Motorsport Off Topic Thread

mctiny said:
Helmet design is always the easiest way to identify, until they start change every few races....
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Or their both the same colour.

Seriously, why the hell is deuse putting so much effort into arguing against simply sticking the car number on the rear wing end fence? Oh wait no, its deuse..

The yellow on the camera is on the leading edge, its not easily visible from side on. Neither is most of the drivers helmet due to the side impact protection. So from side on its genuinely difficult to see which car is which while trackside. You can't see the number on the nose from the side.

Sticking the number on the rear wing end fence is such a blatantly obvious thing to do, as pretty much every other single seater series that had wings does it. But F1 teams refuse as they want to sell the space, and the FIA don't do anything about it. And then half the end fences are blank anyway!


deuse said:
a two digit screen? lets look at the number 10

goma
kudhan
toban
mute
عَشَرة
għaxra
and so on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_numbers_in_various_languages
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I've literally no idea what your chatting about?
 
I'd say that MotoGP riders are most well known from their numbers :confused:

Why they can't just have an area on the side of the car where the numbers are visible, that would be great. Now that drivers are branding their number more like MotoGP riders, it may become more common to see numbers on the cars? As Skeeter said, it works fine with sports cars. It could also help Crofty get the names right when he starts foaming at the mouth and shouting random names at the slightest bit of excitement.
 
Yeah the stylised numbers confuse me. The drivers have been allowed to style them, but they don't appear like that on the cars :confused:.

F1 is far to stuck in a rutt of making things look "neat and tidy" when they should be embracing ways to make cars far more easily identifyable. They even have a rule about forcing the cars to look "broadly identical" because, god forbid, a team might wish to paint its cars different liveries! Oh god, imagine the horror! How would anyone know which team they were! Aaaaaaaah!!

I can't think of a single other Motorsport series that controls the livery of the cars like F1 does?
 
timmeh said:
I'd say that MotoGP riders are most well known from their numbers :confused:

Why they can't just have an area on the side of the car where the numbers are visible, that would be great. Now that drivers are branding their number more like MotoGP riders, it may become more common to see numbers on the cars? As Skeeter said, it works fine with sports cars. It could also help Crofty get the names right when he starts foaming at the mouth and shouting random names at the slightest bit of excitement.
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Changing the numbers system in F1 was long overdue and so simple, but has made huge differences...

MotoGP, WSBK, BSB, NASCAR etc... are easier to identify a rider/driver by the numbers, I always thought it a little stupid that F1 never did the same with numbers until recently...

Rossi is know as Vale46 for example, Jamie Whitham/Nicky Hayden was/is 69. until recently we only really had Red 5 in F1, now we have numbers assigned to drivers why not make the numbers huge on the cars?
 
Skeeter said:
A large chunk of people at a track won't be from that country, so unless they want to rack up massive roaming data charges, using a phone for anything is a bad idea.

Also, who wants to watch a live race squinting through a phone screen?

The numbers are simple and functional. Theres no reason to over complicate it with extra technology needlessly. The top 3 lights and coloured numbers for classes has worked brilliantly for Sports Car racing for many years.

All it needs is a basic 2 digit screen.
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I don't agree.

Roaming charges as a barrier are as antiquated as the crude two digit number solution. Half of F1's races are in Europe, where roaming charges don't (or soon won't, depending on your provider) matter.

Nobody's suggesting that you need to look at the whole race through a phone. If you've attended an F1 race you'll know that there relatively few moments when you want or need this additional information - it isn't constant.

Still, if you don't want to over complicate things and are truly into delivering a solution for the track side fans. flexible OLED is available right now and can be delivered immediately.

The proposed solution, in the context of F1, is akin to hanging a lantern outside the cockpit.
 
F1 hasn't been anywhere close to embracing new ideas in terms of broadcasting for years. Bernie won't spend anything unless he gets a profit out of it. Hell they didn't go Widescreen until 2006 and HD until 2011!
 
The_Abyss said:
I don't agree.

Roaming charges as a barrier are as antiquated as the crude two digit number solution. Half of F1's races are in Europe, where roaming charges don't (or soon won't, depending on your provider) matter.

Nobody's suggesting that you need to look at the whole race through a phone. If you've attended an F1 race you'll know that there relatively few moments when you want or need this additional information - it isn't constant.

Still, if you don't want to over complicate things and are truly into delivering a solution for the track side fans. flexible OLED is available right now and can be delivered immediately.

The proposed solution, in the context of F1, is akin to hanging a lantern outside the cockpit.
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So this Augmented Reality app will be free then, yeah? :p

Whats so bad about knowing which position a car is in by simply 'looking at the car', using your eyes?
 
Those ancient LCD number boards are laughable and have no place on an F1 car. The concept is good, but the application is simple terrible.

Now, the use of a flexible (curved), high brightness, OLED panel as a seamless part of the bodywork, that would be reasonable for current display technology.
 
Skeeter said:
So this Augmented Reality app will be free then, yeah? :p

Whats so bad about knowing which position a car is in by simply 'looking at the car', using your eyes?
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I didn't say anything about cost. But it would be a simple exercise to have a free app with a specific track unlocked for ticket holders, who have already forked out a fortune for their race passes. The technology for all this already exists, and isn't the F1 FIA app already charged for?

Neither did I say there was anything bad about looking at the car to tell its position. I said the manner in which it has been showcased was crude and ugly, making ticket counters at supermarket deli counters appear high tech in comparison.

Even the earlier test (http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/319644/force-india-trials-info-wing-display-system/) is an embarrassment to sport marketed as the pinnacle of motorsport. At least with a flexible OLED display it could be implemented as part of the design of the car.
 
The_Abyss said:
...But it would be a simple exercise to have a free app with a specific track unlocked for ticket holders, who have already forked out a fortune for their race passes. The technology for all this already exists...
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I'm guessing you never went to a race back when KangarooTV/FanVision was available?

They were portable devices that showed the live TV feed, on demand highlights feeds, multiple alternative and in car cameras, live timing, live positioning, live weather forecasts, team radio and commentary in multiple languages. All broadcast locally from multiple base stations, and with a battery that lasted a whole day, plus you got spares and a charger! This was back in 2006!

They were amazing. And then they vanished, because they refused to pay the ridiculous sums of money Bernie demanded they must in order to stay.

Live Timing also used to be free, and available to 3rd parties. But now its all locked down and only available through an incredibly poor quality yet stupidly expensive app.

The last thing we need is yet more technology that requires a device or a service that FOM have a grip on. Being able to see a number displayed on a car is free. As much as Bernie might like too, I don't think they have managed to monetise eyesight yet :p.
 
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The majority of smartphones could already do something more amazing just by enhancing presentation and functionality of the existing app (I just checked - it is £20).

I disagree - we do need more technology. F1 produces tons and tons of data, a fraction of which is made available in suitable formats for the fans. I do agree that the driver numbers should be far more prominent on the cars though - the current efforts are pathetic.

Eyes are already monetised, through ticketing and TV subscription ;)
 
More technology, yes. More technology in the hands of FOM, no thank you!

All they have done recently is make the fans experience trackside worse. You will not get anything from them unless they can see £ signs at the end of it.
 
They could just have more of the timing screens dotted around the circuit instead of having to use your phone. You get to see the cars for a few seconds per lap, I'd rather not be spending that time squinting at them through my phone.

Maybe they should make a Google Glass app :p
 
timmeh said:
They could just have more of the timing screens dotted around the circuit instead of having to use your phone. You get to see the cars for a few seconds per lap, I'd rather not be spending that time squinting at them through my phone.

Maybe they should make a Google Glass app :p
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That's why they charge extra for a grandstand seat with screen though? Pay to sit in the cheap seats, get no screen.
 
Meanwhile in the WSBR..

ZF9IBz8.jpg.png

:eek:

Their had already been a flip, which caused the Safety Car. The group slowed down but people behind just kept on going, he rode over the rear wheels of the car in front and got catapulted into the air.
 
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