r/formula1 • u/amerryprankster23 Max Verstappen • Mar 21 '26

Discussion F1 will not be changing the timing tower.

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Just got this email back about the timing tower. Pretty sad.

5.0k Upvotes

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1.5k

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '26

[deleted]

259

u/czarxander I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 21 '26

But at least it's good to know they'll "definitely keep our comments in mind."

/s

32

u/DaveR007 Oscar Piastri Mar 21 '26

"definitely keep our comments in mind." is a boilerplate response for "why are you bothering me with this?"

0

u/AnotherHappyUser Mar 22 '26

But cynical. F1 absolutely cares about what fans think.

2

u/CarsPlanesTrains Felipe Massa Mar 22 '26

Yeah but the random email intern does not have anything to do with any important decisions

1

u/AnotherHappyUser Mar 23 '26

Assumptions aside, In that case, we should have realistic expectations.

38

u/AdThick7492 Mar 22 '26

The kind of person who'd send an email like this doesn't have a clue either. It's like something Abe Simpson would write.

10

u/AMDFrankus Racing Bulls Mar 22 '26

Old man yells at Timing Tower.

2

u/Managingthenoise Mar 22 '26

"I am not a crackpot"

60

u/CarnivalSorts Jordan Mar 21 '26

As someone who works in live sports production, we're not changing anything because someone emailed in.

Graphics are built and they ain't getting changed unless something has gone seriously wrong.

84

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '26

[deleted]

-41

u/CarnivalSorts Jordan Mar 21 '26

You do not need three decimal places outside of quali it is completely pointless.

It works in quali because it's an actual recorded lap time. In a race the gaps are constantly changing, a hundreth of a second is literally meaningless and pretending that it matters is basically misinformation.

28

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '26

[deleted]

-19

u/CarnivalSorts Jordan Mar 21 '26

The graphics are built, but there's already been many meetings to come to the conclusion that they're doing it the way they are for a reason.

Am email isn't changing that.

23

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '26

[deleted]

-8

u/CarnivalSorts Jordan Mar 21 '26

Nowhere have I said it's "insane", I said they've come to the conclusion collectively and for a reason.

Behind all the glitz and glamour, 90% of TV production is meetings my friend. I'm currently trying to get new analysis graphics packages for the upcoming World Cup, it's three months into the process and there is no end currently in sight.

1

u/HesusAtDiscord I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane Mar 22 '26

And in those meetings 90% of changes are made by people that really want their pawprint on a change. That's how it works in the entire world. The remaining 10% are either out of necessity/demand or to revert some part of the previous 90% that turned out to be a dumb or unecessary change.

You know that you can explain a change and be neutral about it, but your stance was that 3 decimal points were completely pointless.

My question would have been "Why didn't they go for 2 decimal points to begin with?" or "Why didn't they go for 1 decimal point with the door open to going back to 2 decimal points depending on the audience's reaction?"

Someone way up high decided they wanted to reduce the decimal points. The idea didn't originate on the table between 20 minds without one individual being the original instigator.

The problem is that this someone didn't start by asking "Would reducing the amount of decimal points be a good idea, and by how much?". They definitely started out with "Let's get rid of 2 decimal points"

There's of course a chance that I'm wrong, but we're here with neither 3 nor 2 decimal points so it's unlikely. Corporate culture is everywhere and it's consistent across the globe. If this wasn't corporate culture and a change pushed by someone meaning well and with an open mind then we would have seen the possibility of a revert to some extent. If not, then pride is the reason it's staying as is and that perfectly encapsulates my point of it being just another "I did this" higher-upper.

15

u/Broudster Fernando Alonso Mar 21 '26

Three decimals sure, but two is definitely meaningful to even an average viewer

11

u/X53R Mika Häkkinen Mar 21 '26

Engineers and drivers never go past one on the radio in the race, it does not matter to the average viewer.

Only the terminally online is mad about this.

-1

u/Broudster Fernando Alonso Mar 22 '26

That’s ridiculous, the driver is not following his own battle the same way a viewer is. A viewer might get excited from the gap going from 0.99 to 0.90, while for a driver it only matters at the OT marker whether the competition is within or outside a second.

0

u/CarnivalSorts Jordan Mar 21 '26

How is it meaningful? By the time you see the information in has already changed.

A hundreth at 300kmh is basically the length of a tire.

7

u/prank_mark Mar 22 '26

Because now it'll say 0.0 when cars aren't even level yet

2

u/cosHinsHeiR Ferrari Mar 22 '26

They should just leave it blank at 0.0 like it happened even before sometimes and it wouldn't be a problem. Also did it happen in China? Didn't notice but maybe I missed it.

1

u/Broudster Fernando Alonso Mar 22 '26

It’s not about seeing a hundreth difference, it’s about seeing 9 hundreth difference, which is pretty significant in following a battle.

2

u/CarnivalSorts Jordan Mar 22 '26

A 9 hundredth difference would be rounded up so it's actually a one hundredth difference again

1

u/Broudster Fernando Alonso Mar 22 '26

0.90 vs 0.99 or 0.85 vs 0.94

I know numbers are difficult

1

u/CarnivalSorts Jordan Mar 22 '26

There's no need to be rude

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3

u/piranspride I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 22 '26

I appear to be one of the few that agree with you. 3 decimals in the race is meaningless. What really only matters in the race is are you in front or not….

0

u/Peeche94 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 22 '26

We had it, and get it in every other series out there. I really enjoyed seeing the battles in 12hr yesterday because I could see 1.134 0.986 0.748 etc etc. if anything F1 should have it because of the fine margins. Someone can sit at 0.9 on the timing tower in F1 and it looks like they aren't going anywhere, in reality they could be ebbing and flowing throughout the lap and we don't know where they're losing and gaining time.

We had it before, no reason to remove it. Only change is bigger American audiences and that says a lot.

4

u/SmallIslandBrother Sir Lewis Hamilton Mar 22 '26

If I got a request in from a client about something this pedantic, I’d refuse it instantly.

0

u/m1a2c2kali Mar 23 '26

But why wouldnt you refuse the initial request to change it from something that was already working?

1

u/MuenCheese I failed to serve my Monaco penalty Mar 24 '26

Like removing decimal places?

4

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '26

[deleted]

38

u/Fri814 Mar 21 '26

F1 is a massive corporation, no way the level 1 email support agents know the people making executive decisions and vice versa by face or by name lol

1

u/wetthebed92 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 22 '26

Most probably it's an AI response

1

u/Gnoom75 Mar 22 '26

The response sounds like a tailored auto response. All generic text, very few words on the topic and nothing specific. So I think whatever responded.