“Something Kimi would excel at!” – Fans react as former F1 champion Damon Hill shares a video of snow karting, calling for such a spectacle in F1
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Damon Hill hopes to witness an F1 Grand Prix in snow
Damon Hill is a veteran of Formula 1. The British driver has had motorsport in his veins with his father Graham winning two F1 titles. Damon won the 1996 world championship in his last year on the Williams team. The 62-year-old is a key voice around the paddock, not shy of sharing his opinions with the world while providing his support to Lewis Hamilton after the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP fiasco. Recently Hill brought light to a rather fascinating scene in racing,
Damon Hill retweeted a video of karts going around a track in the snow! The video consisted of what seemed to be a full grid, with drivers driving on a track layered with snow, while they witnessed snowfall during the race itself. This event occurred on an evening at the Buckmore Park Kart Circuit in the United Kingdom. Damon shared this video with the caption, “Now this could catch on … #f1,” indicating that the Brit would want the pinnacle of motorsport to recreate this.
Formula 1 has had a bad history of racing in extreme weather recently. The 2021 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps is seen as one of the most embarrassing events in the sport’s history after the race was washed out after only a few laps of running behind the safety car. Even today due to concerns regarding safety, we barely see the cars race in heavy rain, deeming the full wet Pirelli tyres virtually useless. Thus, Hill might be a bit too optimistic about the chances of the sport racing in the snow. Although in the past, teams did show runs in these conditions on numerous occasions to entertain the fans.
Fans speculate Damon Hill’s idea of a Grand Prix in snow
After Damon Hill‘s tweet, fans could not help imagining what a race in the snow might look like. One fan was confident of Kimi Raikkonen’s chances at such a race because of Finn’s history of being the ‘Ice Man,’ the fan said, “Seems like something Kimi would excel at!” While another user joked about the drivers struggling to get optimal tyre temperatures, the fan replied, “Tyres will take some time to warm up then huh?” One enthusiastic user mentioned the possibility of hosting such a race at Spa-Francorchamps as the track is covered in snow by the end of the year, the fan tweeted, “I say spa.”
It seems that there are many takers for Damon Hill’s idea, but on the more realistic side of things, a race in the snow seems impossible for Formula 1. The cars would struggle to get enough grip and the horrendous visibility. Maybe one day when finally the sport can have cars that do not face visibility issues in heavy rain or can generate enough grip in slippery conditions, F1 can get back to this idea and perhaps treat the fans with a one-off Formula 1 Winter Grand Prix.
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