DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Massa: Too many buttons on the steering wheel

**jincomplet** · 01-17-2011, 02:13 PM

Quite a few of the other drivers have also commented on the increase in buttons. Rubens in particular described the problems in a recent interview in motorsport. I don't see it as complaining, merely a statement of fact. Complaining would go along the lines of "I hate" or "I wish we didn't have this".

You describe the button pressing in isolation but have you thought when these guys are going to be using both KERS and the rear wing? During overtaking perhaps?

If you look at the onboard laps of let's say 10 years ago, the buttons on the steering wheel have gradually increased ten fold, yet the majority of the drivers seemed to have adapted to them effortlessly. Are there more accidents happening because of the increase in buttons? No. IMO KERS is just a gimmick in the name of technology, and this adjustable rear wing has all the possibilities of becoming a big FAIL, but these are optional for all teams, and any of the top teams would be foolish not to utilize them, so naturally the drivers HAVE to adapt to them. Also, saying "too much" does sound more like a whinge than an opinion.

Having said that, I can understand where Massa is coming from, as he was almost fatally injured at Hungary in 2009, he would want things simpler, but being negative towards the new changes before the season even starts is not the way to go about it, especially when your seat is in danger at Ferrari. I for one welcome these changes, because it keeps the engineering aspect of F1 alive as long as engineers are allowed to put their own interpretations of these devices in action. Isn't anybody even mildly interested in how each team interprets the new rules? God forbid if they standardize these too.

01-17-2011, 02:13 PM	#28
jincomplet Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 418 Senior Member	Quite a few of the other drivers have also commented on the increase in buttons. Rubens in particular described the problems in a recent interview in motorsport. I don't see it as complaining, merely a statement of fact. Complaining would go along the lines of "I hate" or "I wish we didn't have this". You describe the button pressing in isolation but have you thought when these guys are going to be using both KERS and the rear wing? During overtaking perhaps? If you look at the onboard laps of let's say 10 years ago, the buttons on the steering wheel have gradually increased ten fold, yet the majority of the drivers seemed to have adapted to them effortlessly. Are there more accidents happening because of the increase in buttons? No. IMO KERS is just a gimmick in the name of technology, and this adjustable rear wing has all the possibilities of becoming a big FAIL, but these are optional for all teams, and any of the top teams would be foolish not to utilize them, so naturally the drivers HAVE to adapt to them. Also, saying "too much" does sound more like a whinge than an opinion. Having said that, I can understand where Massa is coming from, as he was almost fatally injured at Hungary in 2009, he would want things simpler, but being negative towards the new changes before the season even starts is not the way to go about it, especially when your seat is in danger at Ferrari. I for one welcome these changes, because it keeps the engineering aspect of F1 alive as long as engineers are allowed to put their own interpretations of these devices in action. Isn't anybody even mildly interested in how each team interprets the new rules? God forbid if they standardize these too.
	Quote