F1 is getting more and more predictable. Qualifying round more or less settles the position you finish in Race.

The most exciting moment in a race has been reduced to the race Start, that ends at the first corner and thereafter a long procession till the chequered flag.

The only other factors that brings in excitements are - rains, a mechanical glitch to the car, or a mistake from the pit-crew.

Is this what you call the pinnacle of motorsport?

We as fans are anyways not considered by the who's who of F1 on any suggestions, but what the heck, we do have our opinions, right?

So, lets put them in writing over here.

Yeah, some of our ideas may sound a bit bizarre, but i bet those would still be a mile better than those proposed by FIA and its team of experts, the result of which is for everyone to see.

I propose the following, while you guys can put up your views/ideas on changes you wish to make in F1:-


- Rules to revise aero developments to reduce downforce, that would help in more overtakings, as we could see faster cars just not able to pass a marginally slower car in front for laps together, until they pit.

- Major difference in tyre compounds - harder compounds to last longer and softer to degrade faster, than what we witnessed in Bahrain. This would help in teams to work on tyre strategy better, as one would be reliable but slow, while other is quick but have shorter-life.

- More than one tyre manufacturer, that would bring about competition amongst them, which would result in better quality tyres, pepping up racing more.

- Rules to be static for a longer period, as on one hand we want cost cutting, while on the other with new rules every year, teams are forced to spend more to design/develop cars to suit them.


PS: Your feedbacks would be scrutinised and the best suggestions would be put up as an main page article on our site.

Our site is visited by fans, numbering to a few hundreds daily. It may not be enough to create a revolution, and many polls etc., may have been conducted earlier, but lets voice our opinions once again as fans of this, once, wonderful sport.

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Nice idea for the thread Jay...

You have hit on all the major pains in the sport currently -
Here goes my list, almost same

1. Reduce regulations. Currently there are too many restrictions and too few avenues for technical freedom. Safety is ok, but not at the cost of having 22 clones on the track.

2.How about one team's technical innovation may NOT appear on others' cars. Sort of a pseudo patent during the course of the season? This will give added incentive for innovation and development. Pinnacle of motor sport right? not you create, I copy.

3. Different tyre manufacturers - monopoly always sucks. And I am not sure about the possibility of actual implementation of this rule considering there is no confirmed supplier for next year once bridgestone pulls out! Even they need more incentive to come into the sport and open regulations.

4. Evolutionary rules - KERS for a year and nothing after that - what a collective waste of untold millions, all for just one season and a green road car in a motor show. In race fuel ban this year = heavy tankers on the track.. and my be different rules next year - whats the point? Cost cutting should be sensible and progressive over a long term.

5. Increase engine power, reduce aero, all the other technical little bits that are not good for viewing.

brilliant, neptune

i guess the patent idea is good, this protects innovation, may be just keep it valid for one year, but it gives a huge push for teams, that if they innovate within rules, they can take it for the whole season without others just copying and pasting it.

this will push for innovation amongst teams, but only the technical freedom has to be given a bit more.

lets see what others come up with.

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1. Qualifying back to the 12 laps 1 hour format chaos if there is a treat of rain. and chaos in the last 5 minutes if there isn't. the fastet get pole so it is a fair system.

2. bring back refuelling.

3. teams are once more allowed to choose the tires the want to take to the track. if they want to use more than one compound than that's fine but not mandatory. more than one tire supplier is allowed.

4. tinkering on the car between sessions like qualifying and the race.

5. free engine develpment so they don't have all the same power. with only a fixed amount of 3 liter. than we can have a 3l 12cilinder, 3l 10 clininder, 3l 8 cilinder.

6. bring back the 10-6-4-3-2-1 point system. so that getting points actually mean something. not like now that they give them away for free.

7. pre qually on friday to weed out all the teams without the pace.

8. more thechnical freedom, give them a box with dimensions were the car has to fit in and leave it at that.

do i sound like an old fart already ?

Quote:

Nellis
do i sound like an old fart already ?

absolutely no. lol.

it doesn't matter whether F1 fall back to old rules, as far as it makes racing more exciting.

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"i guess the patent idea is good, this protects innovation, may be just keep it valid for one year"

if that applied to the double decker diffuser last year, we could have been in for a boring season...

regards tt

1/ Maintain refuelling ban
2/ Remove rev limit restriction
3/ Do not permit any aero solution that destroys the slipstreaming effect of the car running up behind.
4/ Allow Q3 to be run with whatever fuel load for fastest time without any obligation to carry that same fuel to the start.
5/ Full slicks with two compounds, inters and full wets. Tyre compounds are made available for winter testing and stay the same during the season ahead.
6/ If there is a safety car, and it affects seriously the outcome for the current race leader, then the overall result must be taken as a total of the timed laps till the finish and not the track position.
7/ add points for fastest laps, qualifying on pole.
8/ points deductions for crashes....for one driver if it's clearly his fault, for both if they are judged to have been equally wrong.

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Quote:

turboturtle
"i guess the patent idea is good, this protects innovation, may be just keep it valid for one year"
if that applied to the double decker diffuser last year, we could have been in for a boring season...

regards tt

You are not taking into account that the teams would have been FORCED to come up with an alternate solution - in fact, you actually reinforce the argument for patents.
Brawn/Redbull et al were radically innovative, and what happened - everybody jumped onto the idea and the playing field was more than leveled with Button just scraping through and Hamboy scoring most points in the latter half.

Same goes for this year's Mclaren's rear wing story - people arent even shameful to admit copy pasting

Quote:

neptune

Quote:

turboturtle
"i guess the patent idea is good, this protects innovation, may be just keep it valid for one year"
if that applied to the double decker diffuser last year, we could have been in for a boring season...

regards tt

You are not taking into account that the teams would have been FORCED to come up with an alternate solution - in fact, you actually reinforce the argument for patents.
Brawn/Redbull et al were radically innovative, and what happened - everybody jumped onto the idea and the playing field was more than leveled with Button just scraping through and Hamboy scoring most points in the latter half.

Same goes for this year's Mclaren's rear wing story - people arent even shameful to admit copy pasting

if the FIA had clearly defined rules, the DD would never have come in to existence or atleast all teams would have had some design in places, instead of just one team.

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Ban semi auto gearboxes. Lets see some manual gearchanging and missed gears.

Here is what I want:

1) Old quali format: 12 laps

2)Points to 10,6,4,3,2,1. Let the cars from 7th onward have something to fight for and not rest easy knowing they are in a safe points position.

3)Remove the 2 compound tire rule: makes no sense, especially now.

4)Let the teams decide their tire strategy for the quali/race and how many pit-stops they need.

5)Two tire manufacturers

6) No more Tilke tracks; no more street circuits and no more night/twilight races!

7)Increase the engine number to 10; remove the rev limits: let the teams manage their engines.

8)Remove DDD. Simplify aero and increase mech.grip

9)Give teams certain number of days for testing within the season

10) Don't wait till the start of the season to clarify rules.

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we have had most of that stuff already with the same results.

traction control

what do you propose?

You don't want to hear my answer It would be to build the cars not using a formula but identical. GP2 has over taking its open wheel, and i could go on about how all over taking racing comes from identical cars.

I know there not truly identical,but you get my point

if you take out the formula out of formula1, what remains? its better to watch GP2.

i guess most of the solutions discussed above are quite valid, only the application that takes time.

Though i don't support Bernie much, but his idea of an independent agency putting up rules does make sense, provided he or FIA are not tinkering with it.

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"You are not taking into account that the teams would have been FORCED to come up with an alternate solution - in fact, you actually reinforce the argument for patents."

the teams were forced to come up with the best they can do in 2009. the cars are close together (or were last season) because they were maxed out in terms of design (within the formula). the science of car design of 21st century is more advanced than that of the 1960's or 70's, so most teams are in the ballpark performance envelope from the word go. historically everyone adapted ( copied and made to fit their perticular car. lol) everyone else's proven solutions. that is the reason it used to develop so quickly. i know it's a rat race, but the rat race of the best.

regards tt

here is a good article criticising testing limits set by FIA

On one hand FIA limits teting days, then makes huge rule changes, and expects teams to be up and ready to go full throttle from race one.

They approve new teams, who are struggling to find their feet even a day before racing, skips testing, and struggle to complete even a few laps.

the biggest thing FIA and its think tank lack is common sense.

we can only see teams taking chances after a few races, until then they would be cautious in their approach.

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So first three or four races are really glorified practice sessions funded by the public, TV rights and sponsors. Makes very good sense for Bernie!

edit:
In this case, the WDC/WCC should be such that drivers and teams can discard their four worst results as a trade of for "practice during the races due to lack of testing".

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 19/03/2010 08:35 by Verno.

I wonder if the FIA members ever go through columns or articles etc., written by eminent journalists who have been there and done that kinda in F1. Wonder they even watch a F1 race?

It seems they are just lost in their own world. Even a teenaged fanboy to this sport could put better sense in to all this.

I guess testing limit is a good point that we could put forth.

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would testing still keep the picking order the same,take last year season. brawn started the season and half the season as the team to beat.what teams/are team closed the gap on brawn. and did that team come from the sharp end of the grid are the dull end.

My changes would be radical and could possibly be the demise of the sport.
Everything done would be to promote racing and allowing overtaking.
Lessen restrictions on testing
Instigate and enforce caps on spending
Eliminate all street courses except Monaco.
Eliminate or alter all Tilke courses to encourage passing
Eliminate diffusers
Offer points for passing
Have different tyre manufacturers
No mandatory pit stops or tyre requirements (two compounds)
Change qualifying and award points for the top ten.
Invert the starting field
Two PM starts world wide
Twenty race season
Enforce black and white rules
Create a better profit sharing plan to assist teams
Have an earlier dead line for signing drivers and accepting new team proposals.
Fourteen team maximum.
No pay drivers
Financial proof statements authorised by a top notch bank

sessions

My idea of improving Formula One is as follows:

1)I say allow any type of normally aspirated engine (4, 6, 8, 10, 12 cylinder engines). The only catch is a standard displacement & a fixed engine plenum size!

2)Give the cars MORE GRIP (Increase tire size and bring back multiple tire manufacturers.

3)Take away the barge boards, the turning vanes and the diffusers completely. Front and rear wings are still allowed.

4)To reduce cost, provide a standard main driver tub to all teams with several suppliers (Dallara, Lola, Etc.) producing the standard product tub.

5)Testing time should be increased to at least double the current allowed testing.

6)Keep the rules without change for 4 years at a time.

7)Green Fuel standards should be in place.

8)A Standard KERS Unit should be produced for all teams to use.

9)The design of the race track should be looked at for better both ontrack action (passing) and viewer enjoyment. Look at NASCAR!

Forza Ferrari!!!!

I have followed F1 for the past 35 years or so and but for a few exceptional races along that time, to overpass was never common really if you do not include the old streamlining Monza. The main change that I have witness is that cars are more likely to finish most races, while half the field used to fall away for any kind of mechanical breakdown. I for one believe that teams are much closer in performances today. Gone are the days when a team would lap all others by race end. We tend to look back with nostalgia to the "old days" but I feel it has more to do with our memory being defective or selective than the races being more closely fought. The past few seasons for that matter have been fairly entertaining. Multiple race winners, drivers & teams, the season's title being still for grab late in the season (who wants the titles decided by August or September), so overall, we should not complain too much. That being said the show could of course be better. What would constitute a better show though? I love to see cars passing others as much as the next guys but that in it does not make a great race. Defending is just as exiting to watch to me. Once the faster car is in front you can wave the racing goodbye. What I would propose is as follow:

1) Limit the gas any car can use over a given week-end, 200 liters, 250 liters whatever and let the teams do with it as they please. Start the race on full tanks or refuel as you please.

2) Having more than one tire supplier adds to the racing as it is likely that one maker will dominate over a given week end and another at the next one.

3) Some of the most memorable races were fought in the rain. Maybe the season schedule could be plan around the likeliness of rain as against good weather as it is now. But then, no starts behind the safety car or the safety car being brought in if it rains too hard. I know it sounds as if I don't care about the safety of the drivers but come on it is racing & they are thought to be the best.

4) Pick a point system and stay with it 10, 6, 4 or 25, 18, 15 or 100, 80, 60 it does not matter, it won't change the way one may race anyway.

5) No more testing but on race week ends. So the cars are less reliable. They could extend the test sessions to say 6 hours on Fridays with only the test/3rd drivers allowed in the 3 hours morning session of Fridays. So they can get the needed time they need to be on par if the regular driver they are meant to replace is incapacitate.

6) Contrary to most I thing that the changes year to year should be more drastic. Whenever the rules remain the same for too long, the teams catch up with each other with the wealthier teams taking hold of the top places. The racing is closer yes but no one can pass the next guy anyway so where is the point?
Well here you have it. My grain of salt on the subject.

1)tyres- first of all let the teams use whatever damn tyres they want when they want, from who they want if brigestone only want to supply Ferrari that is fine, if pirelli will supply anyone that wants them thats fine if Michelin only supply McLaren and force India that is fine let the teams go for what works best for them

2)engines- lift some limits, no rev limits no cylinder limits, then it is the teams choice to decide how powerful to make their engine vs how thirsty it is (for current fuel regs) let them have one engine for practices through out the year, which they can take to every race (i doubt this would blow as it wont be running at 100 % but if it does what on earth is the point of penalising them, they already have the penalty of having to pay for another engine, and the bad pr (if say renault engines kept blowing that would be a very good advert for their road cars) and then let them have a new engine for every competitive part of the weekend (then at least you wouldnt have cars having to go at 95% as their engines hot and they have to do an other two races on it, how does trhat improve the racing?

3 aero- let them have whatever bloody aero parts on the car they want as long as it doesnt make it more difficult for a following casr to get close. surely there must be a way of testing the air flow from the rear of the car, and when a new peice is put on see wether it negatively affects that airflow

for example lets say bad airflow was measured in flumps (why not) each car could be allowed to go to a predetermined flumpiness (lets say 100) which would be checked by the fia after each modification, it is then up to the teams to decide what flump adding parts they choose eg double diffusers barge boards or even rear wings, this could mean that Williams for example was signifcantly better at slow corners than Sauber but sauber was significantly better at fast corners, meaning that they would be able to overtake on their respective strengths vs their opponents weaknesses (hopefully)

4- kers take the best kers unit that was developed ( most reports say McLaren) and give it to each team, but give themm a set budget say 2 million to spend a year on improving to suit their kers unit to suit their car, and take away the stupid limits of amount per lap and how quickly it can harness power (yes i know there are the issues of moderating costs, but if each team had to do its kers as a stand alone project then the costs are in on business unit, which could be audited more effectively, especially if you are comparing their costs to other teams, if for example lotus were able to adapt it to generate power twice as fast for 500 000 but uising very similar techniques virgin were able to do that for 20 000 then you would be asking questions

i also think that rules should be as simple as possible. to make enforcement easier and hopefully fairer.

starting race positions sould be the reverse of the last race finishing positions and let teams refuel.

Reducing the performance of the cars is one option, but not a very satisfying or effective one. However slow the cars are, a 1% speed advantage will still need 1km to overtake. Extended braking distances and slower cornering speeds would give more opportunity to pass, as the calculations show, but it would require a return to 1960's levels of grip to do so. The often suggested substitution of cast iron brake discs, in the place of carbon, would not achieve any significant reduction in braking performance.

I would let an engine to have more rpm, say 21000, but limited time and limited times to turn it on, 3 times per race maybe, so only for attacks, not for the defending. So, some kind of "KERS button".
Nobody knows if some pilot uses this button or not, making things unpredictable as you could use it only three times ..

Others have pointed to features that make the driver work harder -- I agree. For instance, as one fan said earlier, get rid of semi-auto gearboxes. Bring back manual H-pattern hand shifting with three pedals in the footwell (mandate a wider footwell to allow this standard for all teams). That way we bring back heel-and-toe shifting. The driver must remove one hand to accomplish a shift. That and steel brakes will keep the drivers honest in the heat of battle. Many other suggestions but most have been mentioned by others -- better days ahead.

Hey guys,

Thanks for all your suggestions.

We have put up the same in our main page.

Since the suggestions were many, we have selected a few for the main news article, and put up a link to this thread for visitors.

You can read the article HERE

Finally, all thanks to Tifosa, for bringing up this idea.

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Remove the new teams. They are waay below the line.

Engine and gear box change penalty too harsh.

Otherwise, some real nice suggestions above. Too bad we can think of better ones and sensible too.

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I`ve been thinking (yes folks, I can think...) for a long time that we should go back to the past; free (means maximum like early 80`s) aerodyns for cars, minimum gas qualification, re-fuel back AND slicks stays ! Then F1 could be back in the situation where it was earlier. I want action and raw speed, not politics, stupid talking or restrictions.


-Jammuli-

Base the grid order on a reversal of the final results of the previous race. We would see far more overtaking than we have before! This is a quick fix and would bring back the unpredictable aspect to the sport.It would be great to see the best cars and drivers drive their nuts off to reach the head of the race.

Main flaw is current set of regulations. More testing is something that is needed if we want new teams in F1. I dont think that having new teams is bad idea. But current set of rules is too restricting. Also, 60 minutes qualifying with set of 12 laps was more intensive to watch, especially at the end. But there was problem that sometimes there were 30 minutes with no action at all (remember that), so maybe two 30 minutes with no laps limit would be more interesting.. Main flaw in current regulations is engine freeze. It is bad idea to have rev limit. Also, ban of refueling is stupid..