. We issued a . We issued a | Forum
123
Apr 5 '19
Lets get one thing out of the way before we start: that cockpit head protection thingamajig thats been delayed till 2018 is no Halo. Wholesale Air Max Ireland . Its a flip-flop (or thong, if youre Australian), and nothing anyone can say will convince me otherwise.Following the publication of (some of) the results of the F1 Strategy Group meeting that took place in Geneva on Thursday, there has been some muttering about Formula Ones tendency to change its mind, flip-flopping here, and U-turning there.But is it such a bad thing for an individual or an organisation to change their minds as situations change?As a private individual, if I stuck dogmatically to my opinions come hell or high water, ignoring new information or editing it to suit my preconceptions, people would think I was an idiot. As soon as one enters the public sphere, however -- as a celebrity or politician, for example -- changing your mind is no longer a sign of personal growth, changing circumstances, or new information, but instead is seen as a sign of moral or personal weakness.True, Formula One has introduced and then eliminated things that werent popular: the double-points season finale; that qualifying shake-up; restrictions on radio communication... But is it better to try new things and ditch what doesnt work, or to sit happily in a rut persisting in doing things that either dont work or never have, just because you dont want to admit that trial and error involves endless trials and quite a lot of error?Speaking to the media in an open Q&A session held between Friday practice sessions in Hockenheim, FIA race director Charlie Whiting reflected on F1s recent mistakes.If you look at the qualifying procedure, I think everyone -- I say everyone; Im talking about the Strategy Group and the members of the F1 Commission, which comprises all of the great and the good of Formula One -- felt that this was a good idea, Whiting said.It didnt work, I think we can all accept that, and we felt that the most grown-up thing to do would be to go back. I think that was that, really, with qualifying. It dragged on a little longer than it could have -- sorry, than it need have -- but there you go. I think someone asked me yesterday: Do you remember that qualifying? I couldnt actually remember what we did in Australia straight away. These things disappear.I dont feel that the radio thing is a U-turn as such. The original things were requested of us for a good reason, and it kind of worked at the beginning but it was beginning to mean that the spectators and the fans are not getting quite what they could. I think that that is why they thought it was a good idea to try and go back to something that gave them more. I think we have to respond to those sorts of things; I dont think its a bad thing at all.Several of F1s recent reassessments of new regulations or regulatory adjustments have taken place with a view to improving the fan experience, Whiting explained with reference to the radio traffic rules.We have to look back to when the Strategy Group decided that there was too much radio traffic and it was detrimental to the sport, he said. We were getting quite a few complaints, if I remember, from fans saying Why are they being told all these things? They should be driving them for themselves.In the August of 2014 the Strategy Group decided that we should cut out nearly all radio conversations. We issued a note reflecting those views and everyone said Oh, its too much, its too much. So we scaled it right back and we introduced bits and pieces and then we went to single clutch paddles and those sorts of things.Now the feedback is that weve gone too far
Share:
