I have no critisicm of the SBK, in the bike racing world there is no question in my mind that the run off material in no way devalues their courage - MotoGP & SBK riders, and all tiers down are brave competitors.
But in F1 (& 4 wheel racing in general), for me the biggest disappointment caused by these runoffs is the reduction of risk of retirement in the driver's mind. I am absolutely in favour of safety measures, but the modern F1 driver is now able to take significantly higher risk than ever before when approaching these historically dangerous turns, safe in the knowledge that they can simply run wide and get back on the track, having lost, at worst, just a couple of places - Any risk of a race retirement has been taken away.
At the pinnacle of motor racing, the drivers ability to drive to the limit without damaging or retiring the car, SHOULD be tested, as much as the teams ability to provide a winning car. Unfortunately, today's F1 results are more dependant on the team than the driver.
Instead of removing gravel and replacing it with tarmac, there really needs to be something that either drags the car down to a crawl, or some risk that they might not even get back on track. Then we might once again see only the best drivers pushing the limits and taking risks on these historically dangerous bends.
For example, in this day and age there must surely be an electronic device that can limit the engine when it goes off the track, or maybe even kill the engine. These options need to be investigated if the driver is to be brought back into the equation.
But in F1 (& 4 wheel racing in general), for me the biggest disappointment caused by these runoffs is the reduction of risk of retirement in the driver's mind. I am absolutely in favour of safety measures, but the modern F1 driver is now able to take significantly higher risk than ever before when approaching these historically dangerous turns, safe in the knowledge that they can simply run wide and get back on the track, having lost, at worst, just a couple of places - Any risk of a race retirement has been taken away.
At the pinnacle of motor racing, the drivers ability to drive to the limit without damaging or retiring the car, SHOULD be tested, as much as the teams ability to provide a winning car. Unfortunately, today's F1 results are more dependant on the team than the driver.
Instead of removing gravel and replacing it with tarmac, there really needs to be something that either drags the car down to a crawl, or some risk that they might not even get back on track. Then we might once again see only the best drivers pushing the limits and taking risks on these historically dangerous bends.
For example, in this day and age there must surely be an electronic device that can limit the engine when it goes off the track, or maybe even kill the engine. These options need to be investigated if the driver is to be brought back into the equation.