Quote:
Originally Posted by O-cha
Did you really just correct "about a tenth" into .11478?
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Clearly (or so I thought) a lighthearted way of acknowledging my mistake. Appears you took it as confrontational and/or serious--sorry, that wasn't the intent. 99% of the time (actually, 99.37893453666%) I try to avoid being serious or taking myself too seriously.
But seriously... I agree that a gradual shift won't scrub much of anything in the way of speed, and as we now know the difference in distance is negligible. Was that Hobbs, Matchett or Varsha making the comment? Two of the three would be, you'd think, pretty well versed in the realities of motorsport. The other, Varsha with a track & field background, maybe not so much (though I like him as a commentator).
Sounding like BS from a physics point of view, but could the point they raise legitimately be one of focus/psychology? By that I mean slowing the
driver rather than slowing the car--i.e., "I'm going to move over on this guy to intimidate (or block) him" translates into "focus a lot on not hitting him" instead of just driving the car to its maximum potential. Those guys are, of course, cognizant of traffic and are supremely talented at multi-tasking behind the wheel, but I wonder if being the intentional aggressor in the already stressful environment of an F1 standing start costs an inordinate amount of focus that could be better applied elsewhere during the drag race. Could be an issue for the younger guys, especially. Same kind of concept as driving at an HPDE and worrying too much about what's in the rearview mirror; obviously at a much higher level, but at a level where small fractions of a second matter in terms of who lays claim to that critical first corner. Thoughts?