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Join the boys as they talk about Rally Germany. The Sebs are fighting and Citroen is not an overly happy place to be at the moment. We also look ahead to Sonoma and Spa for INDYCAR and F1 respectively. As always, thanks for the download and we hope you enjoy the show!
I do not agree that allowing F1 to go “all qualy setup” with no parc ferme after qualifying would draw a significantly higher number of eyeballs to F1. What you’d get would be cars going maybe 0.5-1.0 seconds per second per lap quicker (i.e. not much different to the naked, untrained eye, which is what those new eyeballs would be) than what they’ve got now, but all of the top teams would be forced to run entire cars full of qualifying-dedicated (i.e. lightened and far more expensive) components. Is it worth an extra 3% of spectacle, in the grand scheme of a GP weekend, if it costs the teams an extra $20 million each worth of specialized, but completely disposable, components made out of unobtanium? I say “no”.
Otherwise, interesting show.
Andy, I will freely admit that your logical argument is pretty bulletproof, and if I were thinking about the quali topic from a purely fiscal and marketing standpoint, then there would be no way to justify the change. The change will cost teams a lot more each weekend, and if it garnered even one more fan I’d be surprised. You might get some additional fans who already watch the races to perhaps tune in for quali, but that’s about it. However, the fan in me wants to see those superfast times, new track records, and all-out attempts at speed with no regard to race-setup strategies. Its not practical, it doesn’t make financial sense from either a team or FOM standpoint, but it would still be hypercool.
Well, Doug, there’s something I can’t argue with. Hypercool? Well, yes, to say the absolute least. Maybe this is where we lock Newey and his 11 equivalents on the other teams into a room and have them come up with mathematical models for the optimized versions of their respective teams’ cars, and then have those models have at each other on iRacing or Gran Turismo. The following statement will cement my status as a nerd, but here goes: I’d pay to see that. Like, probably $20.
OK, gotta go re-wrap my glasses with masking tape again.