92 replies to this topic

[Mosquito]

Something that leads to Crofty having to explain it at length in each and every bloody race?

Uhmmm, nope, thanks.....

[Dr. Austin]

Spicy.

[Lights]

The cars need tweaking. Most tracks need tweaking. But the weekend format doesn't need tweaking. Stop giving them ideas.

[R Soul]

Here's an idea*: Allow each team to have one race weekend where they can refuel and have proper tyres, along with a set of engine/gearbox components that aren't a part of the yearly allocation. It would of course be no good if Williams chose the same weekend as Mercedes or Ferrari or Red Bull or (insert every other team here), so before the season a team could be chosen at random to choose weekend that's exclusive to them, and then another team is chosen at random to choose their exclusive weekend etc. till all the teams have their weekend.

 

*I'm not saying it's a good idea

[Rediscoveryx]

Something that leads to Crofty having to explain it at length in each and every bloody race?

Uhmmm, nope, thanks.....

 

Because it's so complicated to understand that this race has 80 laps this year as opposed to 60 the year before?

 

Again, tennis fans don't seem to be confused when some tournaments have three set matches and others five. 

[w1Y]

Maybe just maybe the trick is to have longer periods between making reg changes.

[RacingGreen]

While I don't really like many of the suggestions here you can't go on and on increasing the number of near identical events in the season and them all remaining unique and necessary viewing. Some way has to be found to differentiate between them so that they feel special. For me it has more to do with the character of the circuits than the format of the weekend. I like the format, qualifying is good watching in it's own right (often better than the racing) and a grand prix of under two hours is about the right length as well. I wouldn't mind a race or two a season a bit longer but the cars would need to be refueled mid race then and that would be a logistical nightmare in the making. You either have refueling all the time or you don't at all, you can't have it once or twice a year.

 

For me the problem is that F1 races on some pretty dull tracks and doesn't have that many with a unique flavour. For every Monaco, Baku and Spa there are a dozen Tilkedromes, and due to the barriers used all the street tracks appear to take place in a characterless concrete corridor that could be at any city anywhere in the World. For a start I'd like to see one race at a longer (maybe about 10 km long) circuit, one race at a track that if not a traditional oval does feature a heavily banked section, and one race with big an iconic helter skelter downhill section like the corkscrew at Leguna Seca, or the Esses/Dipper section down the mountain at Mount Panorama - but please please don't ruin either of those two tracks with acres of tarmac run off so the emphasis is on the word "like" in that sentence.

 

Alternatively of course you could go back to a shorter 15 or 16 race calendar. 

Edited by RacingGreen, 17 July 2019 - 06:28.

[shure]

Tennis is a bad example to counter that though. The four Grand Slams all have a different tiebreak rule for literally no reason for example 

But they are all standalone events.  They don't mix up the formats within the same events.  A better example is football as it's decided over a season and there it's consistent.  And it's been the same format, with very minor tweaks, since pretty much its inception and I don't think it's the worse for it.

 

There's enough wrong with F1 that we don't need to spend time and effort fixing things that aren't even broken.  The more F1 tries to make it a show the more it fails.  

[shure]

Cricket has had a major shake up with Twenty20 and 100 ball cricket, it hasn't changed the main game much but the effects have been felt by it.  Tennis does have differing formats of 3 or 5 sets but it's between men playing best of 5 & the women best of 3.  Also some tournaments DO play best of 3 for men and women while still having ranking implications.   Wimbledon & Queens, they both take place within a season of tennis yet are run over different formats.

But they are completely standalone tournaments.  What league has events with different formats?

 

You can't compare different versions of cricket with F1 - a better comparison would be different versions of cricket vs different versions of motorsport.  F1 is a defined Championship series and shouldn't be compared with a whole sport with different levels.

[shure]

I feel that F1 is scared of change.

 

As I said in a post earlier, the format has stayed exactly the same for decades.

 

Qualifying on a Saturday, a 300KM race on a Sunday. For 21 races, it would be nice to have a few changes.

 

Other motorsport series do it and it works well, makes each event unique and many of the flyaway races have plenty of room to have two races or a longer race on the Sunday.

 

F1 needs a 'growth mindset' and does not always need to stick to its traditions. 

Football has essentially stayed the same for decades but I don't see that as a negative.

 

I think the problem is more more imagined than real

[Rediscoveryx]

But they are completely standalone tournaments.  What league has events with different formats?

 

You can't compare different versions of cricket with F1 - a better comparison would be different versions of cricket vs different versions of motorsport.  F1 is a defined Championship series and shouldn't be compared with a whole sport with different levels.

 

It depends on how you see it though. You could also see F1 races as stand alone events that make out a championship, much like individual tennis tournaments are stand alone events that also make out the ATP tour. Or individual stages in Tour de France that are individual competitions that also make out a championship. Or Indy car that has a different format for the Indy 500. Or the WEC that has different formats for pretty much every round...

 

The variation of formats suggested here is actually way less varied than the difference between different tennis tournaments on the ATP tour, or the difference between the Indy 500 format and the rest of the Indy car series. Bottom line is that we'll still be lining the cars up by order of which they set their times in qualifying (hypothetical reverse grid qualifying races aside), and we'll still have a race over a set number of laps to decide who the winner is. The idea is that by at least making some (relatively small) variations to the format then we'd see something different from time to time and, therefore, hopefully less predictive than just repeating the same procedure 21 times over.

Edited by Rediscoveryx, 17 July 2019 - 06:53.

[SenorSjon]

While I don't really like many of the suggestions here you can't go on and on increasing the number of near identical events in the season and them all remaining unique and necessary viewing. Some way has to be found to differentiate between them so that they feel special. For me it has more to do with the character of the circuits than the format of the weekend. I like the format, qualifying is good watching in it's own right (often better than the racing) and a grand prix of under two hours is about the right length as well. I wouldn't mind a race or two a season a bit longer but the cars would need to be refueled mid race then and that would be a logistical nightmare in the making. You either have refueling all the time or you don't at all, you can't have it once or twice a year.

 

For me the problem is that F1 races on some pretty dull tracks and doesn't have that many with a unique flavour. For every Monaco, Baku and Spa there are a dozen Tilkedromes, and due to the barriers used all the street tracks appear to take place in a characterless concrete corridor that could be at any city anywhere in the World. For a start I'd like to see one race at a longer (maybe about 10 km long) circuit, one race at a track that if not a traditional oval does feature a heavily banked section, and one race with big an iconic helter skelter downhill section like the corkscrew at Leguna Seca, or the Esses/Dipper section down the mountain at Mount Panorama - but please please don't ruin either of those two tracks with acres of tarmac run off so the emphasis is on the word "like" in that sentence.

 

Alternatively of course you could go back to a shorter 15 or 16 race calendar. 

 

THIS

 

Make cookie cutter tracks and you get cookie cutter races. There is some quest for the 100 second laptime it seems when designing a new track, while you could have a host of different things. I like it that Silverstone has made some kerbs smaller and added gravel pits on previous tarmac run-offs. Tracks like Road America look insane because there is only gras beyond the white line at some high speed kinks. No kerb, no runoff.

[Rediscoveryx]

While I don't really like many of the suggestions here you can't go on and on increasing the number of near identical events in the season and them all remaining unique and necessary viewing. Some way has to be found to differentiate between them so that they feel special. For me it has more to do with the character of the circuits than the format of the weekend. I like the format, qualifying is good watching in it's own right (often better than the racing) and a grand prix of under two hours is about the right length as well. I wouldn't mind a race or two a season a bit longer but the cars would need to be refueled mid race then and that would be a logistical nightmare in the making. You either have refueling all the time or you don't at all, you can't have it once or twice a year.

 

For me the problem is that F1 races on some pretty dull tracks and doesn't have that many with a unique flavour. For every Monaco, Baku and Spa there are a dozen Tilkedromes, and due to the barriers used all the street tracks appear to take place in a characterless concrete corridor that could be at any city anywhere in the World. For a start I'd like to see one race at a longer (maybe about 10 km long) circuit, one race at a track that if not a traditional oval does feature a heavily banked section, and one race with big an iconic helter skelter downhill section like the corkscrew at Leguna Seca, or the Esses/Dipper section down the mountain at Mount Panorama - but please please don't ruin either of those two tracks with acres of tarmac run off so the emphasis is on the word "like" in that sentence.

 

Alternatively of course you could go back to a shorter 15 or 16 race calendar. 

 

Good post, and I certainly agree about the tracks.

 

Regarding refuelling for longer races; I think that the problem wouldn't necessarily be logistic (I mean, they do refuel the cars several times during the weekends as it is, so the gear is already there). The problem would more likely be something like "how do we manage it safely without rebuilding the cars?". One answer could be to mandate a minimum pit stop length if refuelling, so that the stress element of refuelling is taken out of the equation. Then it would be just a matter of filling it up similarly to what is already done several times during the weekend.

[Clatter]

Maybe just maybe the trick is to have longer periods between making reg changes.

Not if the reg change is so bad it needs changing as soon as they realise they have failed again.

[CornishFellow]

The thing is, the long boring races of 1985-2002 are fine by me, they were pure races and if things got spicy, it was genuinely exciting. This might not be good for 'business' but running the business side of F1 isn't our responsibility. It was from 2003 when constant attempts at fiddling with the rules began the decline of the sport, at least from a sporting perspective.

[noikeee]

I'm not opposed to certain events running under slightly different rules to make each of them more unique, in fact I think that's a good idea, but changing qualifying rules arbitrarily a few times mid-season just for the sake of change seems a bit pointless and gimmicky.

[Fatgadget]

I'm not opposed to certain events running under slightly different rules to make each of them more unique, in fact I think that's a good idea, but changing qualifying rules arbitrarily a few times mid-season just for the sake of change seems a bit pointless and gimmicky.

50 points for the last race.

[noikeee]

50 points for the last race.

Insert very angry meme here.

[hansmann]

I think the current qualiifying format is the best it's been for a long time .

 

Racing is what it is .

In my opinion, what needs to be addressed are the same old budget cap/money distribution issue , aero designs that limit close racing, tyres that need to be caressed more than might be necessary, and perhaps some sort of regulation to control maximum engine output .

 

To be frank, what was suggested in the original post sounds to me like utter nonsense , and would only lead to turning F1 into some kind of reality TV freak show .

Nothing wrong with that if the finer points of F1 aren't your thing,  but there are other venues catering to the less discerning viewership .

[Cavalier53]

I fully support the OP idea to bring variation between race weekends.

 

In times long gone, there were races to look forward to with special interest. Compare Pescara with Zandvoort, old Spa with Monaco, etc. And then, at certain tracks the different concepts (front/rear engine, from 4 to 12 cylinder engines in the same race) made different teams favorites.

 

Those times are gone, and since some time I feel that 75 % of the tracks offer just the same scenario, there are hardly special races to look forward to with anticipation.

 

Racing formats are being adjusted in other sports (parallel slaloms in WC downhill, Hammer series in cycling) to accommodate changes in the competition and the surrounding world.

 

I hate artificial reverse grids, but varying length for F1 races could bring this element of excitement like: next weeks' race will be on the boring new Hockenheimring, but hey, they'll have to race for nearly 3 hours! Remember the earlier Monaco race was just a 1 hour blast....

 

I'd like the top-10 qualifying shootout, but even simpler my previously proposed rule can be implemented overnight: one row between teammates. No more silver, orange or white grid row lockouts. Moreover, with the current domination of car over driver, grid position over long run speed, and the general tire mess we're in, more strain on the drivers to beat their teammate.

That would at least bring you 2 rows further up the grid.

[Christbiscuit]

Drivers should be kept awake on a diet of Pro-Plus and Red Bull from Friday morning until the race start on Sunday. The grid is made up from Championship positions reversed and the first time they get to drive the car is the race warm-up lap. There's your spice.

 

Also, races are no more than 5 minutes long to keep within the attention span limits of the crowd we seem to be desperate to seem attractive to.

 

There should be lots of neon, also.

 

And sparkle glitter.

Edited by Christbiscuit, 21 July 2019 - 18:00.

[Docc]

Fix the cars..they are too wide (probably will not change) heavy and aero is incredibly expensive and causes the lack of close racing. Ground effects smaller wings..maybe less complicated PU.. Fuel limit with OPTIONAL re fueling..maybe allow V8s.. Fuel will create interesting strategies and maybe sprints to Finish line..

 

Sound familiar..? As it was..

 

Maybe even new venues..

Edited by Docc, 26 July 2019 - 03:39.

[Lennat]

I actually love the idea from a selfish point of view, but it would be way too confusing for the masses.

[TheBurglar]

Qualifying
Television, fit length and break to suit most broadcasters (as is)
Tyres, best times for two different compounds in each session (too match race format)

Race
Fuel, allow a very safe version of splash and dash, maybe exchanging a fuel pod

Championship
Cash, instead of points, prize fund set by circuits, any fines reduce drivers total

[Tony006]

A very long read split into a summary then more detailed explanation section so there may be some repetition...

Ideas that have been percolating for a few years, hopefully all inconsistencies & various iterations have been brought together to one cohesive version.

 

Formula 1 Grand Prix Proposed Weekend & Regulation Changes

 

Each team compromises of 3 cars, x2 race cars, x1 3^rd team car for nominated 3^rd driver support race.

 

Grand Prix Weekend Format (Summary)

 

Sunday

 

Grand Prix change race from distance length to time length of 120 minutes, with the last 20 minutes of race reverting back to a lap remaining counter with minimum of 120 minutes of racing completed at chequered flag. Drivers have to use 2 different types of tyres during race.

 

Saturday

 

Qualifying start time same as race, compromises 2 parts; Team Time Trial (Q1) and Super pole (Q2). Qualifying is then followed by the F1 Teams Finale race, starting position determined first to last by constructor points accumulated highest to lowest from Teams Team Heat races and Teams Time Trial.

 

Team Finale Race with the teams nominated 3^rd driver and racing in the teams’ 3^rd car, race length 80 minutes, with the last 20 minutes of race reverting back to a lap remaining counter with minimum of 80 minutes of racing completed at chequered flag. Drivers have to use 2 different types of tyres during race.

 

Friday

 

Practice Session 100 minutes, start time same as Grand Prix, teams able to run 3 cars, with maximum of any 2 running on track at any one time, each driver required to run minimum of 40 minutes of timed laps.

 

Team Heat Races 3 races 40 minutes each, with the last 20 minutes of race reverting back to a lap remaining counter with minimum of 40 minutes of racing completed at chequered flag. Taking place on Friday afternoon or evening after practice, each team competes with 1 driver in their respective car. First Heat race starting grid is determined by reverse constructor championship positions and races 2 & 3 starting position a reverse grid based on accumulated constructor points from previous Heat races.

 

Third Drivers, each team has a roster of third drivers compromising of Reserve Driver, Test Driver & 1 or 2 Development Drivers.

 

Reserve Driver role is to stand in for either race driver if required, allowed to be nominated third driver for 40-50% of Grand Prix races (20 race calendar 8-10 races).

 

Test Driver role is to complete majority of any in season car & tyre testing, allowed to be nominated third driver for 20-40% of Grand Prix races (20 race calendar 4-8 races).

 

Development Driver roles for upcoming drivers, each team can have maximum of 2 official development drivers allowed to be nominated third driver for 20-40% (10%-20% each driver) of Grand Prix races (20 race calendar 2-4 races each development driver). 1 of the development drivers has to nominated in this role by a minimum of 2 different teams over a calendar season.

 

Tyre Competition have multiple tyre manufactures supplying tyres, instead of previous competition eras where manufactures supply individual teams, they supply all teams equally. If only two competing manufactures than teams choose from available selections, 1 dry race compound from each manufacturer after Friday practice when all available tyre compounds can be used, ideally there would be 3 or more competing manufactures, and prior to start of season each team assigned 2 manufactures per race on a rotational basis.

 

Practice & Qualifying Lap Timing taken from start of third sector instead of start/finish line (start of first sector) to reduce in & out laps from 2 laps to 1 lap, out lap would be sectors 1 & 2 before timed laps start, then in lap sector 3 after last timed lap.

 

Championship Points, Grand Prix race points awarded for top ten positions 25, 17, 12, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 & 2, plus 1 point for all classified finishers completing 95% (approximately average of 3 laps down behind race winner on 100s lap average for a race duration of 120 mins) race distance and crossing finish line at end of race.

Qualifying Super pole (Q2), Teams Time Trial (Q1), Team Heat races and Teams Finale race awarded points for top 9 positions 12, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1.

 

Fastest lap awarded points 4, 2, 1 & 1 for 3 fastest race laps for drivers (only fastest lap time per driver eligible) that finish in the top 10 and a bonus fastest lap point will be awarded to the driver with the fastest lap amongst the classified finishers outside the top 10. A consolation fastest lap point to be awarded if the driver that sets overall fastest race lap fails to be a classified finisher.

 

Fastest pit stop awarded points 4, 2, 1 & 1 for the 4 fastest pit stops, time taken from pit entry to pit exit. Only first 2 pit stops completed per driver drivers (only fastest pit stop time per driver eligible) where all 4 wheels are changes can be eligible to be awarded pit stop points. A pit infringement such as exceeding pit lane speed limit or unsafe release invalidates pit stop time and the driver also has to cross finish line on subsequent lap for pit stop time to be eligible for points. Starting race from pit lane or entering pit lane after formation lap to change tyres counts as 1 of the drivers 2 eligible pit stops but will not be timed. Pit stops to change tyres a third or more time also not eligible to prevent teams sacrificing race positions in quest for pit stop points.

 

Teams and drivers should not be rewarded with points just for showing up, conversely there does not need to be teams and drivers forever on zero points, this format will reward points for the lower rank teams on merit and more likely produce a points differential separating those teams at the end of season rankings instead of relying on some unknown highest ranked finishing position from a random race being the deciding factor in rankings, as this rewards both teams producing fast and reliable cars and drivers being fast and consistent.

 

Team Heat races and Team Finale race awarded fastest lap points 4, 2, 1 & 1 eligible to all classified finishers; Team Time Trial (Q1) and Team Finale race also awarded pit stop points 4, 2, 1 & 1 eligible on the first completed pit stop to change all 4 tyres per driver. The Drivers World Championship is accumulation of points from qualifying Super pole (Q2) and the Grand Prix, the Constructors World Championship is an accumulation of points from the Drivers World Championship plus the points awarded in the 3 Team Heat races, Team Time Trial (Q1) and Team Finale race. There could additionally be a Team Championship as an accumulation of the points awarded in the 3 Team Heat races, Team Time Trial (Q1) and Team Finale race, which would provide some recognition for each team’s roster of 3^rd drivers.

 

Pit Stops, sub 2 second pit stops to change 4 tyres is an amazing feat, it is a blink of an eye event that involves so many people you cannot actually follow what has happened. Having less mechanics involved would make tyre changes more engaging as you will have time to follow what is happening. The first change would be a safety related one, in other than 1 mechanic to guide the car to the appropriate pit box (this may not be necessary and could be achieved by an alternative method), all mechanics and equipment have to stay behind pit line in their garage area until their car is stationary in pit box.

 

The pit servicing crew would be limited to 4 tyre mechanics and 2 wheel guns, 1 front & 1 rear jack operators and maximum of 4 other mechanics/team personnel are allowed to interact/work on the car but not in the changing of tyres. The car would not be allowed to leave the pit box until all mechanics and equipment are back behind the pit line.

 

If cars are to enter the garage area than they have to stop in the teams pit box, raised on jacks and lowered onto a wheeled trolley and then the car manually rotated and pushed into garage (like in sports car/Le Mans series), instead and as happens a lot and the car stopping in the pit box then being pushed by mechanics into to pit lane to be manoeuvred into the garage area. It is unnecessary safety issue that increases the chance of a pit lane incident and is no quicker than using the trolleys.

 

Grand Prix Weekend Format (Detailed Explanation)

 

Grand Prix

Changing the format of the Grand Prix weekend has been a popular topic, which often produces divisive views especially if suggestions propose radical changes to the way Grand Prix racing is conducted. The changes proposed here are envisioned to be a series of slight changes to enhance the sport for current audiences while preserving the historical nature of the sport.

 

Most major televised sports are based round the principle of duration of the event within a timeframe rather than distance, and a sport where the result is determined after a known time is easier for media companies to package and for casual audiences to comprehend. Current Grand Prix are approximately 190 miles (305 Km) in length but since the average speed of the different circuits varies considerably a race at Monza can be done in less than 80 minutes whereas Singapore is nearly 120 minutes and Monaco is approx 90 minutes but only 160 miles. The casual fans do not really care about race distances but how much time do they need to invest to watch a Grand Prix every other Sunday.

 

The proposal for 120 minute race time length keeps the current Sunday Grand Prix format from race start to podium completed in a 2.5 hour timescale. The race timer is replaced after 100 minutes of racing is completed with x laps to finish, approx 12-15 laps at most tracks to complete the final 20 minutes of the race length. The number of laps remaining to finish the race to be determined by race control to ensure the race duration is at least 120 minutes. This would make the finish of the race immediately understandable without the need for any clarification when the chequered flag will be shown or adding +1 or more laps after race time expires like in Formula E races.

 

Race lengths could also be varied during the season with most Grand Prix races at 120 minutes and some at 150 minutes emulating the longer 3 hour Grand Prix races from the early years of the championship. The classic races would suit the 150 minute race length with Monza having the potential to cover over 400 miles, Monaco to match the old 100 lap races, Spa, Silverstone, Suzuka & Red Bull Ring the classic high average speed tracks that generally produce good races. A selection of other tracks could rotate season to season between 120 & 150 minute race lengths to add another level of variety.

 

 

Safety car periods can have big impact on the number of available racing laps completed, especially if it is a long safety car period without the race being stopped. If the race is stopped then the race timer would be stopped and rolled back to the start of the last completed racing lap and restarted when racing resumes. If a safety car is deployed and the race is in the laps remaining phase then there would be no change from how the safety car currently operated. If a safety car is deployed earlier in the race, then the race timer is paused soon as safety car is released, then restarted when it crosses the start/finish line then paused again when it crosses the start of the third sector until crossing start/finish line again. When the safety car is recalled, the race timer continues does not pause during the third sector as racing resumes in the third sector at pit entrance line. This process will extend the total Grand Prix duration beyond 100 minutes but will not drastically reduce the amount of time racing which would still be the 100 minutes duration. The delay would be similar to injury time in other sports and the safety car use in current Grand Prix effects the race durations. Virtual safety car periods would not be required to change as generally short periods otherwise safety car then used.

 

Qualifying

For practise and qualifying sessions each lap to be timed from start of sector 3 rather than start/finish line (start of sector 1). The sector points may need to be adjusted to be in a middle of a short straight rather than braking zone and be more clearly defined by either a line across track or advertising or light gantry across the track. The reason for this is that in/out laps from leaving/entering will be reduced from requiring 2 laps to 1 lap slow cars on pit out laps only in sectors 1 & 2 and slow cars on pit in laps to sector 3. This would greatly reduce amount of cars driving on slow laps especially in qualifying.

 

Team Time Trial (Q1) segment of Qualifying involves the teams 3 cars & 3 drivers competing as a team, starting from pit lane completing 5 timed laps, including 3 pit stops, 1 per car. Timing starts when the lead car crosses the 2^nd/3^rd sector line and finishes  5 laps later when the last car crosses the 2^nd/3^rd sector line, producing a team time. The 3 cars complete a lap and then on laps 2, 3, 4 each car subsequently completes a pit stop to change tyres, followed by a final lap. Each team is allocated x4 soft tyres, with the cars starting on a set of these tyres and the 4^th set for pit stop. The 1^st car to pit has the 4^th set of tyres fitted, the 2^nd car to pit has the tyres fitted that were removed from 1^st pit stop & the 3^rd car to pit has the tyres fitted that were removed from the 2^nd pit stop. Once the current running teams 2nd pit stop (on lap 3) has been completed, determined by the car passing pit exit line, the next team scheduled to compete releases their 3 cars from pits to commence their time trial run. The teams running order of time trial is determined by the combine results of Fridays Team Heat races with the team in last position choosing their run position first and then the next team in ascending order choosing their run position next, with the team leading the results allocated the final remaining run slot. Constructor points are awarded, 12, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1 point for top 9 teams and bonus points for fastest pit stops 4, 2, 1 & 1. Driver’s super lap time compromising off their fastest sector 1, 2, 3 times  plus pit stop time (time elapsed pit entry to pit exit) are calculated and the race drivers with the 12 fastest times are promote to Qualifying Super Pole (Q2) and the remaining race drivers eliminated from qualifying set grid position 13-20 (based on current 10 competing teams).

 

Qualifying Super Pole (Q2) changed so that drivers set 2 consecutively timed laps with the cumulative time of both laps to decide final grid position. Car/drivers are run in groups of 4, 4, 4, with the running order the reverse of the Q1 lap times, group 1 positions 12-9 go first, group 2 positions 8-5 go second & group 3 positions 4-1 go last. Group 1 are released from pits at 12s intervals (can vary track to track), once the 4^th car crosses the start/finish on their 2^nd timed lap the group 2 are released from the pits, then repeated again for the group. Qualifying points are awarded, 12, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, for top 9 drivers.

 

The top qualifiers start on row 3 of the grid, with the 3rd place qualifier drawing lots to determine if the top 3, 4 or 5 qualifiers move back 2 rows on starting grid, promoting  qualifiers 4, 5, 6, 7 or 5, 6, 7, 8 or 6, 7, 8, 9 to starting grid rows 1 & 2. This format of mixing the front of the starting grid is better than reverse grids as the fastest drivers will still be in starting ahead of their nearest rivals if everything else is equal, while the fastest cars will have to overtake to win races. With Championship points awarded for qualifying, teams/drivers will be actively going for maximum points instead of playing the system for a better grid position. Likewise by it being decided after qualifying which of the lower qualifying positions getting promoted to the front of the grid, the slower competing teams will have the desire to qualify as fast as possible to both pick up some points and the chance to start on the front 2 rows.

 

In the advent grid penalties are applied to any of the top 10 drivers then they applied to qualifying position before a team is promoted to front 2 rows, which could result in drivers qualifying outside the top 10 making the front 2 starting grid rows. For drivers that are moved back to rows after qualifying, top 4, 5 or 6 depending on draw then any grid penalties are applied from their starting grid position.

 

The current qualifying format is the best one that has been used in Formula 1, the changes suggested are to add an extra team element with the time trail format, where the teams 3 drivers have to work together to complete the timed laps as fast as possible and also the teams ability to complete fast pit stops is also included to make it the complete team involvement.  Super pole (Q2) would provide the best feature of the single car qualifying in where you will definitely see the pole position laps and the tension for both driver and spectator that there will be only one chance to go for pole position. The technology exist that 4 cars can be followed at one time with a combination of TV cameras and onscreen graphics and is also easier for trackside spectators to keep track of 4 cars instead of 10 cars in the final moments of the current qualifying format. The reason for 2 consecutively timed laps combined rather than 1 would be that completing 2 almost perfect laps is a lot harder than 1 and is still an absolute test of driver skill but a greater chance of mistakes effecting a drivers starting position.

 

The Super pole (Q2) being individual runs ensures all competing drivers have equally clear track to set their qualifying time and prevents a repeat of the slip-streaming debacle at Monza 2019 qualifying.  The Team Time Trial phase of qualifying introduces a new team dynamic where the teams drivers and pit mechanics have to work together to achieve the best time but a slow pit stop could eliminate a driver from Super Pole Qualifying (Q2). Having the top qualifying drivers moved back 2 grid rows may be seen as a gimmick that ruins the purity of F1, but it is a far better solution than reverse grids as it affects the top qualifiers equally and with it being decided after qualifying if it’s the top 3, 4 or 5 drivers that get moved back 2 rows along with the points awarded prevents teams and drivers not trying to achieve the best result possible.

 

Team Heat Races

Including addition short duration 50 minute races to a Grand Prix weekend is to present more on track action for spectators over the weekend showcasing new drivers against current Formula 1 drivers in Grand Prix cars. In the historic days Formula 1 drivers use to compete in lower tier racing series which due to various reasons no longer happens and also the performance difference between the feeder series and Formula 1 cars is increasing and the reduction in testing means new drivers get little opportunity to gain relevant experience in Formula 1 cars. Team Heat races would not count towards the drivers’ championship but could count towards the constructors’ championship so that the results carry some purpose. Reverse grids have been suggested for Grand Prix racing but is a very gimmicky choice that dilutes the purity of Formula 1 racing and artificially effects the Championship outcome, and could render qualifying in its current form meaningless.

 

The 3 Team Heat races take place consecutively with the shortest possible delay between each race (10-20 minutes ideally). The starting positions would be a reverse grid format based on current constructors’ championship position (previous year’s final positions for first race of season). There would be 3 Team Heat races over a Grand Prix weekend, on a Friday afternoon and/or evening after the practice session; and the Team Finale race on Saturday after qualifying. Each Team Heat race would be a mix of each team’s current race drivers and nominated third driver, which Heat race each drivers competes being decided either before season starts or prior to each F1 weekend, ensuring that there is an equal mix of the nominated third drivers from all team across the 3 races. The Team Finale race on Saturday is for all the nominated third drivers to compete in against each other towards a separate Teams Championship.

 

These Team Heat races would generate more media interest especially on a Friday helping increase the exposure of Formula 1 and the entertainment offered over the course of the Grand Prix weekend and possibly produce different type of racing due to have mixed up starting grids. Practise time would be greatly reduced from 240 minutes to 100 minutes to make time for Team Heat races over a Grand Prix Weekend. Each day of the grand prix event will offer a competitive element; Friday offers a practice session followed by 3 Team Heat races featuring all the teams’ drivers, producing 3 race winners. Saturday offers qualifying with a Team Time Trial, knockout and super pole elements producing the Grand Prix starting grid followed by the teams Finale race for each teams nominated 3^rd driver, showcasing new drivers and maybe some F1 legends; and Sunday concludes with the F1 Grand Prix.

 

The starting grids for these Team Heat races could be determined in various different ways. The first Team Heat race would be a reverse grid of current constructors’ championship, with point’s awarded 12, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1 for top 9 finishers and 4, 2, 1 & 1 points awarded for top 4 fastest laps. For the first race of the season the reverse grid positions will be decided by the previous season's constructor’s championship. The starting grid for race 2 onwards determined by culmination of points awarded from previous Team Heat races over the Grand Prix weekend, then used to determine a reverse grid starting line up for next Team Heat race. This would have the objective of having racing that is the opposite of a Formula 1 race in that the fastest cars are at the rear of the starting grid and having to race back to the front.

 

The Saturday Teams Finale race starting positions would be decided by the culmination of the constructor points earned from the 3 Team Heat races plus the Team Time Trial (Q1) with the leading constructor earning pole position. This race could also allow the possibility fielding additional cars for wildcard entries.

 

Practice Session

Friday Practice Session 100 minutes length, each team to run 3 cars with the third car to taken by one of the non-race drivers. During the practice session each team is only allowed to have maximum of 2 cars running on track simultaneously, the third car can leave pits to commence on tracking running after first car to enter pits is in third track sector. Each of 3 cars required to complete minimum of 40 minutes of timed laps during session.

With the limits of testing there is little opportunity for new drivers to experience formula cars and if a race drivers requires replacing during a season than the reserve driver has had limited opportunity to acclimatise to a current Formula 1 car. Re-introducing 3^rd cars like they were used in Friday practise sessions in 2005 would promote more track action, more opportunities for new drivers and more testing opportunities for tyre companies.

 

Support Races

This new Formula 1 weekend format does allow time for other support races to participate with the reduction in number of practice sessions from 3 to 1. With practice, qualifying and Grand Prix race all starting at the same time each day, leaving the mornings free on all 3 days and a time slot between Friday practice and Team Heat races. Saturday has more time allocated to F1 running and Sunday is no change.

 

Third Drivers

The role of drivers that can be dominated to participate in a Grand Prix weekend is to allow young drivers to gain relevant experience of Formula 1 cars and allow more experience drivers a second chance to further their Formula 1 career. The Reserve driver is the first choice replacement of any teams race drivers if they are unavailable to race during a season therefore participating in the most Grand Prix weekends so that  are familiar with current cars. The test driver main role is complete the majority of any in season car & tyre testing and the development drivers are given a variety of experience in race weeks and testing. The reserve driver would attend as many Grand Prix weekends as possible; the test driver would attend any Grand Prix the reserve driver is unavailable as a race driver replacement.

 

Pre-season testing will be completed by teams race drivers, the reserve and test drivers will be allowed to participate a day each. All in season car and tyre testing will be completed by teams nominated third drivers, the test driver gets allocated 50%-60% of test day and the remaining equally shared between reserve and development drivers. The same driver can be nominated for dual roles of reserve & test driver (60% weekends) or test and development driver (30% weekends). The nature of the development driver role is that they are gaining the necessary experience to be a race driver and therefore the role of reserve and development driver cannot be combined.

 

A Super license would be required to be a development driver  and once that person had competed in a minimum number (6 as an idea) of Grand Prix weekends as a nominate third driver then their license would be upgraded to a super F1 rookie license allowing the driver to be eligible to participate as a test driver. After competing in a further number (6 as an idea) of Grand Prix weekends as a nominate test driver then their license would be upgraded to a Super-F1 race license allowing the driver to be eligible to a reserve driver and race driver. This ensures that new drivers to Formula 1 are receiving sufficient experience before becoming a race driver while also making sure the development driver role is constantly giving opportunities to new drivers. It would be required that a driver would be a development driver with multiple teams during a season as a way of fast tracking there progression, once a driver has a super F1 rookie license they can no longer be nominated as a development driver.

 

Tyre Competition

The last time 2 tyre manufacturers competed in Formula 1 it contributed to one of the best periods of racing where different circuits suited the different tyre manufactures tyres so made for less predictable racing. The downside to that era was that each manufacture produce tyres to the specific requirements of a works team and other customers had to make do with what tyres they were given; also individual compounds for each race and possibly each teams where produce at great expense. It was imbalanced to how many teams each tyre supplier supplied tyres for and for teams being able to go with their preferred supplier. The solution is to have any competing tyre manufactures to supply the same amount of tyres to all teams, with every team receiving tyres from 2 different tyre manufactures each race weekend, if there is more than 2 competing tyre manufactures then which teams they each supply is rotated throughout the season which would be decided before the start of the season which teams receive which brand of tyres for each race. Ideally there would be 3-5 competing tyre manufactures hopefully binging in alongside Pirelli, Michelin, Goodyear/Dunlop, Bridgestone, Continental, Hankook, Yohohama, BF Goodrich, etc. Tyres provide the biggest performance differentiator and by having at least 3 suppliers and potentially the top 3 teams are out of sync with the supply of tyres from the competing tyre manufactures which make one team dominating the season a lot harder to achieve.

 

The tyre rules be similar to existing format; each tyre manufacture would produce 4 or 5 dry race tyre compounds, 1 intermediate wet  and 1 full wet tyre compounds for the season, and allocate 3 dry weather compounds to bring to each race, designated as soft, medium and hard. The Dry tyre allocation for Friday practice session for each team will be x2 soft, x2 medium and x1 hard compound from each tyre supplier (10 sets). These tyres can only be used during Friday practice then handed back to supplier giving the teams’ free choice over how to use these tyres on their 3 cars. There would not be sufficient time even if the full session was dry for all 3 of the team’s drivers to each run all 6 of the available dry weather tyre compounds, therefore supplying additional tyres is an unnecessary requirement. The rule for returning 1 set of tyres after 40 minutes is possibly unnecessary with only 1 practice session.

For the 3 Friday Team Heat races each team is allocated 1 set of each dry compound from each tyre suppliers’ soft, medium and hard compounds (6 sets) to use across these 3 races. This will produce varying tyre strategies from the teams across the 3 heat races, with pit stops possibly unlikely but tyres available if requires. These tyres can only be used during the heat races then handed back to supplier.

The wet tyre compound allocation would be that each teams car would be assigned for Friday practice 1 set of inter and wet tyres from each tyre supplier (4 sets). These tyres would stay assigned to each car for the Grand prix weekend and after a session/race and used tyres would be replaced with a new set for the next session/race.

 

After the 3^rd Team Heat race on Friday and before Saturday Qualifying the teams have to choose to continue the rest of the weekend exclusively with the soft tyre from one of the tyre suppliers and a medium or hard compound from each tyre supplier for each race car to use for the rest of the Grand Prix weekend (each car within team can choose a differing tyre selection). Each tyre manufacture will have available for each team an additional  x4 soft, x 4 medium, x4 hard, x4 inter and x4 wet tyre compounds (40 sets) from which to make their tyre selection.

 

For the Team Time Trial (Q1) each team is allocated x2 soft tyres from each tyre supplier (4 sets) and from the remaining 4 sets of soft tyres choose 1 set for each race car for Qualifying Super pole (Q2) and 1 set for 3^rd car for Team Finale race. The set of soft tyres allocated to be used for Qualifying Super pole (Q2) can be also use in the Grand prix race, giving the teams that did not compete in Super pole (Q2) a new set of soft tyres that can be used in the Grand Prix race. The teams choose either a medium or hard compound tyre from each tyre suppler for each car, with the race cars being allocated 2 sets of chosen compounds for the Grand Prix race and the 3^rd car allocated 1 set of chosen compounds for the Team Finale race. The wet tyres the teams get to choose 3 additional wet tyres with at least 1 tyre from each tyre supplier for the race cars and 1 additional wet tyre for the 3^rd car to supplement the 1 of each wet tyre compound already assigned at the start of the weekend per car. The teams’ tyre strategies will have to vary across their 3 cars as there is deliberately insufficient of each tyre compound available to allow the same selection to be chosen for all the cars. From the 40 sets to choose from 3 out of 4 soft tyres, 10 of the 16 medium and hard tyres and 7 out of the 16 wet tyres will be allocated to a team. The remaining tyres (16 sets) will be unused and should not need to be fitted to wheel rims and can be reassigned to another Grand Prix weekend or test session instead of being destroyed.

 

Each team will be required to have different coloured (and option style) wheel rims for each tyre supplier to help differentiate which supplier’s tyres are current fitted. Each tyre supplier will need per team 20 dry weather compounds, x7 soft, x7 medium & x6 hard tyres; and up to 20 wet weather compounds x10 intermediate & x10 wet tyres per race. Measures need to be taken to ensure unused tyre sets can be re-used at another Grand Prix or test day as at least x2 medium or hard tyres and at least x1 intermediate or wet tyres from each tyre supplier will not be required per team (no wet weather tyres required at some Grand Prix events). Tyres suppliers will agree with approval of FIA on how to mark their tyre compounds and help denote which manufacturers tyres are currently being used.

 

If there were 2 competing tyre brands then they would supply all teams every race, if there was 3 tyre brands then they would supply each team for every 2 out of 3 races, and if there was 4 tyre brands then it would be every 2 out of 4 races (as in a cycle of 4 races each manufacture would be paired with a different tyre manufacture at each race). The amount of tyres each manufacture would need to produce for a season would be the same and a known quantity each season once supply contracts agreed. 2 tyre brands would have a race victory each race and every competing tyre manufacture will be supplying race winning teams every season which will provide better recognition for their investment. This model should provide the benefits of tyre competition and negate the disadvantages.

 

Fuel Supply

Instead of teams/engine manufacture having fuel supplied exclusively from one fuel company; one fuel company supplies fuel to all teams for multiple Grand prix events, with different fuel companies being used throughout the season. Teams will still have individual oil/lubricant contracts for those companies to supply their products for exclusive use throughout the season. Each fuel company would homologate their fuel before the start of the season and once homologated samples provided to engine manufactures for testing and calibration. This would add element of variability to the engine so that the engine manufacturers would need to operate their engines with a range of fuels potentially closing and overlapping the performance envelope of the different engines. This would also have a cost benefit in reducing the development of multiple variations of fuel throughout the season by the fuel companies.

 

Championship Points

Adjusting the points awarded for race results to 25, 17, 12, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 & 2 points and 1 point for all remaining classified finishers outside top 10 positions (current points system 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 & 1). Points also awarded for both top 4 fastest race laps and top 4 fastest pit stops to change tyres on a scale of 4, 2, 1 & 1 (including 1 point for fastest lap point for drivers in classified race finishing positions outside the top 10). The reason for the change to the race points is with the introduction of fastest lap and pit stop points the race winner cannot be outscored but could still be matched by the 2^nd place driver for total points awarded for Grand Prix race (including fastest lap and pit stop points) if the race winner does not score any additional points for fastest lap or pit stop. The fastest lap points can reward the race winner when they put in a commanding performance but also allow a driver in a potential race winning car but is not in contention for a race win to be able to reduce points deficit to drivers finishing ahead of them, while pit stops points reward the team’s mechanics to do fast pit stops during the race. For any classified finishers outside the top 10, 1 point is awarded as it is far better to have teams at the bottom of the championship table separated by actual points rather than all on 0 points and standings decided by best race finishes. Reliability is so good these days that generally 3-5 cars fail to finish most races rather 15-20 cars of the past. When there is less than 14 classified finishers, the fastest lap bonus point is decided amongst the last 4 classified finishers (if any of these last 4 classified finisher already has a top 3 fastest lap then they are ineligible for another fastest lap point) .

 

A driver can score a maximum of 45 points from qualifying on pole position and winning race with fastest lap and pit stop, leaving a maximum of 30 points available for finishing second which is the same points ratio from 1961-1990 when race wins earned 9 points and 2^nd earned 6 points. If the top 2 scoring drivers take points off each other from qualifying and race then there would only be a 1 point difference of 38 to 37 points.

 

Points for qualifying awarded to the top 9 positions with 12, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1 point (which is the race point’s positions 3 to 10 and 1 point for 9th). With the introduction of the top qualifying positions moving back 2 grid rows this ensures teams and drivers are still committed to trying to obtained the best result possible. This also gives the teams and drivers that just made the Super pole (Q2) session an incentive to set a competitive time for more points and an increased chance to be promoted to the front 2 grid rows.  Qualifying often provides as much entertainment and tension as the race itself, testing drivers and teams in different ways to the race.

 

The Team Heat races, Team Time Trial and Team Finale race receive the points on the same scale as qualifying plus the fastest lap/pit stop scale from the Grand Prix race. The Heat races need to offer (constructor) points as this is the best way to ensure teams and drivers race to overtake to achieve highest possible race finish instead of aiming for lower finishing positions to have a higher starting position in the next Heat race. The accumulation of points from the Heat races also gives the easiest to understand system for determining the starting order for the subsequent Heat races and the Team Finale race. The points accrued outside of qualifying (Q2) Super pole and Grand Prix only count towards the Constructors World Championship giving the teams the incentive to commit to the Heat and Team Finale race and not diluting the focus on the Drivers World Championship.

 

Formula 1 points scoring systems have been changes so much over the years that providing consistency with the past is irrelevant. This change would reward drivers and teams that are more consistent at all aspects of a race weekend and has the prospect of making the title fights closer when multiple teams are fighting regularly for pole position and race wins but could also mean a runaway champions in a period of one teams dominance.

 

Current F1 Technologies

 

DRS

This is seem as a gimmick and produces fake overtaking yet other technologies in the past mainly adjustable turbo boost in late 70’s & 80’s, changing fuel mixture, engine maps  & engine rev limits in recent times, produced the same result without the visual representation so in effect made it invisible. The only gimmicky aspect is the restriction to specific zone and availability to deploy use which is a necessity to achieve the desired results. If the use of DRS was invisible like the McLaren F-duct system, then everyone would be raving about the quality of passes and passing chance in Formula 1. DRS should be promoted as more than an overtaking band-aid but along the lines of the advance movable aerodynamics that are becoming common on production sports cars and finding their way into family cars.

 

Hybrid Engines

Too much has been made of the lack of noise compared to the previous V8 engines and nothing to promote the efficiency and relevancy to road cars. Hybrid power in F1 & WEC have greatly increased desirability of hybrid cars, yet Le Mans was won by a Porsche with a 4 cylinder 2.0l turbo engine yet no one complains about the noise of these cars but raves about the power and technology of them.  Formula 1 is on a quest to have a 1000hp turbo engine to attach a 160hp electric motor, when there has been a lot of investment in the current engine technology and the fabled 1000hp could easily be achieved by increasing the power of the electric motor to 500-600kW. This would produce in excess of 1200hp with current engines and both internal combustion and electric power make a significant contribution each. The area of the power train that could be considered for development is gearboxes in that can they be made simpler and be more efficient, is 8 gears necessary or would a 6 speed, 4 speed or CVT system lead to less complex gearboxes in road cars. Koesnigsegg have produced a sports car the Regera that has a hybrid engine with a turbo combustion engine, electric motor & torque converter doing without a gearbox/transmission which has a weight saving benefit and is one of the best ways to increase efficiency.

 

Driver Weight

Too much focus is being put on drivers achieving a target weight to have a performance benefit. This is not a socially acceptable message in these times for some of the fittest sports people on the planet to be disadvantaged for weighing too much. The easily solution to stop this being an issue is to have a nominal driver weight which is achieved using ballast positioned behind the driver on the engine side of the monocoque (to prevent the possibility of ballast becoming loose in cockpit) so that all drivers weigh the same with a similar centre of gravity.

 

Other F1 Ideas

 

Season Launch

The start of the Formula 1 season does not have any real impact with the various test sessions interspaced with team launches. Before the first race of the season hold a Formula 1 launch event at a venue like Paul Ricard, where all teams have to present their new cars and drivers. This event could be also used for teams to announce which drivers would drive the 3^rd car during Friday practice and to announce the line ups for each of the Team Heat races and if there are more than 2 tyre suppliers which teams they supply at each races. These could be held in a draw similar to football knockout competitions.

 

Race Starts

During the start build up procedure either before or after the national anthem, all the drivers are introduced via a ceremony where they are announced by an MC and appear to music to make more of a show similar to what happens in American motorsport. This could take place either on the podium or on a stage at front of the grid.

 

At the start of the race, the cars engines are off, the driver is secured and the grid is emptied of all personnel. When the parade lap is to start than all the cars engines are to be started by the driver from within the cockpit to commence the parade lap. There is no reason for Formula 1 cars not to have an onboard engine starter motor, especially as they have electric motor powering the driveshaft and batteries. It is ridiculous that the fastest cars on the planet have to retire from a race just because the engine had stalled and the driver is unable to restart it.

Completing a parade/formation lap prior to the race start is redundant to its original purpose due to the sophistication and technology available to teams, using a process similar to Formula E, where the teams line up towards the rear of the starting grid and then drivers move forwards into grid positions for the race start, instead of completing a full lap.

 

Car Design

Reverse grid Team Heat races, qualifying Team Time Trial phase and top 4-6 qualifiers starting race from row 3 will encourage teams to design their cars with aerodynamics which work better in dirty air so can follow other cars and hopefully make overtaking them easier.

 

There are lots of opinions and ideas on how to change car design regulations to improve racing, the ideas I have without getting too technical are:

1. Reduce complexity of front wings by making them similar to a 1990’s F1 car where they where narrower (the width of the car, minus the tyre width), as this reduces their performance and reduce the chance of them contacting another car’s tyres. Limit the number of elements to 1 main plane and 1 secondary plane at either side of the wing. This secondary plane can be movable to help reduce down force loss when following another car. Make endplates standardised like the centre section of the front wing to reduce efficiency, as a less efficient front wing will not lose as much down force when following another car. Limit teams to homologating a maximum of 4 different front wing designs per season, this will save a lot of development expenditure on track specific front wings and as the front wing will have to work in a greater variety of conditions and so reduce peak down force.
2. Remove all the aerodynamic elements between the front and rear axles, so you have cleaner looking cars similar to a 1990’s F1 car therefore only having the body surfaces. The simplest way I see this being achieved would be to prevent any part of the bodywork other than the central spine of the car and rear mirror supports having opposing external surfaces so that cannot be an aerodynamic wing or air flow modifier. Bringing back a regulated version of ground effects will also help closer racing as this down force is produced centrally on the car and is not affected by following another car.
3. Return of ‘active’ (reactive) suspension, another 1990’s technology which is becoming more used on road cars. A hydraulic/magnetic suspension system that is computer controlled rather than the complex spring/damper systems that are having no relevance to suspensions on road cars. The active suspension can only actually be a reactive suspension in that it can only react to loadings applied to the car as it’s in motion and not be a pre-programmed system that is optimised for each race tracks specific corners. This will reduce the increasing hidden complexity of current passive suspension systems, and certain parts of the system can be spec parts.
4. Wheel hubs, brake disc, calliper position and brake cooling ducts, with the removal of the brake disc shroud, returning to a non-enclosed brake disc & calliper. This whole assembly can be a spec part with the brake material and suspension pick up points open for development.
5. 20” front, 21” rear dry weather tyres and 21” front, 22” rear wet weather tyres, this will bring F1 wheel sizes more in line with modern production sport cars, with rear wheels larger then fronts giving a natural rake to the car chassis. Having wet weather tyres that are a size bigger than dry weather tyres as this will automatically increase ground clearance to help reduce aquaplaning.

The philosophy is to reduce the complexity and expenditure of hidden areas of racing cars that have little relevance to road cars and to reduce aerodynamic efficiency of the car and so reducing aerodynamic penalty when in turbulent air from following another car.

 

Homologated Spec Parts

To reduce expenditure certain parts will be homologated for that season and there designs and specifications cannot be changed during the season. These parts can be from a single or multiple suppliers, be either from an outsourced supplier or team produced; or the design parameters detailed for the teams to produce their own version. Development of these spec parts can be still done by those suppliers and teams that decide to invest money and time and a new version of the part submitted for homologation for subsequent seasons. This will allow improvement these spec parts over time when required as technology and understanding progresses. Examples of these would be battery and electric motors.

 

Appendix

1 The start time of the Grand Prix is taken as the base time for the Grand Prix Weekend which all other sessions start times are referenced against.

 

2 Lap times for races are measured from start/finish, practice & qualifying sessions lap times are measured from the 2^nd/3^rd sector point. This is to reduce in/out laps from 2 laps to 1 lap reducing slow cars on track. The 2^nd/3^rd sector point ideally needs to be on a straight section of track, identifiable by a line across the track and possibly an advertising gantry. For consistency this could also be applied to 1^st/2^nd sector point on the track.

 

3 Race points     Qualifying points    Fastest Lap & Pit stop points

1^st          25                      2                              4

2^nd         17                      9                              2

3^rd          12                      7                              1

4^th           9                       6                              1

5^th           7                       5

6^th           6                       4

7^th           5                       3

8^th           4                       2

9^th           3                       1

10^th         2

For drivers finishing outside top ten positions and awarded a classified finish, 1 bonus point awarded for fastest lap amongst those drivers.

 

4 Pit stop times are taken from Pit entry line (start of speed limit) to pit exit line (end of speed limit) for awarding of points for fastest pit stops. For a pit stop to qualify for points a minimum of all 4 tyres need to be changed on the car, only the first 2 qualifying pit stops in a race can be considered for being awarded points. If a driver gets a pit stop time penalty after completing 2 qualifying pit stops regardless if penalty is served in a subsequent pit stop or as a race time penalty, their fastest recorded pit stop time is disregarded. The main aim of this is prevent teams doing multiple pit stops just to improve pit stop time and all drivers that incur a pit stop time penalty are equally affected.

 

5 Grid penalties are common place in modern formula 1 and are here to stay until alternative solutions are implemented. With respect to grid penalties if a car has to take a grid penalty that should not be negated if other cars also take penalties resulting in cars leapfrogging backwards over each other. If a car in 8th position has a 3 place grid penalty then that car starts in 11th position, a car in 5^th position has 5 place penalty then that car starts in 10^th place. All cars without penalties have their starting positions promoted to take up any vacant grid positions before any cars with penalties can gain vacant grid positions. If 2 cars have different penalties that would put them back to the same grid position, then either the car that qualified slower or had the greater penalty applied would be demoted an extra grid position. Current regulations are the slower qualifying car would take the extra demotion.

Edited by Tony006, 06 October 2020 - 11:53.

[PayasYouRace]

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[Lights]

Some drivers have commented on a 2 day weekend format.

Magnussen would “love” more two-day F1 weekends

 

F1 should take inspiration from two-day Suzuka format – Hamilton

 

“I don’t mind it,” said Hamilton. “I’m happy for them to do that every year. How many Thursdays [does] that give us back?

 

Daniel Ricciardo happy for F1 weekends to be two-day events

 

“You can get enough done in two days and shorter weekends,” Ricciardo said.

 

“With 22 races next year, instead of being at a weekend for five days, arrive Wednesday and leave Sunday or Monday, to shorten it by a day would be nice.

 

-

 

Unfortunately, Brawn seems to rule it out as it would "it would confine the feeder series races to the previous days".

 

Not sure if that's a good point from Brawn in that regard, but that of course depends on the sessions F1 would hold and when they'd be placed. 

As he acknowledges himself, it might be a needed change due to the ever increasing number of GP's:

 

“After careful analysis we have concluded that the best solution is to keep the event over three days, revising the Friday format but leaving the rest untouched, with qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday."

“In order to meet the demands of the teams and in order to slightly increase the number of Grands Prix, which will be at 22 next year, we have given consideration to reorganising the schedule so that teams and drivers can arrive a day later.”

 

Yeah Ross, I don't know how you want to achieve that without removing the Friday.

 

[SenorSjon]

Tracks pay fees for a three-day event with all kinds of events surrounding it. I don't think teams would like their FOM-income slashed due to this. A day less income for hotels, catering, track, etc.

[ANF]

Revising the Friday format? Media work in the morning and practice in the afternoon?

[Sterzo]

As a lover of the feeder series, I wish they would be detached from the Grand Prix weekends. It's admittedly a long time since I've attended a GP race in person, but when I did the spectators were pretty much ignoring the F3 race which was the highlight for me. It would be great for international F3 and F2 to be the headline events at their own meetings.

[PayasYouRace]

Fine by me. Friday doesn't matter much and the running on Friday can be made up for throughout the rest of the weekend. Sunday morning isn't even used by F1. Team personnel are already on a nightmare schedule. With more weekends planned teams are going to have problems with fatigue and people being away from their families.

[Marklar]

“In order to meet the demands of the teams and in order to slightly increase the number of Grands Prix, which will be at 22 next year, we have given consideration to reorganising the schedule so that teams and drivers can arrive a day later.”

Yeah Ross, I don't know how you want to achieve that without removing the Friday.

AFAIK the plan is to move the media day/scrutineering to friday morning and have both practice sessions in the afternoon.

[Lights]

AFAIK the plan is to move the media day/scrutineering to friday morning and have both practice sessions in the afternoon.

 

Ok, that's good to know. Still not convinced that this is actually feasible, sounds pretty cramped unless they'd get rid of a practice session as well. Which I personally think wouldn't be a bad thing to do anyway.

 

But having FP1 at 13:00 instead of at 10:00 doesn't really solve the problem I believe. That sounds like most of the team members would still have to be there earlier in the week to prepare everything, except for maybe the drivers. But that's exactly what wouldn't solve the problem.

Edited by Lights, 16 October 2019 - 09:31.

[Londoned]

I think a 2 day weekend is feasible, but if it was Saturday & Sunday - 2hr practice Sat Am followed by qualifying in the afternoon, and the maybe even a Sunday AM warm up practice again followed by the race...

Friday could then be a media day and a day for the fans to get up close to the cars/old F1 cars, walk the track, meet drivers etc

[Pete_f1]

I would support Saturday practice being half an hour longer with practice one on Friday requiring the reserve driver to have one car. I would change the free practice sessions slightly to allow the reserves to get seat time.

[Atreiu]

I think a 2 day weekend is feasible, but if it was Saturday & Sunday - 2hr practice Sat Am followed by qualifying in the afternoon, and the maybe even a Sunday AM warm up practice again followed by the race...

Friday could then be a media day and a day for the fans to get up close to the cars/old F1 cars, walk the track, meet drivers etc

 

The problem with two day weekends is how it gives promoters a much smaller window to recover their investment and make a profit. Smaller ticket sales, less vendor sales, less track action to be televised, etc - while fixed costs are not slashed and I assume the hosting fee will suffer no discount as well. TV deals would also suffer, who would want to spend full ammount for a percived 2/3rds of the product?

 

It's more or less the same problem when alternating circuits held GPs. Their investment and expenses remained sky high to hold an event every other year. It didn't work out.

 

I would rather go the other way around and let promoters bid on a 4 day event to substitute testing and subsidize other events on the calendar. Entice them with more and the notion of a grander more distinct GP weekend.

 

How much would Bahrain and Abu Dhai pay for the extra day, all the action and elevated status? Money isn't a problem, they are imense vanity projects.

[Atreiu]

But I certainly welcome the idea of different weekend formats for different GPs. Promoters should have more freedom to spead the action around and try to make the best weekend they can.

[Marklar]

Ok, that's good to know. Still not convinced that this is actually feasible, sounds pretty cramped unless they'd get rid of a practice session as well. Which I personally think wouldn't be a bad thing to do anyway.

 

But having FP1 at 13:00 instead of at 10:00 doesn't really solve the problem I believe. That sounds like most of the team members would still have to be there earlier in the week to prepare everything, except for maybe the drivers. But that's exactly what wouldn't solve the problem.

It technically would because if scrutineering is on friday morning instead of thursday afternoon you have an extra day to build the car up. If the media day is on friday morning instead of thursday afternoon you also have a extra day to build up all facilities. The only thing that would barely change is building up stuff like the pitwall and garages, but AFAIK that's the first thing they build up anyways.

Now whether mechanics would then travel a day later or just build up everything in 3 instead of 2 days is a different matter though, but even in that case it would take a bit stress off them.

[SenorSjon]

Perhaps they should have the T-car back and a maximum size to motorhomes.

[Tsarwash]

So the Italian GP could choose a format that could advantage Italian cars, the Germans GP dudes, could try to advantage the Mercs, the British GPers could advantage Williams, and so on. That sounds like an excellent idea. I can't see any problems there at all. 

[BRG]

So the Italian GP could choose a format that could advantage Italian cars

 

Always used to work OK like that.

 

Some change and variety would be good though.  Bernie has gone, so we don't have to adhere to his OCD-ridden fetish for everything to be exactly the same.

[SenorSjon]

So the Italian GP could choose a format that could advantage Italian cars, the Germans GP dudes, could try to advantage the Mercs, the British GPers could advantage Williams, and so on. That sounds like an excellent idea. I can't see any problems there at all. 

 

Yes, only Ferrari's are allowed certain parts off-track you know. 

[Atreiu]

So the Italian GP could choose a format that could advantage Italian cars, the Germans GP dudes, could try to advantage the Mercs, the British GPers could advantage Williams, and so on. That sounds like an excellent idea. I can't see any problems there at all. 

 

What format? Italian cars get extra fuel? Or is it something to the lines of they get a 30 second time discount at the end of a race? Or they can ignore track limits at will? Do promoters in the US sick back and wait for bribes coming from Mercedes or Ferrari to help them build the GP weekend?