Logan Sargeant quit because he felt so ill due to the heat Alex Albon had to be helped out of his car and couldn't stand up Lance Stroll staggered directly to an ambulance after he pulled himself out of the car. Esteban Ocon suffered heat stroke and was vomiting into his helmet while driving. Oscar Piastri was seen laying down after the race. Fernando Alonso was asking for a bucket of water to be thrown over him during the race because he felt like he was burning. George Russell said that he was close to losing consciousness And all for what? So that a country with an appalling human rights record can show off its obscene wealth to the world using sport?
Yeah would say it is they all know the risks involved just like risks with any sport. It's not just Qatar, The last moto gp round in India Jorge Martin who finished second made a mistake on the last lap and pulled streight to his garage after the race as he was suffering with the heat, he was on the floor and his pit crew were pouring water down his leathers, had to be helped to park ferme where he was helped to get changed. The moto gp round in Qatar is next month.
They know what they're getting into before they get into the car. Money talks. They aren't poor little lambs they're rich Formula 1 megastars.
TBF, Qatar - like a lot of the northern hemisphere - is experiencing unseasonably warm weather. It is currently 6C above average for this time of year. Although F1 is likely a significant contributor to climate change.
Exactly this, Too many things are starting to take over the sport which will eventually make it less exiting, like moaning when being passed and the penalties that are given, or if its raining could be the only form of motor sport where the wet weather tyres are useless.
Of course it's not worth it. F1 is obviously risky but extreme heat isn't an unavoidable risk inherent to the sport, it's an extra risk that's just heaped upon the drivers for the sake of sportswashing. It's absolutely daft to put drivers who are already in significant danger in conditions which will exponentially increase the chances of them dying whether due to heat exhaustion itself or the effect it has on their driving. How much they earn or the fact that F1 is already risky is beside the point. It's negligence from the sport's organisers.
May as well not have any sporting event until the conditions are perfect then. If its hot nope. Raining nope. Any chance of overtaking nope too risky. Driver not feeling 100% nope too risky. Tyres won't last or be able to get best performance out of them, nope. May as well introduce run flat tyres to eliminate the risk of crashing due to a puncture. Motor sport safety is the best it has ever been and will only get better. Part of any sport is who makes the best out of the conditions and what equipment they have.
I don't think F1 is any more reputable than Qatar. To be honest, I think they suit each other. As for driver health/safety - I don't think it's beyond the skills of F1 engineers to rig up some sort of air conditioning system to cool drivers during the race. You and I could drive in those conditions in our vehicles and be perfectly comfortable. Such a system wouldn't be as efficient in an open top car but it would still work. So, is it really the weather or is it the teams prioritising lap times above driver comfort/safety.
Whilst I agree that teams could do more to alleviate the effects of extreme temperatures, I do think it's more than just being able to cope with extreme heat. You don't experience 6G's of force at 150+mph on the M1, unless something has gone very wrong.
I don't agree with the notion that they get paid X so suck it up, the FIA have a duty to ensure the drivers are safe and if necessary introduce a rule whereby each monocoque has a cooling system in place. The drivers get no say on the race calendar. It will be about weight and to make it fair they need to mandate it or rethink their calendar. We've had enough deaths in the sport as it is without adding others unnecessarily.
I'm not comparing driving a family saloon with driving a formula one car. I'm suggesting we have the technology to cool human beings driving cars but the F1 teans aren't using it. A F1 driver's body is under G Force at every track. The problem with Qatar is the air temperature is too hot. They aren't attempting to cool the drivers down.
