Solution to first corner foolishness?

[eatapc]

Is there any way to prevent these first corner incidents? The first thing the FIA should do is start officially enforcing a "one swerve" or one blocking maneuver rule. And enforce it sternly. I say give Rubens a one-race ban -- then we'll begin seeing the drivers behave themselves. In the future, stewards can review the start and give black flags or 10 second penalties to cars that weave to block at the starts.

Certainly Ralf should have been expecting Rubens to move back over into the center of the track, but the fact is Rubens had already weaved twice and blocked Ralf's passing attempt once, so he shouldn't have been allowed to block Ralf again.

I realize that a draconian penalty against Rubens seems a bit much, given that the incident could have been avoided by Ralf, but it would be a good way to cut down on the chronic foolishness that we frequently see between the starting line and the first corner.

[Total-F1]

What are you on about?

Are you so anti-racing?

[Gt_R]

I don't see anything wrong with the current way of starts...

Unless of course, we'd rather have the cars leave their grid one by one in queue..

[Jay]

lol...I don't think you'd be here if you were anti-racing...

1st corner incidents aren't a new thing to Formula 1, and massive ones, of the kind witnessed yesterday occur fairly rarely (last one? Belgium 98'). Most just involve a car or two tangling, and getting knocked out. I don't have any problem with this, it's a part of racing and something the drivers are all aware of. So, no changes necessary.

[Mania]

You certainly have a valid point. Barrichelo swerved on 3 occasions and not just one. In those circimstances it can hardly be the sole fault of the driver who hits you from behind. Ralf doesent have magical brakes in the Williams so that he can anticipate for a reckless Barrichelo.

The FIA says you can change you line once - Barrichelo did in thrice. Thats the rule. How would they enforce it though?

Ive seen Hakkinen, Michael, Coulthard, Hill, Villeneuve to name a few - having used the same move but those guys have been sensible enough not to move around that much in such a short distance. Barrichelo moved too much too soon - simple as that. He was looking in his mirrors more than he was looking at the front - as a result he also managed to brake earlier.

Its just pure incompetence on Barrichelo's part - he tried a move that should be left to better drivers.

The FIA wont regulate this because they believe (hopefully correctly) that people like Barrichelo wont be at the front of the grid too often!

[eatapc]

Originally posted by Total-F1
What are you on about? Are you so anti-racing?

Hmmm. What did the first lap today have to do with good racing? Arbitrarily knocking half the field out of the race in the first 10 seconds is not my idea of racing at all -- particularly since the strict enforcement of an existing rule would help cut down on these incidents.

I always assume that a couple of cars will knock themselves out on the first lap -- usually mid or backfield drivers caught out by cold tires and the "accordion effect" at the first few corners. What bothers me is the dangerous maneuvering by drivers at the front of the grid. The accidents up front cause considerably more chaos and are more easily preventable.

I'm not anti racing (were you being facetious?) and I'm not trying to be anti Barrichello. Several drivers got away with it last year, and I say enough is enough. Crack down on it. I want to see good racing rather than dangerous games of chicken down the starting line straight.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by eatapc

draconian penalty

what does draconian mean anyway?

i think that rubens maybe swerved abit too much, however, rafe must have expected rubens to make the final swerve to take his line into the first corner!

[Sodemo]

In my view Ralf was to blame for the crash, he missed his braking point, and rammed the back of rubens. He would not have made that corner.

[Super Tourer]

Didn't both RB & RS produce some ridiculous moves last year... I seem to remember RB delivering several daft moves.

Also - RS was involved in the 2001 Aussie GP's tragic incident.

The GP start should never be changed IMO - it's one of the most highly charged parts of a GP. Perhap's both Ruben's and Ralf need to learn to calm down a bit -and remember that there are upto 75 laps in a GP - not ONE corner.

[Number Juan]

i know wot we could do, we could do a 'monza' and have no overtaking on the first lap...second lap...third lap......

[eatapc]

Draconian: Exceedingly harsh; very severe: a draconian legal code; draconian budget cuts. [After Draco: Seventh century B.C. Athenian politician who codified the laws of Athens (c. 621). Lauded for its impartiality, his code was unpopular for its severity.]

Would Ralf have negotiated the turn? Wouldn't it have been nice if Rubens had let him (and us) find out?

[EERO]

I agree with peachy on this one. Rubens was weaving and as I understand the rule, broke it. Weaving like a horde of drunken drivers on cell phons is not my idea of racing. Watch starts from the 70's, (with the possible exception of Schekter's Woodcote debacle at Silverstone in '73) and realize that clean starts and good RACING are not incompatible.

Super Tourer, Ralf was pretty much absolved of responsibility in the Albert Park incident of last year. Besides, on that occaission, he was the Hittee, not the hitter.

[paulzinho]

What about Monaco in 50 or 51? From what i've heard the first corner wasn't very clean!!

[senna12]

One of those racing incidents that happens frequently. Rubens' own weaving put him out of position to take the line for the corner. He had to juke way over at the last possible second. Ralf appeared to have missed the braking point, or was going to brake a bit later and try the outside, thinking Rubens wouldn't do what he did. I really think both drivers had a guilty hand in the accident.
I don't think rolling starts, as in CART, are the answer either, since on road courses the cars are quite often carrying a lot more speed into corner one anyway.
So I guess I'd like to leave it the way it is.

[nameless]

you would have thought that barrichello would have had the sense not to weave infront of 21 cars travelling over 100mph, the drivers will learn that it aint a good idea and starts will be clean..............anyway i seem to remember that last year there wasnt really a first corner incident till past halfway through the season.....correct me if im wrong though

[ljakse]

I agree something must be done to prevent theese kind of incidents, and I would agree with eatapc - use draconian penalty. In this case, my vote goes for Rubinho. I don't see how Ralf could have expected him to turn back left AND brake at the same time.

[Powered by JPM]

it was a ******* racing incident!

To lay complete blame on one or the other is ridiculous. Partial blame could be placed on Air Shumacher...the corner was coming up, therefore Air Ralf should have expected the breaking.

[Mania]

Yeah Ralf should have expected Barrichelo to swerve all over the place, brake early and block him - that way the accident wouldnt have ahappened - cos Ralf would have expected Barrichelo to play the fool

[Valve Bounce]

As I posted in other threads, the faster line was on the left hand side of the track (facing the front) as seen in the other support races. Rubens weaving to the right hand side was therefore quite stupid, and when he found himself losing ground there, he frantically weaved back to the left to chop Ralf off. The move was very sudden, and it caught Ralf by surprise. While we can say it was Ralf's fault for hitting the car in front, it is a fact that Rubens broke the one weave rule, and he should be penalised. Had he not broken the rules, there would have been no prang.

BUT, all the teams could adopt the ARROWS start strategy, and there would be no chance of an accident at all.

[Mania]

Originally posted by Valve Bounce
As I posted in other threads, the faster line was on the left hand side of the track (facing the front) as seen in the other support races. Rubens weaving to the right hand side was therefore quite stupid, and when he found himself losing ground there, he frantically weaved back to the left to chop Ralf off. The move was very sudden, and it caught Ralf by surprise. While we can say it was Ralf's fault for hitting the car in front, it is a fact that Rubens broke the one weave rule, and he should be penalised. Had he not broken the rules, there would have been no prang.

BUT, all the teams could adopt the ARROWS start strategy, and there would be no chance of an accident at all.

I agree !

[f1manoz]

Leave the starts the way they are.

And Rubens certainly does NOT deserve a one-race ban for Ralf's stupidity in driving over him.

[Mania]

Rubens deserves not only a ban - but he should be chucked out of the Ferrari seat now instead of at the end of the season. Let him go test for Jaguar.

[calcium]

What a load of rubbish!!Racing is racing.Too much thinking makes rules within rules within rules.Rubens can do what he wants,it's upto the person behind to anticipate what the person infront is going to do.Why do you think Superbikes have no mirrors!!!

[Jay]

What Rubens did is nothing new... Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard, and other drivers have made similar manuovers in the past. The only difference is that this time it ended in a crash.

Rubens changed his line once to protect his position (a move to the inside), and twice in anticipation of the corner (a move to the outside). In the second move, he moved dangerously infront of Ralf, caught him by surprise..and the rest is history...

Just give the drivers a warning about changing lines, and let it go... If they want to make stupid moves, and have short races... well...that's their decision...

[Glen]

I hope the severity of that crash will make them a bit more careful in future - that car could very easily have flipped and barrelled over the run off.

Whilst I agree that Rubens showed his (lack of) class in the way that he executed his start, I definately think Ralf was way too "hot" and should have been thinking of the full race and not just the start. The "Montoya under the skin" effect is clear already!