I am sad

I Agree! The new rules make F1 look like a glorified lottery. But Ferrari will come back... have faith!

 

I actually like most of the new rules. F1 has never been a no holds barred technology driven series. The rules have always been developed and changed to try to keep speeds in check. Without strict rules all of the cars would be packed with more electronics than they currently are. They would have active suspension, turbos, and be capable of 300 mph.
The racing on Sunday was good and often close. That tells me that the rules are working. I hate the new qualifying and won't bother watching it again this season, but I have enjoyed the races.
F1 used to be about endurance and driving tactically, with the best drivers preserving their tyres until the end of the race (e.g. Prost/Lauda) or just managing to hang on with worn out tyres (Mansell/Villeneuve). In the 90's when refuelling was re-introduced the race became a series of short sprints with the drivers constantly driving at 100%. As all the cars were being driven constantly at the limit they were all going at their maximum speed. This made overtaking a rarity as all the cars were on fresh tyres with a small fuel-load for the whole race. Now with the cars having to stay on the same tyres we get some interesting situations towards the end of a race when those who have looked after their tyres can harrass those who have little rubber left. The disadvantage of this is that the mechanics look pretty silly just standing looking at the car during a pit-stop. I'd be happier if re-fuelling was banned and the teams then had to decide whether to turn the race into a series of sprints on fresh tyres or whether to try going the whole distance on one set of tyres. The pit-stops wouldn't look as silly and there would be more possibilty of on-track overtaking.

 

Always wanting to level the field from the bottom up ends up firstly by succeeding and secondly by destroying the "sport".

F1 is supposed to be the expression of the most capable drivers taking the most sophisticated machines to their absolute limit for 200 miles. Today, F1 is a tyre war for endurance racing cars. Better to watch the ALMS/LMES series - the racing is better and the cars are purpose built...

To have to listen to Alonso explain after qualifying that he is dominating the weekend - without so much as an ounce of humility is to watch a young man whose head is so swollen that his helmet will soon not fit him anymore.

Bernie gets richer, the spectators who understand the sport, desert it...the beginning of the end.

 

What are you friggen kidding me? Schu isn't bigheaded? I'm surprised they can make a helmet to fit on his head. The entire team is oozing of arrogance and i'm happy to see them getting thier tails kicked. And if i rememeber correctly Alonso is the one saying let's not get out of hand we haven't done anything yet. Sounds pretty humble to me.

 

I'm not happy with the new rules either. For example, I think teams should be able to change tires if they want. They lose time by pitting. Seems fair....

I think what they have to do is figure out a course where there is more potential for passing. Just thinking out of the box for a second. How about an area that has two seperate paths that reconnect .5 miles down the course? So, if your behind someone that's blocking you, you can take the other route that is exactly the same distance and have the possibility of beating him to the connecting point.

I think racing should try and keep the speeds increasing safetly.

How about bobsled style banking turns?

 

Oh noes F1 is teh suxs because our precious ferrari isnt #1

 

That's called determination. They are 100% focussed on winning. Most of the other teams are 'just' participating.(I know, smaller budgets etc.)

 

what language is that?

 

yeah i reckon scalextric style crossovers and jumps over barrels and stuff.

 

I'm not in favor of all the new rules (esp. the qualifying- and god knows I'm not a Bernie fan) but think that by and large they have improved the racing. I think Ferrari will adapt given time- but no one can say they're at a disadvantage merely because of the new rules- that's a load of BS.

Let's face it- Ferrari just haven't adapted as well or as quickly as the other teams have. They might even (horror of horrors!!) not win a WC this year.

And I strongly agree with Anthony when he says that F1 has never been no holds barred technology driven series. There have always been limits and the winning teams and drivers have always been the ones who took the best advantage of them.

Let's face it folks- so far this year Ferrari simply isn't cutting it.

 

Determinaton? So they start the year with last year's car figuring it would be good enough? Normally i think Ralf's on crack, but he hit the nail on the head saying they arrogant to do such a thing. The bottom line is they got caught with thier pants down and are playing catch up now.

 

I'm sorry to say I agree. I wouldn't have believed there was a such a thing as a 90 minute endurance race, but that's what we now have in F1. I have read many comments about how great the racing has been, frankly I don't see an improvement.

We have had 3 uncontested victories, and then some good battles further down the field. We always had those but at least in previous years when there was a pass, you could be sure it was a great move. The same cannot be said for these passes due to worn tires (the scant few there have been); after Bahrain Massa commented that his pass on Barrichello "wasn't true overtaking," because RB simply had no grip (this from the driver who did the most overtaking last season).

New technical regulations always seem to suffer from law of unintended consequences. This year cutting aero and mechanical grip was supposed to give us great close racing. Obviously this has not been the case and it appears that the combination of rules changes is a big contributor to this backfiring. Taking off downforce should promote passing, but when you get rid of mechanical grip, the relative importance of that downforce is re-established. The net difference winds up being that the cars are simply more sensitive to disruption than they were before.

I have not really seen an example of bad driving killing tires, it has been more like some car/tire combinations are much more effective than others, and the driver has little to no control. Compare RB's tire performance with FAs. Is Fernando the greatest tire preserver ever, and RB the worst, or is this just an engineer's game that was all decided over the winter? I vote for the later. The only variable in this equation between teammates is that of car set-up, and ironically, since there are so few tires for a weekend, drivers are running the minimum number of laps necessary and are effectively guessing at their setups (example: Fisi in Malaysia). Guess wrong, you lose. That's not racing, it's gambling.

Tragically the FIA's solution for bad rules is to make even more bad rules. To repeal a rule would be an admission that they made a mistake, which they apparently don't do. It must be nice to be so perfect.

 

I'm mixed. I like the mid-field battles we're seeing today. I don't like 1 set of tires though, as conserving becomes more important than hauling as$. Same with the engines. Ferrari was late to the game, but they'll catch up. Fact is, they're a superior team, and they usually dial in things better than the others. No doubt they're behind, but it's a long season. I don't believe it's arrogant that MS is saying the same thing about their season - he' s a realist. If I were Alonso, I wouldn't shoot my mouth off just yet.....we've a long way to go.

 

I don't think the new rules have been brought in to 'nobble' Ferrari. The rules apply to all teams equally. As one of the best teams out there Ferrari are usually at an advantage every time the rules change as they have the resources and intelligence to react to new situations.

I would like to see the following:

1) No restrictions on the number of tyres used in a weekend.
2) No refuelling allowed during the race.
3) More restrictions on aerodynamics.
4) Less electronic nannying. Get rid of TC etc. I don't like it on my road car and I don't expect the best drivers in the world to have it.
5) Do something about qualifying so that people want to watch it. Unrestricted fuel and tyres for one hour on a Saturday. 12 laps each. Go out when you like, but you have to have done at least 6 laps after the first 30 mins. Let's get drivers moaning about slower cars spoiling their laps again and have qualifying build to a crescendo like it used to.
6) 1 Point for pole position and 1 for fastest race lap.

So, although I think things are getting better this season, I also think there is a way to go!