Mark Barker medal 5000 8 years 278 days ago
I've enjoyed watching F1 since the mid 90s, and over that time I've seen plenty of rules come and go, many in the name of improving racing and lowering costs. And most have failed! Why does F1 assume that complicated rules are the only way to get "progress"? Most recently we've had the big engine change, hugely expensive and when a manufacturer gets it wrong they're stuck with a lemon. Why not remove engine restrictions, let them run fire breathing V12s if they want, but only allocate 100 litres of fuel for the race? The engineers are clever, let them develop something that'd work. If a team wanted to run a 1000cc screamer with an array of turbos, great. It'd have the potential to mix up the grid, different cars would be strong in different areas, which could potentially lead to better racing.
Likewise with the chassis/body set up. I think its so sad that the only way to tell the cars apart is by their colour. Under the current rules theres no way a team can be innovative. Ditch the rules, have a box that a car must be able to fit in to control the overall size, and let the designers design! If F1 rules had always been so stupid we'd still have the engines up front and wheels like bicycles, and we'd have never seen the fabulous 6 wheeler!
gareth robishaw medal 5943 8 years 278 days ago
change regulations to the 2008 season no abs no drs and make the cars have 1000hp.
and also lke you said man let engineers design!
and also do a sort of thing we do here.
promote gp2s champion to f1 last place goes down to gp2 and so on with gp3 too
Mark Barker medal 5000 8 years 249 days ago
So the rule makers are at it again... They've been generous enough to let Pirelli test their tyres for 2017... But part of the testing has to be done using 2016 sizes! How pointless? The loads, thermal effects and grip will be completely different, so what can they possibly achieve from these tests? Surely no one will benefit from extra testing given that theres no alternative, so whats the point of these stupid restrictions? Can't be cost, as they've got to make a car capable of taking new sized wheels anyway!
I B medal 6279 8 years 249 days ago
I like the idea of loosening the rules but don't think it would work because of the different budgets available. There's a phenomenal difference between the potential budgets available to Ferrari and other teams such as Sauber, Force India etc from outside of F1
What makes it even worse is the agreement from 2012 since when Ferrari receive a significant amount no matter how well or badly they do. According to some sources (eg link below), in 2014 when Williams were 3rd and Ferrari 4th, Ferrari received twice as much as Williams. (and more than Mercedes who won)
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2503438-formula-1-prize-money-distribution-highlights-inequalities-in-the-sport
For balance, Ferrari aren't the only team with a 'special' funding agreement but there's is more 'special' than anyone else.
If there were no rules then it would just be the biggest budget wins and even more of a mess than it is now.
gareth robishaw medal 5943 8 years 249 days ago
yeah lower costs as well as what i said before
Cory Tan medal 5000 8 years 247 days ago
the key is.....politics plays a huge part in F1, reason being the amount of money that goes into the sport. There's no question that bernie and Formula One Management are getting way too much money, and are spending next to nothing on the teams and the sport. This results in teams having to beg and bride their way to greater funding.
The commerical part of the sport is definately holding too much sway over the sport, and FOM is the main problem of it all. it's like hiring a manager for your home, and paying him a third of your home budget. The question is....is that manager able to increase your budget by more than that 1/3 that he's being paid? Because if he is not...then there's no point in hiring him.
In terms of FOM, I don't believe they do. Bernie and his family are obviously swimming in cash, F1 is having to race more races per season, use less engines, less fuel, less tyres, less testing, with less funding. Spectators are having to pay more and more for tickets, so where's all the money gone to? yes...precisely.
And now FOM feels empowered to influence changes in the racing, to increase advertiser exposure time.
F1 should return to a more basic system. Fixed development budget for all teams. Engine manufacturers are provided additional seperate budget in return for a guarantee to make engines available for other teams. Race performance bonus that totals 20% of the overall commercial gains from series sponsors, coverage and other gains, FOM to take 5%.
And for car design regulations, the focus should be primarily on safety. Downforce should be reduced, and limited, thus putting the race performance more reliant on the driver's ability to maximise the grip from the tyres, which should also result in better racing. This would also reduce teams' budget on aerodynamic testing, which should be better spent on a better chassis and suspension design. The current regulations on engines are good, but i prefer the only regulation to be the amount of overall power of the powerplant to come from MGU-K and MGU-H, and no regulation over number of pistons, engine sizes, layout, gearbox design. Only regulation would be amount of fuel per race, with refuelling allowed.
And i wish to see the end of the stupid DRS, which i believe ruins racing, the way how doubling the size of goal would do for football. Sure we'll see lots of overtaking, SO? that's the same as seeing football teams scoring basketball score like number of goals.....
Mark Barker medal 5000 8 years 242 days ago
So Red Bull are going to run with their screen on tomorrow in FP1... Opinions?
Personally I don't think the Halo or screen is needed. Sure, there have been injuries and deaths relating to head impacts, but in all honesty isn't the risk a part of F1 and motorsport in general? I've done a bit of racing over the years in saloon cars, and have had a couple of fairly big offs. I knew the risks when I signed up, and took the opinion that it was worth taking part regardless.
I know that historically F1 has been dangerous and things have changed to make it safer, but I believe this is too far. Safety for everyone (ie wheels not flying off, fire etc) is one thing, but taking all the risk out of motorsport seems wrong... It'd be like non contact boxing
gareth robishaw medal 5943 8 years 240 days ago
it looks good. if they put a roof on it would look like a land speed record car like thrust ssc. i would go for that than the halo any day
Mark Barker medal 5000 8 years 240 days ago
"gareth
it looks good. if they put a roof on it would look like a land speed record car like thrust ssc. i would go for that than the halo any day
Absolutely... Then cover the wheels to make the aero work better... Oh wait, LMP cars already do that!
I'd like to know what risks they're trying to overcome. Would the aero screen have saved Bianchi? He drove his car into a tractor with such force it lifted the tractor up! Even ballistics grade plexiglass wouldn't resist those forces. Wilson was hit on top of his helmet. The screen doesn't cover the top, so unlikely to have made a difference there. On the flip side, would Alonso have been able to get out of his car a few weeks ago if it'd been fitted with a screen, and how would the screen have effected the roll of the car as it went through the gravel?