So... Heard of this yet? Apparently for 2011 people following a car will be allowed to adjust their rear wing to help overtake the car infront. Says if the pursuing car is within 1 second of the car infront, a green light will illuminate and you could change the rear wing angle... So, going down the straight, you could put full downforce on the car in front and pass... 
http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8625
Bernie smoking that wacky tobaccy again?
F1 needs less Bernie.
Wider tires for mechanical grip, MUCH less aero so the cars can actually get close to each other, more HP so they are harder to drive.
And less racing on Tilke designed tracks.
Why don't they just make every driver have to get out of the car once during the race and do 10 spins around a baseball bat, get insanely dizzy, and then jump back in the car and race around the course at 150+ MPH, now THAT would be exciting!
Iron brake rotors- make braking a lot more variable and lenghtly. Justification- all the cars are SO good in braking that best to worst is so small that you can't overtake very well under hard braking. And you can abuse the brakes (well, except Red Bull).
Either Ground effects or no aero devices lower than the top of the engine- these cars are so not robust to air flow, it's not even funny. They are optimized to run by themselves.
I still contend that F1 really needs to look at itself to check for relevance. Even back in the good old days, they were not terribly relevant to anything. Now, asking car companies to pour money into a program that's just glorified advertising seems silly.
I love F1, watch it, but can also see that there are some major core issues with it, WRT where the money comes from. I honestly don't get how Fiat, Mercedes, and Renault can justify the expense.
Eric
DukeOfUndersteer wrote: So... Heard of this yet? Apparently for 2011 people following a car will be allowed to adjust their rear wing to help overtake the car infront. Says if the pursuing car is within 1 second of the car infront, a green light will illuminate and you could change the rear wing angle... So, going down the straight, you could put full downforce on the car in front and pass...
You have it a little wrong. You won't be adjusting the other car's wings. If you got within a second or whatever of the car in front, you put your own wing to low downforce, and should be able to pass (if you can do it on that straight, because you will want the downforce back for the corner).
I don't really see anything wrong with this except it is another thing for the driver to mess with. They say that working the "F-Duct" is a distraction, and I would think this would be too.
Hmm, seems there was a similar thing on a sports car years ago. Chapparel (sp) I think was the name.
Indy cars now have what is essentially a "turbo boost" button like every bad racing video game has ever had. why can't F1 have something equally silly?
I think they should have saws, oil jets and all kinds of stuff that happened in SpeedRacer cartoons.
novaderrik wrote: Indy cars now have what is essentially a "turbo boost" button like every bad racing video game has ever had. why can't F1 have something equally silly?
They did last year. It was called KERS - Kinetic Energy Recovery System
Put a 6" speed bump on the front straight. It'll force a higher ride height with a resulting loss in downforce. I also want to see the F1 guys deal with taking a 6" bump at 200 mph.
Unfortunately, aero is so effective that the teams will do whatever they can to get it back if you try to ban it.
Make them all run on walmart tires.
93celicaGT2 wrote: Make them all run on walmart tires.
and make them half as wide.
z31maniac wrote: F1 needs less Bernie. Wider tires for mechanical grip, MUCH less aero so the cars can actually get close to each other, more HP so they are harder to drive. And less racing on Tilke designed tracks.
I agree. I respect drivers who handle cars that try to kill the average HPDE ace.
I think they need less aero, same thing with Indy car. Look at the Indy 500, I forget the driver, but there was a guy fighting to not go a lap down and the leader couldn't pass because he couldn't get close. The lapper was slower, but you can't get close enough to pass unless there's alot of traffic. What fun is that?
No ground effects, less wing, more power. But then would it still be pushing the same technological envelope?
NO aero... simple as that... all cars must have no aero downforce as tested by the FIA....
cigar chassis, with suspensions
also only give the teams 50 liters of fuel for a 300 kilometer
Driver adjujstable wings are nothing new
http://www.ehow.com/video_2328538_top-wing-stabilizes-sprint-car.html
It's Pandora's Box and a blessing at the same time. The aero guys have been clamoring for this a long time. I'll agree that the driver has enough to do, just keeping those beasts on the road .. have you seen the damn steering wheel controls? There must be 20 buttons and dials!
OTOH, I am a fan of F1, and would love to see more passing. It's the job of the team to find the quickest comprimise between downforce and top speed, depending on the course. That's part of the opera.
And I love opera.. when the fat lady shifts at 18,000 rpm!
Not an F1 fan but this rule change will result in more passing correct? 
Is that not what viewers want to see?
I read the title to this thread and I already had my response written in my head...
Wacky Rule Changes for F1? There's something I haven't seen before.
Wider tracks with more turns will result in more passing.
Seems like there is plenty of passing already. What is the issue? Do you guys want to make the guy being passed give up his position b/c he is being pressured? Passing ain't easy. It is the biggest challenge in racing. Any dick can run fast laps with enough practice. Racing requires you to drive better than the guy in front of you and have the skill to safely pull off a pass.
So, someone remind me what the "problem" with F1 is?
How about a graduated boost controller, based on the current position? Car in the lead has 0 extra boost, next car back has 1 PSI, next one, 2 PSI, etc. And that stop in the middle of the race and run around the baseball bat. Only make it a stick ball post from Wal*Mart. and make them change their shoes before hand. And do a little dance afterwards, like the dancing spacemen from Star Trek. And maybe if they ran Bernie's "special" video in a box in the corner of the screen during the race on continuous loop, ratings would go up.
amg_rx7 wrote: Any dick can run fast laps with enough practice. Racing requires you to drive better than the guy in front of you and have the skill to safely pull off a pass.
I thought it said Andy Dick, which gave me a different idea. Have Andy Dick in a room full of pills and buttons and he could randomly give cars a 100 shot of nitrous from time to time.
Wider tracks don't make for more passing because there is still one fastest route through the course, especially after the excess tread buildup develops off the racing line. I think the question better representing this issue is can a track be designed for F1 speeds with indefensible series of corners? And all racing should have catalytic converters and A/C FTW.
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