Would Having 1-3 Oval Races Make F1 More Exciting?

The Reason why I'm asking this is because one of the compalints of people in this board is that F! lacks overtaking, thus making it boring, so will having 1 or 2 races in the calendar make it more exciting, I am thinking of maybe turning the US Grand Prix into an oval race using the Indianapolis 500 track, and also switching the venue of the Japanese Grand Prix from Suzuka to the Motegi Twin Ring, which has a famous oval circuit.

 

I think it will make it more dangerous and boring to me.

 

No!!! The origins of Grand Prix, and by definition F1, is ROAD RACING, that means a variety of corners (left and right), camber changes, elevations, etc... One of the skills required is to be able to negotiate different types of corners, involving braking, chosing a trajectory, accelerate, going through the gears, and so on...

Running at almost constant speed and just turning left, on almost similar tracks is not F1. Beside, NASCAR does that very well. Also, I understand that oval racing doesn't allow for races in the rain; GPs are run in the wet.

The so-called lack of overtaking in F1 is not new. GPs have never been very close races, as I can see from old videos from the 60s. That criticism only came about by comparison with IRL/NASCAR. People who want to see plenty of overtaking should watch NASCAR!!

 

YES...

 

If you really want professional racing where:

1) operator skill is a big part of the man/machine equation;
2) Tons of passing/dicing; and
3) the races aren't kept artifically close then

MotoGP is the only game in town......

 

Absolutely right there!

 

No.

I like F1 because it IS a road course series. For oval racing I will continue to watch NASCAR and sometimes IRL.

Sure the F1 cars would be fast on an oval, but I really doubt that most F1 drivers would be able to master the constant slip streaming that goes on at an oval if they only run two ovals per year. Right now, the closest F1 comes to this is the final turn at the USGP in Indianapolis. Entirely different dynamics to be able to draft nost to tail AND side to side.

But I do not even like IRL on the high banked ovals because they go too fast and it is a severe accident waiting too happen. The first time I went to Homestead after the corners were rebuilt, I sat in the very top row of the start/finish straight. From there I felt fear just watching these cars. Not fear for me, but fear that I would be present for something really bad to happen. Haven't been back for the IRL races since then. I go for the NASCAR finale, but no more open wheels on those banked ovals for me.

And now they want to run IRL at Daytona. Insanity!!

Keep open wheeled cars on road courses.

 

If you want ovals then you should partake in the nascar, busch and other forms of motor racing.

You can tell it's boring on FChat by the questions ! ! ! Looks like I haven't missed much over the past couple weeks. Sure did enjoy the Finali Mondiali in Monza recently.

Carol

 

Silverstone is pretty close to being an oval and the Indy 500 was once a part of the World Drivers championship. Racing is racing. Not a bad idea actually. The problem is that the cars are not suited to ovals and it would be very dangerous.

 

Yeah, you might ask Ralf Shumacher what he thinks of racing F1 cars on ovals. I suspect he'd tell you that even a moderate impact in an F1 car hurts a LOT. The cars just aren't built for that type of course, so the first thing you'd have to do is change all the rules to make the cars safe enough to run ovals. Then every F1 team would have to headhunt some Indy and NASCAR folks to teach them how to set up a car for an oval. Then you'd have to get the fans used to races being filled with caution periods, with the luck of the draw on position after the last caution playing a big part in who wins.

In short, you'd have to re-create IRL or Champ Car, and what's the point of that?

There are plenty of ways to increase overtaking in F1, but with ratings so high, the powers that be are understandably reluctant to take the big steps (e.g. huge cuts in downforce) necessary. Sad but true.

 

It would violate the "reduce costs" mantra -- they'd need special suspensions and tires to run ovals.

Remember the complaints about banked turns in "Grand Prix" (the film)? (+Gs use up the suspension travel.)

 

Some of this is true but for one or two races it might be OK. The biggest problem is the cars not being suited for ovals. If they ran a flat oval it wouldn't be so bad G wise.

 

The problem with IRL cars is that they have so much downforce and no motor. You just run them flat out. That's how they created all those close finishes. But when things go wrong they go wrong in a hurry with no time for correction. A lot of Champ Car drivers would have nothing to do with them. Paul Tracy called them crap wagons and a web site sprung up that was critical of the IRL. Not an active site anymore, just one message at www.crapwagon.com

 

Actually, I think if F1 cars were made of steel, the wheels were enclosed within bodywork and powered by cutting-edge 1930s technology, Formula 1 would be a hell of a lot more interesting.

 

http://www.tsn.ca/auto_racing/news_story/?ID=183071&hubname=

Paul Tracy hurt in drunken golf cart ride

TSN.ca Staff
11/5/2006 2:53:20 AM

According to a report in the Toronto Star, Paul Tracy may miss this season's final Champ Car race with a broken right shoulder blade.

Tracy, who currently sits fifth in the standings, suffered the injury while driving a golf cart after he had been drinking in Las Vegas.

''Sorry to say it was self-inflicted,'' Tracy told the Toronto Star. ''I was at a party and had a little too much to drink, and we thought it was a good idea to go out on a golf cart and try and jump some sand dunes with it.''

Tracy told the paper he injured his shoulder when the cart landed on top of him after trying to jump a sand dune.

 

NO! If I wanted to see drivers floor their cars and turn left I'd watch NASCAR.

 

I agree, Indy used to be a points scoring part of the Drivers World Championship. the only reason F-1 is road racing is Europe did not have lots of room like the USA did when cars were first being raced... Monthlery, Monza both have huge oval tracks.

While I think F-1 would look strange on the Indy oval, it may actually be a cool idea... come to america and race like the americans... it would never happen cause the aero pkg needed would be so expensive ... you would basically need a whole new car for 1 race...

I would love to see the Monza banking brought back to life... it would be the perfect place to hold a NASCAR event in Europe... imagine the possibilities...

 

LOL! F-1 with a few ovals thrown in is a fair description of what CART was in its heyday.

 

Would ovals make F1 more exciting? No, because that's not what F1 is about.

This has already been discussed but a better question would be, what would make F1 more exciting?

Wider tracks, this has been proven with some of the new designs.

No traction control, leave all the other electronic assists, but make the driver control the power of the car.

Aero, the skinny tires and skinny cars had less downforce. The designers went to the wind tunnels and made ground effects that produced a slipstream that extended much father behind the car. The approaching car now encounters turbulence much father back and equal cars can't approach, to attempt a pass.

But Bernie or Max hasn't asked me.

By the way, where have Tifosi12 and Impy been? Probably filling some of those vacancies at Ferrari F1.

 

I believe F1 raced on the oval at Indy before there were even a such thing as NASCAR or CART...But, I'm not sure the lightweight modern F1 drivers could handle the stress and danger of going 200mph+ nose to tail for lap after lap...

 

I would love to see them race 1 time around an oval, just for curiousity's sake.

To incorporate an oval as part of the regular schedule would be a huge mistake. It would be a race I would not watch, and would sour the sport's image, in my mind.

 

Oh come on, Danica Patrick can do it. She looks like about 98# in person.

 

I meant lightweight as in bravery, not in kilograms...

 

Have them run the USGP at Bristol! Yowzaa!

Okay, all jokes aside, if F1 is supposed to be the best drivers, they should do at least 1 oval. But the real solution to make F1 more "Redneck friendly" is to make the road courses wider so you can pass in more places.

What's wrong with a flat mile oval? It would be fun and not too fast for those sesitive F1 guys. Indy/Daytona would be a bad idea; too big/too banked.

Ken

 

But she proved you didn't need kahonies to lap at 225.