Debate: Is Formula One Heading in the Right Direction?

[Craig Stevenson]

Let me go in detail of what is wrong with F1 and why it will get worse unless people in power decide that there is an issue

TRACKS

We are going through a bad period of track design. These are poorly designed for F1 (being useful for GP2 only) and are replacing decent circuits. Russia and Mexico are a complete waste of space for example. Why the hell would you design a stadium section. There will be no overtaking through their, creating poor racing. Russia on the other hand is a horrible circuit. I hated the 2014 Russian GP. It was the worst race I ever sat through. I promise Azerbaijan will have the exact same issues.

The reason there a tracks like Russia along with Teams and drivers from Russia is quite simply because of Corruption at the top of FOM and in Russia, certain people at the top of FOM have deep pockets to fill!

 

[LEDzZzEPP]

That that F1 is dying and etc is a cliché, perhaps the people who really like racing...(for example who write in this forum), yes...bother some things and not be as entertaining, but for the vast mass of ''regular people'', this circus are nice, just watch the budgets and revenues of 90's for example and this last years, perhaps the sport is dying...but the F1 circus is increasingly growing

 

[InsaneOzzie]

FIA= Formula Impeding Assholes.

F1 is on the road of self destruction. I recently saw a TV interview with Colin Chapman, even he's disappointed with F1's current direction.

Ive said it before and I'll keep saying it, to improve F1 first you need to get rid of Ecclestone, then you can begin to move forward.

Ceiling team budgets @ US$70Million, this will rein in the likes of Merc, Ferrari etc & make the lesser teams more financially viable to last a season, distribute prize money more fairly for a start.

Go back to normally aspirated or turbo power plants, hybrids have no place in F1 IMO as they need to be treated with "Kid Gloves", leave the hybrids to the WEC, another FIA governed class.

Bring back fuel stops, this will promote deeper race strategies and spice up the races, like they use to. Many races are won from pit strategies, in many classes, why should F1 be any different.

Disallow in race coaching by the engineers, it should be up to the driver to decide when he stops, what his race pace is, or should be, to save tyres or make the next pit window for fuel.

Remove the DRS, let the drivers race each other up close and personal FFS, if they get into a tangle and have a spin or incident, so be it, isn't that one of the risks in racing, accidents will happen. If the teams don't like spending money on repairs from accidents, then their in the wrong sport. After all, the BIG teams themselves created the mega expensive development issues, by manipulating the FIA so they could dominate.

I could go on, but I think most area's on this topic have been covered by many before me.

Cheers

 

[pjlx911]

Sigh...

You know, I am getting tired having to explain, and re-explain, what I would do if I was in charge. So let me say it again!

The need to take some ideas from WEC and modify them enough to fit their regulations. For instance:

New Teams and Equalization
If a team is a new team to the series, their first year, they get 6 test days to their preexisting counterparts. If a team is being dominate, and they are beyond 2-3 secs ahead of it's nearest competitor, they should get either a; weight penalty, power penalty, or aero penalty. This will allow for the dominate car to still be competitive while still allowing the non-dominate cars a chance to close the distance.

No engine restrictions
Have the manufacturers design and implement whatever engine they want (V4-V12, I4-I8, etc). This will allow the manufacturers to decide what they want to do, it pushes for innovation, and this will allow variety in the manufacturers.
The HP Limit is at 1,000Hp (1st year, push to 1,500Hp next year if all goes well). Extra test days/engine/fuel allowances for "clean" energy.
This will push for more innovation. With the above it would commend those who are developing more advanced forms of engine technology. I was thinking like GT6's "Vision" deal. The more advanced/crazy you are planning to develop, the more test days should be allowed. I would think, Normally-Aspirated engines don't receive any extra days, 1 extra days for "clean" engines (MJ/Recovery Systems, etc.), and 2 for prototype engines (like if they really tried Fission technology for the cars, or Hydrogen-Powered, or even Laser Pulse). Add one extra day if it's fuel technology advancement. A good example would be if Ford-Chaparal decided to get involved, it would be 6 days to start off for being a new team. If they chose to do a Laser Pulse-powered car (with new proprietary fuel), that would add 2 days plus 1. So they would get total of 9 days for testing. This will expire after 3 years in competition and go back to 6 days years 4+.

Basic guidelines for Aero (with some restrictions)
Outside of full-ground effects, "fan cars", flex-wings, and that the maximum Lateral-G's must not surpass 8 G's. The cars are only given a basic max length, width, and height. It's up to the teams to come up with their own Aero for the cars. This, again, allows for innovation (like the 1970's) while still being safe.

Open Tire Manufacturers
Let the teams choose who they want to work with. Not shoe-horn the teams with having to deal with only one tire manufacturer.

I think that this would be awesome...So much so that I now want to play GT6 and those tasty-tasty Vision cars. God, I wish Red Bull would just say "screw it" and decide to make GT6 Vision a Racing series and do like the above. It would be 10x more exciting than F1.

 

[Chris]

If a team is a new team to the series, their first year, they get 6 test days to their preexisting counterparts. If a team is being dominate, and they are beyond 2-3 secs ahead of it's nearest competitor, they should get either a; weight penalty, power penalty, or aero penalty. This will allow for the dominate car to still be competitive while still allowing the non-dominate cars a chance to close the distance.

You can't have balance of performance by penalising success. It totally goes against what Formula One is and has always been about.

 

[Peter Klawitter]

1st place to make changes is cost for teams and cap budgets, everything won't work if budgets are open, how can it be good for F1 or competetive if team A has $400mill to work with and team B has $60mill to work with, are viewers so ignorant or is everyone simply ignoring the budget differences of the teams? if it was plain field for all same rules with budgets, things would be surely more exciting on track! (lesser costs and etc)

 

[mikeblueberry]

1. Bring back FUEL STOPS.
2. Use OTHER tyre manufacturers.
3. ALLOW cars to evolve through the season.
4. EVENLY share the prize money.
5. Show ALL races on free to air TV.
6. Get rid of engine and drive chain PENALTIES.
7. GET RID OF BERNIE. (maybe I should have put this at the top spot, it's a priority)

 

[Rob]

Imagine doing this. Oh my! We can't have that now can we? Someone might get to see a free race.

 

[Mark Aalberts]

No idea if it is already mentioned (to lazy to read it all trough)

But one of the first things that needs to be solved is that teams should get much less influence in the rule making. Let he FIA setup a set of rules and stick with that for at least 10 years. First few years you might have some teams that stand out but over the course other teams will get closer and close the gap. Look at the period of 2008 till 2013,.. in 2013 we had 7 race winners with a field that was closely packed and pretty unpredictable results. WHY!!!! Why did they had to change,.... look what they ended up with,.. I don't get it.

Its the big teams that want change because it gives them the chance to put themselves in monopoly position again. And as long as they are partly deciding you end up with this same problem over and over again.

How you fill in the rules in and under which engine format and car design is another debate but lets first start with giving teams no say and stick with a set of rules and format for over a longer period.

What now happens is that any suggestion gets shot by the top teams, and since they are also engine manufacturers they are putting pressure on their customer teams. They are ruling F1 more or less and not FIA and that in my opinion is even worse.

Less influence from the top teams, set of rules and format by FIA and stick with that for a longer period than 5 years.

 

[kedy89]

I recently saw a TV interview with Colin Chapman, even he's disappointed with F1's current direction.

Nah, I doubt that, he's been dead for over 30 years now. But yeah, he probably would be if he was still around.

Imagine doing this. Oh my! We can't have that now can we? Someone might get to see a free race.

FOM/Bernie seem to think the same way as German chancellor Merkel: "Internet ist Neuland" (internet is uncharted territory).

 

[Andy 'Mars Bar' Graham]

The reason there a tracks like Russia along with Teams and drivers from Russia is quite simply because of Corruption at the top of FOM and in Russia, certain people at the top of FOM have deep pockets to fill!

I know. It's the same reason Qatar is in talks of getting on the calendar...

 

[Steve Bird]

I disagree with this very much, to me it was one of the best, if not THE best season since I started watching the series in 2000. Ofc I can't speak about how the racing was prior to that but it's still 15 years of racing with the last one being one of the best imo.
F1 is by no means perfect, there's a fair share of things I would change, like having tires and fuel regulations allow the drivers to push for more of the race rather than having to enter tire/fuel-saving mode for huge chunks of the race. I'd like to see DRS removed, but only after they have redesigned the cars to allow following cars to get close enough for passing without loosing all downforce.
As far as sound goes, F1 has not sounded better in my ears during the last 15 years than it does now, I was never a fan of the pigsqueal noise of the older generations of F1, I like low end growl so to me the only cars on the grid that truly sounds good the last 15 years has been the pacecar and medics car.
I'd also want to see less restrictions on development, to allow other teams to catch up, but this is a difficult subject because if there's no cap on it you will just end up with the exact same situation but with more money having been spent and the smaller teams suffering even more.
Fixing F1 ain't easy, and I sure don't have the answers, but I suspect my opinions differ from the vast majority here.
Also, personally I don't care if viewer numbers are down, I could not care less if half the fanbase who where there in the first place because of the noise rather than actually seeing good racing on track. There's always NASCAR if you want extreme sounds and lots of crashing...

Really?

No disrespect meant but......

• You were too late to see manual gears and metal brakes which faded.
• You were too late to remember V12's instead of the Hoover sound of today's engines.
• You were too late to see drivers drafting using their skill to choose the exact moment to pop out of the slipstream to pass someone rather than pushing a DRS/KERS button.
• You were too late to remember when there was no in cockpit voice comms and it was left up to the driver to manage the car rather than the whole team.
• You were too late to remember the days when drivers were characters instead of boring, mundane, 'athletes'.
• You were too late to remember when privateers could run a team on a shoestring.....and actually do well.

 

[InsaneOzzie]

Nah, I doubt that, he's been dead for over 30 years now. But yeah, he probably would be if he was still around.

Ahh okay, thanks for pointing that out. So I'm not sure who the person was, it was on Fox, but I had the distinct impression he was someone who had a long F1 background and knew Bernie on a personal level. Point is they believed the direction F1 was on wasn't good for the longevity of the sport. Damn, should of recorded it.

 

[InsaneOzzie]

• You were too late to see manual gears and metal brakes which faded.
• You were too late to remember V12's instead of the Hoover sound of today's engines.
• You were too late to see drivers drafting using their skill to choose the exact moment to pop out of the slipstream to pass someone rather than pushing a DRS/KERS button.
• You were too late to remember when there was no in cockpit voice comms and it was left up to the driver to manage the car rather than the whole team.
• You were too late to remember the days when drivers were characters instead of boring, mundane, 'athletes'.
• You were too late to remember when privateers could run a team on a shoestring.....and actually do well.

I remember those days, when talent, skill, guts and determination won championships, not multi-million dollar budgets. But in the same breath, motorsport has also benefited from the millions in R&D, safety has come a long way since the "good ole days" how many drivers, great drivers perished in the early days, we need the R&D for the safety. We don't need the constant manipulation of the rules and regulations. It seems they change the rules & regs every season, what ever happen to KISS = Keep It Simple Stupid.

 

[Steve Bird]

I remember those days, when talent, skill, guts and determination won championships, not multi-million dollar budgets. But in the same breath, motorsport has also benefited from the millions in R&D, safety has come a long way since the "good ole days" how many drivers, great drivers perished in the early days, we need the R&D for the safety. We don't need the constant manipulation of the rules and regulations. It seems they change the rules & regs every season, what ever happen to KISS = Keep It Simple Stupid.

Indeed, Safety is paramount in Motorsport.

 

[Matt Y]

1. What will be the engine regulations for 2016?
2. What about aero? are those winglets on the cars and bits on the front wings causing costs to skyrocket?
3. I'd allow Indy-style ground effects, as long as costs are kept in check.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

Really?

No disrespect meant but......

• You were too late to see manual gears and metal brakes which faded.
• You were too late to remember V12's instead of the Hoover sound of today's engines.
• You were too late to see drivers drafting using their skill to choose the exact moment to pop out of the slipstream to pass someone rather than pushing a DRS/KERS button.
• You were too late to remember when there was no in cockpit voice comms and it was left up to the driver to manage the car rather than the whole team.
• You were too late to remember the days when drivers were characters instead of boring, mundane, 'athletes'.
• You were too late to remember when privateers could run a team on a shoestring.....and actually do well.

First off, are my opinions worthless because I have "only" followed F1 for 15 years?
I also mentioned in my post that my comments where based upon F1 from 2000 and onwards, as I can't relate to how the racing was prior to that. But if F1 has been on the wrong track for 15 years, why are people still here commenting on it?

Now to adress your points, point by point;

• You were too late to see manual gears and metal brakes which faded.

Yes I was, but I'm not oblivious to these facts, as mentioned above I stated just that. Having said that, I don't think manual gears and fading brakes are the magic bullet that would make F1 better to watch. It'd be more challenging to drive for sure, and I would welcome any change that puts driver skill at the forefront again, but the problem only that the cars are too easy to drive, it's that it's very difficult to get good close racing due to a number of factors like aero and drivers not being able to push to the limit when they need to / want to because of fuel and tire restrictions.

• You were too late to remember V12's instead of the Hoover sound of today's engines.

I was too late to watch that regularly yes, but there's this thing called youtube, I've heard them and I'm sorry but it's not the kind of noise that I enjoy. Now you'll probably counter this argument with "you haven't experienced them from the grandstands" or something like that, which is ofc true, but that's equally true for todays cars, I watch F1 on a screen not IRL and I comment on it from this perspective only. Sound is not a reason to like or dislike a racing series for me, which is why I found the few Formule E races I've watched to be great entertainment, there was actually action going on on track!

• You were too late to see drivers drafting using their skill to choose the exact moment to pop out of the slipstream to pass someone rather than pushing a DRS/KERS button.

No I was not, DRS was introduced in 2011, so I have 11 years of experience watching F1 without it, and you know what? Those 11 years was pretty damn boring in terms of passing, simply for the fact that the cars where designed so that passing was extremely difficult due to loss of downforce once you got close to someone in front. This was why DRS was introduced you know...
KERS was introduced in 2009, but due to how it was implemented at the time I honestly don't see an issue with it, drivers had to use their skill to know when to use it and not to use it, and it lasted for a mere 7 seconds.
That having been said, I fully agree that DRS is an artifical pass and the wrong solution to the problem, it does not promote good racing at all.
Finally, this is the one point where I feel that the two last seasons have been better than the previous 13 seasons, we have ACTUALLY seen on track passes having been made out of pure driver skill outside the DRS zones, which has been so rare before.

• You were too late to remember when there was no in cockpit voice comms and it was left up to the driver to manage the car rather than the whole team.

Agreed, too much are in the hands of the pitcrew these days, I don't mind the comm, I rather enjoy getting to hear bits of it, but I fully agree with you that it should be the driver who manages the car not the team.

• You were too late to remember the days when drivers were characters instead of boring, mundane, 'athletes'.

A funny statement, in these days where Hamilton is getting a lot of flak for being too much of a "character"...
I think there's a fine pick of characters on the grid, Kimi and Alonso comes to mind, Button as well.
Just because you liked the old drivers better does not make them more or less characters than the current lineup.

• You were too late to remember when privateers could run a team on a shoestring.....and actually do well.

Agreed, this is one of F1s major issues, the costs involved and the mad gap that exists between teams that have the resources to pour into the sport vs those who doesn't.
But again, this was equally true 15 years ago, so again, are 15 years of following the sport not sufficient to have an opinion of its current state and whether its going in the right direction?

 

[El-ahrairah]

Really?

No disrespect meant but......

• You were too late to see manual gears and metal brakes which faded.
• You were too late to remember V12's instead of the Hoover sound of today's engines.
• You were too late to see drivers drafting using their skill to choose the exact moment to pop out of the slipstream to pass someone rather than pushing a DRS/KERS button.
• You were too late to remember when there was no in cockpit voice comms and it was left up to the driver to manage the car rather than the whole team.
• You were too late to remember the days when drivers were characters instead of boring, mundane, 'athletes'.
• You were too late to remember when privateers could run a team on a shoestring.....and actually do well.

No disrespect

...but Bernie Eccelstone has been actually involved in the sport and for a longer period than you.

This means all your opinions are invalid.

/thread

 

[Andrew Harper]

I think it's important that we don't try and view the past through rose tinted goggles.

I've been watching F1 since '91 (so not a massive amount of time compared to some on here) but it's important to remember that we do go through phases of "boring" seasons, Schumacher's dominance, Vettel's dominance, etc. I've watched entire races where not a single overtake happened.

The only two obvious things that I feel would help:
1. Bring in wider tyres and makes the performance gaps between the compounds wider, bring at least three compounds to each meeting and allow free choice. Make the tyres last like they did the first year Pirelli supplied the teams. make them superfast, supergrippy
2. Bring back groundforce so the cars rely more on underbody aero rather than wings. Hopefully this will allow them to follow more closely.
3. To add to point 3, reduce the number of allowed elements to the front an rear wing to two, no extras, no addons. The front wing aero is still a problem with following cars.

You will not get rid of the hybrid engines whilst the engine manufacturers rule F1 the way they do but I agree they should allow more freedom with number of cylinders, configuration, etc.

Allow more development during the season (official test days after each race?) Let them test what parts or developments they want, no restrictions. This would have helped the likes of Honda no end.

Something is wrong though when teams have money issues almost throughout the entire year. Even with an engine limit, gearbox limit, no testing, etc.

 

[xnorb]

You want F1 back again?
Here's my suggestion: