My new idea...

[JayVee]

Personally I wouldnt put Alonso into the same category, he was after all the one b1tching about blue flags..........Shuey, yes....in the past, but lately he has changed his attitude, become more of a "modern" F1 driver.... the role of being an F1 driver has changed forever......

T-K get your facts right, Alonso complained about the lack of blue flags but didn't complain about the traffic. This is in fact testimony to his skills of being able to go through backmarkers without the blue flags.
BUT when there is a blue flag rule in place and you know you have to make up time in between pit stops and there are marshals not waving the blue flags, you would certainly raise the point of the lack of blue flags with your team and that is what he did. Even then, he didn't make such a big deal out of it. I don't really know what you are talking about ?

And I don't agree that drivers want things handed to them on a silver platter. Actually apart from having safer cars, I think todays drivers are working harder than ever but drivers work to the rules that are in place and these days a race can be won or lost in the pits and you certainly wouldn't want a backmarker to slow you down during that crucial time.

But aren't you promoting this new idea of yours to replace the blue flags ? It will help your average driver, Alonso won't benefit much from it as he knows how to deal with traffic

[<T-K>]

T-K get your facts right, Alonso complained about the lack of blue flags but didn't complain about the traffic. This is in fact testimony to his skills of being able to go through backmarkers without the blue flags.
BUT when there is a blue flag rule in place and you know you have to make up time in between pit stops and there are marshals not waving the blue flags, you would certainly raise the point of the lack of blue flags with your team and that is what he did. Even then, he didn't make such a big deal out of it. I don't really know what you are talking about ?

And I don't agree that drivers want things handed to them on a silver platter. Actually apart from having safer cars, I think todays drivers are working harder than ever but drivers work to the rules that are in place and these days a race can be won or lost in the pits and you certainly wouldn't want a backmarker to slow you down during that crucial time.

But aren't you promoting this new idea of yours to replace the blue flags ? It will help your average driver, Alonso won't benefit much from it as he knows how to deal with traffic

Yeah, I understand that if there is a lack of blue flags then you can mention something to your team, but still you should make a plan to get around the slower car...now I must admit, maybe I was wrong to single out Alonso, and group him into that category, but there are many other drivers that would have run off and cried to the stewards etc about how "blue flags cost him the race".......and thats where my argument about everything on a silver platter......

Modern F1 drivers are not the ruff, rugged drivers of the old days, and because of the huge sums of money involved in F1, drivers are starting to say(well top drivers at least).....what are they going to do without me? ....am I wrong to say that they are becoming spoilt rich kids?

I'm not saying this to have a heated argument with you, just as a friendly discussion

[Snowy]

This is true, and it irks me. Fernando Alonso, Schuey, Senna, Hakkinen, Hill, and the other "real" champions didn't waste time complaining. They just got on with it.

They never had the kind of traffic problems drivers face today! When they introduced refueling everything went tits up. Nowadays drivers are severly compromised not by backmarkers but by genuinely fast guys not driving fast enough because they are heavy with fuel or stuck behind someone who is. This has the effect of destroying an otherwise faultless race because your pit crew released you into traffic fighting amonst themselves. I hate refueling as much as I hate Max and the FIA, mixing up the order might seem like a good idea but it's an abomination before God . Motor racing should be pure and unadulterated IMHO.

[Snowy]

Modern F1 drivers are not the ruff, rugged drivers of the old days, and because of the huge sums of money involved in F1, drivers are starting to say(well top drivers at least).....what are they going to do without me? ....am I wrong to say that they are becoming spoilt rich kids?

The rough rugged F1 drivers of old were no where near as fit as the guys are today. Mansel, Senna, Piquet were at deaths door when they finnished a race. We never see more than a hair out of place today. The problem is that the cars are not designed to overtake. Because we have pit stops and refueling(excuse my swearing) it pays to optimise airflow, if F1 cars had to run without refueling the designers would have to factor in overtaking and make there cars run in dirty air. IMHO, No b**l**ks IMEO!!

[<T-K>]

The rough rugged F1 drivers of old were no where near as fit as the guys are today. Mansel, Senna, Piquet were at deaths door when they finnished a race.

They werent as fit? or the cars were harder to drive?

[Snowy]

The rough rugged F1 drivers of old were no where near as fit as the guys are today. Mansel, Senna, Piquet were at deaths door when they finnished a race.

They werent as fit? or the cars were harder to drive?

Todays drivers are exposed to far greater G forces in turns and under acceleration and breaking. The races don't last quite as long however they are far more likely to be driving flat out qualifying type laps than conserving fuel and tyres which they had to do in the old days.