F1 Radio Communication Ban - more details

  • Thread starter twitcher
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twitcher

twitcher

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http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/analysis-the-full-scope-of-f1-s-2016-radio-ban-677934/

Just had a quick read through this. At first glance, it seems like a positive step. The teams also seem to feel it will shake things up. A couple things come to mind though:

1. Personally I'm not really in favor of banning technical aspects like radio comms, as I just see regulations like this as giving the teams a green light to spend oodles of money developing systems and procedures to circumvent the ban.

2. The article only mentions radio comms, but doesn't mention anything about limiting the kind of info which can be displayed on the complex, multi-function LCD (are the LCD or LED?) screens on the steering wheel. What's to stop the teams transmitting a lot of the banned radio comms via the steering wheel now?


What do you folks think of these new restrictions on radio communications in F1?
 
I'm a bit "meh" on them. They write the article like it's a crazy crack-down on the comms and still allow the vast majority of information. I appreciate there should be less "use 5% more throttle in corner twelve...", but the article makes it sound like the driver is all on his own, and he's not.
 
GTPorsche
Is there a source other than motorsport.com?
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It's also on JAonF1.



Thinking about it more, what's to stop the teams from developing and implementing an onboard AI which can monitor and report of various aspects of the car. Anything from tire and brake temps, to "according to the simulation data, you are braking 1.5m too soon for turn 6". The drivers could even talk to it, just like we talk to Siri on our iPhones. There wouldn't be a need to communicate with the pit wall at all, everything could be done onboard.

"Nicole, I feel like I'm losing rear grip, what are my rear tire temps?"

"Lewis baby, rear tire temps are 4.7 degrees above optimal temperature. Easy off on the throttle exiting turns 2, 5, and 10, for 3 laps, and they should drop down into optimal range."


F-16 Fighting Falcons have an onboard AI which does exactly that, and reports to the pilot in a soothing female voice. That technology is over 30 years old now, so I don't see why it couldn't be used in F1.
 
daan
The drivers must drive the car alone and unaided.
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Fair point in regards to an onboard AI.

I still fail to see how that rule controls what is displayed on the steering wheel though.

At the very least, the steering wheel has shift lights telling the driver when to shift. If the driver is supposed to be completely unaided, then they should be shifting based on what they hear and feel, not when the light tells them to. I don't think it would be difficult for a lawyer to look at the rule and say, "if you can have shift lights on the wheel, you can have tire temps on the wheel."

The drivers also get a tone in their ear for DRS. What's preventing the use of various tones to relay other pieces of information.

Just to be clear, I would like to see the drver and only the driver driving the car....but at the same time, if the sport is supposed to be the pinicle of technology, I find it awkward that they are attempting to ban certain things which can quite easily be circumvented.
 
twitcher
Fair point in regards to an onboard AI.

I still fail to see how that rule controls what is displayed on the steering wheel though.

At the very least, the steering wheel has shift lights telling the driver when to shift. If the driver is supposed to be completely unaided, then they should be shifting based on what they hear and feel, not when the light tells them to. I don't think it would be difficult for a lawyer to look at the rule and say, "if you can have shift lights on the wheel, you can have tire temps on the wheel."

The drivers also get a tone in their ear for DRS. What's preventing the use of various tones to relay other pieces of information.

Just to be clear, I would like to see the drver and only the driver driving the car....but at the same time, if the sport is supposed to be the pinicle of technology, I find it awkward that they are attempting to ban certain things which can quite easily be circumvented.
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Isn't that the fun part?
 
daan
The drivers must drive the car alone and unaided.
Click to expand...

That would raise an interesting philosophical point - at what point in development would a spoken-aloud version of the dash display imply that the driver wasn't alone?

I think it's moot though, it would surely be impractical as it would a) take the driver far longer to voice the command than to press a button, b) it would take far longer to hear the response than to read the response, c) it's a bloody noisy environment and d) Kimi knows what he's doing.
 
I think they're still allowed to discuss that stuff, but only on the lap before pitting. Will there be a penalty issued if discussions take place, and then the driver makes a last second decision to not pit that lap?

The one I don't get is the warning about track limits. How does a driver know they've recieved a warning if the team is not allowed to tell them? And in that case, what's the point of issuing a warning? Is just going to be a set number of 4-tire-drops and then instant penalty?
 
What they should do is introduce a digital pit board - a screen mounted on the main straight that the teams can use to communicate with drivers. Limit all communication to what can be shown on the screen.
 
twitcher
The one I don't get is the warning about track limits. How does a driver know they've recieved a warning if the team is not allowed to tell them?
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There are two three possible answers. Either use the black/white flag or simply remember that these are (supposedly) the greatest drivers in the world, they're capable of staying within the boundaries.

EDIT: A third possibility is to allow Race Control to speak to the cars, possibly as they go along the S/F straight or sooner in emergencies such as debris littering
 
Man, between last minute changes to qualifying (which I'm sure there's more to come :lol:) and last minute changes to radio rule, FIA are on a role :rolleyes: hopefully we can get some consistency soon...or not.
 

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