Quote:
Originally Posted by MGDavid
No-one forces them to drive F1 cars, if they don't like it don't do it.
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Boy, that is the answer for everything isn't it. How much does a helmet or other safety gear weigh? Ditch it all to save weight. I am sure they might be worth a tenth during qualifying. Goggles and no lap belts were good enough for drivers back in the day.
The bottom line is that someone will always line up regardless of the risk. If you told people that they could be on live TV and be famous, but the catch being that they would have to jump into a meat grinder and die. I am sure more than one would volunteer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MGDavid
Maybe the FIA can encourage the teams to only employ small drivers.
Jockeys have coped with a low weight requirement for decades.
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I am not sure Jockeys are the best analogy for a number of reasons. About the nicest thing you can say is that hypothetically a minimum weight limit for a jockey and his gear to not overload the horse (which doesn't apply to mechanical things like a race car). In reality, its my understanding that until recently horse racing tracks had a special bowl in the rest room for the jockeys to vomit into prior to getting on a horse to reduce weight. And I read of stories of bad tooth decay due to constant exposure to stomach acids from these purges. But today the "improvement" is that they just rely upon on strict dieting, saunas and diuretics. It sounds like quite the healthy way to live. Just like F1 drivers, it's a bit of an unspoken secret as to what they go through. An how long do those races last? A few minutes? I am sure it's quite strenuous, but is it multiple G levels like F1? No.
Richard