TBK-Light.com

Godwins law worked quickly there.

I liked Russia more when it was called Soviet Union, had a cooler flag and more inspiration for Tom Clancy

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Motorsports trend for 2024: everything is a bad taste joke now

TBH it's the constant antagonising and provoking them that gets old for me. People are generally going to be positive about their home country even if it is an oppressive dictatorship run by a giant penis. Leave them to it.

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You not like GP of Russia, you talk to Rusev...

Nah Americans always have to control everything you know? Oh sh*t CIA, NSA or whatever they call it now is probably reading this message!

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/o ... s-williams

Closed cockpits being talked about again.

That's all well and good, but not sure how that's relevant considering I'm English.

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BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

But you have an American flag, so we have the right to assume you're a redneck.

They spy on everyone?

I'm a wannabe redneck ellis. Get it right I've still to grow a mullet and sleep with my sister though.

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BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

In the Thursday press conference drivers had mixed opinions (Alonso & Massa supported it, Button, Kvyat more disagreed).
Then again, why should specifically F1 have closed cockpits and not WSBR, Super Formula, Indy, F2, Formula E, different F3 categories? There will always be the leading open-cockpit racing series and the leading closed-cockpit racing series. It would be a great shame that they would be Indycar and WEC respectively.

Looking at the way Bianchi hit the crane, I doubt closed cockpits would really have made a difference.

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BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

I get the feeling a lot of people imagine a closed cockpit meaning a jet-style canopy. If a basic roll cage was put over the driver I think it would have to lessen the hit to the helmet in a crash like Bianchi's.

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Honestly, if you are afraid something will hit you in the head while driving open wheelers and open cockpit cars, get out and switch to closed cockpits.

It's not that I'm a bloodthirsty motherfucker but come on. Open wheels have some safety flaws, anyone driving them should be aware of it and either accept it or get out.

Looking at the the way the rollhoop was destroyed, I really don't think any form of protection would've made much difference, and if anything might have made it worse

Either way, it's a superficial solution to this, distracting people from the real issues

Craig Scarborough posted this quick sketch of what he envisions:



I actually quite like the look of that. I know it looks jarring, but then we all complained about the wide front wings, and the grooved tyres and narrow track, and probably (before my time) raised noses and narrower rears. I don't think having an open cockpit defines F1 - we think of a prototype the same way whether or not the driver's head is exposed. Does the W196 not get counted as an F1 car when it has the streamliner bodywork?

That said, I also doubt whether it would have helped Bianchi much. The canopies on fighter jets these days are extremely strong, but then so are the roll assemblies on F1 cars... Alonso probably had more of a point when he mentioned his near miss at Spa and Massa's accident.

The FIA did initially prefer the 'forward roll structure' to a full canopy. They released a video a few months ago of a test structure completely deflecting a wheel and tyre when fired head-on.

I doubt it would help Bianchi's incident either. I'm neither for nor against them personally, but the main thing that closed cockpit / shields help IMHO is reducing the likelihood of debris striking the driver in the cockpit. (Which doesn't happen too often, but there have been a few incidents over the years -- Massa, Hinchcliffe, etc...)

Seems odd to bring this up for this incident. Underride-reducing skirts for safety vehicles or deploying the safety car more is a far more applicable topic.

It's entirely understandable that they'd bring it up for this, not because it's of any use but because it avoids discussion of more serious issues that would leave the FIA being criticised for neglecting safety. "Oh I know, let's change the cars and ignore errors in procedure or aggressive driver culture"

I hate to bang on about this but I really feel this is quite a cynical attempt by certain people in the F1 paddock to avoid confronting serious problems. Anything to avoid bad publicity