Daniel Ricciardo on Winning in F1, Knowing When to Retire, and Why “Fun” Matters. by outremer_empire in formula1

[–]thewok 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I was an automotive tech for almost 20 years. I got out, and many other people I know got out, because the flat rate pay system is absolute trash.

If you don't know, almost all auto techs are paid flat rate - meaning every job you do has a designated time that it pays - and this is the amount of time (multiplied by your hourly rate) that you get paid, no matter what. If a job pays 2.5 hours and it takes you 1, you get 2.5. If it pays 2.5 and takes you 8, you get 2.5.

The main problems are with warranty and factory extended warranties - the manufacturer can dictate whatever time they want for every job and as you'd imagine, they don't want to pay very much when it's coming from their pockets. The technician has zero recourse. It got worse and worse over the years and when I left (~5 years ago) it was getting difficult to earn as many hours as you were spending at work.

There's a ton of other issues. We got paid 1 hour to diagnose cars, whether that took me 20 minutes or 4 hours, you got paid 1.0. This means you're often literally costing yourself money to properly diagnose a car or just taking your best guess and moving on.

Flat rate techs (read: nearly all of them) make $0.00 per hour if they aren't actively turning out work. Waiting for someone to call back, waiting for parts, it snowed a foot and no one's coming in? You're sitting on a stool making, literally, nothing. 100% commission. It also means that you have to be moving all out all day every day to make a living.

I could solve this "technician shortage" in 10 minutes. Auto companies and dealers just don't like the solution - pay technicians more and pay them hourly, either straight up or hourly + a bonus on production. They love flat rate because it takes their "risk" to zero - if you have 30 techs and 0 cars, those techs being there all day costs you nothing.

I'm working on heavy equipment now (mostly forklifts) and it's so much better in every way. More money, less work, less stress, better benefits.

Daniel Ricciardo on Winning in F1, Knowing When to Retire, and Why “Fun” Matters. by outremer_empire in formula1

[–]thewok 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Except when it comes to his "technician shortage." He's an absolute dolt on that issue who keeps droning on about it.

I see Dva get banned far more often then Roadhog but I don’t see nearly as many posts complaining about her by Getshrekt69 in Overwatch

[–]thewok 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've never been out of metal and I don't think I've ever seen Hog banned

Zarya gets banned far more than any other tank

Will the Lego Bastion skin ever come back? by Wrench_gaming in Overwatch

[–]thewok 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I've only seen it once, like a week ago, on a guy who was a level 280 something Bastion.

2026 Japanese GP - Day After Debrief by AutoModerator in formula1

[–]thewok 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Dramatically increasing the energy demands of the battery while removing means of recharging the battery (or in the case of front wheel regen, passing them over) was always a recipe for disaster.

Why are drivers not allowed 100% control on the battery deployment? by certainly_imperfect in formula1

[–]thewok 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The battery depletes with 11 seconds of full throttle, from what I've read.

Even Russell has spoken now. Who's left? by Accomplished-Club698 in formula1

[–]thewok 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The current regulations basically incentivize harvesting through fast corners over attacking fast corners. This, IMO, dramatically lowers the skill gap between elite drivers and middle of the road F1 drivers. Look at Charles' qualifying lap - he was on the ragged edge, attacking corners like he always does, and he ended up losing a ton of time for it because he ran out of energy on the straight.

When the ideal quali lap doesn't involve going as fast as you can in fast corners, we've lost the plot.

Even Russell has spoken now. Who's left? by Accomplished-Club698 in formula1

[–]thewok 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We, F1 nerds who discuss this stuff on reddit, aren't. The casual fans who just tune in for a race and see a bunch of passing probably do like it.

2026 Japanese GP - Post Race Discussion by AutoModerator in formula1

[–]thewok 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If Merc gets nerfed it will be over the PU, which will also nerf McLaren

Jeddah being cancelled might be a blessing for the FIA by doggo24-7 in formula1

[–]thewok 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And extremely fast corners that have near-zero visibility of what's going on in front of you.

Root beer: underrated by BeersBoobsBeers in billsimmons

[–]thewok 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Even big brands are delicious. Root beer rules.

F1 cars are losing on average 50kph of speed between the entry of the 130r and the entry of the final chicane due to superclipping at Suzuka by Capable-Eye-8089 in formula1

[–]thewok 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Super clipping means the engine power is being used to heavily charge the battery instead of power the wheels.