Ferrari Mailing List: F1 but no spoiler

[Rick Lindsay (rolindsay]

Hello All,
   Its a rare moment when I post anything here now,
but the F1 comments have me thinking...
   Working in the pits at the US F1 GP has changed my
whole view of F1.  Starting with the cars, what Doug
writes is true - the cars are incredible, down to the
last detail.  In fact, everything is over-the-top! 
Even the containers and scoops used to handle the dry
ice for radiator cooling are carbon fiber!  Why?  Who
knows?!  Ferrari has cans of red spray paint to touch
up scratches.  You can see the lesser mechanics out
there at 6am making the back-up front wings
'presentable'.   McLaren uses GOLD foil on suspension
members because it reflects radiant heat better.  Each
of their suspension members has not only strain gauges
but also cemented-on maximum temperature reading
thermometers.  When we push the cars, either after
incidents or into the scrutineering station, we are
instructed to push only on the rear wing uprights, not
the wing.  That's lesson one.  My guess is that the
wing is designed to withstand forces in preferred
directions and may be weak in other directions.  The
analogy is a car's windscreen.  They're easy to break
from the inside but tough from outside.  The second
thing we learn is to not get our feet caught under the
rear tunnel turning vanes when backing the cars up. 
They're less than a shoe-toe distance off of the
ground and can mess up a foot pretty easily (Lord know
what might happen if a marshal broke one of the
vanes!!).
   Working with all the teams also changes one's
viewpoint of the teams and the 'sport'.  The winning
end of the garages houses people existing in their own
isolated world.  They don't even know the marshals and
scrutineers are there.  On the other end of the
garages, the mechanics, engineers and team principles
are nice, friendly people - even the drivers.  My son
is also an F1 marshal and was helping Minardi when
they scored their first-ever point.  They grabbed him
and included him in their celebration; Pats on the
back, laughter, partying and fun all around.  I was
working the other end of the garages - and was
invisible.
   There are zillions of other stories that I could
tell (like helping Ralf after his horrible crash at
Indy a couple of years ago!) but this is the Ferrari
List, not an F1 list.  But without a doubt, in the
pits the whole thing is viewed by the organizers as an
entertainment service, not really a sport.  The teams,
especially the lesser teams, still love the
competition.  That's why I enjoy watching the mid-pack
racing far more than watching the run-away leaders.

Regards,

rick
'79 308GTB

> On 4/17/07, Doug and Terri Anderson <dnt [at] dock.net>
> wrote:
> >
> > When I had the chance to look over the last years
> model at Monterey
> > Historics, like REALLY up close - closer would
> have been to get in it, I
> > am
> > amazed at the technology - oh, and the tiny tiny
> little tunnel with which
> > to
> > sleeve your legs in.  Each suspension member has a
> stress gauge, various
> > dates and other stuff.  The wires were held on to
> chassis parts with
> > little
> > glue tags.  Save weight and put it where we want
> it.  As I was taking
> > pictures - I was very nicely asked to leave.  But
> I got the pics. heh heh
> > DOUG