124 replies to this topic

[Rinehart]

16

 

Beyond this amount, it starts to feel over-saturated to me, so each individual race becomes less special. I'm also not a big fan of back-to-back races for the same reasons.

[Jimisgod]

16

Beyond this amount, it starts to feel over-saturated to me, so each individual race becomes less special. I'm also not a big fan of back-to-back races for the same reasons.

The problem I have with 16 is that it feels like the season just ends too early. The final race in early October so there's like 5 months of winter instead of 3 and a half. There's this uncomfortable, almost three month period before the new year when nothing is happening. No reveals. Nothing.

The last 20 race season did it quite poorly by having too many dull Tilkes in a row. If we're stuck with those I'd prefer 18 because that is long enough for it to end in November but not drag on.

[Jolkins]

20+ as long as they're held on proper tracks.

 

Bring back Imola, Magny-Cours and other classics.

[Fastcake]

It's odd how Magny-Cours is now considered a classic...

[Atreiu]

Very odd. A French GP used to be a classical date, but Magny-Cours never was a classic circuit. It was just a place for a French GP and nobody really loved it, except for Schumacher who always found a way to win. Likewise, Imola post 1994 was just a stop and go circuit, albeit its beautiful setting and passionate fans. But still, stop and go and unremarkable.

 

And I still think 16-17 are the ideal ammount of GPs. Both leave enough room for Tilke circuits and Bernie's friends without saturating the season/fans/teams/TV schedules.

 

Edit: on a related note, with double points out of the picture, Bernie should convince his friends to pay more and host testing sessions. The added exposure of the circuit/region/race promoters/government caused by more days of track activity should be enough to raise the events marketability and relevance to the calendar, which is exactly what they all want. Consider this, for all intents and purposes, the Bahrain GP is just a race in the desert where nobody cares. But it if happened mid season along with a few days of testing, it'd be a much bigger deal. Suddenly it would be an event to gauge the development race and also spread and plant rumours of all sorts from the driver market to possible future plans.

 

So, anyhow, 17 with some GPs and funding testing sessions.

Edited by Atreiu, 08 December 2014 - 18:38.

[ronsingapore]

Here is mine, but not in order of sequence, as i still need to take into account of weather and terrain

 

 

1. UK - Silverstone
2. France - Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours
3. Belgium- Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
4. Austria - Red Bull Ring
5. Germany - Hockenheimring
6. Italy - either Imola or Monza
7. Monaco
8. Brazil - Sao Paulo: Autódromo José Carlos Pace
9. North America - COTA
10. Middle East - Yas Marina
11. South East Asia - Singapore
12. Australia - Albert park circuit at Melbourne
13. China - Shanghai International circuit
14. Japan - either Fuki Speedway or Suzuka Speedway 

[ViMaMo]

March, April and May 8 races.

4 week break with 10 days unlimited testing. Give time for teams to test how much they want to.

 

June to October 10 races.

 

18 races total.

[SenorSjon]

The problem I have with 16 is that it feels like the season just ends too early. The final race in early October so there's like 5 months of winter instead of 3 and a half. There's this uncomfortable, almost three month period before the new year when nothing is happening. No reveals. Nothing.

The last 20 race season did it quite poorly by having too many dull Tilkes in a row. If we're stuck with those I'd prefer 18 because that is long enough for it to end in November but not drag on.

 

They used to test in those 5 months, but that is binned of course.

[Go_Go]

Ideally, how many F1 races do you think there should be in a year/season?

 

52

[Tsarwash]

Twelve. Two in South America. Two in North America. One in Africa. Three in Asia. Five in Europe.
That way we will appreciate the races fully.

[mclarensmps]

I think 16 is a good number as well. 

 

We don't need back to backs, reintroduce some winter testing and a couple of in season tests. A shorter season means more is at stake per race, and in season testing allows the teams to work out some design flaws. I'm pretty sure removing 4 races from the Calendar will free up enough budget space to handle the testing costs. Teams can also switch to 3 engines per season + 1 test engine. 

 

The races, for me would be, in no particular order:

 

1. Australia

2. Malaysia

3. Silverstone

4. Suzuka

5. Monza

6. Spa

7. Hockenheim

8. Circuit of the Americas

9. Montreal

10. Austria

11. Brazil

12. South Africa

13. Barcelona

14. Monaco

15. Hungary

16. A rotating race. Since Bernie loves dirty money and oligarchs so much, rich countries can bid to have the finale or season opener in their region (kinda like the champions league). The same nation will be unable to host a race for the next 4 years if it has hosted one in that year. 

Edited by mclarensmps, 09 December 2014 - 16:02.

[BenettonB192]

When i started watching the season had 16 races and each one got me excited in anticipation like a Champions League final. Maybe it's just nostalgia but to me feels like the sweet spot.

[EarnardBeccelstone]

Lets go for something radical: a calendar structured around three ‘seasons’, based on geography with six to seven races each. Each season will have a combination of ‘permanent’ and ‘alternating’ fixtures

 

Asia Pacific/Middle East season:

 

Fixed:

Australia – Melbourne

Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur

Japan – Suzuka

China - Shanghai

Bahrain – Sakhir

 

Alternating:

India – Buddh

Korea – Yeongam

UAE – Abu Dhabi

Singapore – Marina Bay

 

European season:

 

Fixed:

Monaco

UK – Silverstone

Italy – Monza

Belgium – Spa Francorchamps

Austria – Red Bull Ring

 

Alternating:

Germany – Hockenheim and Nurburgring

France – Magny Cours and Paul Ricard

Turkey – Istanbul

Hungary – Hungaroring

 

Americas season

 

Fixed:

Canada – Montreal

US – Austin

Mexico – Mexico City

Argentina – Buenos Aires

Brazil – Sao Paulo

 

Alternating:

US – ‘West’ and ‘East’ street circuits in LA and New York areas

[Jimisgod]

They used to test in those 5 months, but that is binned of course.

Always secret testing, which bred stupid rumours and was a poor replacement for racing.

Even with our minimal testing there seems to be more hot air produced in the winter testing period than the rest of the year combined. RBR wouldn't finish a race! McLaren would win races!

[Jimisgod]

12 races? Really? I guess that would have made Rosberg champion this year. Anything under 15 will be way too influenced by random DNFs.

[Mauseri]

17 or less.

[Collombin]

12 races? Really? I guess that would have made Rosberg champion this year. Anything under 15 will be way too influenced by random DNFs.

Not if you have a point system that allows for that. Say, best x results count?

[Mox]

Not if you have a point system that allows for that. Say, best x results count?

 

Yes, that was a great success in 1988, when the driver with the most points came second in the championship, despite both contenders having the same amount of retirements. 

[Collombin]

Yes, that was a great success in 1988, when the driver with the most points came second in the championship, despite both contenders having the same amount of retirements. 

Lol. Here we go again.

I want the WDC to go to the best performing and ideally winningest driver. The system was never just 8-6-4-3-2, or 9-6-4-3-2-1, it was those points within the framework of best x results - effectively an equivalent way of making a win more valuable.

It achieved that admirably in 1988, and if the x had been lower it would have produced the right result in 1987 too.

Without best x, Hawthorn would have been 1958 champ even before the final round of the 10 race season (excluding Indy) had even taken place, despite Brooks and Moss each having 3 times more wins!

If that's the sort of system you want, good luck to you.

[Coops3]

20 is a good number for me. I like the fact that the season lasts for most of the year, and any fewer than 20 and the gaps between races get a bit too long.

[MirNyet]

I care less about the number of races and more about the quality of the races. I would gladly accept less races overall if they were all on great tracks and had serious racing. These modern mickey mouse tracks were the cars just parade around unable to overtake or at times even run close to one another are a waste of everyones time and money. I really don't care if they are somewhere exotic with a stunning backdrop if the racing is poor or at times just not there.

 

I do accept before its pointed out that the cars are part of the problem too and should properly be looked at. 

[Rinehart]

The problem I have with 16 is that it feels like the season just ends too early. The final race in early October so there's like 5 months of winter instead of 3 and a half. There's this uncomfortable, almost three month period before the new year when nothing is happening. No reveals. Nothing.
 

Well just spread the races out more then! Simples. 

I'd have a mid July to mid September break frankly. I'm always missing races live in the summer anyway due to holidays and bbq's. 

[Jimisgod]

Not if you have a point system that allows for that. Say, best x results count?

The only thing more contrived than double points.

[Atreiu]

X best scores tried to account for unreliability, which at the time was leaps and bounds greater than nowadays. But when reliability wasn't a problem/deciding factor, it then put a prime on outright racing and results. Never did it create an unworthy WDC, but it did create a legion of sour fans, many of whom simply ignore the full 1988 scenario and its obvious implications in the WDC battle.

 

Currently, it would also be a valuable option to help the teams and season itself. The combination of a still very new yet strained technical packaged that was born on its reliability limits has put some teams at double disadvantage, only helping the dominant package. A few dropped scores, say three, would already make it much easier to manage the usage of PU components without giving any unfair advantage to either the dominant or non dominant packages.

 

---

 

I think you guys who defend expanded calendars are massively ignoring that F1 as it is and has been is basically unsustainabe. Think of all the circuits that have run into trouble in the past years. I wonder how many billions they threw down the drain. And there still remains some circuits who can barely make it through. A massive calendar cannot be accomplished currently without the adoption of soon to be former-GP-circuits and their failed experiences.

Edited by Atreiu, 10 December 2014 - 20:52.

[Collombin]

The only thing more contrived than double points.

But it fixes your concern about a title being too influenced by random DNFs. Double points did the opposite.

Anyway, sorry, we're OT, and have been over this topic billions of times before.