That New Chicane

[Liz]

I don't see the point of that new chicane that has now ruined the Varientes. It is not making the corner "safer" - it is making it much more dangerous. Besides which it has ruined one of the best opportunities for photos the circuit afforded!

Last year a lot of people missed the chicane and went straight on - this year they are doing the same thing, only missing one instead of two.

I say put it back the way it was. What do you say?

[Jay]

Actually it has made the corner a lot safer. In the past there have been some very big accidents at that Chicane from cars that had a problem under braking. Now, if you don't make the corner you will just go straight onto Curva Grande, where you can probably get whatever the problem was sorted out (ie stop the car). With the old Variante, if there was a problem the car had nowhere to go but bouncing over the curbs into the tire barriers.

As far as drivers not making the corner, well, just like the olc chicanes, and the ones at hockenheim, it happens. If a driver does miss the corner he can usually get it back together and carry on.

IMO, the chicane itself, is much nicer (and easier) to driver through, if you make your braking point. The old chicane you would have to brake hard, fly over the curbs, accelerate a little, brake, fly over the curbs again before accelerating out. With the new chicane it is just brake hard, turn right, turn left, accelerate. Much smoother when done properly.

Don't even think of putting it back the way it was.

[Tristan]

I must admit it looks weird the first time we've actually SEEN it. However, I have to agree with Jay here. It is safer during the race. At the start of a race it looks like it could be carnage, but so did the last one.

Also it seems to be a corner of some challange. The number of times drivers got their line wrong THROUGH it, let alone missing the corner altogether, today was staggering. The other variante (whatsisname?? The one before the Lesmos after the Curva Grande) has also been made more challenging with those sawtooth curbes. Do you cut them?? It's faster, but at the same time it's a risk for the drivers' being thrown out to the left on exit. All good fun.......

[neutral]

Haven't seen it yet ( we only get the race in Australia-delayed of course) but what i hear is that it is safer, and therefore should reduce the no. of incidents. If this is the case then I am totally against the change. Bring back the danger in F1!!!

[Jay]

neutral has it ever occured to you that a more dangerous corner is not always a better corner? The old chicane was one of the most hated on the F1 calendar.

[Jared]

Does anyone else think the chicane resembles the Festival Curves at Portland, only not as tight? And we all know what happens each year when the "best drivers in the world" (as CARTisans put it) go into the Festival Chicane on lap 1.

Carnage at turn 1 tomorrow? What do you think? I believe there will be.

[Liz]

Well, I will admit that last year we saw 4 crashes during qualifying on that corner and none this year (we didn't see them, if there were any, I mean.)

But ... I still like it the way it was.

I will be interested in other opinoins though.

[Jay]

Good point Jared. I have driven both the new chicanes at Monza and the Festival curve at Portland, and yes they are very similar, except the left hand turn is a little tighter at the Monza chicane. I guess we know what to expect. :O

[Ralf's Girl]

It seems to me that by changing the chicane, they are increasing the chances of a first corner incident. It looks like it would be easier to go straight on, and do a Button-esque harpoon of someone who has gone the correct way round the corner.

[R]

I agree with what Jared and Ralf's Girl said (except for that strange reference to Button, can't on earth imagine what that was about ), I fear this altered first corner might lead to a pile-up on the first lap.

[Bononi]

I did not like it, wich means nothing. I prefer the old one, but I think we're gonna see a lot of going straight with less trouble for the drivers. Will it be punished ? And BTW in the first lap all doubts about will end... I can see some "punches on the back", beware TGF !!!!

[EERO]

Call me old fashioned, but I say bag the chicanes all together.

[Jay]

I agree with Eero.

But, if you are going to have a chicane, the new one is a hundred times better than the old one. There may (probably will be) some cars going off at the first corner. But, it happened on almost every start with the old one too, so what is the problem here?

[Valve Bounce]

Jay, you said above that you have driven at both Monza and Portland. PLease elaborate: in what, and what races, and tell us more about it.

[Minardi fan]

I have to say I don't like the new chicane - it looks ridiculous to drive through, and I think there is just as much if not more of a chance of a first lap pile-up there.

Bring back the old chicane.

[Jay]

Valve Bounce, I meant in GP2, a realistic computer game. It is good to check out a track layout. Even some drivers have used it. Too bad it can't do G Forces. I thought I put that in there, but I guess I forgot. oops! I haven't gotten much further than go-karts.

[Ralf's Girl]

I think with this new chicane, they are increasing the chances of an accident. Look at the angle of the turn! It's ridiculously sharp and there is no way on this earth that 22 F1 cars will make it around there on lap one. It will probably also lead to more stop-go penalties for gaining when cutting the 'chicane' if that's what they want to call it.

[Liz]

Okay, is the track safer now or more dangerous?

It is a pure miracle that nobody was killed. There was absolutely nothing like that in recent memory, that i can call to mind.

If Max had anything to do with this, I hope they nail his butt for it.

[Mr.S]

Did anyone see how high that tire went, I would guess a good hundred feet. I saw it from JV's in car camera.

That was the only crash that really ever scared me. I thought that the whole feild went into the gravel trap after I saw De La Rosa's Arrows in the air. Reminds me of the Martin Brundel crash in Australia years ago.

[Tristan]

Liz, the miracle did not occur. I now hear that fire marshall we saw getting heart-massage has since died. HOWEVER, this is as yet unconfirmed, so don't vouch me on that one.

That being said, that smash would have happened at rodja anyway. It was the EXIT not the ENTRY of that chicane that was adjusted. F1 may be one of the safest sports in the WORLD (even polo and football are more dangerous), but it can still be dangerous and that fact cannot be escaped.

[Ralf's Girl]

I think that DC was lucky to walk away from that crash without any injury. After having another F1 car landing practically on your head, surely the last thing you would want to do would be to hop out and wander off.

I noticed how high that tyre went. What I was wondering was how the crash was really triggered. I know it was Frentzen, but it didn't look to me like he was actually hit by anyone, since I was under the impression that Villeneuve was the next car down the road.

What terrified me even more was the way in which de la Rosa literally flew into the gravel trap on his side before he even touched it. He must have rolled at least four times, before practically landing on DC's head.

The race was made worse by the fact that the fire marshal was killed, and I assume that he was the one we saw run ut extremely early, even before the debris was settled.

[Bononi]

It was just few seconds, and you find yourself completely stuck by the view of the crash...when I saw De La Rosa's car rising above the dust, I couldn't help myself calculating where it was landing, right where Rubens should be ! It was for a few inches that nothing happened to them !

[Mr.S]

I don't remember anyone running, but if that was him then wow, what ells can I say.

I think what happened was Rubens was on the inside of Frentzen and Trulli, RB was moving on to the line and Frentzen tried to give him some space, but accidentally hit Trulli. Johnny saw it and braked causing PDLR to slam into the back of him. But that's just speculation, it was likely just a racing accident.

[Liz]

Someone said that Rubens had a mark on his helmet where soemthing had hit him.

We will have to wait for the official inquest, i guess, to know what actually happened.

But when I watch the CART race this afternoon I will be thinking of the marshalls who are risking their lives out there without any protection at all.

[Ralf's Girl]

A worse racing accident than usual though.