8 Little Things That Irritate Me About The FIA WEC
1. Lack of LM GTE coverage
One thing I have noticed while watching the FIA WEC races for a long period of time is that LMP1 and LMP2 get much more airtime compared to the LM GTE categories. While it’s obvious that LMP1 includes the biggest manufacturers and teams, the battles in the GT classes are often missed.
2. Quiet calendar
It’s such a big series and with a huge following, so it’s disappointing that there are only nine rounds this season. We want more! Yes, we get six (or on one occasion, 24) hours of action but the racing is really exciting and it would be awesome to see more locations and tracks on the calendar.
3. Dull liveries
I really liked what Porsche did at Le Mans in 2015, with the three cars each having different coloured liveries. It would be great to see more creativity in some of the designs, especially in LMP1 where there is so much bodywork to cover. There is too much white and they all look quite similar. At least in LMP2 there are is a diverse range of colours and styles.
As a WEC and F1 fan, it frustrates me that the Le Mans 24 Hours and the European Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan, will clash. Qualifying for the F1 will start just as the action begins at the Circuit de la Sarthe in France and the famous endurance race will end just as the European GP begins. WHY YOU DO THIS?!
5. Driver ratings
As if endurance racing wasn’t categorised enough, with different classes and multiple drivers per car. Add to that the driver ratings system and it all gets a bit confusing. There are four categories, Platinum and Gold for pro drivers and Silver and Bronze for non-pros.
This all seems okay but biased judgement and odd choices have meant some drivers find themselves demoted in rank, when they really shouldn’t be. While it makes it easier to sort out cars that require a certain number of pro and non-pro drivers, the four categories are a cruel way to rate drivers and quite unfair.
6. Following the action
Particularly at the Le Mans 24 Hours, it can be quite tricky to pick out the positions cars are in during the night. While the number panels are lit up and there is a light system for the top three, I’d much prefer panels on the side of the car showing the position and other vital information like the number of laps completely. It’s just a little thing but it could help spectators. Maybe it’s just my poor eyesight?
7. Easy passes
While I really like the fact that each LMP1 car has its strengths and weaknesses, it was a little tiring to see the Porsche 919 Hybrids powering past the Audis on the straights. It would be really exciting to see cars being more closely matched in all areas and hopefully we will see more of that in 2016.
8. Drivers left out
I think the current qualifying format is pretty neat, with two drivers per car setting their fastest laps and the average being worked out to decide the grid. But it annoys me that not every driver is getting involved in qualifying, which is a hugely exciting time, pushing the cars to the limit. The LMP1 machines have three drivers each and this means some are left out.
While these small things may annoy me about WEC, I’m still a massive fan of the series and the 2015 season was mega. See why it was better than last year’s F1 here.
Comments
Number 4, you can thank Bernie and the other F1 bosses for that. They don’t want F1 drivers in any other series like Hulkenberg last year.
Number 7 is a bit weird, because the whole point of the prototype category is to allow teams to explore various ways to go about covering as much distance as possible, within a certain amount of time. So for example, some years Peugeot or Toyota or Porsche are faster than for example Audi, thus easy overtakes seemingly, but the Audi is perhaps more reliable, or goes further between stops, leading to one less stop. It isnt F1 after all.
Yeah it is a big shame I know a couple of F1 drivers were interested but obviously couldn’t take part. That would be awesome though right?
That is a fair point and innovation is one of WEC’s biggest plus points but it can be a little frustrating when watching the actual battles
Le Mans finishes just before the F1 starts? How’s that a clash?
Because it makes participation of F1 driver in Le Mans impossible. Granted, it’s not very likely for F1 drivers to go to Le Mans…
Basically the race starts as the light for Q1 in Baku goes on and the race will finish as the red lights go on. So it does clash on the race weekend and the sessions. Plus people like me love to watch the build-ups and reviews
I think number 7 is a good thing. If the cars are more closely matched there will be less overtakes and it’ll get less exciting. I like the fact the Porsche easily overtakes the Audi on the straights, but the Audi gets the Porsche back in the corners. Gives us, the spectators, long-lasting and exciting battles.
That’s a fair point and the innovation side of it is insanely cool. Just can get a little frustrating with the repetition if that makes sense?
I totally agree with number 6. How difficult is it to put the place number on the side of the car. It is being used in different endurance series so why not in WEC?
Also what annoys me more is that the top 3 lights don’t always work on the cars.
hard to watch. almost no livestreams ;/
9: It only needs one more “F” to say FIFA. And you always think of football when you read it.
Great article!
How can you say easy passes and post a gif with awesome racing and passing? Look at the battle, it was fantastic stuff at Fuji!
https://youtu.be/-b-wu3cVjeI
1) biggest example of this was 2013/14 lemans final 5-6 hrs, corvette and 2 astons battling it out for the lead along with porsches all fighting for the last 6 hrs and the coverage was of the prototypes which where almost decided already, shame.
2) yes there are fewer races, but try preparing a team for massive endurance races plus also WEC is an ongoing development, you finish a race see what happened then change the car slightly for the next race
3) agree, however WEC hasnt really been a flashy race with a few exceptions
4) up to F1 to change, lemans has always been that date
5) yeah fk driver ratings
6) do you look at scoreboards?
7) WEC is again not so much about driver skill as it is about vehicle development, the reason Lemans was first made was to show which brand of cars can survive 24hrs of being pushed, so yes it is depressing to see your favourite driver get completely out paced by another car but such is WEC.
8) i dont think the qualifying really matters, some drivers arent so much about doing fastest laps but just bringing the car home, pretty sure in Audis lineups over the years each car has 2 people who push like mad and 1 person who just brings home the bacon by stinting hour after hour
The biggest problem with WEC for me is that no TV in the uk stream it live, the closest we get is MotorsTV which stream it maybe a day later. this means that for the past 5 years 6£ goes to eurosport player every june.