Re: IndyCar - Races & Results
Posted: Sun May 28, 2023 5:30 pm
I’m taking the opposite road here F1 vs indy…. Indy is way to dangerous imo…
Racing is, of course, an inherently dangerous sport. However, the incredible advances over the past 30, 40 years have resulted in quantum leaps in the safety of drivers, crews, officials and fans.GT3Twenty10 wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 5:30 pm I’m taking the opposite road here F1 vs indy…. Indy is way to dangerous imo…
Much has changed since the days of racing along tree-lined courses with no barriers, courses with no run-offs, cars with exposed deadly cockpits, few personal driver safeguards, track facilities lacking proper safety equipment to handle accidents, questionable track layouts and design - the list goes on and on. Those days are gone.
As race cars became ever faster, drivers, officials, doctors, fans, track operators and others quickly realized that something had to be done - the death rate was horrid and the sport was possibly not going to survive without massive changes. The changes started to become a reality as more of those involved became aware of improvements that could be made and of what could be done with the technological and design innovations that were coming to the fore. Everyone was beginning to learn how to make the sport safer and survivable. It's been a fantastic turnaround over the last 3 or 4 decades.
Regarding the danger of IndyCar vs F1, there have been five (5) F1 driver deaths since 2000 and four (4 ) IndyCar deaths in the same time period. Prior to 2000, IndyCar had 91 deaths from the 1910's to the end of the century. F1 with it's shorter history (not officially F1 until the 50's) had 47 driver deaths from the 50's through 1999. The per-decade average losses were and remain roughly the same for both.
But the takeaway needs to be what has happened since 2000 regarding deaths.
The last IndyCar death was in 2015. The British driver Justin Wilson was an F1 and IndyCar driver who was hit in the head and rendered unconscious by nose cone debris from a car that crashed in front of him in an IndyCar race. He died the next day, never regaining consciousness. The halos we saw introduced in 2017 in F1 and IndyCar very well might have prevented that fatality. Before that tragic loss, it was Dan Wheldon who was killed in 2011 on the Las Vegas circuit.
For F1, the last death was David Ferrer in 2017 at Zandvoort. Before that it was Jules Bianchi at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka and Denis Welch at Silverstone, both in 2014.
The risks and safety issues are, for all intents and purposes, the same for both F1 and IndyCar.
Moving to my earlier comments where I mentioned usually preferring IndyCar over F1, it's because F1 has become too predictable and too self-absorbed. The F1 aura is sometimes one of arrogance, whether intentional or not. In addition, some of the courses are boring, with Monaco the prime offender in that respect. Pole position generally wins the race there and at other F1 tracks, although some venues are better than others. There isn't much passing to speak of and that also translates to boring. It is a spectator sport after all and if the winner is known in advance, what fun is there?
I will readily admit that street courses for both IndyCar and F1 are not the same nor as good (for me, that is) as are dedicated road or (great) oval-type courses such as Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Brickyard is pretty awesome.
Another issue with F1 is that it is skewed to the high-dollar teams, Red Bull and Mercedes being prime examples. It's too much glitz and too little passion. I don't know if you saw the post-race celebrations for today's races but it was night and day between the two! The IndyCar drivers and fans and crews are so much more engaged and animated. For me, F1 has turned into a sanitized, cold, detached version of the greatness it once was.
I still like F1, at least some of the racing, but it has become too sterile. Plus, IndyCars look so much cooler - awesome race cars!
I posted the graphic below on another Carpokes thread regarding the abysmal F1 overtaking metrics. It's quite telling and is a focal point for many regarding the predictability and lack of intrigue with F1. Compare the numbers with those of IndyCar or, better yet, the incomparable racing of IMSA, WEC and the like.
Can't wait for Le Mans!!
- F1 overtakes by circuit 2017 - 2022 from Keberz Engineering.jpg (152.18 KiB) Viewed 1123 times
