+10000 on both counts. Plus, he keeps on threatening the legendary tracks to either pay his ridiculous fee, or face the chop. He's greedy, he doesn't care about F1. All he cares is how much will be going into his pocket. One way to keep costs down, is to stop changing the bloody rules every 2 years.
If you're going to have two different spec cars running why not go all the way and resurrect Formul 2?
Bernie's idea isn't so stupid this time; we used to have different types of engines in the past (V8, V10,V12, V6 turbo), and they used to cohabit quite well.
When you have two specs in the same class eventually one will dominate. If F1 wants to provide cost relief to the small teams and give them a chance to succeed allowing them their own class is the way to go. The big boys can be allowed bigger budgets which gives us testing and meaningful in season development. Letting the classes run together will give Bernie his full grids. Fans will get to watch two races at once.
If you took all the hybrid carp off the current engine, with a few changes you'd have oodles of grunt and they'd be way cheaper.
The engine cost is the stumbling block. At present, the hybrid power units cost 5 times more than the former V8 atmo. There are only 4 or 5 well funded teams, the others are struggling. If nothing is done to alleviate that burden from the poorer teams, there won't be 22, 20 or even 18 for much longer on the grid.
That's my point. Allow a cheaper spec Formula 2 for the less well heeled teams and let those with the means spend what they will on testing and development.
I don't think that they are running flat out now, but rather driving to prescribed lap time. Last year was pretty transparent on this issue, there seems to be less radio chatter this year.
They have to observe the fuel flow limit (remember Ricciardo last year), and mostly manage the tyres. That's why they cannot go flat-out. Tyre strategy is all important nowadays and decides the winner - to a point. I attribute Vettel's last GP victory to clever tyre management on that day, not to outright performance from the Ferrari. I even suspect that race tactics start during practice, to save tyres for the race and keep the options open. The teams have to satisfy so many imposed parameters now, that it ruins racing IMHO.
They've banned more types of radio chat this year. They say its to make things more sporting. I suspect its to hide the limitations that the cars have to run under.
There is so much artifice in F1 these days that casual fans can't follow it and dedicated fans are turned off. Those running (?) the show wonder why viewership is down and sponsors are leaving.
I believe that they should stop making changes on rules every year. They should set a time, maybe every 5 years to submit changes. Like someone else said here before me, it's very hard for new fans to keep up with what's hapenning on this sport. I don't know any other sports that I'm aware of that they change the rules so often. It's a little bit disturbing.
Mark Webber said something along the same lines. He mentioned how the rules for all other competitive sport like tennis, basketball, football etc all remain relatively unchanged for decades yet they continue to have a solid, growing fan base year after year.
It has to be said that neither tennis, basketball and football make use of much technology compared to motor racing.
I know and played Australian Rules Football at a very high level and I can assure you a mountain of technology has been introduced while the rules and core of the game have been very stable. Attendances and viewership has always grown.
Clearly you haven't been inside a modern football club area or gym. The bit I would have hated is the GPS tracking embedded in your uniform. My bludging would have been instantly exposed. Now they overlaying the gps on video with comparative player positioning - even during a game and players can review.
No, I admit I never had any interest in football, or any team sport of any sort, and I don't know much about them either. . That they can use technology to monitor the game more accurately, I can imagine. Video is one tool. Just like tennis empire are now helped by electronic systems checking the court, etc... But the "instrument" of football itself hasn't changed, I suspect, and the sport is still played along the same rules, on the same pitch, no ? Or have they made the football heavier, smaller, more slippery, and reduced the size of the pitch, or even the duration of the game? Those, I would consider as rule changes. But I don't know much about ball games, I confess. For me, if it hasn't an engine ...
