GARY ANDERSON outlines his suggestions for the technical and sporting rules that would revive Formula 1 as a spectacle - and warns you might think he's mad, but every change is justified [sub. req.]
Gary's suggestions aren't that mad, I have to say, and I quite like what he has done. I agree with most of what Gary says regarding technical regulations, although I can’t judge all the issues he raises, e.g. 'Minimum upchange rpm of 15,000 when in third through to eighth gear', so I’ll have to go with his judgment.
But the sporting issues he addresses, I don't fully agree with them. Allow me to elaborate:
4. Saturday qualifying to be replaced with a Sprint Race of a minimum of 150 kilometres (93 miles).
I applaud Gary’s efforts in thinking outside the box. And I do agree with the attempt to have the faster cars starting from behind — more on that later — butI strongly disagree with this.
The main reason I dislike this proposal is that it disconnects F1’s future from its past. And already too many things have changed for Formula One to remain truly connected to its Grand Prix heritage. For example:
- Its European heartland and the Grandes Épreuves
- Longer races
- Major points system changes
- And now, perhaps, customer cars. (I agree this is a discussion in itself, but fact of the matter is that for some 30 seasons there have been customer cars in F1, but including the 2015 season, for 35 seasons there have not been.)
So to break the tradition of having a single Grand Prix race per fortnight, is a step too far for me.
5. Sunday's race to be the Feature Race of a minimum of 250 kilometres (155 miles).
I disagree. Until recently, most races are just under an hour and a half, which, I think, is too short. And with proposals to speed-up Formula One by several seconds per lap, races aren't getting any long. My suggestion would be to add some 10 laps to each Grand Prix, with race totaling about 350 km instead of 305 km now, and make them roughly 1 hour and 45 minutes long, perhaps with the exception of Monaco and Singapore (longer), or Monza (shorter).
5.1. The grid would be set in championship order reversed – in other words the driver with most points starts at the back.
This in itself should fix the problem of always having the fastest cars starting at the front. And although it breaks with a major tradition in Grand Prix racing — which I fulminated against a above 
— I find it worth considering. However, if I don’t buy into Gary’s proposal to replace qualifying with a feature race, but do agree with having championship positions decide the starting order, where does that leave qualifying? Well, that’s a good question: I don’t really know.
— I find it worth considering. However, if I don’t buy into Gary’s proposal to replace qualifying with a feature race, but do agree with having championship positions decide the starting order, where does that leave qualifying? Well, that’s a good question: I don’t really know. One proposal might be to abandon the three-day Grand Prix weekend and have two or three practice sessions on Saturday, perhaps a return of the warm-up session on Sunday morning, and subsequently the Grand Prix itself. Any in-season testing could then be held either on the Friday before, or, alternatively, to make sure teams don’t test on that day fully focused on the Sunday’s race, on the two or three days after the Grand Prix.
5.2. Drivers would still have to use both types of tyres so a pitstop would be necessary.
I would remove the necessity of using both types of tyres. But I would consider having two types available. Preferably, one type would be harder and more durable, perhaps even to the extent that races could be done with a maximum of one stop, while a softer, faster option would require two or even three stops.
With that, I would expect the faster cars, starting from the back, to opt for the softer option tyres, enabling them to overtake the slower cars in front, but also requiring them to do multiple stops, necessitating another round of overtaking. Slower cars, starting at the front, could risk running harder, more durable tyres, and try to win the race or at least score more points, with no more than one pitstop.
5.3. Points allocation to remain as it currently is: 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1.
I’m not sure about this one. As much as I would like the points system to return to 10-6-4-3-2-1, or even 9-6-4, the damage has already been done when talking about comparing drivers’ season’s or career points’ tallies. This not only has to do with the changed points system, but also with the higher number of races per season.
D. For far too long we have had the really quick drivers in the quick cars winning the championships. These changes will add that extra dimension of how a driver can handle and overtake traffic.
Like I wrote before, I’m on the fence regarding this one. Qualifying and having the fastest cars start at the front, has been part of motor racing for the biggest part of a century. However, it is worth considering abandoning that, keeping in mind that the starting order at the first motor races was decided by ballot.
Curious for your thoughts.
