Wasn't 1.8m wide picked to make it Road relevant?

Wasn't 1.8m wide picked to make it Road relevant?

No; it was picked to move the inside edges of the (same size) wheels and tyres closer together and hence reduce downforce.

 

If we want to make the cars wider, why not make them 5m wide, and then see how possible overtaking is?

 

Actually, complaining about a lack of overtaking on a track that was seemingly purpose designed to make overtaking impossible (without a substantial advantage in straight line speed on the pit straight) seems odd to me, particularly when the complaint comes from an experienced F1 driver. So my view is that we need to get rid of tracks that make overtaking difficult to impossible (eg bye bye Singapore and Sochi).

Apparently Mrs Wolf is getting a bit miffed by the lack of seat time at Williams. 

 

Would it not a a good thing, come the end of the year when Williams have a solid 3rd in the Manufactures standings (behind Mercedes and Ferrari) to let her have a race? This is dependent on both Bottas and Massa being solid in their championship positions as well. I can see nothing bad happening from it. No one will expect a stand out performance given the lack of seat time. Massive press coverage and if she finishes in the points (which could be quite likely) then she will be making history. 

 

Either that or you would have thought her hubby would hook her up.

Apparently Mrs Wolf is getting a bit miffed by the lack of seat time at Williams. 

 

Would it not a a good thing, come the end of the year when Williams have a solid 3rd in the Manufactures standings (behind Mercedes and Ferrari) to let her have a race? This is dependent on both Bottas and Massa being solid in their championship positions as well. I can see nothing bad happening from it. No one will expect a stand out performance given the lack of seat time. Massive press coverage and if she finishes in the points (which could be quite likely) then she will be making history. 

 

Either that or you would have thought her hubby would hook her up.

Has Mrs Wolff actually enough points for a super licence? Was watching BTCC the other day and they commented on how you need to win the F3 championship basically to accrue enough points , perhaps her role at Williams bypasses that requirement ?  

The last time this was discussed, she herself said she wouldn't qualify for a superlicence, but neither would some young guns who would previously have had no bother.

 

Her quote didn't sound to me like she had any realistic chance to race F1.

and does the sport need "spicing up", or just improved?

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/32719280

should it be "sport" or "entertainment" ?

 

I would say sport - and agree with a lot of what DC said, it needs to be possible for the drivers to push as much as possible for as long as possible, and it needs to be possible to overtake.

if you're looking at spicing up the entertainment, then you're getting into the realms of Bernie's sprinkler system, or wierd ideas like having shortcuts which drivers can take once per race

Tyres I think and no weight or fuel limits , just restrictions on engines as they are , want to run more power then you can but you'll need to carry more fuel

Just give everyone a budget and let them spend it however they want. Of someone wants to spunk theirs on engines or aero, and others on expensive drivers let them

So the Strategy Group has spoken!

 

http://www.fia.com/news/f1-strategy-group-press-release

 

For 2016:

-          Free choice of the two dry tyre compounds (out of four) that each team can use during the race weekend

 

For 2017:

-          Faster cars: 5 to 6 seconds drop in laptimes through aerodynamic rules evolution, wider tyres and reduction of car weight

-          Reintroduction of refuelling (maintaining a maximum race fuel allowance)

-          Higher revving engines and increased noise

-          More aggressive looks

 

A few other measures have also been discussed but require further investigation before they can be implemented:

-          A global reflection on race weekend format

-          Measures to make starts only activated by the driver without any outside assistance

 

 

More aggressive looks and faster cars - going to need a real evolution to manage that!

Isn't the current "rev limit" imposed indirectly by the fuel allowance and consequent need for fuel efficiency rather than by a technical consideration or a regulation stating peak revs?

Yes it is - although there is a mandated rev limit at 15000, the engines apparently rarely go over 12000 during a race owing to fuel considerations.

Cheers, so maintaining a fuel limit won't make the engines rev higher; they run to fuel efficiency, not reliability or regulated speeds.

 

Similarly, as long as we retain the current turbo-compound powerplants we won't get more exhaust noise, because that noise is heat energy and velocity being converted into sound, and the ERS-K and ERS-H are converting that energy into electrical energy.

It's all sounds good, I'd like to see quali tyres too but there's on elephant in the room that no one has mentioned. Cost. This could finish the smaller teams off. Or is that Bernie's plan all along?

It isn't going to be much of a show is it. 

 

When the small teams leave, and the Red Bull teams leave - who's left?

 

Ferrari, Mercedes, umm... McHonda? Williams?

 

I'm not going to watch races for 8 cars - That GP at Indianapolis with no Michelin runners was a farce.

Edited 15 May, 201511 yr by camelspyyder

LMy 2p would be lock engine, tyre and brake reg's. Loosen aero to the scope it has to fit on the XxY dimensions. We need innovation and creativity; safety too, ala tyrrell and early lotus thinking...

 

Share revenue so all teams have eql basis before sponsors, that should cover teams costs to race, not fancy motorhome racing, but sleeping on the floor racing. Let teams add on top, the fluff and additional engineers as they need to. Run a saturday sprint, no fuel flow regs etc, max everything. Then run sunday as endurance, points for fastest lap, reverse grid, or weight and so on... so all cars are within a % of the slowest racer...

 

Nice looking car  -  and a surprisingly successful one - 15 GP podiums including a 1-2.

 

If Goodyear could have been bothered, it would have done even better, as shown by it's 2 more recent Thoroughbred Grand Prix titles - when AVON did do some good tyres for it.

Someone posted this on F1 Fanatic site and I think it really sums up F1 at the minute and probably a lot of fans think exactly the same:

 

I think it’s about time I admit Formula One is not for me any more.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, I don’t have a better idea for the rulebook, and I’m not one of the guys saying that if I don’t like it, no one likes it and it should change. To each their own. I’m just a long-time viewer and I admit I personally don’t like it any more.

 

It has become way too clinical, too artificial and too restrictive (both on and off track). It’s too dramatic and the whole lifestyle and opulence around it is slowly starting to swallow the sport itself. The whole of Formula One has become a synonym for questionable decisions and an example of how the powerful ultimately prevail over the powerless. Formula One has become one of those always-tense reality shows where you simply watch ultra-rich folks pretending to have a go at life. And it’s on pay-per-view too!

 

I don’t care about that. I’m just one of those guys who wants to turn the television on every other Sunday and watch a proper race. I want to see diverse, interestingly built, good looking, fast cars performing to their mechanical limit irrelevant of their tyres performance, DRS or fuel usage. I want to see drivers performing at the limit, battling it out on the track with every chance they get, not sports megastars and pay drivers hitting beeps, pushing buttons and driving at a given target. I want them to become heroes through their personalities, grit and performances, not through their PR agency and Instagram account. I want to see risky strategy calls fully dependent on the driver’s skills.

 

I want accessible quality coverage and commentary. I want to hear interviews that provide relevant information from relevant people, not just the usual “it will be difficult but we’ll see if trying to beat another team for seventh place is possible this weekend, because that’s our target”, or check if Rihanna likes it or how Hamilton’s brother is doing or whatever. I want proper informative team radio, not pieces of constant complaints cut in a particular way to enhance the drama.

 

I want to watch a race, not have an audio-visual, multi-dimensional entertainment experience. I want what the WEC has to offer. Not the premium, overpriced, corporate product that is F1.

Watching the Spanish Grand Prix a week after what was a brilliant sportscar race at Spa Francorchamps made it clear for me.

 

That’s it. Sorry, F1, but it’s been too many disappointing years.

 

 

 

F1 Strategy Group need to take note, sharpish!

F1 doesn't care about "fans".

 

It is, and often has been before, a business first and foremost.

 

And prior to than it was a political tool.

 

I too wouldn't watch it any more if I had to pay for it.

Edited 19 May, 201511 yr by camelspyyder

Things will only change post Bernie

Someone posted this on F1 Fanatic site and I think it really sums up F1 at the minute and probably a lot of fans think exactly the same:

 

 

 

F1 Strategy Group need to take note, sharpish!

 

Totally, I'm getting far more out of motorsTV even watching the odd repeat, where for a moment I think I need to and put a bet on. The odd interview, no repeating the same tyre question... not as slick tv coverage, the odd gaff.

 

I think it's on freeview, it appeared on virgin and I have the basic package... I'm not paying to fall asleep to F1 on a sunday.

The guy on the other forum sounds correct, but what he wants is 70/80's level of diversity and racing, with today level of safety. It can't happen.

 

The only problem is, if they opened up the rule book, then the cars would very quickly start out performing the drivers and the tracks. Yes, taking 130R flat in 7th at 210mph would be immense, but after 40laps you would have no neck left, no arms and would hardly be able to keep the car on the track. 

Look at Newey's X1 prototype. Can you imagine this with a unrestricted engine/driveline combo? It would be fantastic, right up until something went wrong and then it would become a plane crash. Not a car crash. 

 

There needs to be a happy compromise. I have no idea how it could be reached but making the cars louder and more visually appealing is a start. That way they will at least look and sound fast.

My only suggestion would be WEC LMP1 style of rules. That keeps everything similar and diverse all at the same time, and allows for some fantastic racing.

F1 is on free national TV live here in the States with an OK commentary team including ex F1/LeMans Brit and F5000/TransAm  champion David Hobbs.

 

It's probably possible to stream that coverage in the UK.

Four Renualt engined cars in the top 8 in FP1 !!!!

 

Between GPs interesting comments from Carlos Sainz Jnr  about F1 cars being hardly quicker than GP2.   http://www.worldcarfans.com/115050993525/sainz-disappointed-with-speed-of-f1

 

Both Torro Rosso drivers very impressive considering everything.

 

Head of Nissan-Renault, Ghosn, says that Renault will put in enough resources to get back to the top of F1.

 

Interesting issue how Renault pixston failures happen on the track but not on the engine test rig, got to be something like oil feed issue due to Gs or the like. 

http://gpda.motorsport.com

Poor old Bernie

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32837656