How to Make Formula One Awesome Again...

[dud]

I think more electronics would be the way to go.

Reasons:

• electronics are cheap and software can be made by small companies in-house. This is a good way to let the teams compete in, with smaller teams having less of a gap.
• active suspension, as in ride hide adjusting suspension, should never have been banned. The lack of active suspension made cars from 1994 on unstable. There just isn't enough time between seasons to make aero that is not only fast but also stable under varying ride height.

I don't want ABS or any form of computer-controlled steering, obviously. The car goes steady in a predictable manner. The driver brakes and steers to the best abilities. Unless I overlook anything the driver has no controls over the gizmos other than "passing functions" with a similar UI as today's DRS, or old "push to pass" buttons.

 

[Boby Kim]

For me, excitement in sports is when the outcome is a real surprise.
Dont know...it just cant be done. Last year there were 3 teams fighting for throne. How to make 3 into say 10 teams. You have to think about Same chasis, two engines...like indy car. Its obvious that will never happen. Or some sort of BoP but that will never happen. Other big manufactures like Porsche? Before those teams are settled in F1 is ten years ahead. F1 is what it is and it wont change. Regardless of rules, downforce, engines...The teams with money will always find a way..that is F1

 

[couri]

SIMPLE:

- BACK THE SOUND OF REAL RACE CARS WITH V8 OR V10
-BAN THE HALO GARBAGE
-GRID WITH 24 OR 26 CARS
- AND OF COURSE, TURN BACK THE GRID GIRLS

 

[dud]

For me, excitement in sports is when the outcome is a real surprise.
Dont know...it just cant be done. Last year there were 3 teams fighting for throne. How to make 3 into say 10 teams. You have to think about Same chasis, two engines...like indy car. Its obvious that will never happen. Or some sort of BoP but that will never happen. Other big manufactures like Porsche? Before those teams are settled in F1 is ten years ahead. F1 is what it is and it wont change. Regardless of rules, downforce, engines...The teams with money will always find a way..that is F1

The problem right now is the huge difference in how engine and chassis regulations are treated:

• The power unit has a million ways to invest money into power. Even if you have money you cannot keep up with the current engine leaders, the progress is not nearly at a point where return diminishes.
• Chassis and aero on the other hand are completely locked down in regulations, there isn't anything you can do that comes even close to the power unit differences. As a result people like Adrian Newey are basically on vacation.
  

As much as people hated the random rule changes in the past, constant changes ensured a better F1. Because at the very least you did reshuffle the return from investments into engine and chassis and aero. A lucky stroke didn't keep you on top of the game for years.

Without a question what F1 needs right now is regulations for engines that put a lid on return of investment, and loosening up the rest of the regulations to give the Neweys of this world something to play with.

As I said above, allowing some electronics might be one step there. If you allow automatic ride height adjustment you can allow the aero geeks to go crazy again, which then won't kill the drivers.

 

[billymitchell]

Make the cars harder to drive, and the mistakes that the drivers make have greater consequences.

A 10 year old track record was broken in MotoGP qualifying this weekend, and at least 10 riders dumped their bikes on Saturday. No injuries.

Proof that more drama can be obtained without sacrificing speed while maintaining reasonable safety.

 

[Matheus Machado]

The example of sensors for temperatures had been poorly chose and youre right that they are quite important. But stuff like fuel mapping, brake bias, the different settings for the electrical engine, cant they create one setup befor the race and just drive it? And if the braking bias is wrong for one turn cant they be more carefull braking into that corner? Isnt that what professional racing is about, knowing the track, car and setup and relying on your own to handle difficulties and to not have to rely on electric systems which allow you solve these problems by button clicks?

I prefer to see as a driver skill to be able to tweak the car the way they feel better for them. Engineers are perfectly capable of making a amazing setup which is theoretically the best possible. Although it takes an amazing driver to be able to tweak the car to his liking in real time, while managing turns in speeds most people never reach on a straight line.

 

[bsmooth]

First safety, I like the idea of risk/reward balance, but eco friendly as well. Also wayy too much spending, which leaves poorer teams left to battle for nothing.
Get rid of the damn ugly aero devices, put the driving back in the drivers hands.
Realistically, Less aero, narrower tires(just slightly), but again anything that will put the whole field closer together, who wants to race for last place anyways?

 

[Trimaz]

Best way to improve F1
1) Ramps.
2) Off-road segments on each track.
3) Grid girls.
4) Two-seater cars each with a grid girl.
5) Big-block Chev V8's to replace Hybrid V6's.
6) H-Pattern shifters.
7) Allow the mixing of different tyre compounds.
8) Oval tracks
9) Full covered cockpit instead of the halo
10) Every track to be replaced by a Hermann Tilke designed masterpiece.

But to be serious
1) Bring back the V10s or V8's if required.
2) Bring back some more classic European tracks.
3) Put a stop to the middle-eastern oil money.
4) Lower costs to allow privateer teams.
5) More manufactures teams.
6) Less regulations.
7) No more DRS or KERS
8) Drive/crew communication limited to faults only.
9) Refueling
10) Simplify aerodynamics

 

[NtsParadize]

What about automatic clutch, differential power, or (I dont know whether the original author of the comment also meant this) electronic helps can also mean a motec, all the sensors showing temperatures and stuff, team radio and so on. ABS and TC had only been two out of a bunch of electronic helps a driver gets nowadays.

Clutch is manual at the starts. Electronics are not driving aids. It's a completely different thing and a lot of F1 fans seem to not understand that. Electronics =/= driving aids.

 

[InsaneOzzie]

IMO there is a huge list of ways to get F1 back to being "a motor race worth watching" but primarily until the teams are removed from the table when the car specs & regulations are formulated, it will remain what it is. Bernie allowed that culture to blossom, Ferrari had massive power in the early days, and Bernie admitted they were his favorite team.

Over time other teams garnered more power at the table, to the point they have manipulated the regulations to gain the advantage over their nearest rivals, and crush the smaller budget teams, hence, front wings that create massive vortesses of dirty air, stopping overtaking under slip-streaming is the most effective way of maintaining position, if they can't draft you, chances are, they can't pass you.

Then came the Hybrids, developed so that small budget teams would not be financial enough to develop their own engines, like in the turbo and V10-V12 era, leaving the big dollar factory teams in a position of being in control over the smaller teams via "B spec" engines, and reaping millions of $$$$$ at the same time in engine leasing contracts.

If you look at most other forms of motorsport the governing body lays out the rules and regs and the teams work and build their cars based on those, the teams have little to no say in the process of rule and car regulation making.

Take Aussie V8's for example CAMS lays out the car specs and regulations, and the teams work to those specs. What you end up with is a very close category, where the top twenty are usually only divided by 1 to 1.2 seconds.

The solutions for F1 are out there, and hopefully Liberty Media will implement the right solutions to bring life back to F1 in 2021, but until then we can only hope that "the show" will return to being a "motor racing spectacle" for our enjoyment, and not for the financial benefit of a few factory teams.

 

[rms4455]

Nostalgia must be one hell of a drug...

 

[michelforest]

I respectfully disagree with your opinion, simply because it seems to me like you want to bring back F1 to the seventies. F1 has always been about the latest technology. That's why Colin Chapman, Adrian Newey, John Barnard or Gordon Murray are major figures in the history of the sport. If it's just about the racing for you, may I suggest single-spec series like Indycar, DTM or WTCR? Don't get me wrong, I'm interested in these series as well, but what makes F1 unique is the fact that each must create its own car. I'm especially opposed to your idea of FIA-issued front and rear wings. That would destroy the essence of F1. F1 is the series where new technological ideas are tried. I fail to see how bringing back the H-pattern gearbox would be important, especially now that some road cars have paddle shifters. Same goes for metal brake discs.

The big problem in F1 is not the fact that budget have exploded. It's the fact that the money is unevenly distributed. My solution (which I doubt will ever happen) would be to adopt a system much like the National Football League in the USA: divide the revenues equally among the teams. In order to do that, you'd have to have a fixed number of teams (say 12 or 13), with each team being a franchise. The extra income for teams would be gained thanks to sponsorships. There still would be rich teams and poor teams, but the gap between teams would be smaller.

The only point where I agree with you is the engine. Make it simpler and less expensive, so that private manufacturers can sell their engine to privateers.

 

[michelforest]

Best way to improve F1
1) Ramps.
2) Off-road segments on each track.
3) Grid girls.
4) Two-seater cars each with a grid girl.
5) Big-block Chev V8's to replace Hybrid V6's.
6) H-Pattern shifters.
7) Allow the mixing of different tyre compounds.
8) Oval tracks
9) Full covered cockpit instead of the halo
10) Every track to be replaced by a Hermann Tilke designed masterpiece.

But to be serious
1) Bring back the V10s or V8's if required.
2) Bring back some more classic European tracks.
3) Put a stop to the middle-eastern oil money.
4) Lower costs to allow privateer teams.
5) More manufactures teams.
6) Less regulations.
7) No more DRS or KERS
8) Drive/crew communication limited to faults only.
9) Refueling
10) Simplify aerodynamics

2) Yes, yes and yes.
4) Almost impossible to implement.
7) No more DRS, absolutely. It destroys race craft.
9) No, no and no. Refueling was all about strategy and passing was done in the pits, not on tracks.
10) That was tried in 2009. The fact is, no matter how much you want to simplify aerodynamics, there will always be engineers that will try to come up with the one trick that will give an edge to their cars. Remember the Brawn in 2009?

 

[DND]

Too far gone, I am moving on.

 

[Durge Driven]

Ditch the traditional GP length gives many options:

Multi race rounds
( most acknowledge the race start as best so why not have 3 times as many , 3 times the action )
Shorter races
No mandatory stops
Triple points available
50% less fuel load = faster race, they look like tugboats at race start
choice for Saturday & Sunday day and/or night races
One race each round reverse grid to give lesser teams more chance for points
would be wicked to see Seb and Lewis battle their way up grid from last and 2nd last

Advertising in F1 is everything, dearest spots are during races
so......... 3 races x 50% distance would yield 50% more prime time adverts
more revenue which can then be fed back to Teams

 

[NASCRAP]

F1 isn't going to stop sucking any time soon, if ever. Just watch IndyCar instead.

 

[Isaac Chavira]

This is how

​

 

[jonelsorel]

The last time Formula 1 was great, in my opinion, is 1967, before corporate money and interest started making up its politics. Today the budget cap is a joke, set too high for small teams to become contenders and poorly enforced. When you see skid marks that obviously show traction control in a championship winning car on at least one occasion (when it's supposedly banned) and you do nothing, money talks (Vettel, Montreal 2013). But hey, there's big corporate money in Nascar too, and it's one of the most competitive forms of motorsport presently, some will say. How come that business model can't be copied over? Because the big names don't want that. There's your killer. Happens in other sports too, no?

 

[Isaac Chavira]

 

[ShredatorFIN]

Add crossroads & ramps to the circuits