Formula One ( F1 )

Nope. I think someone from the FIA might have noticed during crash testing if the construction of the rollover protection had been illegal.

The blade was a more conventional thing back in the early 2010s: https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/tech-analysis-f1-teams-seeking-gains-in-roll-hoop-design-679657/679657/

Surely the Halo negates the need for the roll hoop to be a safety feature in the same way.

The intention is that the roll hoop is the primary rollover protection while the Halo is primarily to prevent objects on track hitting the driver. Although the Halo is rated for greater vertical forces than the roll hoop/blade so go figure...

Good argument against carbon-everything too. Titanium won't be ground down nearly as easily during a slide.

Intense that a handful of current drivers likely would be dead if not for the halo.

Ti sparks like crazy if you grind it. Not sure that would be a good idea.

The halo is already made of Ti. My point is it's good to keep some metal surrounding the drivers.

Ah cool! - yup can see it in the pics now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUq-K9jcaB8

Really interesting iMechE talk from Pat Symonds about how current F1 engines work. Well worth making some time for this if you're at all technical.

So heading out to Austrian gp tomorrow for first ever f1 race attendance. Anybody got any tips for what to bring, do, arrive times etc?

If you haven’t got a ticket yet, the grandstand at the end of the straight has a great view of most of the circuit. There’s quite a lot to see and do in the circuit so it’s worth getting there a couple of hours early to have a look round, get some food, have a beer etc. Conversely, there’s almost nothing to do outside the circuit apart from bars so no point spending any time exploring Spielberg. Food in Spielberg is typical Austrian fayre - meat, schnitzel, wurst, beer and dense cakes for dessert.

There’s quite a lot of displays on the track before the race, aerobatics displays etc. Worth finding out what the schedule is. Seem to remember it’s quite a long walk from the main road to the circuit entrance.

Restaurants near the circuit are busy on Saturday night and full of Dutch fans. Actually, there are Dutch fans everywhere and the atmosphere is great!

If you’re in a hotel near the circuit it’s probably got a free bike hire. Use those to get around town or point one up one of the mountains and explore the trails! There’s lots of bike parking at the circuit.

Thanks, very useful. We’ve got general entrance tickets and need to drive in daily due to location of my partners house. Bought some folding chairs and some binoculars to have a closer look at what’s happening in relative comfort as her parents aren’t as spriteful as they once were.

Expecting a fully Dutch partisan crowd which I’m sure we’ll blend in with like chalk and cheese but hopefully no problems!

Unsurprisingly pretty much everyone here has an orange or red bull t shirt on.

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Nice spot! Should get a good view of some cars unintentionally going for a quick beach break!

Food in Spielberg is typical Austrian fayre - meat, schnitzel, wurst, beer and dense cakes for dessert.

You say that like it's a bad thing

Funny you should mention that….

Can confirm that everything here is either meaty-bready or cake. All the brown foods, but surprisingly cheap. State mandated pricing apparently means same price as a pint in a pub

Hah! Potentially Merc pushing the limits of their development speed? They definitely made a big step up in Silverstone, but it is a very flat track. Could be some issues at the more undulating circuits. At least for them, France up next is another billiard table track.

Both cars just snapped away from the looks of it. Hamiltons was strange as sweeping corner and just went. I imagine your crystal ball must be incredibly shiny by now!

Very happy Dutch and Austrians here. What you can’t tell from tv is that there’s a bit of wind but varies from dead calm to gusty within seconds.

Hah! Still not quite as wild a prediction as the Safety Car due to a crash under the hotel spoiling Hamilton's race, that was a ridiculous one: https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/144360/?offset=8350#comment16306740

So glad this track's back on the calendar, absolute classic.

As is this clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaU6pqhwur4

"Like a horse with horns", amazing

Ferrari double DNF in 3, 2, 1...

Awesome defensive driving from Schumacher here

Great scrap. Safe and fair racing from both

Vettel & Alonso apparently pissed off at steward's inconsistency in the driver briefing leading to Vettel walking out and getting a suspended €25k fine.

Between this and the jewellery/underwear stuff. The FIA are doing a great job of building a rivalry against the big name drivers.

Was surprised at the judging of Albon's incidents today. Pushing someone wide at a corner where that's routinely happened, 5 second penalty. Run wide causing a car on the outside to spin out (which felt pretty similar to Hamilton-Verstappen last year at Silverstone), no penalty.