. Did anybody ask himself why a driver got wounded on the leg? My impression (and that was first spotted by Sky commentator Jaques Schulz) was that the monocoque actually broke. It is not supposed to do that. In my view that accident must be investigated if the structural integrity of the tub was exceeded.

I don't think Broke is the right word. It was an aluminium item that caused the injury. This limits it to a part of the suspension or the steering column. So the monocoque might have been penetrated but not broken if you see what I mean. Broken to me means snapped off or split into more than 1 piece. Where as penetration is single point damage.

Penetration of the monocoque is not a good thing either. In any case it warrants an investigation with the aim of preventing such things to happen again. A penetrating object could have hit an artery and caused Glock to bleed out in a few minutes.

According to Michael Schmidt's blog at Auto Motor und Sport (AMuS) the metal part penetrated the tub from below and belonged to the front wing. Apparently the use of ballast on the wing was instrumental for the penetration as was the lack of a penetration shield in the bottom of the tub. There is yet no official reaction of the FIA about this frightening safety gap.

Source in German language:

http://blog.auto-motor-und-sport.de/sch ... er-jahres/