Quote:
Originally Posted by Dean
(Post 129960)
I don't know about the advanced technology argument anymore with standard ECUs, no ABS, no traction control, no launch control, aero limitations, legacy fuel and engines with little practical application.
I am not saying they are not innovating, just that they are not the leaders they used to be. In some ways, ALMS and similar series are doing more in that area.
F1 has to decide what they are. To be the premier series, you have to let builders build premier technology, not just engineer solutions to the nth degree of stifling regulations.
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To that end, here's what F1 should really do:
1)
Mandatory spending limit at say, 100M euros per season.
2) Fixed fuel load per race weekend. You get X liters of fuel to drive Y miles. It doesn't have to be in the car the whole time, so you can refuel, but you only have so much for the whole race distance. The fuel type is open, but based on energy density, everyone starts the weekend with the same amount of potential energy.
3) Raise the min weight of the cars to 800kg. Heavier cars mean less need for exotic materials (thus allowing more creative design w/o running into the spending cap) as well as results in drivetrain technology more directly applicable to real world cars.
4) Car design rules: single seater, open cockpit, no fenders, one allowable primary aerodynamic device on the front of the car, one primary aerodynamic device on the rear of the car. All engine/tranny layouts and types are allowed, active aero is allowed, active suspension is allowed, driver aides are allowed... basically anything goes, the limiting factor is keeping design/manufacturing cost under the spending cap and being able to finish the race on the allocated fuel.
5) Unlimited testing, but testing costs apply to the spending cap.
6) Long weekend schedules: give the fans lots of time to see the cars... 4 hours testing on Friday, 2 hours of practice on Saturday, 2 hours of Qualifying on Saturday, 2 hours of racing on Sunday.
7) Bring back the practice cars and Friday drivers... if we're giving teams more track time, let's have more cars out there to make the time useful to the teams as *free* track time that they don't have to pay for under the cap.
8 ) Once car per race, per driver, one backup testing car. So three cars go to every race per team. You crash a car, blow a motor, etc during the weekend and can't fix it, that's a DNF/DNS. No spare motor swaps, no tranny swaps, etc... but also, no 10 point penalty for switching a motor the next race, and no artificial limits that span multiple races. Three cars for the weekend, with two of them starting the race... (which does imply the T car can be cannibalized for parts if one of the primary cars breaks).
The bottom line is, I would love to see some high tech cars with all sorts of variation out there. Put a turbo flat 4 diesel up against a E85 V6 with a flywheel based KERS up against a jet-turbine that has a fully electric AWD drivetrain. Let see some crazy active aero that means the following car can make downforce while in the slipstream, then attempt to clean up as they try for the pass, only to be blocked because the lead car goes from their 400hp economy engine map to their 1200hp power engine map to keep from getting passed, only to run out of their fuel allocation with 2 laps to go.
Instead of clamping down more and more on the tech rules, just limit everything by forcing the teams to be efficient, both in their fuel consumption and in their spending. Then, when the cars start to get "too fast", just dial back the fuel allocation by 10%, and the teams will instantly be 10% slower until they can build something 10% more efficient. If the economy means teams will go out of business due to spending so much to stay competitive, then the FIA can just dial back the spending cap.
It's a hell of a lot better than crap like spec ECUs, or spec undertrays, etc, and it gets F1 back to being the premier showcase for technical innovation.