Comments | mcgillianaire: According to Murray Walker

mcgillianaire

According to Murray Walker

Mar 31, 2009 15:15

A season of F1 and testing consumes less fuel than one 747 flying across the Atlantic. I can't verify that but a search online suggests he's been making this comparison for at least two years. But I have found a comment to an article describing the F1 as the world's dirtiest sport that sorta agrees:

Comments 16

loganberrybunny March 31 2009, 17:55:06 UTC

I still miss Murray. Even though he was showing his age towards the end of his time, he is without doubt one of the great commentators. He came to Shelsley Walsh hillclimb (where he made his first ever broadcast) in 2005 for the centenary of the event, and he was just as amusing and easy-going as you'd expect from his TV appearances. =:)

mcgillianaire April 10 2009, 22:46:21 UTC

I've never been a dedicated F1 fan but his commentary was something I grew up with in and remains an integral part of my life. His voice seemed inseparable from F1 and I remember when I went back to Oman during university I was shocked not to hear him commentating! It felt wrong. It was so nice to hear his voice again during the interview on Radio 5. I liked the fact it was so long.

Looked it up and you're right... first broadcast there in 1948! Not bad at all.

loganberrybunny April 10 2009, 23:02:14 UTC

If you looked it up on Wikipedia, then it was me who added the information, so I should hope I did agree! The article previously said 1949, which I think was his first commentary on a circuit race, but I've heard the man himself say it was 1948, and I can't trump that!

mcgillianaire April 10 2009, 23:05:38 UTC

Hahaha! I'm sure it's not the first, nor the last bit of (corrected) info you've contributed to Wikipedia that's enlightened yours truly. Come to think of it a bell in me is ringing with the 1948 year as well but it could be for anything from when Gandhi died to the London Olympics...

I was wondering if you thought the media/public backlash to Hamilton's penalty was disproportionate?

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kapitankraut March 31 2009, 21:15:56 UTC

Ah, Muddly Talker. I was never an F1 fan, but hearing that man's voice on the sports reports on the news made it seem like a much more entertaining sport.

mcgillianaire April 1 2009, 10:16:32 UTC

Heh. On a similar note(?), there are other sports which I don't follow much and BBC Radio shows which I don't particularly enjoy or pay attention to, but it's become such an integral part of my life that if I don't leave the radio on during the waking hours, I feel as though a part of my life is missing!

(The comment has been removed)

mcgillianaire April 1 2009, 10:14:21 UTC

pappubahry April 1 2009, 06:52:08 UTC

A season of F1 and testing consumes less fuel than one 747 flying across the Atlantic.

F1 cars do about 100km on 75L. That makes about 220 litres per race, 18 races a season is about 4000 litres per car per season.

I don't know how many km in testing and qualifying they do.

A 747 burns about 100000 litres of fuel in crossing the Atlantic. So the comparison seems reasonable. Probably much more fuel is burnt in transporting the cars between countries than during the races.

mcgillianaire April 1 2009, 10:14:02 UTC

Ah, thanks for doing the basic math.

According to Wikipedia: "No competing team was allowed to carry out more than 30,000 km (18,641mi) of testing during the 2008 calendar year", so that works out to a potential max of 22500 litres per car per season. I don't know how many cars in total complete a full set of testing in a season.

Also, Wiki says there are three periods of qualifying split into thirty, twenty and ten minutes. After each period a certain number of cars do not qualify for the next one and cars are allowed to complete as many laps as they can in each period. Not sure how many laps are actually completed.

loganberrybunny April 10 2009, 23:04:46 UTC

There's less testing now than there was in 2008: as of this year, testing (other than some basic straight-line aero stuff) is banned during the season itself as a cost-cutting measure. I'm not sure how much they got through before the Australian GP.

If you have the time, qualifying can be interesting to watch, sometimes more so than the race! This year all the practice and qualification sessions are watchable online and on the iPlayer, so they're easy to get at. =:)

mcgillianaire April 11 2009, 00:23:20 UTC

Wow, very interesting about the testing. Never realised so little will be done during the season itself.

And thanks for the tip! Unfortunately I am engulfed with exams and exam preparation till the end of May but I will certainly tune into the Qualifying when after I'm all done. It's fantastic that it'll be available on the iPlayer. How long are the previous races being kept on it?

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