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Thread: FIA needs to make some changes

  1. #1
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    FIA needs to make some changes

    I think the FIA needs to make some changes to help with the 107% rule. After seeing the first two days of the Australian GP Friday Practice and Qualifying, seeing HRT F1 team will now not be racing in the Australian GP kinda disappointed me. They worked hard in trying to get a car ready for qualifying but now they won't be racing because the didn't hit the 107%.

    HRT is a low budget team, where there drivers are paying to race in Formula 1, and putting there money into the team with personal sponsorship. But if they are going to have a 107% rule, they should in my opinion have a minimum number of kilometers a team must do before the first race, else they don't race at all. In that case we won't have this again. Or at least have something to make sure all teams are going to make the grid before the first race.

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by kylekosir View Post
    I think the FIA needs to make some changes to help with the 107% rule. After seeing the first two days of the Australian GP Friday Practice and Qualifying, seeing HRT F1 team will now not be racing in the Australian GP kinda disappointed me. They worked hard in trying to get a car ready for qualifying but now they won't be racing because the didn't hit the 107%.

    HRT is a low budget team, where there drivers are paying to race in Formula 1, and putting there money into the team with personal sponsorship. But if they are going to have a 107% rule, they should in my opinion have a minimum number of kilometers a team must do before the first race, else they don't race at all. In that case we won't have this again. Or at least have something to make sure all teams are going to make the grid before the first race.
    Dude, HRT was still assembly the cars while other teams were undergoing P1, P2 and P3. The problem there isn't budget, it's about how serious they are.
    First of all, if you don't have the money, just don't enter F1. I can't afford a Ferrari, and I don't try to buy one.
    Second, they passed the whole winter pretending to be stronger than ever, to be designing the car with high tech facilities and such, and eventually they showed up with a car they didn't even test for some very fishy reasons (Spanish customs holding parts of a Spanish company, really?). Even more importantly, just pay attention to the front wing, and you'll realize they are still using last year's.

    Virgin managed to do worse than them last year, standings wise, and while they're (Virgin) still committed to a low budget formula, that shows you how easily you can fail no matter how hard you try. HRT isn't even trying.

    The truth, as often mentioned, is that they shouldn't have been granted a slot on the grid last year. With many other serious entries, they picked 3 relatively unproved teams. Lotus had some resources, Virgin tried the CFD-only approach, and HRT just didn't pay Dallara until the 11th hour. As a result, Dallara didn't complete the car, and gave them a patchwork when the money arrived. Heck, they were using steel suspensions last year, I can't even remember last time that happened with another team.

    Also, if STR wasn't allowed to run RBR cars/parts anymore, I couldn't see how HRT was allowed to run a car they purchased from Dallara.

    On a last note, a team changing 5 drivers over the year for no serious reasons? No thanks.
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  3. #3
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    The FIA may need to make some changes, but currently the 107% rule isn't among them. HRT (amazingly) isn't being singled out on several more pertinent issues as Leon mentioned... and being a rolling chicane with pay-to-play drivers that came to the party late isn't justification for inclusion in the field. There are a bunch of questions as to why HRT is there at all, though we know Bernie's predilections and $$$ part of the equation.
    Never own more cars than you can keep charged batteries in...

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    One thing that could help, if only a little, is get rid of Collin Kolles. You wonder why Audi backed out on him aside from LM last year, and why he didn't last long in DTM and the LMS with Audi backing. If he couldn't do anything with Audi equipment and support against a bunch of privateers in the LMS, why should we expect great things from them in F1? And putting pay drivers in his cars didn't help Audi Sport's opinion of him much, either.

    And the fact that he ran Spyker and was a manager of Force India (and sacked before their performance picked up in mid '09) also speaks volumes as a result of their results, or lack there of before he left.

    I hope that he's a better dentist than a team manager, because on the low budget deal, all we have to do is look at Henri Pescarolo and how he's run the team that he's owned over the years and the results he's gotten. Granted, that's sportscars and he's constantly be put out of the sun by Audi and Peugeot, but against privateers, he's done well spending less than them.

    I just hope that Aston Martin in LMP1 this year doesn't turn into that class' HRT, and I'll bet you that even if the AMR-One is total crap compared to the Audi R18 and the Peugeot 908 or other privateer efforts, that they could turn a better lap around Melborune..

    I know that the officals can overrule Whiting on this, but why should they? If HRT made a more consorted effort, maybe they would, but having to build a car from virtually scratch during practice, that smacks to me off a team that's defnintly ill managed, no matter finanaces.

    HRT are going to be a laughing stock until they step things up or leave, or get better management.
    Power to me is having the ability to make a change in a positive way. Don't dream it, be it.

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    I don't except anything better from them in the next races. They just had 22 laps of experience from Australia, next race will still be level zero for them.

    I wouldn't have been in Liuzzi's shoes when he signed for them. Not racing at all, or not racing because your car is too slow? Tough decision. Once you leave F1, you just don't go back unless you're Schumacher, Kubica's replacement or Kartikeyan, which is in the same situation as liuzzi except he even brought a sponsor.
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    And hes getting paid 2 million dollars by Force India to race for HRT as well. But considering what they have done, I think Liuzzi has done an amazing job at the pace, considering only doing 22 laps

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    Quote Originally Posted by kylekosir View Post
    And hes getting paid 2 million dollars by Force India to race for HRT as well. But considering what they have done, I think Liuzzi has done an amazing job at the pace, considering only doing 22 laps
    He is getting the money from FI because he had a contract with them, like Raikkonen and Ferrari last year. He did only 11 laps though, the other 11 were done by Kartikeyan.
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  8. #8
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    HRT won't make it through the season and it will be their own fault. Frankly I understand where you're coming from having sympathy for them but I also see the other side, they need to be scrapping money together to make a competitive car.

    In the end, though, I am OK with the 107% rule because it makes the races that much safer. The drivers at the front don't have to worry about the HRTs getting in everybody's way and slowing them down or their unreliable cars blowing up and dropping parts on the track. If it makes the sport safer it's better.

  9. #9
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    And the Spanish FIA rep has given HRT a major bollicking as well, criticizing them for being a serious effort and saying that HRT would basically be better off dead and buried, done and dusted, than to limp around like this.
    Power to me is having the ability to make a change in a positive way. Don't dream it, be it.

  10. #10
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    And today HRT came out and said "We'll catch Lotus and Virgin by mid-season" and naturally blamed their financial concerns for the failure to qualify. Link

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    Mid-season 2056?
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  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ferrer View Post
    Mid-season 2056?
    Yes, the illegality of the hydrocarbon ICE will be a great equalizer.
    "Kimi, can you improve on your [race] finish?"
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  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by f6fhellcat13 View Post
    Yes, the illegality of the hydrocarbon ICE will be a great equalizer.
    Exactly, if Luizzi can "Fred Flintstone" his car around he'll be just as quick as the other guys.

  14. #14
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    I guess then the cardboard wings won't be a problem...
    Lack of charisma can be fatal.
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  15. #15
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    I wouldnt laugh them off yet. They wont beat Lotus Racing as theyve got a modest budget and are taking things seriously. Virgin though are still trying to stick to $40-50m and CFD-only in the design and really look to be struggling. HRT last year kept up with the front runners by simply learning more about their car which was perhaps a more advanced concept than either the 2010 Virgin or Lotus, and this year despite being heavily based on last years car may still be competitive with the Virgin. They'll need to start races soon though as they'll be losing too much money by not competing but still freighting everything around.
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