2012 Canadian GP (Hungaroring) - July 29th

He’s solid in the wet, but man, age is finally catching up to him... word is he’s even struggling with his eyesight now 🤣 🤣

ruggedfox28 said:He’s actually pretty solid in the rain, but man, age is finally catching up to him. I heard he’s even struggling with his vision lately. 🤣 🤣

Honestly, age doesn't really have much to do with it... When you're dealing with a wet track, it all comes down to how the driver feels that brake pedal, sensing the intensity of the braking, hitting the corner entry speed, and just having the guts to push right to the edge. Those aren't exactly skills that just vanish as you get older. If anything, you could argue that all that experience gathered over the years actually helps more than it hurts when the rain starts coming down.
When it comes to eyesight, sure, having bad vision can definitely cause issues... but I honestly doubt Grandpa would even be behind the wheel if he wasn't in peak physical shape to handle driving at that level.
We're talking pure extremes here... everything from absolutely masterclass drives in the pouring rain to those total rookie disasters where someone just completely loses it. 🤷

shadowtinker29 said:Like I was saying, the era of the true "wet setup" pretty much died out about four or five years ago. With all those tiny adjustments you mentioned—most of which can be handled with just a flick of a switch on the steering wheel or a quick turn of a wing adjustment screw—today's cars wouldn't even stand a chance against the cars from a decade ago if they were running a traditional rain configuration.

The last car to really run a "proper" wet setup was the Red Bull Racing entry at Monza back in 2008.

A driver can really only tweak brake balance, and maybe the differential, though I honestly have my doubts about that being an option mid-race.
In the pits, they can adjust the wing angle, but everything else requires actual tools and mechanics working on the car.

Actually, the concept of a wet setup definitely still exists, and modern cars aren't any slower than the ones from the early 2000s. If you gave today's cars the same engine power and the same tires as the old ones, they'd actually be faster in the rain.😉

mistybear87 said:rain setups definitely still exist, and honestly, today's cars aren't any slower than those from the early 2000s... if you take the same engine power and the same tires, modern cars would actually be even faster in the wet 😉

It's such a shame they never really race in them anymore ☕

Kimi mentioned he made a mistake during his flying lap, so maybe the warmer track temperatures weren't actually the issue after all. We'll find out for sure today. I'm really hoping he can at least snag a spot on the podium.