Something has to change

[pdman]

I know, I know that this sounds like the same old song but when are we going to see something done to put racing back into F1 instead of of it being a pit lane competion.. Today's race may as well have been stopped after the first 3 laps and decided by the pit crews competing against each other on tyre changing and re-fueling times. (best out of 3)

My new rules:
Each year the teams nominate the top 22 race drivers.
The teams have test drivers and these are the only drivers that can drive the cars between races.
At each race meeting the race drivers names are pulled out of the hat to see who drives which car.

Teams are allowed a 3 litre engine.
Wheels of any width.
Any aero dynamic device they like.

Thoughts on these or you rules ????

[Inigo Montoya]

Hi pdman! Welcome to 10-10th's

I think today's race was about putting in the quick laps while on a lighter fuel load than your rival, and Michael is the master of that.

As for the "any aero device they like" rule you propose, I think you'd really see processional racing in that case!

[Knowlesy]

Well, the season hasn't been bad, in fact it was largely pretty good stuff until these past two races.

I think we need no-tyre-change rule back. That improved exciting races and made traditionally boring races quite exciting usually.

[Bononi]

Welcome pdman.

Well, there's at least a dozen threads with this subject. Good points, but there you go, nothing's going to change.

[Kirk]

Removal of electronic driving aids, if it ever happens, should help somewhat. When you hear stories like Rubens at Ferrari who just trounces on the accelerator coming out of a corner and relies on TC to do the rest ... well that is just pathetic. And oh yeah, bring back slicks.

[Adam43]

Welcome pdman

Originally Posted by pdman

Today's race may as well have been stopped after the first 3 laps and decided by the pit crews competing against each other on tyre changing and re-fueling times. (best out of 3)

Did Michael's absolutely stunning laps have nothing to do with it? Indeed on the first attempt he messed it up by a mistake on the in lap.

I agree it isn't ideal, but to suggest the gimmic that we shouldn't have drivers in specific teams is not going to help this. In addition it is not what F1 or Grand Prix racing is about or ever has been. It doesn't need changing from that and besides there is plenty of other motorsport to watch.

IMHO there is only one thing more boring than a boring GP and that is a boring GP discussion!

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

I thought the middle stint of the race where Schumi and Alonso were trading fastest laps was great. Two of the best drivers in the world putting on a masterclass of on the limit driving.

I don't agree that things have to change, we're getting some great racing with the rules we have now.

[Sodemo]

These are the F1 regs that I wrote last year at some point, I still think they are pretty realistic, and would please the majority of people.

Bodywork/Aero:
Lowered front wing to pre – 2000 levels in order to increase front end grip.
Increase the size of rear diffuser, to generate clean aero.
No “mini-wings” allowed above the height of the rear wing.
Rear wing to have a maximum of 2 elements:
1) A mandatory top section placed at right angle, 70mm "tall" in order to create drag (and sponsor space).
2) A small pre-defined limited surface area of bodywork which the teams are free to develop.
Overall intended 70% loss in downforce.
Increase track to 200cm (pre 1998 levels).

Engines:
A choice between V8 2.6L, V10 2.5L, or V-12 2.2L engines.
1 single engine per race weekend.
Engine block must be a minimum weight.

Tyres:
1 set of tyres for the race and qualifying.
Tyres to be of slick (no grooves) construction.
Rear tyres to be 100mm wider than the front tyres (whatever that dimension may be).

Chassis:
Minimum car weight to be 800Kg.
Titanium skid blocks to be placed at the rear of the wooden plank.

Other:
No re-fueling.
All points scoring cars to be stripped and examined post race.
Increase in the average number of racing laps by 5.

[Not Rated]

I thought today's race was quite interesting actually. I don't know if F1 racing has ever been about ontrack overtaking. But there is a lot of strategic competition on and off the track, which makes it fascinating to a lot of people (myself included). As Peter Windsor said once, "If you want to see people overtaking each other ten times a lap, go watch MotoGP".

And if Michael and Fernando pushing their cars to the limit half a second apart for 2/3 of the race isn't racing, I don't know what is. I agree with knowlesy though that the no-tyre-change rule did spice things up.

[Marbot]

A good race screwed up by the pit-to-pass thing.Two hours of chess and nothing much else.I still like F1 however.

[okeefe]

Lotsa cars out, but I thought it was pretty good race -- didn't sleep during this one.

[ensign14]

Originally Posted by knowlesy

I think we need no-tyre-change rule back. That improved exciting races and made traditionally boring races quite exciting usually.

Preach on, Brother Knowles.

[Marbot]

Overtaking just seemed to be more difficult than normal with all the risks being taken in the pitlane.Should have kept the one-tyre-per-race rule.

[marzF1rocks]

i dont think the racing boring, i think sometimes the coverege we get could be better.

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

Has anyone else been watching the Racing Through Time documentaries on ESPN Classic here in the UK? Overtaking was a novel concept even back in the golden age of racing, it's just now we can use aerodynamics as the scapegoat.

Over the last few years we've had overtaking, it isn't at every corner like a Formula Ford race but that's just the nature of modern top level open wheel racing across the board. The only thing really needed is greater mechanical grip and we'll probably see that return with the slicks in a few seasons.

After every grand prix people seem to be calling for change, but maybe people need to start adapting with F1 rather than try to shoehorn it into a mould it never really fit in the first place.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by marzF1rocks

i dont think the racing boring, i think sometimes the coverege we get could be better.

Where the director took us there was never anything much happening,felt sorry for the guy.

[djinvicta]

Agreed; It was overtake by pit stop. I do believe Ferrari had 4 laps more to do on the first pit stop but they brought him in straight after Alonso to keep Renault thinking they were on the same stop laps. It even fooled James Allen. I sat and said watch MS stay out the next 3 laps when Alonso came in 2nd time, it was Ross Brawn at his best; A bluff first stop, with more fuel than Renault thought. Good race; would love to have seen Fisi have a dive at JV though.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by djinvicta

It even fooled James Allen.

infinity.

[Knowlesy]

Now there's a man that's never fooled!

[Sodemo]

I always laugh when people say that F1 isn't about overtaking, what should it be about then, who has the biggest motorhome, or maybe who can do the fastest pit stops and we can forget about the racing all together.

I am a firm believer that races should always have wheel to wheel action, of course you are always going to get races which are processional, it happened back in 1988, it happened back in 1994, but the frequency at which they do occur is increasing, and will continue to do so unless someone changes the technical regulations to give the drivers cars that they can race with.

Cars that aren't totally reliant on aero grip, which can follow closely and are able to get sideways without losing much time.

Its time F1 took a step backwards and regressed slightly.

[BootsOntheSide]

Formula One is about completing an assigned number of laps faster than anybody else. Overtaking 21 cars is a theoretical way of doing that, but qualifying on pole, making a good start and leading dominantly is another. The problem is that holding back until pitstops is the most common way these days, partly due to the excess aerodynamic grip but also down to the overuse of pitstops. The one-tyre-set rule was a big improvement which resulted in lots of overtaking moves as cars had varying pace towards the end of the race.

Usually when we get a thread like this, the next race is a classic. Trouble is, that's often because the next race is Spa (after Hungary) or Canada (after Barcelona, which is coming right up).

[pdman]

I guess I've touched a nerve with some of the respondants but thanks for your feedback on a subject that's obviously been raised more times than some would care to comment.

I think what really p****d me off today was that with Imola I knew beforehand that it was about getting a good qualifing position and then everything else being sorted on the pit stop strategy (dnf accepted).

BUT I was really looking forward to a good race today at a circuit where overtaking is possible and a reality. So why was Montoya stuck behind Heidfield's BMW (along with about 4 other cars). and as djinvicta pointed out why couldn't fisi have stuffed JV.

So I still believe "something has to change"

[Knowlesy]

Nurburgring is usually a crashing bore in F1.

[Dutton]

The most straight-forward solution is to artificially drench the track before each race, and before qualifying.

[Bononi]

From a cynical point of view was a good race.

Did you hear the crowd with the horns when TGF was leaving the pits in front of Alonso ?

It happened so many times in the past... boring.

...And about the german and italian hymns combined ? Do they sell CDs with that ? I already know it backwards.

It's all coming back !!!!