Bleating drivers

[gloomyDAY]

Last time I looked, a certain element of hazard was always inevitable in motorsport.

On second thoughts, maybe I shouldn't have written that, for I will now inevitably be (completely wrongly) accused by those who put two and two together and make five of wanting to see drivers hurt or killed.

No, I have more sense than that.

Rubens has a legitimate cause to be concerned. I just don't see it as incessant whining by an overpaid athlete. He's merely stating his perception from inside the cockpit, which is a viewpoint that 99.9% of spectators will never experience.

My stance has always been the same. Get rid of KERS, get rid of the flapping wings, get rid of traction control (already happened, yay!), get rid of all that aero crap, standardize all the knobs and switches on the steering mechanism, and for goodness sakes RAISE the level of horsepower. That will really give something for the drivers to cry about!

I think then that even if we don't see a lot of passing in F1 that watching all the drivers skate around the track would be joyful. Okay, going back to dreaming.

[TheFamousEccles]

Bleating drivers? Try getting through Au Rouge with one knee raised to operate the F-duct whilst fighting the G-forces (lots of hyphens here) and watching your instruments, dialing in various settings for the next braking area, etc, then you can use the "bleating" word.

I am with gloomyDAY above. Lotsa horsepower, too much horsepower actually - then get rid of the gadgets (flappy wings have no bearing to road-based vehicle development, for example), light the blue touch paper, sit back and enjoy!

[BDunnell]

No, I have more sense than that.

Rubens has a legitimate cause to be concerned. I just don't see it as incessant whining by an overpaid athlete. He's merely stating his perception from inside the cockpit, which is a viewpoint that 99.9% of spectators will never experience.

My stance has always been the same. Get rid of KERS, get rid of the flapping wings, get rid of traction control (already happened, yay!), get rid of all that aero crap, standardize all the knobs and switches on the steering mechanism, and for goodness sakes RAISE the level of horsepower. That will really give something for the drivers to cry about!

I think then that even if we don't see a lot of passing in F1 that watching all the drivers skate around the track would be joyful. Okay, going back to dreaming.

I'm with you on all of that.

[nigelred5]

I would very much like to hear them talk, if they had something genuinely interesting to say.

Exactly, they rarely if ever have anything to say.

[gloomyDAY]

Bleating drivers? Try getting through Au Rouge with one knee raised to operate the F-duct whilst fighting the G-forces (lots of hyphens here) and watching your instruments, dialing in various settings for the next braking area, etc, then you can use the "bleating" word.

I am with gloomyDAY above. Lotsa horsepower, too much horsepower actually - then get rid of the gadgets (flappy wings have no bearing to road-based vehicle development, for example), light the blue touch paper, sit back and enjoy!

I had to Google this phrase, but I'm still a little confused. Where is this derived from and what does it mean? Must be some kind of British expression.

[TheFamousEccles]

I had to Google this phrase, but I'm still a little confused. Where is this derived from and what does it mean? Must be some kind of British expression.

It's an (very) old expression for lighting a fuse, most likely on an old mortar or cannon - very likely a British expression as I first heard it on the Goon Show, many moons ago. Thats about the depth of my knowledge

[markabilly]

Bleating drivers? Try getting through Au Rouge with one knee raised to operate the F-duct whilst fighting the G-forces (lots of hyphens here) and watching your instruments, dialing in various settings for the next braking area, etc, then you can use the "bleating" word.

I am with gloomyDAY above. Lotsa horsepower, too much horsepower actually - then get rid of the gadgets (flappy wings have no bearing to road-based vehicle development, for example), light the blue touch paper, sit back and enjoy!

They should try getting through it without any areo devices. As those who bridged the gap between the wings and the non-wings sometimes admit, the skill to drive with the wings increasing downforce and traction by the faster you go is miniscule compared to the increased skill and touch to do it when there were no wings.

But that was a time when skill and balls were required to drive the cars and win, not fast reflexes and ability to take g-loads as today with 100 plus engineers reading all the data to set the car up for them, leaving the driver only to sit around and bleat for his momma to anyone who would listen.

I had to Google this phrase, but I'm still a little confused. Where is this derived from and what does it mean? Must be some kind of British expression.

Of course it is British. It is sound that sheep make, when scared or hungry for a tit.

[TheFamousEccles]

They should try getting through it without any areo devices. As those who bridged the gap between the wings and the non-wings sometimes admit, the skill to drive with the wings increasing downforce and traction by the faster you go is miniscule compared to the increased skill and touch to do it when there were no wings.

But that was a time when skill and balls were required to drive the cars and win, not fast reflexes and ability to take g-loads as today with 100 plus engineers reading all the data to set the car up for them, leaving the driver only to sit around and bleat for his momma to anyone who would listen.

Am with you there, except for the bleating to momma bit - regardless of opinion, I still think it would take considerable balls to take some of the corners and G's that these guys do, lap after lap at insane speeds.

[AndyL]

It's an (very) old expression for lighting a fuse, most likely on an old mortar or cannon - very likely a British expression as I first heard it on the Goon Show, many moons ago. Thats about the depth of my knowledge

I think it comes from the instructions on fireworks...

1. Light the blue touch paper
2. Stand well back.

[BDunnell]

I still think it would take considerable balls to take some of the corners and G's that these guys do, lap after lap at insane speeds.

Indeed. Even the backmarkers deserve respect for exactly that reason.