Did Alonso make a settings mistake to cause his engine to quit?

[Scott]

I guess they haven't had a good look at the telemetry yet (or they're not telling us), but there is some speculation that Alonso may have accidentally put his car in 'Fuel Cutoff Mode' ending his race. 

What a shame, if true.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/alonso-s-engine-went-into-fuel-cut-off-mode-in-spanish-gp-737899/?s=1

[Jericoke]

I guess they haven't had a good look at the telemetry yet (or they're not telling us), but there is some speculation that Alonso may have accidentally put his car in 'Fuel Cutoff Mode' ending his race. 

What a shame, if true.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/alonso-s-engine-went-into-fuel-cut-off-mode-in-spanish-gp-737899/?s=1

Between Nico and Alonso, I think it's time to say that an F1 car has become far too complicated.  It's not racing out there:  not from a technical point of view, not from a safety point of view, not from a fan's point of view.

There was a time, not long ago, when 'engine management' was done entirely with the right foot.  I don't think many people would complain if the F1 were to mandate that.

[Scott]

Between Nico and Alonso, I think it's time to say that an F1 car has become far too complicated.  It's not racing out there:  not from a technical point of view, not from a safety point of view, not from a fan's point of view.

There was a time, not long ago, when 'engine management' was done entirely with the right foot.  I don't think many people would complain if the F1 were to mandate that.

That's a great point.  Why not stop messing around with engine regulations and write some Steering Wheel regulations. 

Buttons?  Radio and Pit speed regulator and water bottle pump
Dials?  One with two positions...go fast and save fuel. 

 

[Steve A.]

Give them an engine, gear box with a gear stick and let them control it all.

[cosworth151]

F1 is supposed to be the ultimate in racing. Both the cars and the drivers are supposed to be the best in the world. I'm not in favor of "dumbing down" either of them.

The controls of a current F1 car are no more complex than those of a modern single seat jet fighter. Here's the panel on an F-15 Eagle. There are also controls that run up either side of the pilot that can't be seen in the picture.

[Jericoke]

F1 is supposed to be the ultimate in racing. Both the cars and the drivers are supposed to be the best in the world. I'm not in favor of "dumbing down" either of them.

The controls of a current F1 car are no more complex than those of a modern single seat jet fighter. Here's the panel on an F-15 Eagle. There are also controls that run up either side of the pilot that can't be seen in the picture.

I'm not necessarily suggesting an F1 car needs to be less advanced, simply that having drivers controlling the engines with buttons instead of the gas pedal isn't really racing.  More to the point, this past weekend we saw two of the best drivers in the world found the cars to be too complicated and created dangerous situations. 

Should we kick out drivers who can't handle an F1 car?  (I'm okay with that)

Second point is that an F15 isn't intended to handle within millimeters of a second aircraft.  While an F15 pilot has split seconds to make life and death decisions, they spend years learning the equipment, most of it redundant.  An F1 driver, on the other hand, is making split second decisions and might not learn the settings on his wheel until Free Practise the day before.

We could certainly automate an F1 car to match a modern jet aircraft, and I'd be all for that.  However, the drivers would have very little left to do.

[lkjohnson1950]

I agree with Jeri. F15 pilots can practice almost any time they want to. I see F15s flying practice sorties from both TIA and D-MAFB every day. F1 severely limits practice time, and no I don't think simulator time is the same. Let the drivers drive, don't make them waste time on computer programming on the fly.

[F1fanaticBD]

May be increasing the testing session may give us a good solution to move on to.

Yeah, its complicated, but it makes it run fast. When car was invented Iam sure many must have said "Just a saddle and a stallion and we are good for racing, why bother with soething round and stick as well as a paadle"

Yeah Jet pilot can test a lot, but I alsothink they have limitation of flying hours as well. Its racing, whoever get the better of what they have are the winners.

[lkjohnson1950]

I think in racing as in freeway traffic, anything  that distracts the driver from driving is dangerous and should be eliminated if possible.

[John S]

I think in racing as in freeway traffic, anything  that distracts the driver from driving is dangerous and should be eliminated if possible.

I hope this is a tongue in cheek remark Lonny,   I usually agree with most of your thinking but can't on this occasion.

Making drivers responsible for managing their own cars is surely a good thing, they are not novices - well they shouldn't be - so let them cope with the pressure of changing settings etc. etc.
A true champion has to be able to cope with whatever the season, or car, throws at them - survival of the fittest rather than the absolute fastest has always been how F1 races are decided.

   

[lkjohnson1950]

Sorry John, not tongue in cheek at all. Despite the discussion in the other thread, the real cause of the Rosberg/Hamilton incident was Nico being in the wrong engine mode. If Alonso, who is in fact a "great champion", also put his car in the wrong mode, that is two incidents in the same race. What if he had been in the middle of a group battling for points? That could have been two accidents in the same race due to a driver being distracted by something not really essential to the art of driving. My Subaru has a device that prevents you from shifting into 1ST above 30 mph. Shouldn't these cars have something that prevents engaging fuel cut off or pit lane mode at high speed? Let the drivers drive, not tune the cars on the fly.

[Scott]

Let the drivers drive, not tune the cars on the fly.

Totally agree.  I don't care who is the most technically inclined driver, or the guy who can remember all the settings and changes in settings.

Bring back two way telemetry and take most of the buttons and dials off the darned steering wheels.

[F1fanaticBD]

Motorsports has always been the sports of trial and error, both in terms of human error and design/mechanical error. That is why it fascinates more than any other sports because the ability of design and human integrates so beautifully. Now Alonso and Rosberg did make error, which is less than 10% of the grid, we should not be reacting to the make things go away which makes the car faster, instead we should ensure that these mistakes are made less than 5% for the entire season, through testing as well as by designing better control panel to suit the drivers.
Driving in the freeway should not be compared with racing a car in F1, nobody pays a guy millions for driving in the freeway, and not all are equipped with the level of intelligence that we come across in F1 drivers. I agree they are not the most amicable person in the world and at times they may be regarded as socially inept, but surely in terms of driving they are the best of the bunch, with ability of car control as well as the ability to do multi-tasking is something that makes them earn millions.

[Scott]

In my opinion they earn millions because they are at the top of a sport that generates billions.  Just like other sports.

However the FIA first banning two way telemetry, which allowed the teams to manage many of the complexities of the car, and now even radio instructions to the drivers so they could turn the knobs and press the buttons in the right order, just frustrates me and I would really rather the drivers have no distractions that aren't on the track.  I think that would lead to much better racing.

[cosworth151]

My Subaru has a device that prevents you from shifting into 1ST above 30 mph. Shouldn't these cars have something that prevents engaging fuel cut off or pit lane mode at high speed?

I wonder if the Powers-That-Be at the FIA would declare anything like that to be an "illegal driver's aid."