Driver Weight Parity - Time to Introduce - Page 5

MGDavid · 4 Jun 2015, 09:47 (Ref:3544836)

Quote:

Originally Posted by wnut

http://www.autosport.com/news/report...ce=mostpopular

Nice to know that weight is the biggest talent a modern driver brings to F1.

No. As you well know the biggest talent that a driver brings to F1 is money.

wnut · 4 Jun 2015, 22:40 (Ref:3545019)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGDavid

No. As you well know the biggest talent that a driver brings to F1 is money.

Oops you're right MGDavid!

I'll have to move weight to 2 nd place.

wnut · 3 Jul 2015, 03:50 (Ref:3555529)

Alguersuari licence suspended by FIA due to health concerns.

"On June 6th, after the Moscow ePrix I suffered a faint as a result of dehydration and extreme exhaustion during the race."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/119653

Really in a Formula E race!

Dieting?

MGDavid · 3 Jul 2015, 08:39 (Ref:3555560)

Two-week old news, what made you resurrect it now?

wnut · 3 Jul 2015, 09:52 (Ref:3555569)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGDavid

Two-week old news, what made you resurrect it now?

Thought you'd like to know David.

wnut · 28 Feb 2016, 10:19 (Ref:3618373)

Drivers again being pushed to lose weight.

http://www.pitpass.com/55542/Drivers...t-loss-demands

Richard C · 29 Feb 2016, 15:34 (Ref:3618725)

Quote:

Originally Posted by wnut

Drivers again being pushed to lose weight.

http://www.pitpass.com/55542/Drivers...t-loss-demands

Completely sensible. I can't understand why this continues to not be solved. It should be easy to do and would likely generate good press. Maybe someone needs to pass out on the podium or during a race.

Richard

wnut · 2 Mar 2016, 00:07 (Ref:3619147)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

Completely sensible. I can't understand why this continues to not be solved. It should be easy to do and would likely generate good press. Maybe someone needs to pass out on the podium or during a race.

Richard

Yeah, I really don't get why they don't solve this problem either Richard, it just seems like a no brainer.
I believe that the dehydrated superlight driver suffers a much greater chance of injury in an accident. Lack of cerebrospinal fluid, and lack of muscle and fat to cushion an impact. Same sort of trouble that boxers face after trying to make a weight before a fight.

More:

http://www.f1technical.net/news/2026...098ecafdcce9de

MGDavid · 2 Mar 2016, 02:14 (Ref:3619168)

No-one forces them to drive F1 cars, if they don't like it don't do it.
Maybe the FIA can encourage the teams to only employ small drivers.
Jockeys have coped with a low weight requirement for decades.

wnut · 2 Mar 2016, 07:26 (Ref:3619191)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGDavid

No-one forces them to drive F1 cars, if they don't like it don't do it.
Maybe the FIA can encourage the teams to only employ small drivers.
Jockeys have coped with a low weight requirement for decades.

Then take away the power steering if you don't wish to introduce weight parity, it is the only reason the midgets can even drive the cars!

Seriously though weight parity is a simple fix, fair, and opens the pool of talent further.

MGDavid · 2 Mar 2016, 10:59 (Ref:3619234)

Quote:

Originally Posted by wnut

.......and opens the pool of talent further.

I think the pool of talent is huge already; you need to fix the financial side before getting into the esoteric technical stuff.

**bella** · 2 Mar 2016, 11:23 (Ref:3619240)

i agree fully that weight parity is a good thing, but bear in mind that if you do that in f1 you have to do it across all the single seater series at least. in the lower stuff, the guys who are taller and naturally broader can get away with dodging the weights, because you don't need a great deal of strength, just stamina. when you get to gp3 and f3 and need more upper body strength it gets a lot harder to hit the ideal weight if you're not very slender naturally.

so a lot of these guys are creating unhealthy habits to keep to weight limits in their mid-teens. not only is it when they're developing physically, it's mentally as well. blackmailing yourself to undereat and stay at a certain weight because if you don't you can't compete in the sport that forms a big part of your identity is a really terrible idea.

i'm not sure what the rules are in endurance racing but they seem to encourage a far more healthy body and lifestyle - when you get a scrawny single seater kid crossing over the first thing they do is pick up the weights and get their shirt off on instagram

and if we're talking about this with male athletes, who naturally carry a lot less body fat than their female counterparts, you can imagine how a woman would struggle if she happened to be very gifted but also.... very gifted.

Pingguest · 2 Mar 2016, 15:03 (Ref:3619309)

A form of parity has been used since 1995, as the FIA started to measure the minimum weight including the driver. The drivers' weight was not taken into account before that year. As far as I know, the lack of any parity was not a real issue, despite power steering and semi-automatic gearboxes were already in use then. And in those days the cars were a lot lighter than the contemporary ones. Hence, the drivers' weight affected the car's performances a lot more. What makes it different nowadays then?

Richard C · 2 Mar 2016, 17:01 (Ref:3619339)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGDavid

No-one forces them to drive F1 cars, if they don't like it don't do it.

Boy, that is the answer for everything isn't it. How much does a helmet or other safety gear weigh? Ditch it all to save weight. I am sure they might be worth a tenth during qualifying. Goggles and no lap belts were good enough for drivers back in the day.

The bottom line is that someone will always line up regardless of the risk. If you told people that they could be on live TV and be famous, but the catch being that they would have to jump into a meat grinder and die. I am sure more than one would volunteer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGDavid

Maybe the FIA can encourage the teams to only employ small drivers.
Jockeys have coped with a low weight requirement for decades.

I am not sure Jockeys are the best analogy for a number of reasons. About the nicest thing you can say is that hypothetically a minimum weight limit for a jockey and his gear to not overload the horse (which doesn't apply to mechanical things like a race car). In reality, its my understanding that until recently horse racing tracks had a special bowl in the rest room for the jockeys to vomit into prior to getting on a horse to reduce weight. And I read of stories of bad tooth decay due to constant exposure to stomach acids from these purges. But today the "improvement" is that they just rely upon on strict dieting, saunas and diuretics. It sounds like quite the healthy way to live. Just like F1 drivers, it's a bit of an unspoken secret as to what they go through. An how long do those races last? A few minutes? I am sure it's quite strenuous, but is it multiple G levels like F1? No.

Richard

chillibowl · 2 Mar 2016, 18:12 (Ref:3619351)

i always thought the aspect of weight and height were an issue in that several capable drivers were losing out on seats so the weight/height limit hurts the size and quality of the talent pool rather then it being a health issue.

dehydration is of course a problem but is that directly connected to weight? rather is a lighter person more susceptible to the effects of dehydration and its affect on motor skills

then a heavier person is?

JeremySmith · 2 Mar 2016, 19:19 (Ref:3619378)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGDavid

No-one forces them to drive F1 cars, if they don't like it don't do it.
Maybe the FIA can encourage the teams to only employ small drivers.
Jockeys have coped with a low weight requirement for decades.

Thiese sound like the type of comments Bernie Ecclestone would make ...

.

MGDavid · 3 Mar 2016, 00:27 (Ref:3619454)

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeremySmith

Thiese sound like the type of comments Bernie Ecclestone would make ...

.

sure, he's not wrong *all* the time ;-)

wnut · 5 Mar 2016, 23:02 (Ref:3620312)

Esoteric weight issue solved by Indycar years ago!

http://www.indycar.com/News/2012/Mar...ht-equivalence

Richard C · 6 Mar 2016, 00:54 (Ref:3620344)

Quote:

Originally Posted by wnut

Esoteric weight issue solved by Indycar years ago!

http://www.indycar.com/News/2012/Mar...ht-equivalence

I am not sure, but I "think" this may even have been mentioned pages ago in this thread. But to the point of it being solved elsewhere...

1. Easy to do
2. Fair

Not to mention potentially a good thing for driver safety. You can easily find articles and interviews elsewhere in which drivers are trying to balance their fitness level. If they exercise too much (get too fit) they have weight issues.

Watch this interview with Jenson Button...

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/241...ct-for-mclaren

Ignore the Alonso/Button pairing tagline as its an interesting interview that covers a few different topics (testing, sounds of engines, halo concept, easy of driving the current cars, Alonso, etc.), but listen to what he says about what he has to do to manage his weight at about the 4:40 mark.

Richard

wnut · 7 Mar 2016, 09:31 (Ref:3620826)

Thanks Richard, interesting comments from Jenson, I somehow find the whole scenario at 4:40 unspeakably sad. When a driver feels he has to put on weight over the winter to protect his health, then something just has to wrong! As for coffee and water for breakfast, yuck! This really needs to be stopped, where is the GPDA?

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