Should the T-car come back to F1?

[mx_tifoso]

Ciro, please don't feed the trolls.

[ecapox]

It would make sense to have a car with no nose, rear wing, and engine/transmission assembled and waiting in case the need arose. No mechanics just for that car, just use the mechanics for whom ever needed to use it. Also maybe make a requirement that you must petition the stewards to use it.

Massive crash before Qualifying - use allowed
fender bender in practice 1 - use denied.

You could even give them a 5 spot penalty. There has been all kinds of talk about "adding to the spectacle" in recent years. Having alonso, or any top driver for that matter, miss qualifying alientates people that came just to watch him. WOuld they immedately leave, probably not, but if they knew Hamilton wasnt going to run in qualifying they probably wouldnt show up in the stands during qualifying.

[segedunum]

Typical Ferrari, they only care about certain rules only if it isn't convinient for them. How about telling your drivers not to crash in free practice? That should be easy enough.

This is (or was?) a Technical Forum internetfan, so try to cope with it.

Since this whole debate was sparked off by Ferrari wanting to bring back the T-car because of their expensive number one driver's cock up, presumably so they have something to spend all that extra money that they probably won't have soon, I thought it was a pretty pertinent point actually.

No, of course T-cars shouldn't come back. Theye were banned for legitimate reasons. All but the wealthiest teams could afford them and we had ridiculous situations where they weren't just used as spare cars but were used so a team or even one driver could hedge his bets by having two cars set up differently. The whole thing got totally and utterly out of hand, and no, you were't going to stop that by coming up with any restrictions or 'rules'. Good riddance.

I won't name names and you can align some dots and work out yourselves who the last paragraph most applies to if it will ease your sensibilities. That way, any conclusions you come to are your own. Clever eh?

[alberto222mx]

I think if you made a mistake in the practises and messed up the car that should have a price not allowing the use of T-car in the qualify.
But, in pro of the show T-car should be allowed when a car has a problem that impede to a driver start the race with his respective penalty by changing the engine/gearbox.

[Goran2812]

Typical Ferrari, they only care about certain rules only if it isn't convinient for them. How about telling your drivers not to crash in free practice? That should be easy enough.

oh c'mon...

[WhiteBlue]

we had ridiculous situations where they weren't just used as spare cars but were used so a team or even one driver could hedge his bets by having two cars set up differently.
I won't name names and you can align some dots and work out yourselves who the last paragraph most applies to if it will ease your sensibilities.

You don't need to put a name on it because I already mentioned that Schumacher was famous for being meticulous in using all the options the rules gave him. If he could work harder or do something more thorough he did that. I remember that on Friday of the Monaco race weekend he flew down to Fiorano with the collected tyre data and had extra testing hours to make sure they had optimum traction. I don't see how that can be used against him. I am the first person on this board who will agree to ban anything that unfairly helps the rich teams. But as long as something is allowed by the rules using it is clever thinking and commendable.

[Belatti]

WB, fair point the one of your last post. Using the rules is clever, thats the way it should be and I would do it.

Ciro, please don't feed the trolls.

I would say tempt them with food and then beat them up

[marcush.]

potential t-car ruling:
The t-car is allowed to do a total of 10 laps in FP1 only third driver is allowed to drive .One of the two official race drivers has to stay in pit during this time.
After completing 10 laps the car is put into parc ferme .After FP2 the T-car can be checked over by mechanics and engineers and will rest in parc ferme for the rest of the weekend on prime tyres .Parts to be used as spares can be collected by team members only with FIA permission ...car can be warmed up for FP3,Qualy and race start.
I would even think about allowing to change car in race...

[andrew]

Who says the Ferrari f-duct was not used in free practice?

I'm pretty certain that Ferrari didn't take their F-duct to Monaco.

[flynfrog]

nothing like a 2 year old post getting bumped to stir every one up

[Dragonfly]

They should first of all allow 2 cars in pre-season tests. And some in-season testing too.
As about the T-car, they still have it and transport it around the world and I am not sure it comes cheaper, not to speak what effort and pressure the field team of mechanics are under, when they have to build it on the spot.

[Holm86]

nothing like a 2 year old post getting bumped to stir every one up

What kind of calender are you using since you get 2 years from may 2010 to feb 2011??

[Goran2812]

have a t-car, but have RULES when and how to use it! let the tub sit in the middle of the garage,and use it only if one of the drivers totals his no. 1 tub... if the engine and gearbox from the crashed tub can be used, put them in the t-car, if not - put in a new one, but have a penalty for it then... and that's it!
the t-car was banned because of schumacher and other smartasses who took advantage of having no explicit rules about the usage of the t-car...
people go to the GP weekends to see their drivers race and try to win, but one cockup in FP or something like that and bye bye any chance of wining or, even driving the quali... that's BS if you ask me.
so,have a t-car, without mechanics, wings or engine on standby under constant surveilance from the marshalls and that's it...

[Richard]

I think a car that is part assembled in the factory should be allowed.

The rules say that anyone changing survival cell has to start in the pit lane, so that avoids people switching needlessly.

From the FIA sporting regs:

28) SPARE CARS, ENGINES AND GEARBOXES

28.1 Each competitor may have no more than two cars available for use at any one time during an Event. Any partially assembled survival cell will be deemed to be a car in this context if it is fitted with an engine, any front suspension external to the survival cell, bodywork, radiators, oil tanks external to the survival cell or
heat exchangers.

28.2 Any driver who decides to use another car or whose car has a change of survival cell following the qualifying practice session must start the race from the pit lane following the procedures detailed in Article 38.2. Under these circumstances :

- the car concerned will not have to comply with the requirements of Article 34 ;

- the car will be permitted to carry out one reconnaissance lap when the pit lane is opened for the race.