Maurice Hamilton has sympathy for drivers struggling under braking this year after buying a hybrid car of his own...
I had a lot of sympathy with drivers missing their braking points during free practice in Shanghai. I mean, I had the same trouble myself the other day on a rural road in Surrey.
Having recently taken delivery of a hybrid SUV, this business of regenerating engine energy has been a revelation - assuming you know how to use it. There's five settings available at the flick of a paddle thingy, '1' being next to nothing and '5' being maximum force for the regenerative braking. Broadly speaking, you need '1' for motorway work and '5' for when you're not flat out and pootling around B-class roads - which sums up my run from home to office. The trick is, however, to remember to select '5' at the start of the journey instead setting off on the default '1'.
It's amazing how quickly you become accustomed to the powerful effect of '5'; simply lift off the throttle and it's as though someone has furtively applied the handbrake. So - okay, I was a bit slow after a heavy night - I forgot my regular start-up routine and came close to dumping the lot into the first hedge when I lifted off and sod all happened. That aside, it really is amazing technology when handled correctly.
I thought of that a lot when watching F1 drivers struggle to get the balance right in the heavy braking areas at Shanghai. There's very little comparison, of course, between the hugely complex power unit in the back of a F1 car and the humble 2-litre four-cylinder inspired box of tricks in the front of my heavy SUV. And yet...
The technology we're watching this weekend in China will end up under your right foot sooner rather than later thanks to the white heat of F1 competition. Why, then, is F1 not shouting about this from the top of the lavish grandstands? Where's the chest thumping over a 30% improvement in fuel efficiency? Thirty! That's the sort of percentage figure that makes Bernie Ecclestone come over all weak when sticking CVC's arm up the backside of the next government-inspired cash cow of a racing facility with no spectators.
The answer, of course, is because F1 teams have no interest in their collective future. Mercedes and Renault had informal talks at the end of 2013 over advising the world at large about F1's positive work but, as ever, the idea got lost in translation. Added to which, Mr. Ecclestone then chose to rubbish the new formula. Now he's banging on once more about returning to a V8 formula. Move on, Mr E. Move on.
Speaking of which, it's interesting to note that Kenny Handkammer, the respected former chief mechanic at Red Bull, has moved to the USA to work for Tesla Motors and lend his unique F1 organisational experience to the production of high performance electric cars. Tesla are at the cutting edge of battery technology, so much so that plans have been laid for the so-called Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada. I know they like to do things big in America but a 10 million sq. ft. facility in Nevada - purely for making batteries in association with Panasonic - is redefining commitment.
It's also marking the automotive future and I can't help but think that Handkammer has made the right move - and not just because of the mess Red Bull find themselves in as one of their cars comes to a halt with the rear brakes ablaze. I really felt for Kvyat on Friday. Know how it is Dani, mate, when you pull the wrong number on the paddle thingy. Been there; done that.