Simple ways to keep F1 competitive without being overly complicated

Hello, all. It's my first post here. I don't own a Ferrari though I kind of almost bought a 400GT (though my heart and mind both agreed that cash in the bank was more important for the time being).

One thing that makes no sense is the ridiculously complicated and semi-policeable regulations to bring cars closer together in performance. RPM limits? Then there's KERS. WTF? Now there's, what, budget cuts? How is that going to be policed? What if engineers work secret overtime? This is so, so stupid and unnecessary.

So I have a suggestion or two. What about inlet tract limiters? They have those in WRC cars (in front of the turbo) and also in GT racing (where cars like the 575 GTC would race - I'm not really an expert on motor sport). Perhaps port size limits would be better still? What about going back to Weber carburettors or further, disallowing electricity/electronics? Note the simplicity.

Perhaps a handicap system of sorts: for every point you have to add a few kilogrammes to the car. Or you have to freeze your gear ratios for the next race if you finish in the top six.

This stuff is easy, inexpensive and easy to regulate. But that's too logical apparently. One day they'll find a way to make F1 as exciting as British (and, I think, German) touring cars were in the '90s.

 

Good post mate, however it's too late in the day for me, gotta get some zzzzzz's.

I'd be up all night...

 

IMO F1 and restrictions don't work. Artificial means don't produce competition. We saw a shake up in team positions this year because of the major change in the rules which leveled the playing field because everyone need a new design not because of any specific performance restriction.
BTW welcome.

 

Interesting ideas, but the problem is not controling speed. The budgets cap suggestion has more than one purpose. The BTCC ini the early 1990's was incredible, I have the DVD's.

One of the purposes is to create a way for new teams to enter F1. To be competitive today requires more money than the economy would currently let a new team obtain. No one seems to hve come up with a better way to let this happen, hence budget caps

Another reason for budget caps is to hopefully keep the exisiting teams on the grid, and to avoid another Honda situation. Mercedes, Renault, Toyota, Williams, are all teams that could leave the sport for reasons far removed from this current budget cap debate within the next 3 years. So how do you fill the grid, to the contractual minimum, if even one of these teams leave?

So you see the reason for the first purpose I mentioned.

I don't by all this crap about new teams being mediocre, etc. Everyone except Ferrari was new at one time. I remember names like Wolf, Hesketh, even Tyrrell, being new to the sport with barely a reputation, so I certainly do not have a problem with the likes of Lola or Aston Martin. And I do not have a problem with Ferrari having to compete with any other team with the same budget. If these new teams are as mediocre as some people what to paint them as being, we will find out on the race track. We will also find out on the race track how competitive the McLarens, Toyotas, and Ferraris can be when they do not have unlimited budgets.

But you hit upon the big problem, how do you police budget caps? The FIA came up with a really stupid method and is still insisting that the caps be effective next year, in 7 months? I cannot imagine they are serious about the time frame. All the teams, except possibly Ferrari, agree that their racing budgets need to be reduced, it is the timing and the method of reduction that remains to be seen. Of the 10 current teams, 9 will most likely return in 2010, the last one may make a regretable mistake.

Stay tuned.

 

The days when Ned in a shed could cobble together an F1 team are long over and although I miss them they'll not be coming back.
To artificially dumb down F1 will kill it. Lowering the bar never raised anyone's game.

 

David, what I do not understand, is how is it dumbing down F1? How is it lowering the bar?

Because you can't spend as much money? Ferrari has proven that spending the most money does not necessarily bring you championships.

I do not recall anything that has been proposed say that the actual cars will be less expensive to build. There is nothing proposed that changes the cars to look, act, and feel like Formula VW cars. There is nothing that prevents engineering development.

What you will see is a serious reduction in employees, in entertainment budgets, in wind tunnel time, in expensive motor homes. You would see less people from the factory traveling to the races. You will hopefully also see clever work done by the engineers that keeps the cars technologically advanced.

I have been a fan of F1 and Ferrari F1 since the days of Bandini. I sure as Hell do not want to see F1 be anything less than the pinnacle of motorsport, but I also realize that this is a strange time in the world, we possibly have not yet hit bottom in world economics, and that it would really be dumb for F1 to do nothing and get caught with its pants down. I understand the real concern held by FOTA, FOM, and the FIA that the chances in the next three years are very good there could be another team leave F1 as did Honda. Personally I think that it could be Renault or Mercedes, or even Toyota. All three have been on shaky ground as far as their corporate boards are concerned over involvement in F1.

Keep in mind David, there really aren't any other large corporate entities left in the world that could mount a full scale F1 assault under todays unlimited budgets. Even the wealthy in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are defaulting on loans. So even in the light of insults and stupid answers, I keep asking who will replace any team that leaves? Remember there is that contractual 20 car grid that needs to be maintained.

Unless somebody clever, maybe even one of our FChat geniuses, comes up with a better way to be proactive to the economic environment in the world today, I am pretty sure that some sort of budget caps will be in effect by 2011. I am glad to see the sport be proactive, and I welcome these new teams because the will keep the sport alive. I hope they give the regulars a run for their budgets.

That threat will keep the Ferraris and McLarens on their engineering toes. I call that competition. I call spending more money than your competitor buying your success, which as Ferrari has shown, does not always work. And in the case of Toyota, it seems to not work at all.

 

Ron, Motorhomes and other sponsor related costs are specifically excluded from the proposed caps. They are seen as income generators.
Any restrictions on costs and designs that are intended to even the playing field for new teams with less money mean bringing the established teams down to their level. Hence the dumbing down.
FOTA and FOM are just arguing over the division of the revenue. The rest of what we see in the press is largely PR attempts for one side or the other to gain leverage.
The thing is, of course, that what we fans care matters not a bit. Nothing that's being discussed on the yachts in Monaco this weekend will return F1 to the US, Canada & France or assure its survival in the UK. These are the things that matter to us not whether the billionaires will let the mere millionaires race with them.
BTW Back in the fifties when F1 became too expensive it was put on hiatus and F2 cars raced for the title.

 

Here is a simple way.

Get rid of Max Mosley

 

+1 while we are at it let's get rid of Bernie too

 

First off, F1 is a billion dollar sport. There's no way or logic to have budget cuts whatsoever. If you could spend the millions and billions, then it's up to you. Money doesn't always gurantee success. Just look at Toyota and Mclaren. For years they were having the biggest budget in the sport, but Toyota have yet to win, and Mclaren only won the WDC by a point last season.

The FIA should let teams run on their own budgets. Imagine how silly it would be to tell Chelsea or Liverpool or Man Utd they could not spend more than 20 mil on buying new players for new season. Really silly, IMO. I really hope the big names in F1 stand their ground and quit F1. It's getting stupid and ful of politics thanks to the 2 evil and greedy fellas.

 

And its cost effective!

 

+1 Budgets should be left up to the teams to resolve among themselves after they've negotiated revenues with FOM. The FIA has no reason to involve themselves with that aspect of the sport.

 

+10000000 to infinite.

Dave me and you could start a Ned in a Shed team, I'll PM you where to send me a chq...

 

I would but someone will have to buy me a pen first They don't allow me around anything sharp here.

 

Now there's a thought. If the point is to attract new teams, what about lowering the team "pay me" fees to Bernie, the price of a super license, etc etc etc.?

Why should the teams absorb the "price reduction" if FOM won't?