Formula 1: Drivers will ask fans about state of sport

Skeeter said:
Why 6? I'm with Brundle, the current qualifying format is the best F1 has ever had, all be it hampered by some retarded tyre rules. Why would you want to go back to a format that often saw 40 minutes of absolutely nothing on track?
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Completely agree. I think its easy to forget how bad it was before.
 
It's been very boring the last few years...

Push the tech like they used to rather than going the boring eco route... that's what Electric F1 is for

Let the drivers do their thing instead of over-complicating things with silly and pointless strategies
 
Duke said:
Completely agree. I think its easy to forget how bad it was before.
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... for the spectators in that 40 minute window?

Big ******* deal... it saw some of the best and most exciting racing back then.

Prioritise the drivers / driving instead of moronic spectators?
 
I wonder how old the person asking for the hour long qualifying session back is? I can remember them. No one left the pits for 20 minutes. Then Minardi would come out to get some TV exposure for their sponsors. Then the odd other driver who might have had a bit of trouble in practice comes out for a shakedown and goes back in again. There's still 30 minutes left. Then some of the top teams come out to check track conditions and go back into the pits again. Only in the last 15-20 minutes does anything exciting happen. TBH they were dull as dishwater far more than they were exciting. TV companies hated them, spectators hated them as they only saw the car a few times, sometimes drivers would do an out lap, timed lap, in lap and watch the timing screens in case they needed to go out again. The new process, while I admit is kind of designed for TV companies to allow a commercial break between sessions has far more car on track time which, after all, is what those on TV and those at the track have paid for.
 
Bring back Men who aren't scared of the rain


tyre width and chassis width aren't as wide as they have been in the past?
Bring back mechanical grip.
Manual gear boxes so drivers can make a mistake
 
MissChief said:
I wonder how old the person asking for the hour long qualifying session back is?
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31.

MissChief said:
I can remember them. No one left the pits for 20 minutes. Then Minardi would come out to get some TV exposure for their sponsors. Then the odd other driver who might have had a bit of trouble in practice comes out for a shakedown and goes back in again. There's still 30 minutes left. Then some of the top teams come out to check track conditions and go back into the pits again. Only in the last 15-20 minutes does anything exciting happen.
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I believe I agreed with that ;)

me said:
Yes, the top teams and drivers used to stay in the garage for the first half of qually but it used to set up a wonderful battle in the dying minutes that was genuinely full of tension.
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I will say this much - the current qualifying is a hell of a lot better than the awful 'one lap' setup that was introduced in '03.
 
Two points stick out for me in F1 today,

1. Tires, make it so drivers are always on the limit (pushing) not conserving. Another one is letting the teams decide which tire choice they want to make, rather than say having Pirelli decide beforehand that everyone gets a choice between a a soft or medium tire, we get teams choosing a tire that suits their car and driver.

2. Aero, drivers should be able to follow another car around without being affected by turbulence. The way it is now is stupid, faster car stuck behind slower car. Track layout does play a role in this one though and that's just the nature of some of the tracks F1 goes to.
 
JRS said:
1) Engines. If Bernie wants V8s back, then let him contract someone to build a spec 'FOM' V8
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Didn't they try that with Cosworth and the engine was a bit of a lemon compared to its contemporaries?

If they managed to get a good "spec" engine combined with limited customer cars then I'm sure the field would increase. Yes, it's bound to create a two tier race, yes the current teams would chuck it out for fear of a top driver getting punted off by an also-ran but it would at least give new teams a chance rather than be thrown to the wolves.

It will be interesting to see what Haas F1 do with Ferrari engines. Hope they don't get chewed up and spat out within a couple of years.
 
I can't believe some people are actually serious about removing the pitlane speed limit. Yes wheel nuts still come undone, but often at 50kph and not at 100kph plus. The poor FOM cameraman who's camera got hit by the stray wheel (Webber's I think it was) could quite possibly be dead if that wheel had come off at much more than it did.

I often think drivers start to take for granted how dangerous the sport is to the point they become complacent (and the complacency shown at Suzuka by drivers and officials alike ought to demonstrate that), but removing a key safety measure for the sake of possibly improving the show a bit... I'm sorry, but if that's a serious suggestion then it's nuts. Completely nuts.


JRS said:
1) Engines. [..] Keep the current V6 hybrid regulation in place, but take away the limits on fuel flow - just give them the amount of fuel to race with and let them decide exactly how they want to burn it. Keep reducing the fuel tank size every couple of years to encourage development.
2) Aero. Ground effect.
3) Chassis. Shorten the maximum permissible wheelbase, but keep the crash structure regulations at the front as they are. This will mean teams have to make their bodywork wider in order to get all the components in, increasing drag and therefore increasing the effect of slipstreaming.
4) Suspension. Allow active ride. Widen the track of the cars back to the 2m it was before the '98 season.
5) Wheels and tyres. Wider rear wheels than now, keep fronts at current width. Open up the competition to other tyre manufacturers. Get rid of the 'must use both compounds' rule.
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I'm not even sure the drivers would be able to remain concious if most of those were reintroduced.
 
EddScott said:
Didn't they try that with Cosworth and the engine was a bit of a lemon compared to its contemporaries?

If they managed to get a good "spec" engine combined with limited customer cars then I'm sure the field would increase. Yes, it's bound to create a two tier race, yes the current teams would chuck it out for fear of a top driver getting punted off by an also-ran but it would at least give new teams a chance rather than be thrown to the wolves.

It will be interesting to see what Haas F1 do with Ferrari engines. Hope they don't get chewed up and spat out within a couple of years.
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Caterham, Marussia and HRT were the result of the FIAs attempts to impose a spec engine. While they never said they planned to, with those teams they did create a 2 teir F1.

If that's the kind of teams we are going to get with any sort of official dual regulations formula I'm not in the least bit interested. I'd rather see the whole field driving the same Mercedes car than have half the field rendered pointless to the extent they shouldn't bother turning up (which Caterham and Marussia actually did!).
 
While I agree the 'new teams' were a complete failure, the engine was only part of it, to allow the teams sign up with the promise of a budget cap which never happened was terrible... I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did/have done.
 
Yes but the FIA only considered teams who agreed to use the Cosworth engine aswell. There were teams that applied that were in a far better position financially and otherwise that were immediately dismissed because they wouldn't use Cosworth engines.

All in all the FIAs selection for new teams was a total failure.
 
smr said:
When I saw this thread yesterday the first thing that came to me was refuelling should be reintroduced.

...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/32751118

:)
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then people will cry there's no over taking on track even if you get an epic race like Hungary 98
even the commentators at the first stop thought his race was over and it was a mistake
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/f1_videos/8859929.stm

When murrary says your only allowed to weave once now made me sad :(
made me think of spa 1995 and hill getting blocked in just about every corner for a few laps :D hill with wet tyres vs Schumacher on dry tyres if I remember right with half the circuit wet and the other half mostly dry
Crap quality since FIA still have an absurd habit of removing videos from youtube when they should be uploading them and monetising them.....
Guess they removed rthe eurosport version with the awesome english commentary :(
 
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JRS said:
They always have the option of going slower.
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I can just imagine the team briefing: 'Remember to just drive up to the edge of unconsciousness, and stay there'. :D

Not to mention that the teams will be forced to build G test chambers. Here's an image from Moonraker to illustrate ;)

c7namCm.jpg
 
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Skeeter said:
Because drivers driving well within the limit of the cars is really popular with the fans at the moment...
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Hardly the same situation. Drivers at present are not only driving well within the limits of their cars but also well within their own limits.
 
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