"Our attempts to make Formula One greener is ruining the sport" - Bernie Ecclestone

jaybee said:
The problem is...F1 doesn't know what it wants to be anymore. It used to be about going as fast as possible around a track in a car (be it 4 wheels or 6). Over the years rules mainly came in firstly primarily for safety, and then to try to keep things "fair" and "competitive". The more and more rules and policies brought in unfortunately creates a situation of exponential rulings and policy to cater for every situation. It's like a disease. A rule for a rule for a rule for a rule...
With so many regulations came even more of a crack down on spenditure and a so called greener F1 whilst at the same time through the naughties trying to keep in touch with providing good racing for fans by again, changing the rules.

It's this love affair with the rules which has morphed F1 into what it has now become. Lost. It has lost its identity.

Go back to the 80s... engines were all about making huge power. It was exciting. It was on the edge. It was noisy. It felt derestricted, analogue, manual input. Week on week putting out the best machine and driving effort you could. Fast forward to now and it's almost too strategic and green to the point where we have teams capping power to get through the race and season, teams not qualifying due to added stress on the tyres and engines etc etc.

What would happen if next season they said rules are "put a car on the grid that goes as fast as possible around a track" with no restrictions? Would the richer teams really dominate? Look at Brawn winning from nowhere. Mainly due to one idea that worked so well...the blown diffuser. If teams are allowed to innovate unrestricted, who knows what could happen. That feels more like F1 to me regardless of what they look and sound like. It's about the speed primarily. The pinnacle of motorsport and a demo in how to go as fast as possible around a track. If they sound silent so be it. If they sound like a jet fighter so be it.

I think if everything was unrestricted, racing would still naturally be competitive because there are still hard restrictions in place due to the laws of physics and the tracks used as to what can be built to go fast around a track in a typical 60 odd lap race. Obviously the size of said vehicle would be restricted so as to fit them all on the track.

Madness? Yes. Unrealistic? Yes. Have I lost interest in F1? Yes.
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An excellent post that pretty much sums up how I feel.
 
deuse said:
I think he has a lot of it right. The year 2008 and before were the golden years for F, now it's crap.
I'm glad I saw all the great cars and drivers.
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I agree 2008 was the last good year and the downhill trend has accelerated substantially since then, especially this year.

I think we can all agree that the popularity of F1 has fallen. I strongly believe that the cause is over regulation and a ridiculous attempt to make F1 appear "green".

I would be interested to know whether the pro-V6 crowd have a different explanation ...
 
alastair79 said:
High viewing figures have nothing to do with the technology or new rules introduced or the sound. There is a core audience for F1 that despite much whinging and internet rants about how they are giving up watching will always watch because they are invested in the sport.

We get peaks in viewing when there is no clear winner emerging throughout the season, word of mouth and sports news brings in more people interested in the human competition between two, three or four leading drivers. If the season looks like it’s going to the wire then again we get the viewing spikes. Also off the back of an exciting and engaging session the figures will remain high at the start of the next session as people tune in expecting the same again. These people are not fans of F1; they are fans of close completion, varied winners and human drama.

So the viewing figures mean squat and will always fluctuate.


.
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Disagree. Yes there will always be a hardcore F1 following but it is dwindling. I know plenty of people who used to follow F1 avidly and now don't bother. They do still appear to be following most of the other sports they have an interest in.

F1 viewing figures are in substantial decline. Reports of -100 million since 2008 are not to be trivialised. Ultimately unless the decline is reversed then sponsorship money will start to fade away. In fact there is real evidence to suggest it already has started to.
 
deuse said:
In the round-up: F1 stakeholders will discuss whether shorter race distances coupled with scrapping fuel flow restrictions could increase engine noise" :eek:
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Scrapping fuel flow restrictions would at least allow the engines to rev higher and shorter races would permit higher fuel consumption within the current 2014 capacity.
 
Skeeter said:
The over regulation argument I get, but how can you say that the decline over the last 6 years has been caused by 'green' regulations introduced just 2 races ago?
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That's because it didn't start 2 races ago. It accelerated 2 races ago, but then again you knew that already :rolleyes:
 
dannyjo22 said:
I think even more worrying (in the uk at least) is it's not a sport any kids are remotely interested in understanding or getting interested in. I guess there's far more easy accessible choice than when I was a young boy but I literally cannot think of the last time I met a 6-14 year old remotely interested in the sport.

The rules and regulations are just not suited to them. They don't want a list of reasons and permutations why driver a is slower than driver b.

When you start alienating the future views of your sport you are in trouble imho.
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This is so true. Neither of my sons are interested in F1 and only one or two of their friends are, and even those are not THAT interested. Back in my teen years half of my friends followed F1 closely.
 
One insult too many Skeeter. Welcome to my ignore list. It might be a bit lonely there as it's just you I'm afraid.
 
MissChief said:
If you like the big noisy engines go and watch a Euroboss meeting and be deafened for a day.
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That really does trivialise the issue. It's not just about volume. It's about a noise that for many is F1. As someone else said above, you only have sound and vision when watching F1 on TV. Now we only have vision so it's not as exciting. Please at least accept that point.
 
deuse said:
Well the whole rb team only sing when their winning or they want something changed like the tires last year.
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Yes, I agree, but I do wonder how many other teams feel the same but dare not say anything publicly.
 
At the top of the market people it's all about desire. If people desire hybrids, they will buy them. If people desire big NA engines then manufacturers will make them. It's as simple as that.

Right now I'm happy with my 6L V12 NA. If something else comes along that I desire more than my present car, I'll buy it. If not then I'll stay with what I have now.
 
Ferrari have been making V12 engines for the last 67 years. The thought of them not being available in 10 or even 20 years is not realistic.

I do accept that there is a shift to smaller turbo engines with some manufacturers, but there will be satisfied demand for "real" engines for quite some time yet.
 
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