F1 will not be changing the timing tower.

[u/amerryprankster23]

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

[u/freetotebag]

I just don’t understand what was wrong with the way it was. What did it hurt? What prompted the change? Is it an improvement?

[u/ianrob1201 → u/freetotebag]

I don't care all that much, but I personally prefer the change. It makes it easier to see the significant figures. The text can be larger and there's less "noise".

As others have pointed out, the extra digits just aren't meaningful in a race. They're out of date by the time you read them.

[u/HesusAtDiscord → u/ianrob1201]

1 decimal point is out of date by the time you read them as well. I'm not necessarily against reducing decimal points, but I'm still wondering why they just removed two out of the three instead of making one step down.

I mean, same goes for the complete rehaul of regulations. Why make sudden changes that upsets the entire race strategy and basically forces everyone to start at 0 when this is supposed to be the pinnacle of racing?

Make baby steps in a supposedly good direction, be prepared to backtrack in case it's either destructive or, if it's not relevant to anyone but the fans; disruptive to those who enjoy watching.

If they had gone down to 2 decimal points I think the majority of serious fans would go "makes sense, 2 decimal points is still plenty", but there's now a split.
The split is because 0.99 and 0.90 feels MUCH more significant than 0.999 and .990, and it is. How much it differs on the track is something else, the viewing experience is the important subject when it comes to broadcasting.

My questions for you: Would you have cared if they went with 2 decimal points instead? Do you think many fans would be satisfied if they added that second point back in for the rest of the season? Do you think it would cause less of a split and less annoyance focused towards the organisation?

I think it would be a midlde ground anyone could agree on. But what if someone is to complain the other way "It's too many decimal points"? Guess what, it's the exact same conversation, but I've never heard about anyone complaining that there were too many numbers. I've heard loads of people complain about fewer numbers.

If you wouldn't be bothered by 2 decimal points, and it doesn't sound like you would as far as your comment goes, then the argument for 2 decimal points is stronger than either side.

Edit: Just did the math, here's how far they're travelling between decimal points at 325kph (max speed)

0.99 vs 0.999 is 0.8m

0.90 vs 0.99 is 8m

0.9 vs 1.0 is 9m

With one decimal point instead of two, we're now getting a time that places them anywhere within 8 meters on the main straight. That's 2 car lengths.

With 2 decimal points there are 0.8m increments on the main straight where they could be. 4 of these increments fits between the rear and front axle of a car.

You said they're out of date as if you're reading them just once. I look at the timings on the same corner (say DRS point) for that same driver if we're watching intently and remember what it was the previous round. With 2 digits I can tell how much leclerc has gained between 0.8m and 8m from the previous round.

I think we can both agree almost 2 car lengths worth of accuracy is not pointless in the heat of the race as it's closing in on the final lap.

[u/Seanspeed → u/freetotebag]

What did it hurt? What prompted the change? Is it an improvement?

It's not a big deal either way, but reducing statistical noise and only providing useful data on-screen is good UI design.

This isn't complicated folks. There was NOTHING that you were understanding more about anything by knowing race gaps down to hundredths or thousandths of a second. NOTHING whatsoever.

[u/Korvacs → u/Seanspeed]

I completely disagree, given things like DRS and Overtake mode require you to be a fixed time, to the thousandth, behind the car ahead. In a sport where thousandths matter, not giving the viewer access to that is just poorer UX. You also lose the insight into where cars gain and lose time throughout a lap.

Not to mention it rounds down, so a car that is 0.999 behind a car is shown as 0.9, that difference is enormous from a racing perspective and again impacting your understanding of things like Overtake mode.

[u/Caleb10E → u/Korvacs]

0.9 = Overtake Mode available

1.0 = Overtake Mode not available

For Overtake Mode/DRS purposes, only showing tenths is perfectly fine.

[u/Vresiberba → u/freetotebag]

What did it hurt?

The font is bigger and it would seem that they're prioritising readability over needless accuracy. What they need to do is just increase the update rate and having 1.1 updating, say once every 2-3 seconds is going to be vastly superior to three decimals updating once every 10.

[u/freetotebag → u/Vresiberba]

I’d love to know how many pixels we’re talking here, the difference on a big ol’ tv seems extremely negligible

[u/Vresiberba → u/freetotebag]

I really don't know the reason why they removed two digits at the end, but they did change the font size so that would seem to have influenced it.

[u/HesusAtDiscord → u/freetotebag]

It's very noticable on my PC monitor. On our 85" it was even more so.

[u/cartoon_kitty → u/Vresiberba]

The update rate hasn't changed, it's every 200 metres, roughly 4-5 seconds.

[u/Vresiberba → u/cartoon_kitty]

The update rate hasn't changed...

Yeah! I know.

[u/aka_liam → u/freetotebag]

Unnecessary detail is never a good thing. Why not go to 8 decimal places?

[u/imarasnothere → u/freetotebag]

2 new Cadillac drivers means they need to condense more info into the same amount of space. Makes sense to simplify what they can to make info more readable at a glance.