... ok, first let me say i think they've made a step in the right direction, a big step in fact.

BUT.... i'm confused about the final 20 minutes with the last 10 cars. i understand that they must qualify with the fuel they will start the race with, that's no problem.

what i don't understand is:
1) the rule that states something about doing a lap within 80% the time of their best lap and if they're under that 80% their best lap is erased. i may be quoting incorrect numbers so can someone clarify this to me please?
2) instead of running around for 5-10 laps to burn fuel down before setting their qualifying time, why not just put 5-10 laps less of fuel and go out and do 2-3 laps? are they required to do a certain number of laps?

thanks for any help anyone can give on these topics.

now i'm going out into a near blizzard to buy my g/f a tim horton's doughnut. illepall you should see it snowing sideways here!

speedfreak227

1) Because the amount of fuel that has to be refuelled is calculate simply by amount of laps*given liters, FIA dont want fuel saving driving behaviour, that's why they should go as fast as possible there always.

2) Because FIA wants a lot of cars on track for as much time as possible, this rule was set. So they have to put in amount of racefuel, but to do a fast hotlap it needs fuelburning, so car is lighter. That leads to almost all ten cars out on the track for whole last 20 minutes => TV-stations and viewers are happy.

Quote from Vykos69 :

1) Because the amount of fuel that has to be refuelled is calculate simply by amount of laps*given liters, FIA dont want fuel saving driving behaviour, that's why they should go as fast as possible there always.

2) Because FIA wants a lot of cars on track for as much time as possible, this rule was set. So they have to put in amount of racefuel, but to do a fast hotlap it needs fuelburning, so car is lighter. That leads to almost all ten cars out on the track for whole last 20 minutes => TV-stations and viewers are happy.

i'm sorry, but i don't think either of your responses answers either of my questions.

speedfreak227

maybe not 1), sorry, but 2.

Because they only are allowed to refuel an amount of liters depending on how many laps they did in that last 20 minutes qualifying(iic 2,7 kg/lap) before the race. So they start the last 20 minutes with amount of fuel they want to use in race. But to do a fast lap it needs less fuel in car, so they go out and do as much as possible laps to burn fuel, to get the car light. After that qualifying they are only allowed to refuel the car with the amount I said above, depending on amounts of laps done in that last 20 minutes. And for sure you try to have as much as fuel possible for the race...

Got it now?

ah, yes. now i understand what you were getting at.

thanks

speedfreak227

The rule is 110% - only times within 110% of the best time are counted for the fuel token idea.

The fuel burning laps are for the conflicting requirments - they want lots of fuel for the race, but they want a light car for qually. Knowing they get their fuel back (as long as the times are within 110%) they start with a heavy fuelled car and do some slow laps at full mixtures to burn as much as they can whilst remaining within 110%, meaning they have a lighter car at the end with which to fight for pole.

However, I think it needs a slight change, because burning fuel for the sake of it isn't going to impress to eco-activists. So perhaps they should nominate their race fuel before qualifying, and then be allowed to qualify on low fuel. They could have a minimum laps requirement to keep the cars on the track.

This could add something imo. Say a car goes out on light fuel and sets a stunning lap on his first lap that won't be beaten. Normally he'd stay in the garage to conserve his tyres and engine, but with a minimum lap rule he'd have to go out and do more laps, risking his engine, wearing his tyres and risking an accident/break down. If the laps were only counted if they were within 105% of qually (this is the fastest 10 people so 105% would be fair) people wouldn't obviously lap slowly to get their quota. Laps not within 105% don't count, and any laps under the requirement lead to one position grid drop per lap.

Nominating the fuel beforehand would mean they wouldn't know what grid position they would have and therefore they might not end up on the best strategy.

Strikes me as a good system, and it would be understandable to the average punter who's not clued up on F1.