What should an F1 car really be...?

[Purist]

Actually, set quantities haven't deterred teams. BMW tried to flaunt the minimum weight rules in WTCC in 1987 at Monza. They just ended up using more fuel than they expected, and all six cars were DQ'd, which promoted the seventh-place car to the win.

Like I said above, fuel allotments just lead to economy runs. Ask the drivers from Group C sportscars about it. It's not very enjoyable having a good battle ruined on a regular basis because someone had to back off to save fuel, or simply ran out before the finish. Derek Bell, Hans Stuck & Co hated having to just cruise around as often as they did, rather than being able to make a fight of a lot of the races.

[rocketracer]

Originally Posted by Purist

Actually, set quantities haven't deterred teams. BMW tried to flaunt the minimum weight rules in WTCC in 1987 at Monza. They just ended up using more fuel than they expected, and all six cars were DQ'd, which promoted the seventh-place car to the win.

Like I said above, fuel allotments just lead to economy runs. Ask the drivers from Group C sportscars about it. It's not very enjoyable having a good battle ruined on a regular basis because someone had to back off to save fuel, or simply ran out before the finish. Derek Bell, Hans Stuck & Co hated having to just cruise around as often as they did, rather than being able to make a fight of a lot of the races.

With any rules and regulation, there are good and bad (or perhaps exciting and dull) outcomes which are resultant of those rules.

If drivers have to turn the wick down to conserve fuel, then that may be a good or bad thing depending on whether they're leading or chasing. But, it will lead to scenarios where there are greater variations of car speed at any given time during the race, and this is what puts 2 competing cars into battle on track - as opposed to cars doing consistent lap times and having static margins.

and of course the regulation is extremely simple - minimum volume of fuel (when measured at a standard temperature) in the car upon finish, so really anyone could regulate the sport and it takes away the complexity of stewarding and interpretation of rules, as it is finite, and not subjective.

Massa in Spain was a case in point where his fuel situation towards the end of the race lead to at least some action in the closing laps. 2005 with the one tyre rule also led to some interesting conclusions with tyres going off to varying degrees. In previous seasons, at least there was a chance of the order changing towards the end of the races due to mechanical issues. whereas now, with the extreme levels of reliability, nothing ever really happens outside of the first few laps.