FOTA Announcement 05 March 2009

[donskar]

conceptual and scotracer probably speak for a lot of dedicated F1 fans. They are emotional, because they care.

Many of the changes proposed or enacted make sense; others are inevitable given the current economic situation.

But it is hard to overlook what SEEMS like a steady slide toward a "spec car" F1.

Who will say it is impossible that the F1 of 2011 or 2012 will be made up of 18 - 22 (choose one: Lola, Dallara, Van Diemen, etc) all in different colors and subtle aero differences, with the same engine, common KERS, identical transmission, brakes, ECU, etc, etc?

I don't even bother any more to keep up with this "spec-ing" of F1. I would appreciate some of you projecting, though: given the changes made AND those proposed, what pieces will NOT be mandated in the next 2-3 years???

[modbaraban]

I already said this before. The teams are agreeing to kill the sport to save themselves for what'll be left of F1 as we know it. And then racing enthusiasts like Frank Williams will just silently leave later on. Some of them did already. Marmorini, Chevrier... Newey said he's very likely to go building racing boats in a few years when the 2009 formula settles and returns to fiddling kind of development again.

[donskar]

MAYBE it will be money that saves F1:

Shorter races mean fewer commercials and less exposure for sponsors -- meaning fewer sponsors. (And either lower ticket prices or fewer spectators!)

Those sponsors who see F1 as a means of showing off their technical muscles will look elsewhere.

From a different perspective, if TV coverage is significantly improved (and viewership grows), will the teams get more TV revenue? And how will the promoters cope with even smaller crowds as more fans stay home to watch the race on TV?

Am I missing something in this picture:
Unused, empty wind tunnels, underutilized CFD software/hardware, unemployed technicians, aerodynamicists, and engineers -- all might gravitate to a venue where technology is allowed to grow and flourish. Will it be a new series, or an existing one? I'm hoping it's IndyCar. And I'm also grasping at straws, I know.

PS: I do not mean to be a pessimistic nay-sayer -- I DO like the proposed points scoring system. I think it will add a LOT.

[tk421]

Good afternoon, my opinion of the topic and of the past 4 pages of posts:
---i completely agree with the new points system
---i totally DISagree with shortening races! however, the unexpected happens at any time. some people said "well his engine wouldnt have blown up" or "the rain wouldnt have come" BUT sometimes your engine blows on the 4th lap, or the rain comes earlier than you expected. so i also DISagree with everyone about those points, because it is completely, totally, 100% CHANCE when it comes to those kinds of things.
---instead of banning individual components of the season (testing miles, development, etc) I would much prefer a budget cap. even though there would be a cap, we would still see a competition between the teams: who spends more on testing, who spends more on development, who spends more on personnel, and how does your team's allocation of resources compare to the championhip team????
--- the schedule should include no more than 18 races
---The only extra driver points should be awarded for pole (1 point) and fastest lap (1 point). FOTA mentioned a point (or points) for the fastest pit stop; I disagree. Keep it to pole and fastest lap.
---FOTA wants more spectacle. I hate to say it, but I think the Americans are on top here. NASCAR features incredible accessibility, SPEED's F1 coverage is much more in depth than other broadcasters, and in general I feel American racing is much more of a spectator sport than F1. I think one of FOTA's proposals is to de-mystify F1, to make it fan-friendly, to give fans more access; in my opinion, that's the American way. I would be happy to see them adopt it.
--- Someone mentioned innovation. I think 2009's cars are the most innovative we've seen in a long while thanks to the new Regs (although it cost the teams $$$$$). That being granted, they are still more unique compared to each other than we've seen recently. Someone, it might be the same person, mentioned the sound of the engine. I can't help but laugh/shrug. With everything going on, if you're worrying about how the engine's sounds are ruining F1, I think you can consider yourself out of the loop.
---Someone else mentioned standardised components and how they were brought up in FOTA's proposed changes. I think the gist of their post was 'it's going to be a spec-series.' That might end up happening, but what no one else has mentioned is that (IMO) only two or three teams are going to be using these components. The bigger teams are still going to make their own engines and gearboxes and KERS systems. BMW is never going to use a Ferrari engine. McLaren is never going to use a Williams gearbox. Ferrari is never going to use a Toyota KERS system. Just because standardised components are on the market doesnt mean every team is going to buy into them.
---lastly, someone said something about USGPE not being able to use their wind tunnel any more because of the new rules. i can only say that they can test all they want, full scale, full speed, until they become an FIA approved Formula One team. in addition, just because scale and speed are reduced doesnt mean they cant use windshear. you try to make it sound like it is strictly full scale and full speed, but in reality they can put any sized model on the rolling road, and bring it up to any speed.
---sorry for the long post, and again it's all my opinion regarding the first four pages of this thread. as they say "IMHO"

[jddh1]

--- the schedule should include no more than 18 races
---The only extra driver points should be awarded for pole (1 point) and fastest lap (1 point). FOTA mentioned a point (or points) for the fastest pit stop; I disagree. Keep it to pole and fastest lap.

I agree with 18 races per season and I think it's time the races get a bit longer, not shorter. They had the 300 km rule when cars lapped 10-20 seconds per lap slower. I think the races should be 400 km.
If you pay over 100 bucks to see a race in person, you don't want it to be over just in time to catch the second half of a football match.

And for your second point, I think they do say something like that as far as the WDC goes. The pit stop points idea applies only to WCC, so the driver would get no points, but the team he represents would. I like that. Somebody also mentioned getting a point or two for most passes in the race. That is a splendid idea as well. It would reward backmarkers as they do most of the juggling for position. There's nothing to lose with those points as far as the top drivers are concerned. The ones getting those points would mostly be the ones that end up with 10-20 pts a season, or perhaps even less.

[ISLAMATRON]

20 races per season!

Nobody gets paid for testing... everybody makes their money during the races... MORE RACES! LONGER RACES!

[mx_tifoso]

Races cannot be any shorter, longer possibly.

Same for the season, they get paid to race, not to test and simulate.

F1 is a damn circus as it is, and adding extra points for best livery, most overtaking, best race suit, is overkill. Although points (1) for fastest lap wouldn't be bad. And adding points for pole position would not be significant to the overall results, since the same small group of drivers would always get them, i.e Raikkonen, Massa, Hamilton, etc.

[jddh1]

The simplest solution is:

Here's X amount of cash you can spend for the year (say 75mill USD, all teams the same). Now go kill yourself building a race car that will win you races. Wanna develop the engine this year? Well, good for you. I guess you won't have money to do research on that gearbox, or aero or so on.
So, basically, I am agreeing completely with Ciro's idea of a cap in spending. He is absolutely right when he says that the most innovation will come this way. Allow exotic materials, allow pretty much anything. Just don't go over that cap. If you do, Tamara Eclestone will release videos of you, say, a-la-Mosley.

[ISLAMATRON]

The question with that is How to police it? That has been the detriment to the budget cap since day 1.

[xpensive]

Agreed Islam, a budget cap in this globalized corporate world would be very difficult to enforce, when it's next to impossible to determine if and where international companies have spent their money these days.

Chances are that MrE would like it though, as it should probably tear FOTA apart in no time at all.

[modbaraban]

So, basically, I am agreeing completely with Ciro's idea of a cap in spending. He is absolutely right when he says that the most innovation will come this way.

Yes and the innovation will primarily include some simple and innovative ways of getting around the budget cap rule. (like charitable wind tunnel time etc )

Somebody also mentioned getting a point or two for most passes in the race. That is a splendid idea as well.

I remember very long time ago Jeremy Clarkson came up with this idea in an episode of TopGear, but a minute later he mocked it saying something like this: oh wait... then Schumacher will start from the back, overtake the whole field and win again. And then everyone will try to be as slow as possible in the quali to have better overtaking chances...

Obviously that was an exaggeration, but like with various success-penalty rules this one may encourage competitors to underperform in certain sutuations for strategic reasons. IIRC, Ford did that in WRC last year.

I see F1 as a sport where one should always push to the limit.

Instead of overtaking points they should merely bring back the free fuel quali. Then the fuel strategies will be harder to predict and lighter cars will try to overtake the heavier cars in order to succeed with their strategy of more pitstops.

[Chaparral]

I agree with tk421 to a fair degree as I do with a number of others the latest FOTA info all sounds feasible - drop the pit stop point rubbish - free fuel qualifying - start race with full fuel - 1 point for pole 1 point for fastest lap. Now if you apply a budget cap lets say $50 mil Euro a year per team it does squeeze the amount of flexibility in development especially if you have standard drive trains etc etc - simple open up the power plant specs - open them up to a certain capacity but allow whatever configuration V6, V8, V10, V12, Flat 12, Rotary, Diesel, Turbo, Supercharged - especially if you want the manufacturers to stay around long term - at present a V8 2.4 litre configuration doesnt really sit with anything the manufacturers are doing with their road cars. If it could be done I can guarantee you we would have some very interesting races on our hands...........................

[xpensive]

If FOTA's ambition was to make Grand Prix racing more coherent with their road-car developments, I would suggest they focus a bit on the fuel-economy, where a flow-limiting device should be the most efficient way to go.
But having said that, next step could be full-bodied cars to reduce the more serious energylosses, a concept which perhaps is out of the question.

[andartop]

The points system makes sense, though with less cars on the grid it would be perhaps more appropriate just to go back to the old 10-6-4-3-2-1 system. The one thing I've yet to see, and still think would make a BIG difference for the survival of the sport, is some guarantee of STABILITY in the rules, which would provide some SECURITY for the investors. If they keep changing the rules so radically they will only end up with a new WRC: anyone care for a championship with only two competitors left?

[Chaparral]

If FOTA's ambition was to make Grand Prix racing more coherent with their road-car developments, I would suggest they focus a bit on the fuel-economy, where a flow-limiting device should be the most efficient way to go.
But having said that, next step could be full-bodied cars to reduce the more serious energylosses, a concept which perhaps is out of the question.

Fine throw in the flow limiting as well (that was a John Barnard idea btw supported by Brawn a few years back) - I dont care if the bloody things are powered by 1000 cadmium batteries or methane emissions from cows just give us a point of difference - lifes like that - there is no parity commission for life like there is the FIA for F1 that says Johnny up the road should only be allowed to have as much success as Freddy down the road because of this and that restriction - what a total waste of bloody time. Set them some basic parameters then let them loose in the power plant area and see what happens.........f...k me this is a dumb f...king sport - whatever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!