Radical proposal to change F1

[Homem de Gelo]

Have you guys seen it?
I kid you not, this it.

http://www.f1central.net/news/1082720191.html

Engine

- 2.4 litre V8; maximum of four valves per cylinder;
- Two-race engine (fool-proof method for ensuring this rule is observed, plus carefully calculated penalty system for unscheduled changes);
- List of components which must be made from a specific material and/or using a specified manufacturing process;
- Ban on variable geometry inlet and exhaust systems;
- Standard ECU (under FIA control)
- Ban on ultra high pressure (direct injection) fuel systems enforced by means of FIA ECU;
- Maximum modulus of elasticity (stiffness) of materials reduced from 40 Gpa to 32 Gpa (throughout car).

Transmission, braking and steering

- Manual gearbox with electronic over-rev safeguard;
- Manually operated clutch;
- Ban on electronically controlled differentials;
- Ban on power steering systems;
- Standard brake discs, pads and calipers.

Chassis

- Weight limit reduced by at least 50 kilos (to eliminate ballast and thus reduce kinetic energy in an accident);
- A combined tyre and aerodynamic package to be published no later than 31 December 2004 to achieve specific targets for cornering speeds, straight-line speeds, grip and braking performance, taking weight reduction into acount;
- Tyre (wheel) width reduced at front, increased at rear to allow weight distribution consistent with no ballast and to give greater drag (total of front +rear widths to stay same).

Sporting

- No spare car allowed during entire Event;
- Cars to be held under parc fermé conditions during entire Event;
- One tyre supplier only, all sporting aspects of supply contract under control of FIA;
- Drastic restriction on private testing, limited by mileage rather than number of days, enforced by means of FIA ECU;
- Two (identical) sets of tyres for qualifying and race;
- Friday practice: package to ensure cars run, possibly to include a qualifying session;
- New qualifying system to be discussed with commercial rights holder (broadcasters), teams and race promoters;
- If qualifying continues to be with race fuel, consider whether amount of fuel in refuelling rig before race should be fixed annually in sporting regulations with amount of fuel in car for qualifying and race free (to encourage fuel efficiency);
- No tyre change during race (except genuine puncture), refuelling to stay;
- Consider if constructors’ points should be scored by a maximum of four specified cars (two teams) per constructor (to encourage major teams to make cars and information available to teams coming into Formula One, see below);

General

- No restriction on the sale, loan or exchange of chassis and components between teams or to new entrants in the Championship;
- Twelve entries to be accepted each year, entries to close on 1 July for following season;
- Guaranteed entries each year for teams with long-term contracts to compete in
Championship;
- Technical and sporting rule changes for future seasons to be subject to a majority vote of the teams already contracted to compete during the season in which the rule changes will apply;
- Technical rule changes concerning Formula One to be announced in June to take effect on 1 January of the second year following the announcement (for example, a technical rule change for 2012 would be announced no later than 1 July 2010, having first been approved by a majority of the teams already contracted to participate in 2012);
- no rule changes after entries close for a given Championship without consent of all accepted teams.

[Matra et Alpine]

Sounds liek Formula 2.

personally I think there are too many restrictions for what should be the pinnacle of the sport.

[Ferrari Tifosi]

I agree with Matra. F1 is supposed to be the premier racing series, however it's becoming more and more like NASCAR.

[Cotterik]

keep f1 how it is but chuck the saturday qualifying and bring back the friday-saturday.. Three days of racing is much better!! They should bring forward that idea but not into F1. They should create an F2 for all the mini schumachers to promote into f1 when all the sucky teams run out of sucky drivers, or the big teams find a revolutionary F2 driver, eh? nice ideas

[cp01ae]

Those restrictions are horrible, I believe that someone mentioned it earlier: F1 is the pinacle of motorsports. Why should it be so limited? The ability to have the choices and freedom is what makes it great, if I wanted to see 20 of the same car driving around I'd watch something else (read NASCAR). Innovations made in F1 are becoming reality in the roadcars of today. Without tha: no Enzo, no SLR, no V-10 M5, et cetera. What would happen to the walrus nosed BMW-Williams? Sure, in the long run Formula One will be alot cheaper and more accessible to new teams, but its teams like Ferrari, McLaren and Williams that keep it fun to watch. The only good change I can think of would be to give more TV money to the lowest ranking teams and less to the top finishers, that way the low temas could afford to catch the top ones, while they have to make the best of a tighter budget. Anyways, thats my opinion.

[Coventrysucks]

Sounds like Formula 2.

personally I think there are too many restrictions for what should be the pinnacle of the sport.

Ah, yes but... (as always)

F1 is more to do with the teams than the driver.
Yes you can have a great driver, but if the car isn't up to scratch.... Ahem McLaren**cough**Raikkonen
Conversely, you can have the best car, and best driver, and then no one else stands a chance of winning.

I think that F1 needs to become more definite
A) Is it going to be just about the cars and the technology? In which case a return of the 1990's high level of electronics, combined with the best materials which would be great for technology, but could lead to even more prosessional races.

Or

B) Is it about the racing and nothing else? In which case, slap a heap of basic regulations concerning materials, power, etc on the cars, so that they are almost equal in performance, and let the drivers actually race against themselves, rather than the cars.

This would not neccesarily drop F1 to F2 performance, I am sure the teams would be able to keep speeds at a similar pace to what they are now, albeit the speeds from the rear of the grid.


I think that current middle ground of this doesn't work.
There is always one dominant team, be it Williams, Mclaren ,or now, Ferrari, and every one else trying to catch up.

This puts the other drivers at a disadvantage, hoping to profit by reliability failures, rather than driver skill.

It doesn't do the smaller teams any favours either, as all the focus is on Ferrari all the time, teams such as Jordan and Minardi, without the backing of
a major motor company, floundering at the back, unable to be truly competative due to lack of funds.

Option A would reduce the field by about half I think*, due to huge increases in expenditure/ lack of technical development centres, but produce very fast cars, with possible benefits for road cars. (would be favoured by the 'big' teams)

Option B would probably keep these teams in, due to reduced costs, and could encourage new teams. Despite the almost certain drop in ultimate performance, the racing would be closer, and more exciting. (would not be favoured by the companies backing the 'big' teams)

*Minardi, Jordan almost certainly. Sauber, although performing well over recent seasons, look to be condemned to the middle of the field, and if they loose their agreement for "second hand" parts from Ferrari, they could loose their competativeness. Jaguar and Renault. I am not to sure about how highly they value the benifits of F1, and I think that they might pull out if it got too expensive. Ford looked uncertain a few years back, although increased performance seems to have changed that recently. Renault are not the biggest car manufacturer in the world, and you have to wonder how far their budget will stretch.

For Ferrari, F1 is one of its major interests, and BMW and Mercedes will always want to be associated with F1. Toyota also have quite high interest in F1, and have put a lot of effort into the f1 programme, so I think they would be safe for the forseeable future.
BAR have the finances of BAT, the expertise of Prodrive, and look to be the new Honda "factory" team, to use the term loosely.

What to do...

P.S. Sorry for the essay.

[Sweeney921]

I agree with Coventry, it should be more about the drivers than technology, but arent these restrictions a little overboard? I don't see where these regulations are coming from, since there hasn't been any huge pileup or death in the sport. The only thing that could have possibly made them think of changing things around would be the 10 year anniversary of the death of Ayrton Senna. Sure, that was massively tragic, but this is ridiculous.

[Suka]

I agree with Matra. F1 is supposed to be the premier racing series, however it's becoming more and more like NASCAR.

Yeah! Next they will be saying that exposed wheels are performance enhancing and that they should be covered! lol

[henk4]

If it's about the drivers championship we might as well have a Reynard/Lola or similar based car that can be used by anybody. But there is also the manufacturer championship, which to the teams is more important than anything. It appears to be that cost cutting is the most important motive for the proposed changes. But whatever formula we have the teams will continue (within the then current regulations) to try to make the best car, and you will be surprised what cost levels can be achieved then.
Rather than limiting the allowed technical options, the FIA might want to reduce the team's budgets to a fixed level. Difficult to control though, as it might involve accountants and man they can be corrupt.

[Matra et Alpine]

....it might involve accountants and man they can be corrupt.

Don't worry Bernie knows ALL the tricks - he's the master

[henk4]

Don't worry Bernie knows ALL the tricks - he's the master

but mortal

[Matra et Alpine]

but mortal

nah, selling your soul to the devil gives you a "get out of death free" card !!

[henk4]

but as a monopoly player he should know the "Go directly to Jail" card.