F1 is ruined!

I agree with that to a certain extent, but the gist of the discussion in this instance was technology trickle-down rather than advertising / PR.

 

Now I see where we are having a misunderstanding. You think I mean the teams/sponsors currently in F1 are there to advance road cars. However, I'm not speaking of F1 developing for the road, I'm speaking of the technology F1 develops getting to road cars.

Wikipedia? really.

 

There are limits. Indycar hit those limits, people died on live TV in front of millions, and Indy had to back off and become a spec series.

Losing a well known world famous driver at Imola made serious changed to F1. Without television and the proliferation of cameras, F1 might be what it was, with people dying every few weeks. Its easier to sell a blood sport when its just people that show up that see it - its harder when a nation(s) sees it on TV.

 

I've always thought that these so called technology transfer should be suited more towards Le Mans.

At the end of the day, F1 is all about being the fastest, the pinnacle. Le Mans is a totally different story. It's more advisable to transfer technology from Le Mans to a Toyota. Or an Audi.

How much technology do you transfer from an F1 car into a normal road car? And Ferrari road cars are not normal road cars.

As weird as it sounds, i believe all this going green BS is the totally wrong approach.

 

I feel asleep in the melbourne gp and got bored half way through the Malaysian gp. The sound is missing as it just looks like a bunch of gp2 karts going around a race track now. Plus the ferrari used to sound different than the Mercedes and Renault engines. Now it all sounds the same.

But I do like the fact they get on the throttle later and the back moves around a bit. Is f1 ruined? Definitely not. Is it considerably less exciting because of the new engines? I think so. Hopefully they can rectify the situation in the next couple of races to keep the entertainment level high.

 

Please enlighten us on what F1 technology is in today's Camry came from the millions and millions Toyota spent having an F1 racing team.

Please enlighten us what F1 technology is in a Fiat 500.

We're waiting.

Toyota spent that money to advance it's brand, not to do "research". When the whatever benefit to advance their brand exceeded the cost to do it by other means, they stopped.

Why do you think they made the Lexus LFA and lost money on every single one? Because it would be fun and they might learn something? No. It was to advance the Lexus brand with more upscale buyers of cars.

Mercedes will do the same as Toyota did in F1, just as BMW did.

Since Toyota and BMW have stopped F1 racing, has their technology been lacking compared to their competitors? Are their sales shrinking away?

No on both counts.

Teams race to promote themselves and their products. The only technological research is for racing, not for street cars.

It's all marketing.

My point is this.

If it's about marketing, then give people the best experience so they'll tune in and go to races and see those brands instead of tuning off.

When you inject a purpose counter to getting people excited and interested, you're moving in the wrong direction.

Never forget-- it's all showbiz with a bit of razzle dazzle tossed in. Take away the razzle dazzle and it's just a business.

 

Depends on how much you like Diesels. I hate them

All those who hate the current sound of F1 should listen to the Audis at Le Mans. If they can even hear them

 

I am not speaking about a specific mfg doing F1 for their cars development. I am speaking of the sport, F1, as a whole and it's technological advances reaching road cars as an entirety. Tires, better engine management, better suspensions, better brakes, better gasoline, better oils, better metals, safety.

You keep speaking of specific cars when I'm speaking about the automobile industry benefiting from F1's advances. Manufactures would not necessarily spend the money on some of the R&D which has to happen in F1. Same as society has benefited from the 1960s space age technologies. Some cutting edge technologies are now mundane, but it starts somewhere.

As for the "F1 Circus" it has not been called this for decades because it lacks controversy and spectacle. Have not been to Montreal in a couple of years and I do watch on TV, but for as long as I have been following F1 there are years it's good and years it's bad. Like many sports where the rules are changed it takes a little while for the transition to take place. IMO, after some time the engineers usually overcome the rules, that is what I appreciate about F1. It forces innovation, ingenuity.

 

There is a stronger argument to be made that road cars are the testbed and drive F1 development than the other way around. Thank the FIA for that.

 

It's a pickle.

A possible solution going forward is to look backward. (sorry if this is review).
The 1947-53 era formula had two engine options, blown and NA. To wit, courtesy Wikipedia:

"This era used pre-war voiturette engine regulations, with 4.5 L atmospheric and 1.5 L supercharged engines. The Indianapolis 500 (which was a round of the World Drivers' Championship from 1950 onwards) used pre-war Grand Prix regulations, with 4.5 L atmospheric and 3.0 L supercharged engines. The power range was up to 425 hp (317 kW).
In 1952 and 1953, the World Drivers' Championship was run to Formula 2 regulations, but the existing Formula One regulations remained in force and a number of Formula One races were still held in those years."

Wouldn't this be cake and eat it too? Smaller teams could simply opt for simpler NA technology while big manufacturers could be at the technological cutting edge. BOP, while super tricky, could favor the turbo power unit tech to keep the Todt acolytes happy.

Everyone, especially fans would benefit.

M

 

If Ferrari was not in F1 I would not watch it.

It is painful to watch the team struggle nowadays.

 

The whole greening of F1 is the best example.

 

Well, i prefer to look at it at another way. For my daily use, i like quiet, efficient (fuel) cars.

For a weekend car, i want something loud. Like a V12. Not a vacuum cleaner engine.

 

Good point.

Diesel is of course the fuel of Satan, as proclaimed by Clarkson.

In the last 5 years or so petrol efficiency has gone up a lot. There really is little point for a dirty diesel these days.

It mainly has to do with how you drive anyway.

 

While I'm certainly no fan of diesel as race car engines, it's simply no longer true to claim they're 'dirty'. Some of BMW's (?) latest incarnations actually *clean* the air in polluted cities; "Beijing, Bangkok, Harrogate etc' per Clarkson.

The days of the black smoke belching, noisy, smelly diesels are gone. I recall Florian noting a while back that his test bed (sometimes?) uses 'pure air' in order to be sure that any 'pollutants' are coming from the engine and not the atmosphere... And there's no question they are more 'efficient' and long lived.

Just keep them away from my race cars!

Cheers,
Ian

 

I'm not interested enough in diesel to know all it's recent developments


To be fair, we had them in our 7 series in 2007 and they where quite nice. I personally just wouldn't buy a diesel powered car when I can buy a petrol equivalent. And I completely agree...keep them away from the race track!

 

I'm with you

 

After watching the 2nd race of the year I have totally lost interest in F1. It's not racing. It's a parade. It's been a parade for years, but now it's a boring parade. Frankly, and unfortunately, this statement can be applied to just about all forms of racing today, F1, Indy car, NASCAR.... There are simply more interesting thins to do on a Sunday afternoon than sit in front of the TV for 2+ hours wondering if the leader's car will suffer a failure.

 

I miss the smell of belching buses in the morning.

 

I find the new formula to be both interesting and exciting. Its about time F1 moved away from old school V8 NA engines. To revert back to such antiquated designs would turn modern F1 into Historic racing; we already have a series for that. F1 has always been the pinnacle and leading-edge of motor sport, and that is forced induction-hybrid type engines. For the engineers to have to develop the new formula to maximize fuel economy all while increasing speed, are great for auto design innovation. F1 has always attracted a higher educated and technically savvy fan base than most other forms of motor sports and this new formula will only increase that fan base IMHO. Plus, the transfer of the new formula to street cars will make for even better cars than we now have. I hope the next formula will be turbo I-4 engines.

 

Somebody gets it.

 

Hooray!!!!

 

Or not.
From one EBOW to another.

 

Exactly.