Due to the lacklustre action on the track, the biggest talking point from the European Grand Prix was Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton’s regulatory stalemate that left the team unable to instruct their driver how to switch his car into a high-performance mode.
Predictably, the UK-based Hamilton brigade were up in arms, demanding that the restriction be torn from the rulebook and flung with fury into the ocean.
First-world problems? Maybe, but for once I completely agree.
At the opening race of the season, FIA race director Charlie Whiting was grilled about the implications of the new team radio bans. Effectively, after many half-hearted attempts, the connection between driver and the pitwall would be severed and more responsibility would be placed in the drivers’ hands.
The FIA assured us all that it was a response to growing concern from viewers that driving modern Formula One cars were too easy, too forgiving and that most of the challenge had been lost.
At the time, I used this column to raise doubts about the plan.
“What we’re trying to do is to make sure the driver is driving the car on his own, that he’s not being told how to drive the car,” explained Whiting. “Simple as that, really.”
As plans go, it was far from perfect.
Firstly, Whiting admitted that the list of permitted radio messages still provided scope for the teams to send coded messages, and that they had little to no chance of proving that teams had circumvented the rules.
In the wake of the European Grand Prix controversy, fans have made their feelings about the shortcomings of the regulations perfectly clear; yes, they want less driver coaching, but blacklisting driver aid to the point that they can’t drive as fast as possible degrades the spectacle.
We sacrifice a lot (i.e. the noise, the speed, the ‘aggressiveness’) to race with the most technologically advanced cars Formula One has ever seen. To see them putting in a sub-par performance defeats the purpose, and is a discredit to the drivers – and, more importantly, the viewers.
Having said that, there should not be any restrictions to what the team can tell the drivers. Telling a driver how to go faster does nothing to diminish their achievement if they can pull it off.
To be fair, the rules were supposed to put the onus on the drivers, with a secondary benefit of mixing up the grid from time to time, which is exactly what happened.
It’s only now that it has happened to the reigning world champion and Formula One’s ‘golden boy’ that people are up in arms. Nobody, for example, is writing articles defending Kimi Räikkönen, who found himself with the same problems as Hamilton and missed a podium position as a result.
Strict adherence to the rules means that teams should not be helping drivers, period. Whether Hamilton made a change to the engine mode, or the team set it up incorrectly is irrelevant.
Hamilton has ramped up the drama by claiming that the regulation forced him into a dangerous position as he was more focused on the switches than the road ahead. Surely, though, if the situation were truly dangerous he owed it to himself, the team and all other drivers to retire the car (or simply pitting so that the team could manually flip the switch for him, much like you would for a nose change).
Even better, if the team was feeling particularly brazen they could have tempted fate, told him what to do and suffered the consequences. Considering the storm of protest that erupted and the vague definition of the associated penalties, any penalty imposed would most likely have been lenient.
Ultimately, it was Hamilton’s abysmal performance in qualifying that had the biggest influence on his result in Azerbaijan. However, while it pains me to side with the staunch Hamilton defenders, on this issue I will gladly add my voice to the chorus of disapproval.
pioneer
Guest
Exactly. You could not imagine any of the 'superstars' of today being so magnanimous in a situation like that.
Rodney Gordon
Expert
Rosberg said after the race that another change he made earlier in the race meant that it was simpler for him to determine what to do to reverse the problem when it arose, but yes - it sure seems like Rosberg is putting in the effort to learn all of this stuff while Hamilton has been pretty vocal, be it about changes to tyres, qualifying, team orders, very much "Dun make no difference to me".
Rodney Gordon
Expert
This is quite drastic :) If anything i'd rather see the radio opened up so drivers could abuse each other during the race
anon
Guest
My favourite Schumacher moment is after Suzuka 2006. Second last race, cruising to a crushing victory, with a win he would have been overwhelming favourite to take this 8th title in Brazil, but his engine explodes with 16 laps to go. He makes his way back to the pits and he's there thanking every mechanic individually. They cost him an 8th championship, but still goes out of his way to thank them for their efforts and console some of them.
Cento
Guest
Agree with anon. If, as Rodney put it, Rosberg had the same issue but solved it earlier then the lack of performance Hamilton suffered is a reflection on him rather than the rule. Maybe he needs to dedicate more time to his car and knowing it better (as a professional driver I would have thought that was a no brainer) instead of spending time in the studio coming up with rap lyrics? It's starting to look like he's in love with the glory of winning, he just doesn't want to have to work for it.
pioneer
Guest
Very well put, anon. The Schumacher example is relevant, because from everything we have seen so far from Lewis, while yes he is very good, he's no Schumacher - even if he does go on to win as many titles (which must be a possibility given Merc's dominance isn't likely to end any time soon). The way Schumacher related to his team and mechanics is an example Ricciardo ought to follow, too: had Schumacher endured what happened to Ricciardo at Spain and Monaco, he would not have got out of the car after Monaco and talked about being 'screwed' by the team a second time. He would not have thrown his toys out of the pram in this fashion; he would have been philosophical and conciliatory towards the team. That's a champion.
Big Steve
Guest
get rid of the radios completely. put a sign on the pit wall when it's time to pit next lap easy. find out which is the best car and driver.
Rodney Gordon
Expert
I don't disagree, but my overall view is that the radio ban should be scrapped and this weekend only confirmed my view.
anon
Guest
I think it's fine how it is right now. Think of Hamilton's problem as being no different to a mechanical problem, which is what it effectively was. He just didn't know how to "drive around" the problem. Before we had drivers being coached. It was far too easy for them. Managing tyres meant driving to a particular lap time determined by the team. The optimal engine setting was decided by the team. You're cooking the brakes? The team will tell you what to change the brake bias to. Now, it's up to the drivers now to figure out correct settings. That's how it should be. A part of what made Schumacher so much better than the opposition was his spare mental capacity. While his rivals were driving at 100% using 100% of their mental capacity, Schuamcher was driving at 100% using 80% of his brain capacity while the remaining 20% was used to discuss strategy with the pit wall, adjust settings, retain corner and lap specific information about his car throughout a race. To me those things are an important part of being a race driver. On Sunday, Rosberg showed he had the capacity to make a some what complicated decision while under a great deal of stress driving at 300 km/h.' On Sunday, Hamilton showed he lacked the mental capacity to make a complicated decision while under a great deal of stress. You have to say, if Hamilton had spent less time in the last year at parties and cavorting with models, he might have known what was the optimal engine setting and been able to score more points. Michael Schumacher at Ferrari was total commitment. He knew the names of the guys on the factory floor, he would be there early, leave late, always looking for every advantage he could find over the opposition. Hamilton doesn't show anything close to that level of commitment. Probably why Rosberg has won the last 8 out of 11 races and Hamilton has won 2 in the same period.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Ironic because back when this idea of radio silence was thought up in 2014, most were saying it's stop Rosberg's prolific requests for information and aid. Now he seems to have got his head round that better than his teammate!
pioneer
Guest
It does feel a bit wrong that the driver cannot receive advice on how to fix a problem when the solution is known to the crew. But they are the rules and, if you think about it, the real story out of Baku was Hamilton's abysmal performance. Yes he was quick in the practice sessions, but in qualy (when it counts) Lewis put it in the wall, and Nico put it on pole. After the race, it was confirmed by Merc that both drivers had exactly the same engine reset issues. The difference was that Nico solved his problem in half a lap, but the same thing took Lewis 15 laps. Sounds like Nico must have taken the time to properly familiarise himself with all the dash functions and buttons on his car. Instead of whinging about the rules, Lewis should count himself lucky to have finished fifth after an all-round ordinary effort.