[Rules] "Changes to improve the show"? [current F1 overtaking multi thread merge]

[fourWheelDrift]

Originally Posted by ensign14

Make the driver change tyres. That's what would happen in real life. Seemples.

So if you treat your 'real life' tyres carefully they don't last longer. Interesting point of view but clearly not what happens in real life. Not that real life has anything to do with motor racing anyway.

[Pingguest]

Pit stops for refuelling and/or tyres won't make races unpredictable in most cases. I've all races from the 1980's on DVD and with tyre changes all drivers will stop at more or less the same point, splitting the race in two sprints.

[Graz]

Originally Posted by Fox89

I for one, and I think many others will, agree with you. There is no denying that the root of the problem is still there. If this race had been perfectly dry there would almost certainly have been an awful lot more of the faster cars getting stuck.

But it wasn't perfectly dry, which meant for a large chunk of the race there was overtaking left, right, and centre. That's why it got rated so highly, because of all the overtaking and excitement.

Did you just tune in on lap 40 or something? The stuff before the second tyre stops was epic!

And no, I'm not happy that faster cars can get stuck. And yes, I want the root of the problem fixed. But at the end of the day, this particular race was brilliant, because for most of it those problems weren't noticeable. I rated the Aussie GP a 9, because the thread was "Rate the GP", not "Rate how successful the regulations are in encouraging overtaking in normal conditions". If it WAS entitled that I would have voted much lower.

Ask yourself though, why is the racing better when there is a damp track - less grip - what does aero do? Gives too much grip. 'Nuff said.

[Tathrim]

Originally Posted by Graz

Ask yourself though, why is the racing better when there is a damp track - less grip - what does aero do? Gives too much grip. 'Nuff said.

But you've also got to factor in that the only area of development that has gone unhindered since the 90s is the tyres. The level of aero has been recouped in effective use of mechanical grip.

I think we need to make the tyres harder (to the extent that the hard tyre in 2009 is the soft tyre) and wider (fronts to 09 levels of width, rears to 09 IRL widths) to induce mistakes. The aero needs some tweaking, (like banning DDDs, stalling devices and any non standard wheel hubs) but nothing too drastic fromt he intention of 2009's rules. Heck, go back to the 1995 regs with a crash cell included.

[ECW Dan Selby]

Some pretty cars in the mid-nineties, too

Selby

[Fox89]

Ask yourself though, why is the racing better when there is a damp track - less grip - what does aero do? Gives too much grip. 'Nuff said.

Yes. Again... I agree with you, there is too much aerodynamic grip which has probably doomed 90% of dry races this year into snore-fests! There's nothing wrong with grip per se, it's aerodynamic grip because that screws over the person behind you. GP2 cars have loads of grip in the dry, but there's much less turbulence and so much more overtaking.

[Sodemo]

I think racing in the wet is better for a variety of reasons;

- Promotes more mistakes
- Cars can run a variety of racing lines
- Braking distances are longer
- Aero is less effective

So if an F1 car goes around Stowe in the dry, (and I admit I am pulling these figures out of my backside here) it may produce say for arguments sake 1000Kg of downforce @ 100mph. When it goes around in the wet it may do 70mph and produce 500Kg of downforce.

If I recall correctly aero doesn't really start to work until after 50-70mph anyway.

[JagtechOhio]

That's a decent approximation for low speed aero,

Driving skill comes to the fore whan the great equalizer drips from the sky. That's the same reason why grip provided by design and engineering is instead the determining factor when the course is dry. Less downforce requires more car control, and enhances the opportunities for the drivers with the best technique to compete.

I'll stick to my point about pit stops as well: two stop/ three stop strategies, running segments with lighter fuel loads, consumption rates, tire compound selection, and cautions all add strategic elements to the race that affect the outcome.

For some of the more processional IndyCar road course events, these can be the only opportunities to gain track position. "Tortoise and hare" is another way to play the game, and often produces exciting and unanticipated results.

When combined with all of the dicing that has taken place in the first two 2010 races, the results have been two very entertaining IndyCar shows.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

When combined with all of the dicing that has taken place in the first two 2010 races, the results have been two very entertaining IndyCar shows.

There were certainly a lot of leader changes in today's race.