http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71398

Yes please

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. But please don't shorten the races... don't dumb it down.

Sounds excellent. Although they'll probably do two short races instead of bothering about changing tank sizes.

I also want to see the majority of circuit testing to take place in between qualifying and the race, as in NASCAR. A team that qualifies badly, then makes a setup breakthrough, should be able to come through the field to the excitement of all.

Bear with the gimmicks, but ideally, 2hr free qualifying practice on Friday, top 10 single-lap shootout on Saturday morning (for the TV guys), then two testing sessions on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. And get the home drivers into the GP2 cars.

Yes. Absolutely. Force them to overtake.

Shorter races is just a cop out. What this ought to be is part of a drive to make the sport properly greener instead of paying lip(stick) service with a few green tyre stripes.

Same race distance, no refuelling, more economical engines or larger fuel tanks. There's enough compromises in there to allow different philosophies to be used in the creation of the cars.

Though of course I just pushed up development costs with that one...

shorter races?! lol

i already think it's a mini prix we have today.

Yes! Because without refueling car balance will change much more during the race and eventually different cars will be fastest at start and in last laps.

I really, really want the refuelling ban, it's awesome that they're actually considering it for a change, but the shorter races idea attached to it is a bit lame. Ideal length is about 1h45m-2h to me. Most of the races are a little shorter than this already.

By banning refuelling it wouldn't make sense anymore to qualify with full tanks, I suppose? Also very good news.

Another small problem is that if the aero changes for next year don't work to make passing easier, banning refuel would backfire as the races would become even more dull.

it will be like officially put a pace car every race.

Forgot to say, don't shorten the races!

If they ban tyre changes as well though...

I voted 'yes', but shortening races is crap. They should be longer.

Why shorten the races? They managed without refueling before, and I'm sure those older engine were not significantly more efficient that they used less fuel.

Yes, race fans want refuelling ban. But Bridgestone will veto any such move.

Well, banning tyre changes seems to have worked ok for 2005, but I think one of the coolest things about banning refuelling is that drivers will really need to start saving tyres anyway as to prevent having to pit - and by allowing tyre changes you still get a little bit of strategy.

As passing will still be a little difficult if the aero changes work (their estimation is that a car will need to be 1 second quicker to pass), the tendency will already be to minimise tyre stops anyway. It'll depend on whatever slick compounds Bridgestone comes up with, but if they go ahead with the refuelling ban, I bet most teams will go for 1 stop only for tyres at most GPs.

Depends on the regulations too, if they drop this "needs to use both compounds" rule, we could see drivers trying to do an entire race on the same set of tyres. If not, probably the best strategy will be something like 2 thirds of the race on the hard compound, 1 third on the soft compound.

Damn, they need to go ahead with this proposal... is it a little sad that I'm getting excited with this?

I say: ban refuelling, limit the size of the fuel tank and decrease that amount every season. Talk about going green...

An absolute yes to a refuelling ban but please don't shorten the races - Monza in the dry is already a joke at 80 minutes and some of the others are on the cusp. Between 105-120 minutes is about right for me.

A part of me would like to see the two-compound tyre rule remain though, I think it could be very interesting to see how they manage that without the timing of the stops being pre-determined by fuel strategy.

Hmm.. I'm sure that I've seen this before.... now, when was it??

Now bring back 1-hour-free-for-all qualifying and we're getting there...

Unfortunately it's not going to happen with all these engine freezes and spec engines - going green through fuel restrictions would work better with free engine development.

The only thing I'd add. is that I'd like to see refuelling allowed, but only in the last 5 laps of the race or something. This just to prevent cars running out of fuel like in the 80s.

Edit: another idea. One the biggest problems with banning refuelling is the races becoming boring at the end as the drivers starting using alternative engine modes to save fuel. So, now they have a spec ECU, why don't they ban changes to the fuel mixture or the engine revs during the race?

This is Formula One for chirst sake, short races? spec engines? are we supposed to be watching A1GP?

Get rid of the fueling ban for 2010, if we are series about being green then extend KERS, use the hybrid technology to extend the distance that the car can go on a tank of gas. I would like to see them increase the length of the races, 90 minutes is to short in my book, we should be trying to have races around the two hour mark.

I wouldn't be surprised if the "shorter" races idea leads to 2 races during a weekend; once on Saturday and once of Sunday.

The start is often the most exciting part of the race, this way you get two of them. And it will allow Bernie to charge more because fans will want to watch the races on both days.

GP2 (and several other series) already do this, so the precedent is set.

I always get scared when these idiots get together. They often come up with comical \'ideas\'. A good example is the talk of banning refueling but at the consequence of shorter races which would ruin the sport right away. They dont have any common sense in a sporting sense.

I'd be happy if they left in tyre changes and gave all the teams a choice of tyres so they can exercise some strategic thought like they do today. Run fast on softs but have a tyre change or run long on hards and don't. But I think the rubber choices would need to be very different from today so that the choice marginal enough.

Oh god... ban refueling definately..

but lets not return to 85,86,87,88 style economy runs please..

Why? A ban on refuelling doesn't have to a ban on tyre changes, just like a ban on tyre changes didn't mean a ban on refuelling

YES!!!

This is common sense really given how temperamental the refuelling rigs are and the issues that they have caused over the years. It will also promote better racing. It will also focus the engine manufacturers on making the most efficient engines.

Fuel management technology has had 20 years of development since then - surely we wouldn't see drivers actually running out of fuel?

I think it would detract from the races. I don't see any increase in overtaking/racing coming from it but do see a reduction in interest from strategy.

One very beneficial (IMO) side effect, though, would be the end of race fuel qualifying.

second that

What interest in strategy? It's really only the ones that don't make it to Q3 that might try something different, otherwise they are generally within a lap or 2 of the same fuel load. The only interest seems to be from those that like to play the fuel corrected game.

Thrid that

1 or 2 laps can make the difference to a change in position. It may not be that great, but it's still there. And with the dearth of (unpenalised) overtaking, it'd be a shame to lose IMO for no benefit.

If getting rid of refuelling results in more racing, I'd drop the strategy interest like a tonne of bricks. As I don't think it will result in more racing, I'd rather retain it even if it is only a minor benefit.

YES please, all the overtaking on track, the pole would be real and not the farce we see each saturday

And NO to shorter races, right now it's fine how it is...

s!

The racing during this period (except for 88) was excellent. Drivers had to manage their fuel and tyres. There were few drivers running out of fuel and even then, it was their own fault, just as much as a driver is at fault now when he runs out of tarmac.....

It has happened since, on few occasions, the latest I know of pretty certain is Spa 00 when Barrichello ran out of fuel. The official explanation was fuel pump damage but hey that's was starvation does.

IMHO it means at best that the cars are not on the same piece of track and are hoping to pass during the pit stops. I'm all for removing that option from the equation.

It has happened a few times but in all those cases it was down to a team error during refueling, not because the driver hasnt managed his fuel load. Having said that didnt Alesi run out once because he ignored the order to pit?

I don't think removing that option will make passing more likely. I don't think people hold back because they they'd rather wait for a pitstop.

But if they do remove refuelling, I hope you're right and I'm proven very wrong

I vote NO. But i would change the race procedure/system. At every race there should be specific time where teams are allowed to refuel, lets say between 120 and 200 kilometers of the race distance, not sooner or later.

Also i do agree capacity of fuel tank should be limited, but it is not possible right now, maybe in future.

I would't mind having two short races per week, instead of saturday practice. Let's have two 200 km races with different poin system. i am sure bernie would go for it. He could get double the money, i am just affraid, that f1 would only be on paid tv than.

Shorter races and I'm gone.

As long as cars can overtake yea, ban refueling.

But don't shorten races, that is stupid.

Hmm I am undecided for now but if it brings better racing than I am all for it.

Problems I foresee, Bridgestone wouldn't like it at all, will this save money or only cost extra, will we see cars running out of fuel and will this not lead to fewer overtaking?

a race like valencia or singapore would have no point in running....you will just watch'em drive in circles.
the rule is ok IF cars can produce some overtaking. other than that...

That's a terrible idea. They use it in A1 and DTM - refuelling pit windows. What happens is you get all the disadvantages of having refuelling (race fuel qualifying, drivers waiting until the pit stops to make a pass, drivers getting penalties for making fuel stops during ‘pit lane closures', refuelling fires...) but lose the interest of drivers trying different refuelling strategies.

why won't they like it?

I think the idea to shorten the races is if they want to implement the refueling ban for next year. They simply cant go back and completely redesign the cars for bigger fuel tanks at this point, especially not if they want to keep costs down. So maybe this would be a one-year only thing with bigger tanks in 2010?

I'm not against shorter races at all. I like sprint racing. It would definitely only be ideal with two races, though. I know its very different, but it really is exciting for anybody who watches GP2 or A1GP or F3, etc.

The only problem is how they want to handle qualifying for it. Do they want to have two seperate quali sessions for each race, ala A1GP? Or do they want to have some kind of reversed grid ala GP2 or Superleague Formula? Or just keep the same grid each race ala World Superbike? I'm more keen on having two different quali sessions for each race as it adds a new dimension to the 2nd race, and will give the added excitement over the race weekend they are looking for.

I really hope they do something to get rid of refuelling. Its become a bit of a joke lately, and I dont think anybody can realize justify why we have it at all anymore.

I voted NO because as far as I can see it's only being considered with the shorter race. I'm guessing the teams don't want to try to fit a larger tank in on top of kers.

So given that choice, if that's correct, I'd stay with the full length race.

Also it seems to me they need to see how the 09 cars perform with overtaking before tossing any more balls up in the air.

i think banning refuel will lead to 2 short races. :\



i bet they will even offer popcorn between the races. and fireworks at night races. and cranes at wet induced races.

A1GP doesn't do refueling. They do have pitstops windows, and I think its a relatively good thing. It still leaves drivers with options to either come in early or later, but only to a certain extent. It keeps the time when drivers are all mixed up down to a minimum, which keeps most of the racing on-track, and not in the pits. I think it works well. But then again, A1GP cars(at least the older ones) never had a problem overtaking on track.