2005, United States, did irreparable damage to open wheel motor racing and the growth of F1 in the US. Far worse and more impactful than a grand cumblage.
The most impressive displays are when the track is just STARTING to dry out, and some drivers switch to the dry-weather tires. Here's Marco Andretti at Detroit's Belle Isle in 2019.
They do cancel if it’s raining enough that it wouldn’t be safe to drive, usually because of the visibility lost to spray, not lack of grip or whatever.
The ability to see in the wet has gotten worse in recent years. The spray comes from both the tires and the massive amounts of downforce F1 cars produce. The cars use aerodynamics to generate very low air pressures in the underbody, which sucks the cars into the ground, but also sucks up water from the track where it's then thrown high up into the air.
I imagine because the crowds are already there, the TV coverage is already running, they don't want to make people wait until tomorrow for the rain to stop
Whilst yes, there is millions of dollars of damage in that accident. Most of the safety features and new tech that we all have in our cars, comes from elite sports like this. Ceramic brakes, KERS, more efficient engines, batteries, crumple zones etc. It is created here, where yes there is a fuck tonne of money spent no question. But they spend the money to create it, then sell it to the likes of Kia, who get the benefit without having to invest in the R&D, meaning less cost to us the consumer.
The worst one was the US one where one tire manufacturer wasn't able to make anywhere near safe ones for the machined track surface, and all but 3 or 4 teams did not take part.
The Las Vegas one last year was pretty funny - they closed streets but failed to secure all the manholes properly and several cars were damaged in the warm-up race, which had to be called off early, disappointing fans who'd paid to watch it
Spa 1998. Amazingly the worst injury was to Barrichello who injured his arm. Later on Michael Schumacher drove into the back of Coulthard (who was in the McLaren T-car) at Blanchimont while trying to lap him, and famously confronted him in the pits. Finished with Jordan’s first victory, a 1-2 for Hill followed by Ralf Schumacher. Great race
I reenacted this in F1 Pole Position on the N64. I loved this game, even though I wasn't very good at it. Young me thought the graphics were amazing at the time: https://youtu.be/JSBLn6_CCs0
These days they are out, but i believe back then they had a spare. The T car that NineLongWall talked about. But only one, so if both of your drivers were affected in that crash, then only one would have been able to get in the T car and continue the race.
And depends if the race is red flagged or just safety car'd. If it is red flagged right at the start the race is treated as never having happened so teams could use the safety car and start the race from scratch. If it ran for a lap or more and had a safety car and then stopped then changing cars would not have been allowed.
I know every country has their favourite commentator, but for us Brits, Murray Walker was the voice of the Grand Prix. So unique, so many great lines, and the odd clanger too, like the beginning of the interview with Nigel Mansell who had a lump on his head..... https://youtu.be/gsZaF2aIkI8?si=SakLFzcCFiGHnV-d
For one, they get used to it over the course of an entire career. I'm pretty sure that's Kimi Räikkönen, who joined F1 when he was 22 years old, and had been karting since age 10.
Since F1 is open-cockpit, any height that you have sticking above the car's body means more air resistance.
But even most sports cars are lower than most people are used to, with so many people buying SUVs and crossovers. Here's a Corvette vs a Rav4.
Yea I just can’t slouch like that. I’m not nervous driver but I just like to see. Maybe because I pretty much drove trucks early on. Not giant ones like today, but in roofing you just pretty much had a truck.
How are you driving a normal sedan like a Camry or Fusion? Cause that's about all I've driven my whole life, so even something upright-but-low like a Kia Soul or Scion XB feels really weird to me.
They work their way up to this. The usual pipeline is kart racing (at kindergarten to primary school age, starting with 5 hp karts, going up to 42 hp as they get older - which doesn't sound like much, but they go up to 140 kph), then some lower powered formula car like Formula Renault 2.0 as teens (192 hp, 260 kph to speed), over to Formula 3 (late teenage to young adult, 380hp, 300 kph top speed). All of this is very expensive and at each step, only a small handful of the best drivers make it.
Thank you for the info. On a side note…we weren’t a car racing family. Then one night I was putting my younger daughter to bed, she was about five, and I asked what channel she wanted to watch before she fell asleep. She said the racing channel. So I switched to it. She grunted with disdain. I said what? And she tells me, with conviction, ‘ugh, that’s Nascar. It’s boring. All they do is go in a circle and they are slow. I like Formula One.’ I was stunned. Thank god she didn’t want drive.
rncewnd
Worst? The was the best start I’ve ever seen!
TychoTychoAlba
Really? Usually they're far more tedious than this.
CuntingtonFuckley
Every
DaisyfromDownunder
not the worst, it's a fuckin beauty!
BlatantlyThrowaway
Joylove
Brundle and Walker. Absolute commentating heaven.
WhiskeyAndWienerdogs
Saw the headline, and I was thinking, bet this is a wet race at Spa. Love the track, but it has a tendency to rain, and kill people.
bobbobbybobbington
galll11
Bravo 👏, the perfect meme for them crashing in the mist of things, quite literally.
steelundecided
I'd love to see a big ol' Fosters can fly out of the first one that wrecked.
ParaspriteHugger
Worst Spa Day Ever
FatherNeal
Nice
dontfloatmygoat
Brewster should have engineered such a start to get rid of his millions. Mind you the film would be over in 15mins.
Vanessaira
2005, United States, did irreparable damage to open wheel motor racing and the growth of F1 in the US. Far worse and more impactful than a grand cumblage.
Audasity
activeracer28
Millions. Millions and millions of dollars lost in seconds.
ronnyhugo
I disagree a bit, the money was already gone to make the cars, their value is entirely theoretical after that.
StarBug
TheRedBaron8
A few million dollars spent right there!
NoUserNameIsTaken
Worst? https://imgur.com/Kl3H1cu
greenchair
How can they race in those conditions lucky no one was seriously hurt.
BullittGT
They always do, it's frustrating and makes the race complete crap.
CyberpunkEnthusisast
Austria 1987 says hello.
3rdoption
Obviously they don't cancel for rain. Doesn't that happen EVERY SINGLE TIME that the track is wet?
UNHchabo
The most impressive displays are when the track is just STARTING to dry out, and some drivers switch to the dry-weather tires. Here's Marco Andretti at Detroit's Belle Isle in 2019.
shakefu
They do cancel if it’s raining enough that it wouldn’t be safe to drive, usually because of the visibility lost to spray, not lack of grip or whatever.
3rdoption
So, EXACTLY like the situation in this video.
shakefu
This race was IIRC in 1998 and directly led to a change in the rules around rain starts, delays, and cancellations.
FeloniousMonk13
Not at all, this video is older.. driving in wet is definitely more sketchy, but modern f1 cars are AMAZINGLY able to drive fast in it
graffitimonkey
It's less the car tech and more just how busy it is at race start. Hungary 21 wasn't much better than the above.
Corrodias
The main problem that I infer from the clip above is more the inability to see anything.
TotallyNotVillain
The ability to see in the wet has gotten worse in recent years. The spray comes from both the tires and the massive amounts of downforce F1 cars produce. The cars use aerodynamics to generate very low air pressures in the underbody, which sucks the cars into the ground, but also sucks up water from the track where it's then thrown high up into the air.
Unhalfbricking
I don’t really follow racing, why do they just not postpone the race?
TotallyNotVillain
It's a test of driver skill. They have tires for racing in the wet. As long as visibility is OK, let the show go on!
mindstorm8191
I imagine because the crowds are already there, the TV coverage is already running, they don't want to make people wait until tomorrow for the rain to stop
GravyEducation
Just take a mulligan
otish
Didn't know that you were allowed to use a smoke screen
oldpotatoes
This kills the cars
detectivepopcornmmmmm
Currahee63
Jessica Walter was actually in the film 'Grand Prix' (1966).
detectivepopcornmmmmm
TIL. Thanks.
PrincessLeliana
How many people could have been housed for life for the cost of all that damage
pachyderm
Maybe 2?
VivaFidel
How many people could be fed if you sold the device you're using to post stupid fucking comments?
PrincessLeliana
My phone was about $60 on ebay, so, one person. Me. Also what is this "i want to change society" "Yet you participate in it!" bullshit
waeraj
Totally apart from that little pissing contest you are having, what phone did you buy for $60?
PrincessLeliana
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=moto+g9+power&_sacat=9355&_odkw=moto+g5+power&_osacat=9355
PrincessLeliana
Highly recommended. Has served me well for like 5 years, battery lasts all week without charging, and its snappy enough for what I use it for
WhyCantIStopArguingWithInternetTrolls
Whilst yes, there is millions of dollars of damage in that accident. Most of the safety features and new tech that we all have in our cars, comes from elite sports like this. Ceramic brakes, KERS, more efficient engines, batteries, crumple zones etc. It is created here, where yes there is a fuck tonne of money spent no question. But they spend the money to create it, then sell it to the likes of Kia, who get the benefit without having to invest in the R&D, meaning less cost to us the consumer.
defaultname2000
The worst one was the US one where one tire manufacturer wasn't able to make anywhere near safe ones for the machined track surface, and all but 3 or 4 teams did not take part.
AbelardSnazz
The Las Vegas one last year was pretty funny - they closed streets but failed to secure all the manholes properly and several cars were damaged in the warm-up race, which had to be called off early, disappointing fans who'd paid to watch it
GordonFreeman59
Seems like.. that wasn't a goodyear.
pachyderm
2005
AtmaDarkwolf
so your saying, being 4th place would not have the bragging power that year?
NineLongWall
Spa 1998. Amazingly the worst injury was to Barrichello who injured his arm. Later on Michael Schumacher drove into the back of Coulthard (who was in the McLaren T-car) at Blanchimont while trying to lap him, and famously confronted him in the pits. Finished with Jordan’s first victory, a 1-2 for Hill followed by Ralf Schumacher. Great race
Mech0T1
I still have this on VHS somewhere in the basement.
DdCno1
I reenacted this in F1 Pole Position on the N64. I loved this game, even though I wasn't very good at it. Young me thought the graphics were amazing at the time: https://youtu.be/JSBLn6_CCs0
Lebeats
Honest question….Once they wreck are they out or do they have another car to continue in?
WhyCantIStopArguingWithInternetTrolls
These days they are out, but i believe back then they had a spare. The T car that NineLongWall talked about. But only one, so if both of your drivers were affected in that crash, then only one would have been able to get in the T car and continue the race.
CarlBassett
And depends if the race is red flagged or just safety car'd. If it is red flagged right at the start the race is treated as never having happened so teams could use the safety car and start the race from scratch. If it ran for a lap or more and had a safety car and then stopped then changing cars would not have been allowed.
amp99
Nitpick, but Schumacher ran into the back of Coulthard before Pouhon, not at Blanchimont. See about 3:39 here: https://youtu.be/R22nxVYLaBQ?t=214
NineLongWall
You’re quite right, thanks!
vincentlaurila
And Hakkinen survived the first mayhem, but was out after the restart.
Textmeanything
I know every country has their favourite commentator, but for us Brits, Murray Walker was the voice of the Grand Prix. So unique, so many great lines, and the odd clanger too, like the beginning of the interview with Nigel Mansell who had a lump on his head..... https://youtu.be/gsZaF2aIkI8?si=SakLFzcCFiGHnV-d
CarlBassett
Clive James described Murry as "a man who in moments of quiet reflection still sounded as if his trousers were on fire"
dangerspouse
Two men who were wonderfully gifted with words.
Textmeanything
🤣😂🤣 brilliant
TheoFreedom
how do they shrink the people down to fit in the tiny little cars
TheRicM
They're actually giant people in gigantic cars
TheCriticsWereConciseItOnlyTookFourLines
They drink a bottle of Pishalver potion
DumpsterSauce
Put them into a Pringles tube, then use a shop vac til they fit
BikeCookie
Through the magnifying glass backwards.
ParaspriteHugger
Gotta shove em in really good
lpooptoomuch
tighter than that, because the seat is molded to the driver
badgerZ505
How do they drive all slouched down like that? I have to sit up straight. I would be a nervous wreck down inside like that.
UNHchabo
For one, they get used to it over the course of an entire career. I'm pretty sure that's Kimi Räikkönen, who joined F1 when he was 22 years old, and had been karting since age 10.
Since F1 is open-cockpit, any height that you have sticking above the car's body means more air resistance.
But even most sports cars are lower than most people are used to, with so many people buying SUVs and crossovers. Here's a Corvette vs a Rav4.
badgerZ505
Yea I just can’t slouch like that. I’m not nervous driver but I just like to see. Maybe because I pretty much drove trucks early on. Not giant ones like today, but in roofing you just pretty much had a truck.
UNHchabo
How are you driving a normal sedan like a Camry or Fusion? Cause that's about all I've driven my whole life, so even something upright-but-low like a Kia Soul or Scion XB feels really weird to me.
DdCno1
They work their way up to this. The usual pipeline is kart racing (at kindergarten to primary school age, starting with 5 hp karts, going up to 42 hp as they get older - which doesn't sound like much, but they go up to 140 kph), then some lower powered formula car like Formula Renault 2.0 as teens (192 hp, 260 kph to speed), over to Formula 3 (late teenage to young adult, 380hp, 300 kph top speed). All of this is very expensive and at each step, only a small handful of the best drivers make it.
badgerZ505
Thank you for the info. On a side note…we weren’t a car racing family. Then one night I was putting my younger daughter to bed, she was about five, and I asked what channel she wanted to watch before she fell asleep. She said the racing channel. So I switched to it. She grunted with disdain. I said what? And she tells me, with conviction, ‘ugh, that’s Nascar. It’s boring. All they do is go in a circle and they are slow. I like Formula One.’ I was stunned. Thank god she didn’t want drive.