How to Fix Formula 1

1. Smaller cars with a series-spec floor/diffuser. Put the aero development above the car, where it's on display to the fans.

2. Turbo-4/hybrid powerplants of around 650-750hp total with an electric-based "push to pass" function replacing DRS and the movable aero. Similar in theory to the GTP powerplants, but with driver-accessible power boost functions that will need to be managed and strategized around.

3. In-race refueling reintroduced to the competition.

4. Fewer tire compounds.

5. ????

6. Profit!

1. I like that, as the floor/diffuser is roughtly 50% of total downforce.

2. Bring back V10s. 

3. I'd be ok with that, but teams originally did away with it for safety and cost reasons. It would definitely open up some more strategy options. 

4. Meh, multiple compounds + your suggestion for refueling would really open up some different strategies. Didn't Schumacher win at Magny-Cours years ago,  doing 3-4 stops, keeping the car light on fuel and basically just running flat out the entire race? Could only work there because of the super short pit entrance and exit. 

5. Steal underpants. 

6. Profit!

Many years ago Bernie made the comment that the 125cc class in MotoGP had huge numbers of lead changes but it didn't necessarily make the racing better.

Indy car is super competitive but doesn't hold the same interest for most people.

Want to spice it up........you have to do the whole race on a set of tires. It's a dumb idea but it would mix things up......do we want that?

RB is just plain dominant at the moment.....nothing to be done about it.

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

1. Getting away from wings and putting aero under the car is the direction IRL and F1 went to promote closer racing. Until the aero screen I thought it made Indycars look a lot better.

3. Agree on refueling. Some people rant about winning determined by pit strategy but it's another valid variable.

4. I'm torn on this. Tire wars have worked with some series and failed horribly in others.

5. The method here is a hype generator, like a Netflix series.

rob_lewis said:

Because of this post, I looked back at other years.  Just grabbed a few for comparison. 

• 1961: 2nd place finished an average of 13 seconds behind, 3rd was 45 seconds and 4th was 1306
• 1971: 2nd place averaged 21 seconds behind, 3rd was 673 and 4th was 3438

So, the idea that racing was closer in the "golden years" may not really hold up.  I got stuff to do, so I'll continue through some of the years later.

-Rob

In other words, take the wings (and aero) off...

If F1 races are boring to you because the same driver always wins, you need to start watching the whole race. There is so much competitive action outside of P1 and the last few seasons have been some of the best in years. F1 has plenty of problems and I love the solutions here, but boring is not one of them. 

Tom1200 said:

Many years ago Bernie made the comment that the 125cc class in MotoGP had huge numbers of lead changes but it didn't necessarily make the racing better.

Indy car is super competitive but doesn't hold the same interest for most people.

Want to spice it up........you have to do the whole race on a set of tires. It's a dumb idea but it would mix things up......do we want that?

RB is just plain dominant at the moment.....nothing to be done about it.

They already did the "you have to complete the race on 1 set of tires" for F1 before. It lasted one season IIRC. 

I believe that was 2005, the year of the massive debacle at Indy that saw only 6 cars compete. 

JG Pasterjak said:

1. Smaller cars with a series-spec floor/diffuser. Put the aero development above the car, where it's on display to the fans.

2. Turbo-4/hybrid powerplants of around 650-750hp total with an electric-based "push to pass" function replacing DRS and the movable aero. Similar in theory to the GTP powerplants, but with driver-accessible power boost functions that will need to be managed and strategized around.

3. In-race refueling reintroduced to the competition.

4. Fewer tire compounds.

5. ????

6. Profit!

You mostly described Super Formula.

maschinenbau said:

If F1 races are boring to you because the same driver always wins, you need to start watching the whole race. There is so much competitive action outside of P1 and the last few seasons have been some of the best in years. F1 has plenty of problems and I love the solutions here, but boring is not one of them. 

This. I like F1 just the way it was, is, and will be. Dominance happens. Whatever. It's the entire race I watch. I want to see the fastest driver in the fastest car drive away from the competition. The faster the better. Cause if I was that driver, that's what I would want. Sure, racing is also a "spectator" sport, but lets not forget that for many of us, we wish we were in Max's seat. Don't like things? Wait a few years and another team and driver combo will be dominant. It's not their fault the other teams or drivers can't figure it out. There are TWO drivers on the Redbull team aren't there?

In reply to vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) :

I agree,I've had the rules changed in 2 race series because I was kicking butt and it sucked both times.

 I do however hate the tire managing that goes on,driving many seconds off of whats possible because the computor says its faster vs stopping an extra time is what is killing the excitement on race day.

 Like you said,fastest driver fastest car lets get after it.

In reply to z31maniac :

I did say it was a dumb idea.

I lost interest in F1 when the cars stopped looking like cars and started looking like weird undersea creatures.

Yes, I understand that the performance is an order of magnitude better than it was in the '80s and '90s.

But the racing is decidedly not better.  And the average racing enthusiast (well, me, anyway) just doesn't relate to the cars in any way.

When talk of F1 being stale and uncompetitive I can't help but look at the qualifying sheets.

How many races have the field within under 3 seconds a lap?

When was the last time a car failed to qualify because it was not within 104% of the pole sitter?

Even NASCAR with 38-40 qualified cars within 5 seconds ,and sometime 10 or more on the same second, is said to be boring.

IMHO the only way to make any difference is to change it all.

No wings or aero out side the inside edge of the tires, and nothing above the height of the tires.

Flat bottom from centerline of the front wheels to center of rears.

75mm minimum ride height with  5mm legality strip running front to rear from center to center of wheels on the vehicle centerline.

Aero is everything in F1 so if it's a problem take it away,

or better yet define the size of the box the car must fit in and turn them loose!

Oh and ALLOW direct copying of designs.

How about this ,when a car wins NO FURTHER aero devolpement is allowed on that car for the remainder of the season? No updates,no high downforce or low drag changes allowed.

Shot Gun rule package.

Agree with removing wings and aero. That's why ff and fv is the best racing. Have drivers compete in spec ff  on Saturday to determine drivers championship then in f1 cars on Sunday for manufacturers championship. 

On a side note I would like to see the start require cars to stay in lane for a determined distance to keep the pole. sitter from immediately veering into the second place car. 

Funny how people want to eliminate wings so badly- but anything that slows the cars down too much isn't going to go over all that well.  No, it just wont happen.  They can slow for a season or two, but after that, they need to be faster.  Taking wings totally off will just make then 1000hp Formula Vs, which will be fast-ish on the straight, and super slow in the corners.

The easiest thing for F1 to do is just enforce it's directive to keep the wakes as small as possible and force the teams to do more under car downforce.

Winning driver starts at the back of the pack in the next race.

Duke said:

I lost interest in F1 when the cars stopped looking like cars and started looking like weird undersea creatures.

Yes, I understand that the performance is an order of magnitude better than it was in the '80s and '90s.

But the racing is decidedly not better.  And the average racing enthusiast (well, me, anyway) just doesn't relate to the cars in any way.

 

The racing isn't any different than then, either.  One team dominates and walks away with the championship.  Even drivers like Senna knew that and moved to Williams.  But over a single race, passing for the lead wasn't very common.

One of the classic events that forced DRS was the race where Alonso wasn't able to pass Schumacher in clearly a faster car on a track that wasn't Monaco.  

But at least now, we have seen passes for the lead at tracks like Hungary, which was the Monaco of normal tracks for decades.