Floyd on F1: Complaints and scapegoats

It is significant that some of the best racing we’ve seen are on the more traditional circuits – Canada, Monaco and now Austria being the perfect examples.

Perhaps the newer tracks are a little too sterile and too television coverage orientated.

A fantastic performance from Valtteri Bottas in the Williams saw him taking the third step on the podium.

It is always good to see some fresh blood taking home the silverware. Like Daniel Ricciardo, Bottas has shown enormous talent.

Thinking back over the years that I have followed F1, I recall the reaction of drivers and teams in victory, from the restrained actions and smiles of the fifties through to the jubilant leaps of Michael Schumacher and the effervescent smiles of today’s young guns.

Unfortunately, one has to consider those not so successful, who didn’t reach the podium.

It’s never easy to lose, but being gracious in defeat was always the mark of a great sportsman. Seemingly it is a dying tradition.

Following last week’s race we once again had to endure the endless excuses by a few of the drivers when questioned about their race.

Some blamed incorrect strategy by members of the team, others complained of slow pit stops, another the fact they had suffered a grid penalty from the previous race and finally technical problems with the car.

Now the latter I can understand, as vehicle reliability has always been a factor in any form of motor racing. But the former complaints are something I fail to comprehend.

In bygone years one raced as a team; indeed my own limited career in rallying was very much a team effort – if anything went awry no one blamed other members of the team or held them responsible.

Today it seems one must find a scapegoat for any form of failure, and that is rather sad.

There are a couple of exceptions.

One was Ricciardo, who openly admitted that he was frustrated with himself in the race and itemised things he did wrong. What a refreshing approach and an admirable attitude. His last lap move on Nico Hulkenberg was a highlight of the race, showing a true racer who never gives up until the chequered flag is waved.

Talking of technical faults, one concerned me last weekend – and that was the number of brake failures experienced by teams.

The Mercedes pair once again had to nurse the cars to the finish, with a repeat of Canada when the brakes began to fail, it was interesting to see the fire on the right front brake of Lewis Hamilton’s car during the pit stop.

I am aware that this is a characteristic of carbon ceramic brakes, but is this perhaps due to the fronts having to work much harder due to failure of the electronically controlled rear brakes?

The rear brakes are smaller this season, as a major retardation force is applied to the rear axle electrically to decrease speed.

But if this should fail the job of hauling in the car from 300km/h falls to the smaller rear brakes, which cannot cope and consequently stopping force would rely on the larger front brake assemblies.

We penalise unsafe releases in the pit lane very heavily, but surely the possibility of total brake failure – such as suffered by Daniil Kvyat’s Toro Rosso in Austria – constitutes a far more serious risk and needs the urgent attention of all involved in the sport before a tragic incident occurs.