Refuelling and free choice of tyres would be awesome, it'd get back to the closest thing to the tyre war, without their actually being a tyre war. Cars could be setup from Friday onwards in terms of a 3 stop or a 2 stop, and it'd allow SO MUCH more flexibility in the race in terms of being adaptive and thinking outside the box.. in terms of traffic or unexpected SC's. And getting the maximum pace out of your car. For example.. a chassis that is hard on it's tyres could work around that more, and a car that is really soft on it's tyres could just 1 stop all the time. Circuit to circuit it could vary but it would be possible to have 3 vs 2 vs 1 stop all in the same race. And then at the end of the race they would all merge to each other and we'd find out which one was best. In other words.. the end of the race, there'd be more of a crescendo or conclusion. Not always.. but sometimes.
Having more stops in general is better for the races as it avoids those lulls for 20-30 laps while we wait for the pitstops in order for things to play out.. the absolute worst is when everyone pits at lap 35 and then saving their tyres until the end of the race. It happens like this at Monza a lot.
There is usually no incentive for extra stops because the big disadvantage (currently) is that there is still the extra fuel penalty when there are extra stops. Meaning that half the advantage is gone and it's usually better to do as few stops as possible. It usually only happens (currently) when the tyre wear is really high but generally the lesser stops the better. Which promotes conservation and cruising.. as opposed to going aggressive and hard racing. For example to win on a 3 or 4 stopper is a lot of stress and a lot of overtaking, but also there's a lot more ups and downs to watch. In other words.. there's more "stuff" per 5 minutes of the race to watch.. as opposed to a 1 stopper race from lap 40 onwards.
The fuel penalty of extra stops is a big thing, and not just slows the car down but also increases tyre wear. This is how we get those 1 stopper races in the first place.. and not always.. but usually.. those races suck and are way too predictable. Dan, Kimi and Bottas on 2 stoppers while Vettel, Lewis and Max are on 3 stoppers (or even 4 stoppers) I salivate at the thought of it. Drivers like Max and Lewis excell at this type of racing because they can maximise and showcase their peak pace. Some races it wouldn't make much difference, but for those 1 stopper tracks.. it'd really spice it up.
Overtaking isn't really affected either way. In one way it increases the overall number of overtakes because the extra stop(s) mean more overtaking to regain track position but with a light car and high grip they are usually pretty easy, so it's not that big of a thing. Unless it's a track like Monaco. That isn't much difference to now though.. when someone pits on lap 20 and catches a guy who hasn't pitted yet. But with DRS and track layout none of this really has anything to do with overtaking. The best overtakes are the ones where everyone is on the same strategy but that can still happen under refuelling. For example the 3 stoppers overtaking the 2 stoppers but then fighting each other. Sometimes they even overtake each other while overtaking the slower cars infront.
I don't really see any downsides to be honest. The big downside currently is that when everyone is on a 2 stopper, or especially a one stopper.. it becomes way too predictable and a case of waiting for things to happen.. with big lulls in the middle. There is a period between lap 5 and lap 20, and then another between lap 20 and lap 40 etc etc. In a one stopper race.. after everyone has made their final stop and there's still 30 laps left.. it can often feel like waiting for something to happen, but everything feels like it's already happened. Even the simple fact that everyone is on the same strategy.. that alone is really bad for the spectacle.
The best thing to counteract that (currently) is when drivers are out of position on the grid or when they pit out of sync or use alternate tyre strategy but in most scenarios they try to avoid these things and they are unforeseen and they are doing damage control to recover from something they hadn't planned for. Sometimes that's enough to spice the race up, usually it's not though. The refueling thing offers a similar thing but in more of a planned deliberate way.. that'd happen more regularly.
I love the idea of teams being able to use any tyre they want.. and customising the setup of the car around their favoured tyre. It's something that's been missing in the sport for a long time.
The idea of them only using the alternate tyres when they wish to, and only for a certain strategy when it suits them and having the flexibility for that.. can only improve the racing IMO. To me the pinnacle of racing is when all drivers/cars are at peak pace and are able to push 100% and then to be able to fight with each other and overtake each other while doing that. The idea of conserving is the exact opposite of that and we've had way too much of that in the last 5+ years. It's like the difference between boxers fighting each other in the early rounds when the punches are hard and quick.. as opposed to the end when they are sloppy and slow. The earlier rounds are better to watch. And the idea of knocking someone out in the 11th round when he is out of breath and tired, isn't really the same thing as knocking him out in the 2nd round when he is sharp and quick.
In other words, I value overtakes much more when the drivers are both at their peak pace pushing 100% and are both on fresh tyres braking super late, as opposed to when they are sliding around like a shopping trolley on 40 lap old tyres.
I like the idea of teams not having to use the tyres that don't work well with their car.. and only using them when it suits them for a customised 2 or 3 stop (for example). Combine that with refuelling and you have so much flexibility and strategic options.. with the drivers pushing so hard for the WHOLE race.. some track layouts might not be affected much either way.. but some races would be pure magic with very exciting conclusions in the last 10 laps. And the laps they drive in the race would be with lighter fuel, with fresher tyres and the drivers would be really tested.
Like 60-80 minutes of qualifying pace.. instead of a leisurely Sunday afternoon drive with 5 minutes bursts of 'hammer time' here or there. Which is very watered down and mild to say the least... especially for the supposed 'best drivers in the world'. The racing equivalent of 'fighter pilots'.
Edited by HoldenRT, 31 October 2017 - 14:56.
