Opinion | How To Fix Formula One?

[Bjay_23]

Most of these things make next to no sense. F1 needs to be the top of innovation, the teams dont care if you like it or not. How can it be the pinnacle of motorsport when we still have h-patterns and what serious car producer would want to invest into something like that?
How can cars that slide around every corner produce good wheel to wheel racing? You can see the result in simracing, having cars that just slide around maybe are more exciting to watch, but they do not make racing any better, rather worse. You cant go trough a corner side by side because the cars are just too unpredictable to make that work, at least most of the time. Obviously that doesnt apply to all forms of motorsport, but open wheel cars cant lean on each other without sustaining race ending damage. There isnt one single point apart from gravel traps i can agree with in this article, it just doesnt make sense. There are things in F1 that are bad, but i think Liberty Media is already doing a solid job. For me, F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport because of the crazy amount of work that goes into producing the best car possible with the best technology there is, not having outdated cars that are slower than LMP2s.

 

[domhnall]

I've been following F1 for 25 years, and it always seems to be "broken". Personally I think the on track product is quiet good. There were a lot of really good races last year, some boring ones too, but that's the nature of racing at times. 2017 and 2018 were very enjoyable too. Banning refueling was the best thing the ever did, and DRS has at least provided the opportunity of racing on track. I remember well the dark days of the Trulli trains. I think the way forward is more spec parts. It's the only way to increase competition and reduce costs which are the 2 biggest problems. I've felt for some time for example that the front wing should be spec. A lot of people don't want to hear that and wish for an open rule book with lots of innovation, but those days are gone and are not coming back. Look at what's happened in LMP1 with regards to this and the direction sports car racing is currently headed. Outside of the above the only other thing I think needs to be addressed is tarmac run-off. It's used excessively and has hurt the spectacle of the racing far more than anything else imo.

 

[Ben Lee]

I've been watching since the 70's and in the 90's people were saying exactly the same then and in every other decade before or since .

But the tarmac run off craze only started in the early 2000s and the complaints about the engines only started really about 5 years ago, so I don’t really agree that it was the same as people were saying 50 years ago.

 

[Shincha20]

edit:
your words in gods ears, we say in Germany.

 

[Sim Strata]

No wings. No ground effect. No automation. The rest can be opened up, whatever tech you can think of.

 

[Michel Bélisle]

I understand and yearn for many of Paul's suggestions. However, Formula 1 has always been a proving ground for new mechanical engineering advancements. If you standardize some components and restrict the R&D aspects of the sport, I fear that the leading teams like Ferrari and Mercedes might just checkout. IMHO, Formula 1 is not about the drivers; it's about the manufacturers.

 

[Marg]

They weren't always a back marker either.

I did mean to call them that way
" I've been watching since the 70's and in the 90's people were saying exactly the same then and in every other decade before or since "
No this time F1 is quite broken, I am sure there is some reason - I watch MotoGP as well since 1998, it is OK, but not F1 (watched\followed ~1990-2012).
As you see I have nothing against MotoGP, so it is not me (old), but reality...

 

[HenkySA]

the only thing i wish is just get rid of DRS.

 

[UnixRoot]

F1 is easy to fix. Just put the rich boys into 60s F1 cars and let them compete on the Nordschleife.

 

[AncalagonTotof]

* Make engines simpler to build;
* Less aero (seriously, who cares about going a bagillion miles through corners);
* Manual H-Shifter gearboxes;
* Smaller and thinner cars, perhaps we'd see overtakes on Monaco with only one hand again.
* No power steering

(EDITED: Just noticed my views are almost fully in-line with Pauls).

* Cannot overtake because track is dirty? Make one and only one sort of tires that last the entire race (or several races). This way, they won't degrage so fast and leave marbles out of the racing line, allowing attacks that do not become suicide (allowing to brake outside the racing line).
* Reduce significantly aero will allow follower drivers to get closer and overtake.
* Remove DRS: overtaking with DRS is cheating.
* an F1 is an fuel car or an electric one? Make up your mind, don't do both!
* 2 races? Give a try to reverse grids? Not sure about these ones


Anyway, this year, F1 seems pretty fixed to me!

[Edit] I forgot: no tire change, no refuel. I one want's to win, he will have to do it on the track, not through a pit stop, an undercut or something. While watching F1 races, thing become very cloudy when pit stops start. Who is really at which position? This one? But what if he make only one stop? Or two? Or... The f**k! Git rid of this s**t!

 

[Glynn Smith]

give the blighters a clutch with no aero. . . I've been following since the late 1950s. The sport we currently have is akin to racing fighter jets and just as distant. No doubt a lobbyist from some major corporation will overrule me.

 

[David Brannigan]

No DRS, no modern tracks with 100 meters of tarmac at the sides like Paul Ricard. No fuel limiter...
I prefer one overtake at a whole race than 50 not real.

 

[bsmooth]

Simpler is better, and its cheaper, which sure would open up for more teams to come in. Look at the indy 500 for example, where a lone single team can make it into the race. Thats a really simplified version, but KISS works(for those who don't know its Keep it Simple Stupid).
We have to go back to more mechanical grip, and I Do Not think its a step backward, just brings back something that we used to have. Those Hard tires are a good idea too, they again amount to cheaper.
Those wings are wayyy too complicated. Even F1 had to finally outlaw all those little "winglets" that broke off and just caused more problems. So they started down the right road, just didn't go far enough.
While there saving all that money, they could put it back into the sport with safer tracks, and safer cars as well.

 

[Deleted member 217114]

First and most is getting rid of the uneven power/performance of the cars. Make all the cars the same. So talent and racecraft of the driver & the tuning-talent and knowhow of the technical engineers will make someone victorious. Every race will be different; When it rains the guy with talent for rain will win. When a track has lots of corner the guy with corner-talent will win, etc. It's better.

 

[Michel Bélisle]

I wonder if an entirely new open wheel series focused on drivers would be a better solution long term? Use the same tracks but with standardized equipment along the lines Paul expressed in his exposé.

 

[Doug46]

As a fan or should i say once a Dedicated fan of f1 , i sadly haven't been interested in f1 over the last few years, its got no grit/ excitement in it enough for me anymore , lack of overtaking or having a go due to boring tracks (bring back some of those legend tracks) over taking is near enough impossible with out the use of Drs on most of the tracks these days (stop Drs) ,i want to see closer racing, great sounding cars well i dont think ill get my wish on that one! It seems to me that you can be at a reasonable level of driving and get given the best car and you wining races (engines need to be looked at / Budgets for teams etc), we need to look back at the 1990's to certain degrees , its the nitty gritty stuff most people want back in F1 dont they? to make it exciting again and to be honest the 70,80,90, even early 2000 was having some exciting racing on a regular basis, in my eyes the buzz has gone from F1 over the years , i never missed a race back then, even the qualifying was exciting that's another thing they should look at ,plus we need A Murray walker back . Then we can move forward!

 

[emirueda02]

Guys, Formula 1 is the Pinnacle of motorsport. It's all about technology and advancing what we think engines and vehicles are capable of. The only problems present in currrent F1 is the great disparity between the top teams and the backmarkers and the lack of overtaking in many races. I understand the yearning to bring back the "golden days" of F1 but this sport is about advancement and frankly most of Paul Jeffrey's suggestions are extremely unrealistic and against the essence of the sport.
If they can fix the racing and level the competition between all the teams, I'm sure everyone will love F1 again.

 

[DND]

Love to see an organization (TBD) take the rule book from the early 90's and call it a day and leave it alone. Look at the crowds at the events compared to today and I think it proves out that it was a more popular sport in person.

 

[ETandK]

I would love to give you a page of suggestions which would start with bringing back Pit Babes,

However I am not going to waste energy since whatever suggestions you / we make will not change anything.

We live in a different era, and its ruled by the Dollar / Euro,

Its more about Big Corporate than about the Fans having fun, experiencing emotion and being entertained.

Its now just about money and nothing else, sorry that's my 2 cents worth.......

 

[QuarderX]

Diffrent style of engines. Maybe come back to refueling and other stuff this could put a spannner in strategy but make it more intresting too