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Old 3 May 2018, 05:01 (Ref:3819008)   #16
Purist
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Purist is going for a new world record!Purist is going for a new world record!Purist is going for a new world record!Purist is going for a new world record!Purist is going for a new world record!Purist is going for a new world record!
Well, there's plenty here to go through.

I suspect that the old-style grids were done away with after about 1975 due to the increasing performance, especially acceleration, of the cars. The Ford-Cosworth DFV reached a 485-hp output at about that time, which was a good 10% increase over what they were seeing just 2-3 years before. Under those conditions, the tight, sometimes 3-4-wide, rows you might see became a serious liability if a car stalled, as effective evasion became much harder with the improved acceleration.

Particularly with the Anthony Nogues corner, you're going to have about as much luck getting the grid formed up for a rolling start at Monaco as IndyCar does coming off the hairpin at Long Beach. Also, even at more open circuits, unless you have a very long run up to the line, you're going to have issues with forming the grid, because the drivers are going to enter the straight single-file, so that they don't muck up their tires right before the start by going around the outside (off-line) of the final corners.

And anyway, which tracks would count as "street circuits"? By a stricter definition, it would probably be limited to Baku, Monaco, and Singapore. Under a looser guideline, you might well include parkland circuits such as Melbourne and Montreal. If you're really being lenient, you could include Sochi and Yas Marina, which fall into the same sort of category as Valencia.

And of course, touching on earlier comments, a rolling start means you're heading into Turn 1 at a higher speed. A longer run into Turn 1 can mitigate this to an extent, but it also runs counter to what I just mentioned, that is, having enough space off the final corner for the grid to fully organize. With the most obvious exception being Baku, a number of the F1 circuits have a tendency for the line to be rather closer to the last corner than the first.

I don't think standing starts are enough of an increased hazard, assuming they are one, to warrant the change. I consider the unpredictability they bring to more than justify the continued use of the procedure.
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