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Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Why mandatory pitstops won't improve F1 racing
Motorsport photo Beware those who declare simple solutions to complex problems. After three grands prix in the 2025 season won from pole position, and a processional race in Japan held in conditions of tactical stalemate, an idea has taken root in the F1 paddock that this state of affairs could easily be resolved by imposing a minimum number of pitstops – that figure, of course, to be greater than one. Advertisement There is precedent. At the Qatar GP in 2023, the FIA and Pirelli set a maximum stint length, in effect making it a minimum three-stop race, and in February this year the World Motor Sport Council ratified a minimum of two stops at Monaco, come rain or shine. Race action Race action Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images While the results of the Monaco experiment are yet to be seen, that Qatar race provided a few data points. Even though Max Verstappen won from pole, the race was deemed a success by the opinionati. All through that season the sensitivity of Pirelli's tyres to thermal degradation – losing performance quickly when pushed too hard, particularly in hot conditions – had been blamed for a lack of overtaking. And, to an extent, Red Bull's dominance. Advertisement Qatar was the first grand prix where drivers had been able to push hard throughout a stint because each one was so short. On the face of it, this is exactly what drivers had been asking for – an end to races dictated by tyre management – and many of their bosses agreed. 'I'd like to have more races like Qatar where you just go flat out,' said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff at the end of the season. Though we should perhaps qualify this sentiment by reminding readers that Verstappen won the world championship in Qatar, rendering the following five races (including a triple-header and a double-header) an exhausting procession of dead rubbers. Whenever anyone holds up a specific race as an exemplar it should set off the alarm bells, for it was the unusual circumstances of the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix that dictated what we have today. Back then, Bridgestone's ability to produce tyres you could push all day was perceived as the villain of the piece, and the topsy-turvy weekend in Montreal demonstrated what could happen if degradation came into play. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren MP4/25 Lewis Hamilton, McLaren MP4/25 Sutton Images Sutton Images Advertisement 'All races should be like this,' commanded F1 'ringmaster' Bernie Ecclestone, Pirelli duly delivered on brief, and here we are – with drivers endlessly moaning about degradation and wanting tyres they can push on all race. It must be dizzying to pivot by 180 degrees so often while trying to satisfy unmet needs. While mandating a specific number of pitstops appeals through its simplicity, it comes freighted with unforeseen consequences and is a very coarse way of trying to provoke changes in the running order. It is akin to the player of a board game attempting to change a losing trajectory by throwing the pieces in the air to see where they land. Given similar car performance, overtaking is always going to be fraught with difficulty – which is why teams are naturally inclined to guard track position by minimising the number of stops they make. There's also the possibility of pitcrew errors. Forcing the teams to make more stops certainly increases the probability of stops not going according to plan, but this is a crude lever to pull. Having a prescribed number of stops is also likely to reduce strategic variation rather than promote it, since Pirelli has been obediently and industriously trying to reduce thermal degradation and the effects of heat stress on its tyres. Advertisement Thermal degradation is a factor of core temperature over long stints and is different to the phenomenon of losing performance from corner to corner because the driver has caused the surface temperature to 'spike' by provoking the car into slides. This is why so many are now happy to be in Bahrain, where thermal management, formerly the bogey factor, is now highly desirable in the context of the Japanese procession. In Qatar in 2023 there was a fair amount of strategic variation – Verstappen and George Russell on the front row started on used mediums, Lewis Hamilton in third on softs – but the key influences on this were the tyres available and the potential for the newly laid track surface to induce graining on fresh tyres. In any case the Mercedes drivers collided with each other at the first corner, rendering the point moot. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing leads at the start Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing leads at the start Red Bull Content Pool Red Bull Content Pool Advertisement Also, at that time there was a bigger step in performance between Pirelli's C1 and C2 tyres – the hard and medium – and the C1's tendency to require several laps to reach the right temperature window had a big influence on strategy. This year, as directed, Pirelli has narrowed the gap between those compounds. To create overtaking opportunities and engineer the commercial rights holder's desired 'peak end effect' – a cognitive bias where spectators tend to rate a race's overall excitement according to the events of the last few laps – the tyre performance has to be more differentiated. This helps to create the kind of races where drivers making two stops have enough performance in hand to chase down and pass those making one. 'It's a bit of a mess, if you ask me,' was Carlos Sainz's verdict on the matter in the pre-Bahrain press conference. 'What creates overtaking, in my opinion, is to have a delta [performance differential] to the car in front.' This was perhaps the frankest admission so far by a current F1 driver that they had been given what they wanted and now, after Suzuka, they were complaining about it. Sure, there were extenuating circumstances – colder than expected ambients, a new surface on part of the track that reduced the requirements for managing tyres there. But without the supposedly hated degradation there were no opportunities to pass. Advertisement Sainz also pointed out the inherent weakness of imposing a minimum number of pitstops. 'If you go with the three hardest compounds on a track like Suzuka, for example, you'll have flat-out racing with the three compounds, and pitstop laps always more or less the same – we all stopped on one lap,' he said. 'I think you will not get a tyre delta or an overtaking delta. Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing Andy Hone / Motorsport Images Andy Hone / Motorsport Images 'So for me it's more about trying to make sure the race is always between a one- and a two-stop, because like that you will have teams trying to do one-stops with high degradation and other teams running faster on a two-stop to try and overtake and make it to the flag.' Advertisement The question is whether Pirelli can engineer this. At the moment there is little room to manoeuvre because the tyre compounds have been established for the year. The manufacturer can adjust the allocation for specific races, but this cannot be done on the fly because the tyres are shipped by sea to reduce F1's carbon footprint. 'What we can do, it's just working on the tyre compounds allocation,' said Pirelli's Simone Berra when asked by what could be done to engineer scenarios where the choice between one and two stops is more nuanced. 'To try to, let's say, change a little bit the situation. 'Obviously it's also difficult for us to predict the weather – for example in Suzuka we had low temperatures, but another year we could have higher. Maybe even 15 degrees higher. 'And this has a big influence on tyre performance and degradation, as we've seen here in Bahrain. Obviously, when we try to reduce the overheating and thermal degradation, following the comments from drivers, then we could end up with conservative tyres – especially at the beginning of this season with a new range which appears too conservative. Advertisement 'That's why, for example, we've decided to be a little bit less conservative for the next races, starting from Jeddah. We have four races in a row where we're going one step softer than last year, to make things – let's say – a little more difficult for the teams, but even more interesting for the show. 'We're working on it – it's important to collect all the feedback, not only for the allocation for the second part of the season, but also the development we're going to have in the coming weeks for the new compounds for 2026.' As ever, it's a case of being careful what you wish for.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Yahoo
Killeen man sentenced for selling stolen Ft Cavazos gear
Waco, Tx (FOX44) – A Killeen man has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison for buying and selling army equipment stolen from Fort Cavazos. Court documents say that 32-year-old Benjamin Alvarado, Jr purchased literally thousands of military items, owned by the United States, from co-conspirators Darius Alston, Justin Wallas, Gabriel Taylor, and Kynyqus Bryant. The co-conspirators were U.S. Army soldiers stationed at Fort Cavazos and had participated in at least seven thefts of U.S. government property from Fort Cavazos. Collectively, they coordinated with Alvarado throughout the scheme through telecommunications and text messages. Investigators with the Department of the Army Criminal Investigations Division traced several transactions through online sellers such as eBay to Alvarado, who, on August, 9, 2021, was discovered to be selling multiple M-50 gas masks similar to what had been reported stolen from Fort Cavazos. Alvarado was also selling filters for the masks, night vision device image intensifier tubes, Litefighter tents, and other miscellaneous sensitive property in interstate and foreign commerce with a value of $5,000 or more. Executed search warrants resulted in the recovery of more than 24,000 individual items stolen from the U.S. government, including the masks and night vision gear, tents, weapons parts, and body armor. The recovered properties were valued at approximately $2.75 million. Another search warrant led to the recovery of another $100,000 worth of military property at a Killeen storage building. The investigation also revealed that, on or about January 5, 2021, Alvarado participated in the sale and transfer of a Joint Chemical Agent Detector to a buyer in China through an intermediary in Delaware. Alvarado stated he had purchased 90% of the 24,000 items seized from Bryant and Alston, who were assigned to the 553rd Combat Service Support Battalion. Taylor later confessed that he had participated as the lookout in a July 2021 robbery on Fort Cavazos while other members of the conspiracy retrieved the items. Alston stated that he had conducted seven or eight theft operations with Bryant and the others, also as a lookout. On September 3, 2019, Alvarado transferred a cashier's check for $52,890.55 to a title company for a residence in Killeen. On July 7, 2021, Alvarado transferred a personal check for $50,000 to a licensed automobile dealer for the purchase of a 2013 McLaren MP4. Following his April 2022 indictment, Alvarado forfeited the house and the car. Alvarado pleaded guilty on October 31, 2023 to one count of theft of government property conspiracy, one count of interstate transportation of stolen property, two counts of money laundering, and one count of smuggling goods from the United States. Alvarado has now been sentenced to 120 months custody in federal prison. Alston, Wallas and Taylor were also sentenced with Alvarado. Alston and Wallas were each sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Taylor was sentenced to five years of probation. Bryant was sentenced to five years of probation and incurred a $2,000 fine on March 24. In addition to their sentences, Alston, Wallas, Taylor, and Bryant were ordered to pay $618,750 in restitution. Alvarado was ordered to pay a restitution of $2,367,780.12. 'Alvarado and his co-conspirators engaged in a massive scheme to steal, store and sell millions of dollars' worth of U.S. military equipment—not only taking advantage of our government but placing personal profit over national security and military readiness,' said Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas. 'Thank you to all of the federal law enforcement agencies involved for provided their individual specialized investigative skills to this case and reinforcing the fact that criminals who engage in this illicit reckless behavior will be caught and prosecuted.' 'We traced Alvarado's sales and profits, which helped lead the team to seize assets like his real estate, his bank accounts and his McLaren. There are no sports cars and lavish lifestyles for Alvarado in prison,' said acting Special Agent in Charge Lucy Tan, of IRS Criminal Investigation's Houston Field Office. 'The moment he left a money trail, it sealed his fate. As the law enforcement division of the IRS, we follow the money to bring criminals to justice.' 'These sentencings are a result of a highly successful joint investigative effort by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and our investigative partners' said Acting Special Agent in Charge Chad Gosch of the Department of Defense – Office of Inspector General, DCIS Southwest Field Office. 'Ensuring the integrity of DoD supply chains, safeguarding taxpayer investments and, most importantly, protecting the warfighter are top priorities for DCIS.' 'This case highlights the partnership and commitment between Homeland Security Investigations and Army CID in securing the Homeland by targeting malicious actors stealing and exporting sensitive military equipment,' said ICE Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee. 'HSI, in collaboration with law enforcement partners, will continue to aggressively investigate and dismantle criminal networks that threaten the country's national security.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
