F1 in self-destruction mode

It all boils down to the engines. For starters, they should be loud to the point of being a bit frightening and cruel. This CAN be accomplished with turbo engines. And forget about "green" and absurd fuel consumption rate restrictions. F1 must surely be the most outrageously wasteful racing series on earth with all the travel, etc. Let them be fuel guzzling monsters closer to the spirit of the '80s turbos, with ample spare engines and allow innovation. Do you think gaining 500 HP and 5000 rpm would make things more exciting??!! I do!! If you aren't pushing the limit, you aren't in F1, you're in a spec series. After doing these things, gimmicks like DRS can be dropped. I do like the KERS concept, however. Would hate to see batteries become the only power source, although I'm sure that's the eventual goal...

 

I'm not blaming MB. They acted in their own interest.
I'm blaming the FIA. They sold out.

 

What a monumental case of the pot calling the kettle black.

What really hurts F1 is races like today's in Monaco. I have been a defender of Monaco because it is one of the great legacy races, but it is no longer suitable for modern F1 cars I switched it off before Nico got out of his car, because I had absolutely no interest in any celebration related to his win. And I have been a Nico fan in the past. The only excitement was delivered by a 17 year old who had the onions to make a pass. This was one of the worst parades I have ever seen, right up until the end. The guy who was running away with the race was powerless to pass cars that he had put 20+ seconds on.

The most exciting race of the day was in Indianapolis. Congrats to JPM.

 

This has nothing to do with which team you support.

It's fact that when the new engine was being considered Ferrari wanted a sensible gdi turbo. Real leading edge technology that could have produced power and sound.

Mercedes had separate private meetings with the FiA and later revealed to the public their plan to leave f1 if they didn't get the hybrids they wanted - to suit their mass production/family car sales agenda.

Mercedes were working on that engine format long before others.

There is no way the current status can compare to any previous period of dominance. When Ferrari had their last great era every other team had the right to build all new cars and engines Any time they wanted. Mercedes were granted a season and titles by producing the best car at round one in Australia in 2014. Every other team were barred from doing anything to catch up in terms of engine power. This has never before happened in f1 or any other sort I'm aware of.
The FiA made a huge mistake kowtowing to Mercedes. They should have just said goodbye to them. There'd be more cars and teams. We could have kept the v8's for a year our 2 more and gone to a twin turbo gdi pu without any of the expensive old dangerous hybrid crap. They should have followed what worked for the intro of the last new engine. First year open slather on changes then start to lock things down.

 

Well when you just look at short term profit vs the long term viability of the sport...

 

When was the last time anyone involved looked beyond the short term?

They've been eating the seed corn for years.

 

True enough. MB is just the most prominent example.

The rest of the sport was willing to let the big carmakers call the tune both because it meant a more affordable source of motors for the minnows and it reduced the number of teams the other engine makers would need to supply.

MB supplies the minimum amount of technology with customer teams. Ask Macca.

 

I predict F1 will die at least three more times before the year is over.

 

That still leaves 6 lives...

 

2018 Calendar and rules.

The rounds:
Bahrain
Qatar
Great Leader Kim Jong Un Gran Prix of DPRK
Iran
Monaco
China
Bahgdad GP presented by ISIS
Russia
Saudi Arabia
India
Kuwait
Cuba
Singapore
Abu Dhabi

Rule changes:
1) Every ten laps a large 8-ball will be shaken with the question, "will it rain?" If the answer is yes, the tracks will be doused with water for 2 minutes. If the magic 8-ball returns an ambiguous answer, only half of the track will be doused for 15 seconds.

2) Double points will be awarded to the round which elects to pay the highest fee. This will be the form of a sealed-bid auction that takes place at the end of the season, so we won't know how the points will play out until the very end of the year. Note: all tracks that submit a bid will end up paying their bid amount to Bernie personally, regardless if they win or not.

3) In addition to DRS for gaps of less than one second, for drivers at least 1 second ahead of their nearest competitor, their #1 cylinder will cut out in the DRS zone. A race leader with more than 1 second lead will have both #1 & #2 cylinder cut out in the DRS zone.

4) DRS zones have been extended to the entire track.

 

+1

F1 has been "about to die" pretty much every year I've been watching it, working in it and then following it again. That's (just! ) over 50 years now that someone, sometimes many someones, has/have claimed it's unsustainable, it's going to price itself out of existence, blah, blah.

Yet the calendar remains full with a seemingly endless list of others lining up to join in. We may not like some destinations, and I too am pissed at Germany being AWOL and the "threats" to other traditional venues, but it just keeps rolling along......

I recall when losing France (the "birthplace" after all) was the beginning of the end for example. Yet the sun continues to rise, and we've even got a new team coming in next year.

Sure, they're all self centered, short minded, greedy, blah, blah, and I'm the first to admit it's a *long* way from perfect. But again, it's always been that way - "About to die".....

Cheers,
Ian

 

All of which would please many here.

Ian, everyone from Bernie to JT to the teams to the circuit owners to the sponsors have existential fears.

They're all Cassandra's?

 

Hilarious!

 

Monaco had no GP history in 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, they didn't even have a major team stationed there. Grab your time machine, bring out the pitch forks and torches, a GP was held at a city with no prior GP history in 1929! Sacrilege! The HORROR!

Nürburgring, didn't have any GP's before the "War to end all Wars", a German Grand Prix is blasphemy! Grand Prix, it is French, what business do the Germans have with a Grand Prix! Tar and Feathers for the officials that put a Grand Prix in upstart backwards unwashed Germany!

Silverstone was a bloody wartime airport, what business does it have being a host to a Grand Prix? Maybe an airshow, but it should be struck from the calendar for its lowly origins as a bomber base! Where is the Grand Prix history in that?

Just because people within a small area of the "western influence" have not heard of places in the rest of the world, does not mean the businesses or people there are any less important. The potential India has as it builds itself is immense. Imagine what Japan did becoming an industrial power with its limited resources and land mass. When Grand Prix's first started happening, the countries they were in were less advanced than the places thew GP's are being held at. Just food for thought. The political climate of the old world of Grand Prix racing will smother it.