First the disclaimers: 1. Yes the new cars are much safer than past cars. 2. Yes the new cars are hi tech. 3. Yes they're faster than ever. 4.. Yes it takes a very special person to be able to drive an F1 car well. Even the back markers are REALLY good. 5..Yes I'm older..67 to be exact. Now my rant. I have to admit that I really haven't missed F1 this season. To me, and everyone is entitled to their own view, F1 has become just another spec racing series being dumbed down to make it more "competitive". A little back ground here. I saw my first F1 race at Silverstone in 1977. The screaming of the Cosworth V-8's, Ferrari V-12's etc. coming through the English country side raised the hackles on ones neck. Seeing the radical Tyrell 6 wheeler was a trip. Being able to walk the pits unencumbered was really fun, and hanging with race personnel in a small pub after practice was amazing. AND you didn't have to pay mega bucks to be part of some group or tour either. In 1984 our vintage race team was at the one and only Dallas Grand Prix. In the support race, we were campaigning the ex L&M Cigarettes, Peter Revson Lola T-222 and our driver was George Folmer. Our pits were located with the F1 pits in a large exhibition hall. No big secrets, everybody just going about their business. Borrow a wrench? Sure. We even got to chat with the Renault team manager on the grid during Friday practice! Ah those were the days...yeah, right Boomer. But seriously. Watch Senna driving his McLaren F1 car, or the dicing between drivers. It was amazing stuff. But now. I don't know. F1 has lost a lot of what made it exciting. To me at least. It's all so structured, drivers are handled ALL the time, there are so many rules that one can't keep track. And the cars...oh crap are they ugly. And they sound like a leaf blower. Yawn. In the movie Senna, when asked what his favorite time in racing was, his answer was when he was in Karts. Pure racing, no politics..well said Ayrton. OK, I'm done.
You are not alone Millions feel the same way No surprise audience of F1 races/events has been dropping over the last decade. This is exactly what happens when Marketing and Sales take over the control of a succesfull enterprise, claiming they will make it better and more profitable Nope They kill it It is an old problem, worldwide
The switch in 2017 to wider cars and much wider tyres, including much more aero was utterly bizarre...the hybrid **** itself was stupid enough as the V8 provided pretty good racing. But with so much aero, so much tyre, natural overtaking is nearly unheard of. They can brake so late and accelerate so early, there just simply isn't much chance of anyone being able to brake that much later to try and successfully overtake. F1 needs to go back to narrow body, narrower tyres and take a LOAD of the aero tripe off. The 2022 rules are a good starting point but I find it bizarre they still have enormous wings. Tuck the front wing in to no wider than inside of front tyres at least! The barge boards off is a great move however. Finally. But what F1 also needs is much more exciting engines, ideally NA V10/12 or a dumbed down version of the hideously complicated V6 they got now. Take the MGUH off, add an extra turbo...more noise, much cheaper! And let them use far more engines. All this component and fuel saving is what KILLS racing.
Couldn’t agree more. My Dad took us everywhere when we were young and I remember distinctly in Montreal fans could walk past the pits on the other side of the pits, often stopping to get a glimpse of F1 drivers, some of them having conversations with fans while they chatted with mechanics and other members of the team. Your surname is familiar because I’m a fan of Can-Am and Bartz was a well known engine builder in the early days. Any relationship?
+1 Who knows what F1 will look like in 2 years or if it will exist at all? Your formula makes sense to me.
Back on my rant... I was and am speaking as a fan of F1. I know that to run a successful F1 team takes boat loads of $. And it takes an incredible management team to get things done and win. Witness Ferrari post Schumacher. Talk about falling apart. And embarrassing. I appreciate the effort to try and save the team's money. But racing is expensive. It always has been and always will be regardless of the level. I guess I'd rather see fewer well funded teams than a bunch of low budget grid fillers. And if the FIA is going to require V-6 engines, wouldn't it be fun to see...and hear...1500 HP V-6 Turbo qualifying engines, and 750 HP race engines? Wait, didn't they used to have those? And...GASP.....actually refuel a car when it comes in for a pit stop. Again, I know it takes a great effort to change tires in 2.5 seconds...but again, as a fan, refueling added a whole different level to the race. And ban ALL political correctness in the sport......maybe even have some paddock fights between drivers..FIA Smack down! F1 needs to bring it's personality back...soon. OK, I'm done again. I've got to go find a really good Formula E race on You Tube.
Agree, especially regarding refueling...And now people are saying refeuling can't come back because ''it's too dangerous''. What a joke. What about all other series that do have refueling? Refueling bought such an interesting edge to the races. No fuel saving! Flat our racing is so much better. When Looowis wins all you hear is his nerd engineer saying ''well managed''. Who cares about managing?! The political correctness kills F1 also. Manufacturers insisting on green engines, but the real reason is so they can sell it to the bean counter department. I am utterly convinced that the following formula would be MUCH more watched: Rev capped V10/12 3.5 liter engine, cost cap of 200K per unit, 1 engine for the weekend. free chassis simple wings small venturi tunnel no barge boards or any other daft aero things run whichever tyre you like. Want to do a no stopper on the hards, go ahead. 4 stopper on supersofts? Be my guest. NO DRS Steel brakes. Cheaper and not quite as efficient as the carbon/carbon brakes, braking zones will be a bit longer. Actual skilled overtaking rather than drafting by because your wing opens up. The cost will regulate itself. There won't be any real gains by employing a medium sized army to engineer a front wing. A new team can come in, hire 80 or so people, a warehouse, some trucks and computers and start running their team. 80 or so million a season should be easy to be reasonably competitive.
Rev capped engines of around 22,000 r.p.m.! And NO common engine management...built by a competing team! WTF? No hybrid either...I'm surprise Toyota doesn't enter a Prius F1 car. Ok..I've got order a new pair of Birkenstock's and get some "Hillary 2020" stickers
I like the idea of 2 stroke engines as well....high RPM, low cost and make an incredible noise. Rev cap for 4 stroke would be quite simply to stop an engine utterly dominating F1 by simply outspending the rest...and we want to entice other manufacturers such as Cosworth/Judd etc back in, so that they can develop their own engine and make money out of it.
Imo one way F1 can survive is by banning anything that’s electric. Build the cars like super complex and beautiful mechanical Swiss chronographs and give back control to the drivers.
TODT: WORST CASE SCENARIO WOULD SEE FORMULA 1 BECOME ‘SUPER FORMULA 2’ https://www.grandprix247.com/2020/04/30/todt-worst-case-scenario-would-see-formula-1-become-super-formula-2/ Formula 1 would be forced to undergo a drastic overhaul if teams are lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic, says FIA president Jean Todt. A vocal proponent of cost reductions in the sport, Todt made it clear to Auto Motor und Sport about how he would respond in the “worst case scenario” of a 2020 season with no races, or multiple teams going under. “Then we would have to ask the holders of commercial rights questions of principle such as: What should Formula 1 of the future look like? In the worst-case scenario, Formula 1 as we know it today would no longer be possible. “With a cost cap of 50 million dollars without exceptions, nothing would be as it was. It would be a completely new Formula 1. A Super Formula 2.” Set to be introduced in 2021, F1’s cost-cap has been serious point of contention amongst the teams in the wake of the coronavirus. Already slashed from the original $175 million number to 145, many of the smaller teams want to use the current uncertainty to further balance the financial playing-field, while some of the bigger teams remain opposed. However with the number pushed by the “pro-reduction” faction believed to still be $100m, Todt’s proposal would represent a dramatic decrease for all.
Bring back the pit babes!!!! ...and get rid of the driver's publicists. The interviews have become nothing more than pre-chewed tripe. God forbid the drivers express an honest opinion. And truth be told, I miss attending church far more than F1.
My formula, which i’ve been banging on about for years..... The basics: More tire Less aero More power, with advantages given to normally aspirated Three tire types per race: one compound slick, intermediate, wet. Period. No more contrived pit stops, or at least no more “tire management.” It’s the stupidest artifice in a sport packed with artifice. Then: Ban telemetry 3-2-3 grids Make qualifying a 25 lap race, with grid for the q. race set from the previous race’s results Eliminate limits on testing Stop penalizing drivers for mechanical failures (grid penalties for component swaps, etc) by simply eliminating component life rules Stop peddling the nonsense about F1 needing to be “relevant.” How is any sport relevant? Besides, I thought that’s why there’s FE. Finally, Liberty and FIA should put their control impulse to good use by limiting the number of people teams can bring to a race to, say, 20 people. They can choose the mix: mechanics, drivers, engineers or.......sponsors, executives, chefs, masseuses, PR flacks, family, “VIP celebrities” etc.....an unlimited number could be invited to the grandstands of the unwashed, but only 20 in the pits and paddock. And the FIA and Liberty should limit themselves as well.
Why don't they merge F1 and Indycar ? It would make sense to have the same cars, and have a world championship based in the USA (where Liberty wants more races) with specs cars. Lower budget to race, more locations, large pool of teams and drivers, variety of tracks, more exposure, it's a win-win solution. Ferrari? Well, they could apply to join Honda and Chevrolet as engine supplier, and stick their badge on a Dalarra chassis like everyone else! You would have so many candidates that they could organise 2 divisions, with promotion and relegation at the end of each season, according to results.
Lovely. Remove the ultimate form of auto racing from our menus..... Capital suggestion. Aiye yi-yi. Image Unavailable, Please Login A much better idea, sir. Just forget about F1 and follow your favoured spec/kit cars. Image Unavailable, Please Login ('Just curious, have you been drinking? Over medicated? Under medicated?.......... Image Unavailable, Please Login ) Image Unavailable, Please Login
It appears to me that the"ultimate form of auto racing" is pricing itself out of business. The way it is run, what it costs becomes unmanageable, and the structure looks like it's cracking now. It's only my opinion, you could say, but I read that some people involved in F1 start having doubts that the present model can be maintained. F1 is a business, and you cannot run a business on traditions alone. Soon drastic decisions will have to be made.
I understand, and am more than well aware..... When do you start giving everybody a turn at the podium, and a trophy, for participating? (Like those "poor kids", so their little feelings aren't hurt and they're not scarred for life....) Your spec/kit car ain't the answer. Dumbin' down F1 would (and I believe eventually will, sorrowfully) take it's soul away. Same as George did, on a smaller scale, to Indy car racing. Same as NASCAR did to stock car racing. Same as all the BoPing has done to sportscar racing. Really wanna' do it to the pinnacle too, eh? What kind of sport (auto racing) is it when you keep "leveling the playing field"; making it more "equal" for "everybody"? F1 is supposed to be the pinnacle and you want to water it down. I don't bend, fold, and get in line. It's too busy happening all around me. For example. Look where PC has gotten us. How dare we exploited with grid girls. I never saw any arms twisted; none of them threatened into it. I saw beautiful women, decision made, lined up with applications in hand. Just hoping to be "exploited?. What happened? I see. They felt demeaned and walked away, right? We know that isn't so. I wonder what they're doing now. Bring on the "exploited" children instead....now I see...... I know, quite seriously, what I can no longer appreciate as part of the spectacle of the sport. Now let's take away true competition, eh? "Survival of the fittest?" "Only the strong survive." Ha! Lower the bar so it's "fair" for those who.....won't/can't achieve.....have not. In other words, weaken the gene pool like no other animal. We're the only one that can reason, yet we continue to do so. How smart have we become? Where has our intelligence gone? Insanity. Don't add to it by diluting the sport of F1.
Did I say that ? No. F1 wants to be 2 different things: a championship for drivers, and a championship for constructors. You don't need different cars to determine who is the best driver every year; they can all have the same. It would cost far less, and be more equal if everyone in F1 had the same car. After all, that logic works for other series! F2, F3, Indycar, Indy-light, etc... Talent always comes up, and drivers don't have "a turn at the podium and a trophy for participating", do they ? Constructors have already their own championship with endurance and rally. What about the WEC and the WRC?
Demand steel springs be used to pull the valves against their seats, and you automatically have rev limitations and airflow limitations. A caloric limit to the amount of fuel equal to the caloric content of 100 litrés of premium unleaded gasoline. no limitations on engine design: gasoline, diesel, turbine, stirling, turbo, ...or displacement specification Free Chassis go back to 1200 pound weight limit 100" wheel base maximum 2 metré width Single element wings with single plane end plates Convex hull bodywork except for cooling and air intakes (this eliminates barge boards, the floor, under chassis venturies,...) You can start the race on the tires you qualified on, or any harder compound.
That logic doesn't work for anyone. Motor racing is a money pit, and now even the prize for winning is hollow. The ICE is dead because PC rules the world. The races you all want to see have already been run...years ago. Enjoy the vintage racing events while you're allowed to have them...but...it is over for F1 and all the other series.
I was under the assumption that English was your language. Am I mistaken? Awareness of context, and comprehension, is key. Fer' instance: (1) Huh? I never said you did.....so where does that come from? (2) Incorrect. It has been about both since 1958; not wants to be. Your the one that wants to change it to just a drivers championship. (3) Absolutely. IndyCar already exists. That was the point of my post to which you reply. (4) Excellent; you're correct. Perfect for you....follow those series if you wish. No problem for me at all. (5) I can only say....Huh??? To do with the traffic on Oakland Park Blvd how??? (Context and Comprehension again methinks...) (6) What about them? We're talking about F1 here (F1 teams are the race car constructors, not passenger car companies as in your reference), aren't we? Other series have nothing to do with this, do they? If so, please explain. I just don't get the connect. Don't stress yourself out by concerning yourself with F1. Follow IndyCar for your spec/kit car, open wheel, drivers championship show. It already exists, has practiced in it's present form for 12 years, and seems to be your cup of tea. Perfect.
Image Unavailable, Please Login or Image Unavailable, Please Login (your preference....) Absolutely. I'll still enjoy F1 and will 'til it dies (as long as it doesn't slip to spec/kit) even as hybrids; 'much as I don't like them..... Let tech and superiority prevail. It puts F1 up on the pedestal.
