push to pass - worth having?

[bella]

in the superleague race at brands today there was the second big accident involving the push to pass button and a car going into the back of another one after its use (the first one being in fpa at snetterton a month or so ago).

is it really such a good idea? webber spoke about his accident in f1 at valencia and the high closing speeds being an issue for example, but does creating an opportunity to overtake create too much risk as well?

[brands hatch]

You make a good point...at some circuits, push to pass is a very good method to aid overtaking, however at other, Brands GP is an example, only very few overtaking opportunities are created or completed because of it's "help".

Does it add more risk? Hmmm, The Snetterton FPA crash comes to mind as a back up the point that it does create more risk, but I feel that Risk is just in the nature of the sport...its down to drivers to correctly Judge distances etc when attempting to "block", and this judgement can and does go wrong.

So..Yes I think it is generally a good idea, it does aid the "spectatcle"... but risk is there, and always has been and all ways will be.

[eveningladies]

It's a very good point.

The racing at Brands today was, pretty tame by Superleague's usual standards (Craig Dolby not being able to make headway at the back being a case in point) and without push to pass it would have been even more so. Indeed, I think push to pass has been a massive contribution to the excitement of most Superleague races. But you can also say that without push to pass Chris van der Drift wouldn't have come very close to being killed today.

I think you know what most drivers would say though if you asked them and perhaps theirs is the most important opinion?

[bella]

that sort of accident happens without the "boost" button of course - marco bonanomi went airbourne at barcelona after hitting the back of another car and hit the scoreboard gantry thing in a formula renault 3.5 a couple of years ago as well. and in gp2 there's hardly that big a speed differential but josef kral managed it too at valencia.

are we back to wing mirror sizes? could the driver in front judge the speed of the incoming car a little better with more suitable wing mirrors?

they were saying on the circuit commentary at the superleague today that drivers were a bit cagey about revealing where they thought they could use it, there wasn't really a single place - in a similar way to f1 cars were abandoning their f-duct thingies at hungary because the loss in rear downforce wasn't worth the gain in speed.

what WOULD drivers say? would it differ between those who have used it and those who haven't?

my opinion is that it's a daft idea to have push-to-pass (one that hasn't really changed since they introduced it in formula palmer audi), and i've seen far better and more interesting races with the low downforce setup in formula renault 3.5. would it be better to use that sort of intervention on the single make formulae because it's simpler for spectators to follow?? or is it just different?

so many questions

[Peralta]

I'm totally against this button. It is artificial racing that brings no satisfaction to the drivers or spectators.

[Stephen Green]

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[Dave Brand]

Originally Posted by Peralta

I'm totally against this button. It is artificial racing that brings no satisfaction to the drivers or spectators.

[TWRv12]

More like Push-To-Fly!

[wlaxer]

Nobody had push-to-pass before the last decade or so, and the racing was fine. And drivers in the junior formulae need to learn how to drive without all these aids. You could almost get to F1 without ever having to drive any sort of manual gearbox.

Not to mention it being a silly gimmick. You can have a system on your car, but only use it for x seconds at a time?

[Woolley]

Originally Posted by bella

my opinion is that it's a daft idea to have push-to-pass (one that hasn't really changed since they introduced it in formula palmer audi), and i've seen far better and more interesting races with the low downforce setup in formula renault 3.5. would it be better to use that sort of intervention on the single make formulae

Agree entirely - it's a solution to remove a symptom without solving the problem that leads to it. Push-to-pass is only necessary because other methods of passing are removed by the spec of the cars. There's also an issue over blocking and weaving which when coupled with push-to-pass on the following car makes the risk of airborne accidents greater.

[ivanalesi]

Sure, ban on blocking must be the cheapest solution ever! Extremely pointless on narrow tracks... I love moves where the driver just suddenly move aside and brakes later, but drivers are afraid of doing something like this because they don't trust the other driver. Lewis vs Kimi at Monza was fantastic, even though Kimi's neck was sore that day.