Alright when was that again.....?

[Yusuf Ashari]

Ah I don't mean get rid of it completely!! I mean get back to maybe 70's 80's levels, still got wings for sponsors but none of the faffy winglet crap, keep it simple, so that teams with their own wind tunnels don't get a massive advantage. Get back to mechanical grip which brings things back to the drivers as the overtakes would need to be done the old fashioned (i.e. better!) way and not by pressing a button on their wheel.

That and an end to the mercs dominance will be the only things that would make F1 watchable again for me.

Talking about Mercedes Domination..... quite honest they did a rather decent job to dominate F1, but I feel like "I've seen enough, for grief sake don't stuff us with that anymore". And I've been a bit sick seeing a Petronas sponsored car dominating the scene for some years now (It might have something to do with me being an Indonesian and 'nationalisticly' threatened - that's what happens when the other country has achieved something that your country can't achieve, and your patriotism / nationalistic pride took a massive dent on the quarter panel) - and added the fact SRT Petronas Yamaha team in MotoGP won their first race last week.

 

[FinFan]

Just my thoughts on it.

This should be send to the FIA and everyone responsible for F1. I haven't read a better description of the state of F1.

 

[dghfd]

Sponsors pay good money to be the best and stay the best, switching out to other cars is not something sponsors are willing to pay money for, also, they already tried something where the Formule 1 cars were all equal, a Sheikh came up with it, they called it A1GP, it lasted from 2005 to 2009. Sponsors want the best and pay money for that, it's just one big competition on every level of the sport. And sponsors want to show to the world that they are the best, so anything that gets in the way of that will not be interesting to sponsors.

 

[Daniel R.]

This should be send to the FIA and everyone responsible for F1. I haven't read a better description of the state of F1.

Thanks Mate.
Well just my thoughts as i said...

But surely not overall applicable...it´s a complex world (F1). With all the money involved and all the personalities and companies....

One other thought, maybe because we have so much insight in it with all the broadcast and media (which is good of course) it does not transfer the kind of magic as it has done in the past on old television, poor image quality (in comparison to HD TV today) where this world was really something special and unique. Like a escape from normal life as long as a race lasted.
It had an excitement to it that was just special...i´m thinking back to me in the late 80´s early 90´s watching it as a kid. Personalities like Senna and Mansell, Prost or Piquet.
Sadly nowadays i watch a race when there is nothing better to do, like lawnmoving or going to the grocery store (LOL). Back then i watched it with my dad in pure excitement of how the race will be... i miss that.

 

[Stig Bidstrup]

F1 Drivers now a days is to fit --yes that's why the races is so boring . they rarely make mistakes .
They have all been driving karts since they where 7 years old .
They are all more ore less triathlon stars ( fit ).

25-30 years back only a few of them where top fit . And not all had been driving since they could walk..
A driver Running out of breath and loose concentration was what made racing exciting for the spectator to look at back then. The spectator probably just thought it was something else ..

 

[Lord Haw-Haw]

Talking about Mercedes Domination..... quite honest they did a rather decent job to dominate F1...

I agree, reason being under the current rules of same tires for all teams and same engine tunes for teams using their engines, really is a credit to the personnel/team. Unlike when there was Michelin vs Bridgestone vs "Special Ferrari" Bridgestones.

 

[Ingemar Petersson]

The official home of Formula 1® | F1.com

Enter the world of Formula 1. Your go-to source for the latest F1 news, video highlights, GP results, live timing, in-depth analysis and expert commentary.

www.formula1.com

they have

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

signed sealed delivered. at that time of the year, they need not supply other tires than inters and rain for the Eifel

also, many other locations are definitely out: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/...mexico-and-canada.66ZjLAp4qDgqhs3T8BbIQS.html which is probably realistic but a crying shame nevertheless

 

[Yusuf Ashari]

F1 Drivers now a days is to fit --yes that's why the races is so boring . they rarely make mistakes .
They have all been driving karts since they where 7 years old .
They are all more ore less triathlon stars ( fit ).

25-30 years back only a few of them where top fit . And not all had been driving since they could walk..
A driver Running out of breath and loose concentration was what made racing exciting for the spectator to look at back then. The spectator probably just thought it was something else ..

I think there's an anecdote about racing back in the 70s, "Sex was safe and Racing was dangerous". Being fit is mostly a good thing in my opinion , especially when talking about how much strength you need to drive these sort of cars. Those folks back then in the 70s or early 80s are just bunch of personalities that can be described as "frivolous dilettantes with nothing on their heads" whose physical fitness, some said, came from racing/driving and, sometimes for some people (most notably those like James Hunt), "Sex, Breakfast of Champions" stuff, so they didn't care quite much about physical fitness. Now, you have to do cycling, swimming and some complicated fitness stuff to get up to shape just to drive the car/mecha (a good thing but massively overrated, just like safety in racing).

In the case of prior experience with go-karts, yeah , they have been running gokarts since around 7 years of age, so that they can understand the basics of oversteer slide and how to control it thoroughly. Only a few of the 70s-80s drivers do that, some started racing in their late adolescent years (age 16-19 mostly) or even when they got license to drive a car. Now, they got to do it from very young age because their brain at the ages like 6-10 years old were performing at its best, just so they can instinctly understand the car's behavior very thoroughly and how to mitigate them ( sounds like if starting to go racing at age 18 was a bad idea on today's standards unless you want to be a gentleman racer on touring car and GT discipline, or doing racing for the hobby like going to amateur rallying or time attacks). Those kids has to go through ranks in a progressive manner and only if you're good enough you can make a jump on the next rank that is several steps on the line. You can't go there if you wanna start at age 18 or 20 now.

These guys are well pampered since its very genesis , unlike the 'class of 1970s' guys like James Hunt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Niki Lauda or even Takahashi Kunimitsu ( the Japanese driver who made a solo F1 appearance in 1977 Japanese GP, finishing 9th in the race, 2 laps down behind James Hunt the race winner, in a Tyrrell 007). Most of the 'class of 1970' drivers aren't that 'well pampered' like these guys today (like Hamilton, Vettel, Verstappen, Bottas, Norris, etc). They started racing when they're a bit older (and, for Hunt and Lauda's case, were racing against their family's wishes), but they were interesting bunch of drivers, being able to push beyond the limits of their rides and their body even when they're not as thoroughly experienced and physically fit as the F1 pilots of today. These drivers of the 1970s , for example, they are either quick learning drivers, or 'the more I crash in races the more I learn for the coming races' sort of drivers. Nowaday drivers had their instincts sank deep in their heads, so theoritically they rarely makes mistakes.

But I don't think today's F1 pilots were 100% faultproof despite the fact they were racing gokarts since their childhood. I think today's F1 pilots can be more reckless and more accident prone in comparison with the 1970s F1 drivers because the 1970s driver knows the risks quite well and the dangers are quite obvious. If you had a big accident, it's either you spend weeks or months in hospital, or going home in a hearse, dismembered, charred, only your name remains intact). So there's mutual respect between the drivers and fans also gave them respect, as if there's an impression that the racing drivers are bunch of brave men. Today's pilots knew the risks and dangers but they're not that obvious because they are dampened by the regulations concerning cars and tracks, so we have boring, insignificant cars that are generally worse than Time Attack race cars seen on Super Lap or Gatebil events; as well as boring, insignificant tracks that is not as fun to drive as winding mountain roads (should FIA and F1 people collaborate with tuners and race fans, instead of legitimate engineers and politicians, to make F1 more lively again or not?). Knowing that , they might have had the sense of error tolerance, or they might want to dump another driver whenever they want wherever they want. So, on that circumstances, not only these F1 drivers of today were not that interesting in the eyes of the fans, but they also get a bit less amount of respect from the fans, even from some of the legends of the F1 world.

That's what I think.

 

[daveclifton]

All confirmed now. Nurburgring, Imola and Portimao on. Mexico, Austin, Interlagos off.

US circuits will be off limits until 2022 at least and citizens remain barred from Mexico, Canada and Europe until at least 2021.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

Montreal off as well, but I guess that goes without saying

 

[Rant5150]

I remember years ago when F1 was trying to come with new ideas, I saw a suggestion which would see the drivers rotate teams. So essentially every driver would run a race or two for every team. It seemed odd, but at that time I thought it would be fun to see even for one season - what would Schumacher achieve in a Minardi!

 

[tdurb0]

And lately also about politics

Since what seems like forever, sadly.

 

[Rex Racer 65]

Without spec cars or BOP, the racing will never be driver vs. driver in F1. Check out IndyCar if you want to see that kind of racing.

How about stripping all downforce and creating 1960's style F1 cars (with modern safety features). All mechanical grip so the drives have to finesse the cars around the corners Jim Clark style! Ah well...wishful thinking....

Being that we're stuck with high downforce cars with no following and crap tires, I've wondered if introducing a "Joker Lap" that the drivers must take at least 10% of the total laps would create some interest. I like this better than pit/tire strategy as it keeps the racing in the hands of the driver on the track. And, it would really mix up the race and make the last stint really exciting as everyone exits their final Joker Laps and merges into position.

 

[Rex Racer 65]

Another tangential idea I've had that Paul's concept touches on is to change Monaco.
Monaco is a signature, tradition for F1. But, the modern cars with long wheel bases are just too big to really race each other. It's a high speed parade. I think they should all drive smaller, vintage styled spec open wheel cars for driver championship points only. How fun would it be to see George Russell starting P2 and really race against Hamilton and Leclerc instead of having another back maker test drive day.

 

[Yusuf Ashari]

What we need is positive, worthwhile ideas to modify the cars to allow them to race. End of story. It's what has been needed for years, everyone knows it, yet very little is being done about it. Just more worthless gimmicks and compromises rather than definitive action. Until that changes, the racing in F1 will continue to be dull and boring no matter what anyone comes up with.

I was thinking, what if FIA created/formulated a set of rules that allows the application of "tuner" mindset on car development, or allowing car tuners to participate in F1(like Alpina, APR, Ruf, Roush, Spoon, ABT, HKS, Japspeed, Fujita Engineering, etc), are they going to improve F1 or worsen it? For several years now I think car tuners and the realm of automobile tuning gets more attention to fans than the realm of F1 because of those restrictive and worthless rules and ideas on F1. Plus, by employing car tuners to join F1 or applying the tuner mindset on the F1 engineering they might get rid of these gimmicks like ERS or DRS devices (by the idea that the true power of the car enhances the racing). Also, you can curtail the running costs of F1 car development and improve the racing. I think it's simply like developing an F1 car but you do it the same way car tuners do time attack cars.

 

[Durge Driven]

 

[Alex72]

Pretty sure i have a good idea to create a popular TV spectacle regarding racing: crystal meth and mounted rocket launchers.

 

[Lord Haw-Haw]

Pretty sure i have a good idea to create a popular TV spectacle regarding racing: crystal meth and mounted rocket launchers.

Might work, I enjoyed the 80's IMSA's cocaine and turbo/rotary flames!

 

[FILIPINHO1 37]

Big no, if MotoGP was like in 2012, it would've been "it's ok".
HOWEVER, MotoGP has became so much more competitive than F1, look how many riders can fight for the top positions, BUT in F1 only 3 drivers could fight, not because of Mercs, but because of the others who can't make a car good enough to compete w/Mercs, Verstappen is the only one who can compete with Hamilton and Bottas and the gap is huge to the other drivers (2022 regs could change everything tho).
Modern MotoGP > modern F1