US F1 Update

[Wayne Maybury]

Originally Posted by Rwillia4

Refueling is gone but they still need tires.
The time to refuel is ~6-10 seconds
Change tires ~4 seconds
and time to get through the pit lane ~15 seconds

So I think pit strategy will still be a major part. When are new tires worth the cost of time to get through the pit... Pits will be VERY important.

6+ Gs of brake power. 4 Gs during turns

What you have written is correct but you cannot do another lap or two when you are running out of fuel. However you can bring the car in several laps early or wait several laps more when you only have to change tires. I would imagine that most teams will change tires if there happens to be a caution anywhere near when they would normally want to change the tires. I think that we are both saying the same thing but in different ways.

One thing NASCAR could learn from F1 is to have a professional race driver piloting the souped up pace car going hell-bent-for-leather around the track. I cannot believe how fast the F1 pace car goes during one of their very brief cautions. I have watched as a car that has just pitted, tries to catch the pack following the pace car. None of this 45 or 50 mph crap. It is almost as much fun watching the pace car screech through the corners with the tires howling, doing a controlled 4 wheel drift as it is watching the race cars.

Wayne