have you watched the programmes about it? I haven’t watched them for years and seen all the theories surrounding it. iirc was the steering rack doctored? Had been welded or something like that, modified in some way I’m sure.
You’re ignoring or you mean you’ve been blocked? I’m blocked by a couple of users, can’t say I miss them makes some threads a challenge….
Supposedly/allegedly the steering column was modified and welded at the circuit, poorly. Conveniently the onboard footage cut out before it showed whether he steered left, but the steering didn't. He was very unlucky, in that the broken suspension punctured his helmet, apparently an inch or 2 higher and he'd have lived.
It definitely was modified, I’m not saying that was the cause but it definitely was modified. https://www.racefans.net/2017/11/03...crash-and-why-he-feels-guilty-over-his-death/
It is essential to win the constructors championship to get the large financial prize from the series organisers. But that is a very simplistic way to look at it. The main reason there is a prize at all is due to the popularity of the racing, which is largely driven by the drivers. Additionally, the financial prize from winning the constructors championship is mostly used to pay the operational costs of the team. The real money comes as a result of the Team brand (and sponsors in some cases) being relentlessly shown on the world media. Again this is directly linked to the driver recognition. All elements are obviously inextricably linked, but the publics fascination with the drivers is what sells the tickets and the broadcasting rights. Standardised car parts is totally the wrong direction -think A1GP. Budget caps may work to level the playing field. Better to simply make the series more attractive to companies with massive amounts of money to burn as then teams will be more or less equal.
Surely the best form of racing for the so called pinnacle of motorsport would be to say here is x amount of fuel to do a certain distance. First over the line wins, they could take any engineering direction they liked. Might provoke some interesting solutions for economy vs power.
This is me at to be the absolute top of motorsport. Where development happens and trickles down eventually. I like the idea above: x fuel and do what you like, spend what you like. Watched a video the other day about the lie man Porsche that took the Ring fastest lap, where they removed all rules and just went for it! Also pipped F1 lap record at spa. The narrator reckoned if they did the same with an F1 car it would be way quicker!
Thanks for your interesting post. I guess you were somewhat involved with McLaren? Perhaps you can't say so? Anyhow I always respect another POV especially one with is supported by a reasoned argument. This is doubly so for all posts containing insider knowledge of things I have dreamt about as long as I can remember!!! I guess the "Team is everything" is true from your position as someone involved in the industry. But I still think most people in the world view the teams as second to the drivers. A huge number of people around the world will know Button was WDC. If they remember at all what team he drove for -most will not imo- they probably think it was the shaver and home appliance company... The income and payback to Red Bull from F1 and all their sport involvement is massive to their worldwide drink sales. The payback to Ferrari over the decades of racing has made them an elite supercar manufacturer. Currently the pay back for Mercedes is that their cars are shown to be better than Ferraris! It goes on and on; the latest owners of Aston Martin are using the series to establish Aston as something other than an expensive British novelty car which somehow has survived and appears in Bond movies. Haas are possibly the largest machine tool builders in the world by total unit volume. This is what I meant by "the real money". Good to talk Sev.
As you might have guessed I believe the fans and the general public are Driver orientated. How many people know what car Lauda was in when it caught fire, or which team he later won another championship with. But they know Lauda. This is just one of dozens of examples.
