Fellow petrol heads, over the last few years with the introduction of the Pirelli tyres and other gimmicks, I have asked myself, have these things actually helped the sport? Is it more exciting than it used to be and are we getting value for money and time? Of all the new gimmicks introduced to the sport (KERS, DRS, Tyres, Gearbox Rules, Engine Rules, and Points System etc.). Apologies it’s a long read.
Of all these introductions to the sport, I have issues with the Tyres, the DRS, Engine and Gearbox Rules. These things in particular take away from the spectacle and make races incredibly dull, boring and predictable. Some will say, hey, the rules are changing next year but a lot of these things will remain and eventually a certain pattern will form again with one team dominating the sport and boring everyone (before the trolls pipe up, this applies to everyone). For each of the issues, I will propose a solution I think that will spice things up a bit. I also have issues with the points system.
Tyres
I personally would do away with these useless tyres. These tyres whether we like it or not prevent racing. I have lost track of the number of times drivers refuse to fight so as not to harm the tyres and give positions away cheaply. It also annoys me that drivers are constantly told to hold back and not push. Look at Seb yesterday and the times he was able to set, why stop them? Formula 1 is not endurance racing and this ridiculous practice has to stop. Every race weekend, the talk is all about tyres, agreed tyre management is a part of F1 but now, tyre management is everything and is in my humble opinion destroying the spectacle. I would propose that all the tyres are durable and allow drivers to push with them but they are designed with different characteristics. For example; you can push very hard on the softest tyre but after maybe 5-6 laps it starts to degrade at a rate that can be predicted (not falling off the cliff!!) and the other tyres have similar characteristics but a longer operating window. I would also bring back qualifying tyres and let drivers start races on whatever tyres they choose which will throw up a myriad of strategies. This will make people truly push in quali and not worry about the race tyre and make quali fun once again. For the race, I would also like all 4 compounds of dry tyres available for each race, but keep the rule that 2 different types of tyres will be used. This I believe will make strategies that more diverse and spice up the racing for positions all over the grid.
Gadgets and Gimmicks
This covers the DRS, KERS and Engine and Gear Box rules. I do not mind the DRS as much as I used to and is useful on some tracks and KERS can stay as well but the rules about the Engines and Gear Boxes have to change. Yes we want more reliable engines and we want cost saving so a reasonable number over a season is fine however a driver should not be punished if his gear box or engine has trouble. The team should receive a reprimand or something similar and if it happens maybe 2 or 3 times, they lose points in the constructors. Not sure what the points will be but something along 5 - 10 points after 3 gearbox failures should do the trick.
Points System
As most of you are aware, I am a huge fan of motogp and their points system is a lot better than the F1 points system. In the old system we had only the top 6 getting points and it was 10 for first, 6 for second etc. but motogp awards points for up to 15th place and the difference between a first or second place is 5 points, not the current chasm of 7 points. I think we should emulate the motogp points system as it keeps the championship competitive and award points to about 12th place, with a scale as follows; 1st 25, 2nd 20, 3rd 16 etc.
Just a few suggestions I think would improve the spectacle and the championship. I have deliberately not included refuelling because I think it is dangerous and the fuel rule is fine for now.
Curious to hear your thoughts, so please add your suggestions below.
Many thanks
We are being Cheated!
posted on 18/11/13
One rule that definately needs changing is cars unlapping themselves behind the safety car.
Often cars aren't allowed to unlap themselves straight away,this means once they are allowed(baring in mind they have to adhere to strict speed restrictions) then they have to slowly go around the track until they join the snake.
This often adds 2 or 3 laps onto the duration the safety car is out.The lapped cars should be forced to slow down to fall to the back of the pack and thus the race can restart much quicker.
I know in effect they will have covered 1 less lap and have a laps worth more fuel,but we are talking about cars that never finish less than 2 laps behind anyway in 90% of races.
posted on 18/11/13
Just tyres for me - Webber had a massively quicker car than Grosjean, but had an attack and then pulled out to preserve tyres. Thats not racing.
F1 should be - i am faster than you, i am going to pass you.
posted on 18/11/13
Agree completely, it is a pointless exercise. I would also like to see drivers punished for having all 4 wheels off the track boundaries.
A drive through penalty or time added to their finish time would stop that nonsense
posted on 18/11/13
Cut out the showbiz.
Make only one type of a very durable tyre and keep the compound the same for 5 years. No compulsory pit stops. Keep rules stable for 5 years. That way a team with a disadvantage can catch up before the rule is changed to give the clear advantage always to the richest teams.
Quite happy at the moment with the 2014 rule changes.
The problem with us F1 fans is that we can never agree on what we want to see changed. For every person that wanted re-fuelling banned there was one that wanted it kept. Bernie know this and uses that lack of uniformity of opinion to his advantage. Bernie is happy with his take of the track hosting fees and the teams are happy with their cut of the TV revenue. What we want is irrelevant until the TV companies lose interest. Then we will see even more showbiz gimmickery to please the type of people that think Monaco is low downforce and Vettel is the greatest because he speaks English.
posted on 18/11/13
Oh, as regards the safety car and lapped cars, the lapped cars should just drive into the pit lane and then re-join at the rear of the “snake”.
posted on 18/11/13
Agree completely about all 4 sets being available, could lead to some tense late-race action. Although it would perhaps take some of the focus away from driving ability and more towards pit wall decisions.
I still don't think the tyres are as terrible as made out. They're certainly poor, but very rarely has F1 got its tyres right. The "tyre wars" were pretty bad too, Bridgestone dominating certain races, Michelin others. I think they're just fiddling too much with tyres, like they did with qualifying rules a few years ago.
DRS is a bit artificial and makes good defensive driving difficult, but it's still better than no overtaking. I like KERS a lot though, can lead to very tactical battles. Not sure I'll like it next year when it can be used for 45 seconds or so.
It is also a shame seeing 2 teams get no-where near the points, but I don't have a problem with the 10th place cut-off as it leads to some interesting battles for the final point. Not sure you'd see those if it extended to 15th, and 12th would still see Caterham & Marussia pointless.
My personal (and somewhat fanciful) change to F1 would be to scrap all engine regulations & give each team a set quantity of fuel for each race. Ferrari could build V12s, Mercedes could have V8s, Renault small turbo units and Honda high-revving naturally aspirated units. Would be great for innovation & practical use on road cars, but would maybe lead to a situation similar to the tyre wars.
posted on 18/11/13
Some absolutely fantastic points raised, Daredevil.
Having a points system that stretches down to 12th or lower is a fantastic idea as it also gives the midfield teams a bit more to fight for than numbers on the cars.
Personally, I'd do away with DRS altogether. It's made overtaking way too easy. Ironically, what was an attempt to make racing more unpredictable, has actually gone and added to the predictability of it all.
I agree that they should take all 4 tyre compounds to races but I don't think they should still force teams to use 2. I say just let them use whatever tyres they want. It not only erases unnecessary pit stops, but also means that teams will be able to use the tyres that best suit their car, rather than having to build a car that best suits the tyres.
For example, some teams may find that they can make the softer tyres last longer than other teams, so if they want, they can use only super-softs if they like to try and maximise the advantage given by the superior grip. However, another team may find they can get extra pace out of the hard tyres so they could run a whole race on hards and maximise the advantage given by needing fewer pit stops.
That's all I can think of for now, but apart from what I've mentioned, I completely agree with everything you've said.
posted on 18/11/13
Interesting ideas, wish we could pass them on to the clowns at the FIA
posted on 18/11/13
I agree that there should be 3 different tyre choices for a race, that would definitely spice up the racing. Refuelling really needs to be brought back as well, for all the advancement in safety, I'm sure they can bring back a mechanism that allows it to be done very safely.
I have no issue with DRS at the moment. The cars are way too thin, and way too slow to create any slipstream for the car behind to try and overtake him.
I agree that the points system should be extended to try and create more competition in the midfield teams. At the moment, there are 4 top teams, each with 8 drivers. In a normal race, they would occupy the top 10, which means, the midfield teams battle for only 2 spots.
posted on 20/11/13
I like DRS TBH, i think it can be controlled. i noticed in the US that the start of the DRS on the back straight was someway down, so only allowed cars to be at the side of each other. Sometimes it starts to early (think it was malaysia) and if you fired up DRS you just flew by, by a cars length. So DRS is controllable.
I dont agree with fuel stops, i think F1 does have a responsibility to be "green" and developing as efficient engine as possible is in there own interests i.e carry less at the start and you will be lighter for longer, in theory quicker.
I like the tyres, i just dont like the cliff. It should be more gradual. Fast cars should be allowed to race, at risk of degrading there tyres, but not at risk of them becoming 4 corners of ice. I.e you can have a push, but just know, you may have to come in a lap or 2 earlier for that push, but youve earnt yourself track position.