Bring back the 80's...

Zeljko "Goose" Gusatovic · Jun 5, 2012

The last couple of days I have been watching season reviews from the 80's, and it reminded me how entertaining it was. It's the combinations of a lot of things that makes it fun to watch and makes me admire the drivers even more then the drivers of today. For example,they had fast tracks like old Hockenheim, Jarama, Buenos Aires, Kyalami and so on, and there was a lack of downforce on the cars.
The tracks where 'spectators' tracks, as the fast tracks and low downforce ment lots of overtaking and it raised the most talented and bravest drivers. Most of the tracks allowed different driving lines, meaning overtaking was easier, which you barely will experience on todays tracks, except maybe Spa.

Todays tracks are 'drivers' tracks, in my opinion. A combination of Herman Tilkes' track design and Pirellis marble pile up, the tracks only allows one line which produces less overtakes, which by the way is artificially boosted by KERS and DRS. When I watch an onboard video, or driving my self (PC) on any of Tilkes track, I truly think that they are great 'qualifying' tracks but not so great race tracks.

Don't get me wrong, I REALLY enjoy F1 this year! It's is really exciting and there's lots of action in every race, but I can't help getting the feeling that the winner is just a guy being at the right place at the right time.
6 races, 6 different winners and it's all down to, the tyres, DRS and the weather.

I would wish we could eliminate any 'driving aid' and make the racing be about... RACING.
Ayrton Senna said, that the best racing experience he ever had was when he was doing karting, because it was all about racing. There was no politics or money involved, just drivers and machines.
Ever since Williams introduced active suspension and tc in 1991, the competitiveness has plummeted untill recently when Pirelli joined F1 again, because of electronic aid.

So here is my fantasy rulebook about how to make F1 more exciting and more pure racing.

Wide tracks with long and fast corners
Less downforce combined with no.1 will slow down the speed in F1, but requires more skills and cojones of the drivers.
Bring back H-shifters.
All in all, make the cars more mechanical and less electronic

These are my silly (and a bit nostalgic) thoughts.
What do you guys think? Do you agree with me or do you think that am I an old fart that just need to keep up with the times and let the 80's be 80's?
Come up with your ideas of how to crown the champion based on his skills.

English is my second language, so sorry for any grammar flaws.

Thomas Dougherty · Jun 6, 2012

I agree that the 80s were much more entertaining. The cars were unruly beasts that took balls of steal to control. It was back when F1 was a man's sport.

Compared to then, today's racing is just a procession of fast billboards.

But the problem is though, F1 was always represented as the pinnacle of automotive technology. So becoming less electronic would counteract what F1 has always been.

It would be great to see that rough 80s racing again though.

William Levesque · Jun 6, 2012

Thomas Dougherty said:
But the problem is though, F1 was always represented as the pinnacle of automotive technology. So becoming less electronic would counteract what F1 has always been.

Which is why I despise most modern supercars/sports cars/cars with paddles

Hampus Andersson · Jun 6, 2012

I´m for less downforce at least. That´s where the real racing issue is.

Markus Neumann · Jun 6, 2012

Modern F1 cars really aren't all that electronic. Every normal road car is more sophisticated than F1 cars in this regard.
And the 2014 regs should result in less downforce.

Chris Jenkins · Jun 6, 2012

Markus Neumann said:
Modern F1 cars really aren't all that electronic. Every normal road car is more sophisticated than F1 cars in this regard.

I don't necessarily believe that.
There's something like 3km of electronic cabling in an F1 car. All of the load, temperature, pressure sensors, etc

Markus Neumann · Jun 6, 2012

Chris Jenkins said:
I don't necessarily believe that.
There's something like 3km of electronic cabling in an F1 car. All of the load, temperature, pressure sensors, etc

Yeah, there are sensors for everything. But the use of electronic driving aids and the like probably peaked with the Williams FW14 in 1992. In many ways, it is still the most sophisticated F1 car to date.