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We live in an increasingly procrustean society.
We can’t do this, we can’t do that. And if we do this, or that, we will be fined or photographed. Or some other arbitrary judgement will be foisted upon us.
Only last week a man won compensation from a local authority after falling from a step ladder. He claimed that he had not received sufficient training in the use of such a device.
I mention this because next weekend we will be watching the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, assuming that we get as far as Silverstone without being fined or photographed for speeding, or smoking, or both.
Now I have nothing against Silverstone itself. On the contrary, I have enjoyed some wonderful racing on a circuit where some extremely fast corners demand great skill from the Grand Prix driver. Where I do have a problem, or an issue as they say these days, is the vast distance between me and the racing cars. And not just the distance, it’s also those wire fences through which we have to peer.
British Grand Prix Silverstone, Northamptonshire, England. 6th - 8th July 2007. Felipe Massa, Ferrari F2007 at Becketts.
Concern for our health and safety has dictated that, to enjoy the race, we will need to pack a pair of good binoculars and arrive in time to be in the very front row. I understand what it says on the back of the ticket – motor racing is dangerous – but equally a motor race has to be a thrill, has to raise a few goose bumps. I always used to like, for example, watching at Becketts where a Grand Prix car is absolutely on its limit of adhesion, or at the old Woodcote where late-brakers picked up a place or two. These days Becketts is somewhere in the distance, beyond the wire fence and beyond an enormous run-off area. Yes, it’s still a mighty combination of corners, but for the spectator – if not the driver – it doesn’t feel so good to be there any more.
Like any other sane person, I applaud and admire the hugely improved safety of the cars, and I appreciate that fences can be useful when bits are flying around. But it’s all gone a little too far, just as it has in the real world outside. Should you feel inclined, when you wake up in the morning, to run a risk assessment on your forthcoming day you might well decide to stay in bed. But that too can be dangerous.
Simply, we are being made to conform, often arbitrarily, and there is too much conformity, an excess of emphasis on the state protecting the individual. Sir Stirling Moss has long been of the opinion that a motor race must have some element of danger, some raw sense of drama, for both driver and spectator. This weekend at Silverstone I recommend you walk down to the entry of Copse Corner (below). Here you will be gut-wrenchingly reminded of just how brave is a top line 21st century Grand Prix driver. The sheer speed into this corner is breathtaking, a place where the driver must have absolute faith both in himself and in the equipment.
And it is one of the very few places where you can feel the speed, the danger and the drama. Find a spot as near to the fence as possible and revel in the fact that, despite the enormous improvements in health and safety, this is still a wonderful place to watch drivers at work. They have either not read, or ignored, the risk assessment.
Claudio Navonne, June 30th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
I agree whit you, and with Sir Sirtling Moss that a motor race must have some element of danger, some raw sense of drama, for both driver and spectator. Here in Buenos Aires we had a great track for F1, the Nº 12 of the Autodromo de Buenos Aires. The F1 raced there until 1981, then for the security and bla bla bla, the F1 raced from 1995 until 1998 in the awful and dull Nº6 – almost a karting track. You have some nice and breathtaking corners in your track. I¨ll be in front of the TV next weekend watching the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Regards, Claudio.
Hamilton Tharp, July 1st, 2008 at 10:14 am
I must agree about the Health & Safety Brigade becoming out of control. In Britain if you want to take a photograph in a public place, say of a cathedral or a statue, you stand a good chance of being challenged by a policeman or some council employee with delusions of adequacy. Apparently you may be compiling information likely to aid terrorism! It is only a matter of time before this ban is extended to motor racing as well. Take your shots while you may at the race track: the H&S Gestapo is waiting to pounce.
r.widdows, July 1st, 2008 at 10:34 am
Dear Claudio
Great to hear from you! I've never been to the circuit at Buenos Aires but I always wanted to! The old circuit looked great on the TV but, as you say, so many of the modern tracks are very boring.
Hope you enjoy Silverstone - the weather forecast is not good so there may be some surprises and it's been an exciting race in recent years.
The home crowd will probably be worth a tenth or two for Mr Hamilton in qualifying.
RW
Eric Dunsdon, July 1st, 2008 at 2:08 pm
I agree, Silverstone is a pretty dull place to spectate at these days. I started off at Copse in 1952 with a few straw bales, a strip of grass and a drooping length of rope beneath us and the cars. Later on Becketts became our favourite vantage point, by that I mean the 'real' Becketts where Fangio spun in 1956 and Masten Gregory flew over the safety bank to join us in 1958!. The current Becketts By-Pass is a poor shadow of what used to be as is the rest of the circuit. I still go there every couple of weeks though!.
Neil Stretton, July 2nd, 2008 at 8:23 am
Oh, yes, Silverstone has become such a "sterile" track over recent years, so much so that it resembles many of the recent Tilke-computer-designed tracks we see on the F1 calendar. Give me a "street race" any day…"up close and personal".
Robert Bruce, July 2nd, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I agree about Copse. I always tell everyone who is seeing F1 for the first time to go there. The entry speed and commitment of the driver makes a perfect reminder of how dramatic this sport is. Those people who watch on TV and constantly bang on at how boring it is should spend an hour there, it changes peoples conception totally.
It was thus very disappointing at the recent F1 test that it was only open to invited guests, a real shame. It has always been open in previous tests.
Leigh Arms, July 3rd, 2008 at 12:53 pm
During testing last week it was interesting to see the cars not quite flat through Copse due to the strong wind.
At one stage during the afternoon we had Alonso, Hamilton and Raikonnen, arguably the three best drivers in F1 at the moment, out on track together. At Stowe it was noticeable just how much more aggressive Alonso was, almost putting his left rear wheel on the grass as he turned in. It was astonishing just how late they braked in to Stowe. In fact it barely looked like they did brake.
One doesn't appreciate how that little incline at the end of the Hangar Straight really helps the drivers to take speed in to the corner. Although a totally different corner from the original Stowe, it is approaching it for sheer speed alone now!
I recently watched a re-run of the 1983 British GP at Silverstone, co-incidentally the first I attended as a 7 year old bedazzled urchin. The footage from that year is incredible with Prost (the eventual victor), Piquet and Arnoux completely on the limit at the old Stowe. It wasn’t a classic race but as they say you never forget your first time. I can still remember the load bang from Raul Boesel's Ligier as it detonated coming in Woodcote. Le Boom!
Mansell also put in a stonking drive in that lovely Ducarouge Lotus Renault. It may in fact have been the first race of the new car. I seem to recall that they started the year with a particularly gruesome creation!
Mansell's early British GP's are interesting aren't they. 1981 DNQ with the 88, 1982, struggled after Montreal wrist injury. It really only came right for him in 83 and that was with a fighting 4th place. Amazing to think that he became that weird patriotic standard bearer in his later career.
David Strike, July 3rd, 2008 at 7:21 pm
I consider myself to be a motor sport fan of some 30 years standing; I can remember the days when the spectators were really next to track. However, I feel that Mr. Widdows’ article can not pass without some comment.
In saying ‘assuming that we get as far as Silverstone without being fined or photographed for speeding, or smoking, or both’ he is surely making the mistake so common amongst the Clarksons and Hockneys of this world of equating a risk that an individual takes and that affects only them with a risk that can affect others.
Smoking in private or driving fast on a race track have consequences which fall on the risk taker alone. However, speeding on public roads or obliging others to inhale cigarette smoke involves taking risks where the consequences can fall on others. Long may we rejoice in drivers ’who have either not read, or ignored, the risk assessment’, taking risks is a right; imposing them on others is not.
rwiddows, July 8th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Dear Mr Strike, and others
I should perhaps make it clear that I do not advocate breaking the speed limit.And I fully appreciate that other people's cigarette smoke can be extremely unpleasant.
I was simply suggesting that the emphasis on "health & safety" and regulations to "protect the individual" have gone a little too far, become a touch oppressive.
Watching the Grand Prix cars at Copse, Maggots and Becketts last weekend was as thrilling as ever, I'm pleased to say.I always hesitate to give this kind of advice.
RW
David, November 2nd, 2008 at 11:54 pm
H&S has nothing to do with smoking.
If H&S had anything to do with motorsport it would ban flat bottomed cars that immediately fly when they are tilted, open wheeled racing series because of the unacceptable risk of wheels touching, stupid F1 refuelling and pit lane practices, idiotic gravel traps that cars and bikes just glide over at any significant speed, the FIA, Max Mosley, old Uncle Tom Cobbly and all!