340 replies to this topic

[PlatenGlass]

We've had similar threads before but I think, especially with threads asking if F1 is a bit rubbish, that it's worth finding out what people would do to improve F1 right now, in early 2024. Big changes or little changes - all are welcome. If you were suddenly put in charge now, how would you improve the sport? I'll come back at some point with my own input.

[F1Frog]

1. Scrap DRS. Then work at reducing the dirty air from there.

2. Change red flag rules to not allow people to change tyres (stop-go penalty if they have to due to a puncture), and rolling restarts after red flags. Also no pitting under VSC, which should be used more often, with fewer full safety cars.

3. Allow unlimited entries to Formula 1 events. Prize money done on individual races rather than the whole season, as is entrance money. If there are more than 26 entries to a race then pre-qualifying is used with the same criteria as the original pre-qualifying. Teams are allowed to only enter select races, and with one car. The current teams cannot stop new entrants like Andretti.

4. Reduce downforce significantly and make cars lighter.

5. Better race tracks. Fewer with tarmac runoffs or street circuits, and more tracks lined with grass or gravel.

[Sterzo]

I would step right back and say, what is motor racing all about, what risks does it face, and where do we want it to head in the long term? No two people will give the same answer, but we need some sort of vision to determine the future of F1. My own inclination would be to say:

 

1. Racing's days of being all about technical innovation are finished.

2. Speed / laptime is unimportant for the same reason. Technically, we could have supersonic driverless cars; we just choose not to.

3. Being farcically expensive adds nothing; in fact it detracts from the sport.

3. What matters is a demonstration of skill and enjoyable competition.

 

Therefore: lower tech, lower speed IC cars that can race anywhere that Indycars and GTs can go. World championship on a selection of really good circuits. (Who decides, you ask? I'll do it). Lots of non-championship races too, and do away with F2.

Edited by Sterzo, 29 January 2024 - 17:50.

[aportinga]

The only thing I miss are having multiple tire manufactures and drivers who trash a car not able to jump into a spare under a red flag.

[aportinga]

I would step right back and say, what is motor racing all about, what risks does it face, and where do we want it to head in the long term? No two people will give the same answer, but we need some sort of vision to determine the future of F1. My own inclination would be to say:

 

1. Racing's days of being all about technical innovation are finished.

2. Speed / laptime is unimportant for the same reason. Technically, we could have supersonic driverless cars; we just choose not to.

3. Being farcically expensive adds nothing; in fact it detracts from the sport.

3. What matters is a demonstration of skill and enjoyable competition.

 

Therefore: lower tech, lower speed IC cars that can race anywhere that Indycars and GTs can go. World championship on a selection of really good circuits. (Who decides, you ask? I'll do it). Lots of non-championship races too, and do away with F2.

 

You would love Indycar - if you don't already.

 

I would say since we have a series like that (Indycar). We shouldn't emulate it.

[ANF]

Get rid of sprint sessions, sprint races, sprint trophies, sprint shoot-outs.

[JvsKVB77]

First of all, scrap sprints.

Scrap Vegas and Jeddah. 

Closing the bases of the teams in the GP week. Find settings on the circuit.

Races 90 minutes +1 lap. Always VSC, not SC. When is the VSC  - for every 5 seconds of time - 3 seconds are returned with additional time after the end of 90 minutes. During the VSC - the speed limit on Pitlane is lower than usual.

Leave only one type of tires (in most cases medium for each track), instead, oblige to use at least 3 sets of tires in the race, each of which should pass at least 18 minutes. 

Stop selling parts between teams(except PU and transmission). Teams need to do it by self, or buy from FIA standart parts. 

Edited by JvsKVB77, 29 January 2024 - 18:08.

[juicy sushi]

I would provide a time machine for people to go back to whatever era they are nostalgic about as it is impossible to square the circle of satisfying every stakeholder.  You cannot have a series with multiple manufacturers involved while providing entertaining racing using aesthetically pleasing cars that challenge drivers on the best race circuits in the world.  

[Nathan]

I'd ask fan's to vote with their feet if they don't like it.  I don't think the sport should chase.  Take it or leave it.  F1 has it's own appeal because of what it is, or else series like IndyCar would be vastly more popular since, as pointed out, it has delivered the goods fans seem to want for years now.

[KWSN - DSM]

1. Scrap DRS. Then work at reducing the dirty air from there.

2. Change red flag rules to not allow people to change tyres (stop-go penalty if they have to due to a puncture), and rolling restarts after red flags. Also no pitting under VSC, which should be used more often, with fewer full safety cars.

3. Allow unlimited entries to Formula 1 events. Prize money done on individual races rather than the whole season, as is entrance money. If there are more than 26 entries to a race then pre-qualifying is used with the same criteria as the original pre-qualifying. Teams are allowed to only enter select races, and with one car. The current teams cannot stop new entrants like Andretti.

4. Reduce downforce significantly and make cars lighter.

5. Better race tracks. Fewer with tarmac runoffs or street circuits, and more tracks lined with grass or gravel.

 

Bingo, I could not word it better myself - I would like the tires to be better, and no mandate on pitstops.

[917k]

Definitely ditch DRS - it’s increased overtaking but, inevitably, makes overtaking a foregone conclusion with little drama. It should have been banished with the advent of ground effects cars as that change was designed to do the same thing.

Edited by 917k, 29 January 2024 - 18:46.

[TheMidnight]

Elephant in the room....Qualifying. We spend all weekend sorting the cars into the fastest at the front and then come up with endless gimmicks to give the cars behind a chance to overtake. Race pace and qualifying pace in terms of reliability are pretty much the same thing now. It worked in the past when cars needed mechanical sympathy. It's no longer fit for purpose. So with that in mind, my completely unworkable/unacceptable ideas would be:

Grids set by championship reverse order
No repeat race at a circuit year on year
No such thing as a rained abandoned race
No red flag resets
Slow zones instead of safety car (where possible)

Inclusion of the following tracks:

Road Atlanta
Road America
Bathurst
Twin Ring Motegi
Daytona 24hr Course

Once every three years
Monaco
Le Mans
Indianapolis
Nurburgring

Maximum driver contract is 2 years in every 5 at a team with a ban on loopholes such as changing the name or team owner.

Equal development money across all teams from a shared pot

Night race with headlights not circuit lighting


No limit on pitstops or tire choices

Mixed length races 1 hr to 3 hr

No team radio or telemetry activations

Edited by TheMidnight, 29 January 2024 - 19:03.

[PayasYouRace]

I'd go a bit back to basics for some things.

 

I'd cut down the number of races per season back to about 16, and introduce an event rotation system to keep things going. No more than one race per country in a single season.

 

I'd rationalise the GP weekend too. Two days. Saturday would be two qualifying practice sessions where your fastest lap determines the grid, and a Sunday morning warmup to allow team some final changes, especially if the weather is changing. Friday can be filled with support race action. Happy to allow Friday/Saturday GPs if it suits the host country better.

 

Remove DRS, and allow more freedom in engine and turbo boost modes to provide the extra oomph required for an overtake. Nothing artificial like P2P.  The cars are mostly pretty good these days, so maybe just cut out a bit of weight and length. Make the wheels a bit smaller but keeping low profile tyres. But they can follow each other well so we don't want to mess with that.

 

Ban live telemetry. Data can be logged but can only be downloaded in the pits via a physical connector. Keep the radio though, as it allows for communication with race control and good team play.

 

No restrictions on the number of teams. Fastest 26 cars qualify, if there are more than that. Allow single car teams as well as larger teams (RB can be a four car team), with appropriately scaled budget caps for them.

[Laster]

Well if we’re talking about my ideal world where I don’t have to care what teams or engine manufacturers might do in response.

1. Scrap sprints.
2. Bring back V10’s
3. Cars are slimmed down and at least 100kg lighter.
4. Allow team entries up to a 26 car grid.
5. 5 street circuits Maximum.
6. One race per country.
7. Wean the cars off DRS by testing the odd race without it - races which would typically produce good racing. Keep it for tracks where it’s near impossible to pass though.
8. Reduce teams ability to buy parts off each other over the course of 5 seasons, to encourage the likes of Haas and Minardi to invest in developing the infrastructure of their teams and not be so dependent on others.
9. Dedicated stewards across the entire season. No part timers.
10. Brazil returns to being the final race of the season so we can have a race track that produces good races for the finale.
11. The TV director must focus on the action on track. No shots of fans, or celebrities, or drivers girl friends/wives. Focus on the on track action, and don’t stay stuck on the leaders there is more action down the grid!

Edited by Laster, 29 January 2024 - 19:32.

[Collombin]

6. One race per country.

Someone in Liberty HQ is reading this and thinking "a 200 race season? Great idea".

[ConsiderAndGo]

1. Get rid of DRS
2. Get rid of the entire sprint format
3. 18 races maximum, with no more than two allowed for each hosting country. Three night races, maximum.
4. V10 engines, no refuelling
5. Ditch parc-ferme in its entirety
6. Ditch mandatory pit stops. Do what you think gets you to the flag quickest.
7. Lighter, smaller cars
8. Bring back proper penalties - drive throughs and stop and go. Get rid of 5 second and 10 second penalties. They’re moronic.
9. Physical safety car limited for precarious and serious incidents, not just for a stone on the track. Use VSC for most incidents beyond double waved yellows and close the pitlane whilst it’s out.

Edited by ConsiderAndGo, 29 January 2024 - 20:50.

[LolaB0860]

16-18 races

 

Monsoon tires

 

No spec tires

 

No stupid grid limits and anti-dilution fees

 

No DRS

 

No night races

 

No sprints

 

No cost-cap

 

No meaningless penalties

 

Bring back pre-season testing and (some) in-season testing

 

Australian GP always starts the season

 

(The rest is probably mostly fine)

Edited by LolaB0860, 29 January 2024 - 20:49.

[FNG]

stop changing the rules. There will never be parity if the rules keep changing. 

[eibyyz]

No DRS?  Hell, no wings!

 

Pump gasoline, from the nearest convenience store to the track.  No batteries.

 

Paddle shifters, no automatics.  Old-screwl rev-matching using three feet.

 

No coded radio xmissions.  No changing engine maps from the pits, or even worse from the factory.

 

Claimers.  

 

One paint job per season.  Conversely each team car can have a different paint job.

 

No national flags or anthems on the podium.

 

Team personnel only on the grid. 

 

Grid women, not grid girls.

Edited by eibyyz, 29 January 2024 - 21:11.

[JHSingo]

I'm not particularly technically minded, so I can't comment too much on the regulations - other than the obvious thing of making the cars much lighter and smaller. 

 

Significantly better full wet tyres, with as much track time, money and resources allocated as necessary to ensure wet racing can take place uninterrupted as soon as possible. 

 

Andretti accepted onto the grid immediately, with a maximum car count of 26-28 cars. 

 

Domenicalli removed - he's just become an insufferable 'yes' man for Liberty, with more interest in making money than what's in the best interests of the sport.

 

Much less influence from the teams - they're entrants, not owners of the sport and shouldn't have any say on who is and isn't allowed to enter.

 

Ban on title sponsors as a result of the Visa Cash App fiasco.

 

FIA to take full control on decisions of new entrants, and to call teams' bluff. If they don't like it, they can sod off - with the cost cap, new teams will replace them.

 

No prominent team member (for instance, team boss or car designer) to take a job at the FIA within five years of leaving the team. 

 

16-20 races, with a rule that no country can hold more than two races per season. 

 

Greater importance of retaining historical tracks (eg, Silverstone, Spa, Monza, Interlagos, Suzuka). No 10 year contracts on new circuits that haven't been built or raced on. 

 

More concessions for underperforming teams, like in MotoGP. They're part way there with the wind tunnel time, but I'd like to see underperforming teams also have more testing time during and after seasons.

 

Greater say from the drivers regarding future regulations and track design. They're the ones behind the wheel and have a greater understanding of what works and what doesn't. 

 

A cut-off time for which results can be changed post event. No penalties can be applied after two hours of qualifying or the race. 

Edited by JHSingo, 29 January 2024 - 22:40.

[mclarensmps]

If you're ditching DRS, then we need to ditch Wings along with it. 

Ditch DRS, Ditch wings, and standardize brakes to weaker compounds. 

[danmills]

Get rid of multi season contracts, rolling one year deals for every driver.

 

Let Andretti in. Plus two more teams or allow privateers to race as and when to fill the grid more and allow GP2 talent a chance.

 

Open up sprints to have three car teams, test drivers get actual mileage and experience. 

 

Reduce the car length.

 

Two tyre manufacturers. 

[nivoglibina]

20 races

 

During the year each driver races 2 times for each team.

 

Drivers are being employed by teams.

Teams score the points of their car result + their drivers results. WCC

WDC is unchanged.

 

 

-Now you get more interesting driver comparisons, getting a direct com[arison between Leclec and Norris for example.

-Verstappen actually has to show his racecraft again while it's his turn to drive the Alpine.

-The team chamionship is more interesting.

-Each weekend willl be different and exiting!

-Noone is as integrated into a team as is now the case, making it easier for rookies to step up.

-The season is more likely to be relevant until the last race, as noone has a 20 race long car advantage.

Edited by nivoglibina, 30 January 2024 - 00:08.

[Organic]

1 - Cut car weight significantly, reduce dimensions

2 - Ditch hybrids. Go to V8s or v10s with sustainable fuels which will also aid in weight and dimension reductions

3 - harsher sporting penalties for rule breaks on and off the track

4 - no midseason changes to technical regs (IE through directives) unless for safety purposes

5 - put pirelli in the bin where they belong. Michelin or other brand can have a go, but no more than 2 year contracts for tyre suppliers

6 - set a maximum limit of 20 grand Prix in a year, with a maximum of 4 street tracks. If some grand Prix are lost they can be rotated year on/year off

7 - introduce a sliding scale of Cap Ex spending to help smaller teams improve infrastructure to catch up

8 - enforce teams to spend a portion of their budget on extra employees to serve as "relief" to reduce the number of GPs staff eg mechanics need to attend each year

9 - reduce the length of many DRS zones

10 - let andretti in. Any team finishing last in WCC for 5 years consecutively may lose their position in the sport

Less drastic than many of you but the current formula seems to be okay, could just do with some tweaking

Edited by Organic, 30 January 2024 - 05:58.

[noriaki]

I'd ask fan's to vote with their feet if they don't like it.  I don't think the sport should chase.  Take it or leave it.  F1 has it's own appeal because of what it is, or else series like IndyCar would be vastly more popular since, as pointed out, it has delivered the goods fans seem to want for years now.

 

Nah, I would argue that F1 isn't popular because of its product. In fact, at least some aspects of the racing product is the most common complaint among old and new fans alike. F1 is popular because of its competitors, some of whom are the best in the world, and its strong brand. F1 has the drivers and the teams that are the most famous, and that's why so many people follow it in spite of its problems - but if F1 lost Ferrari's factory team to another series, and Max, Lewis, Lando, Charles and Fernando were to join them, people would migrate to watch that other series, even if it was GT3 racing or something.

 

Now, I don't want F1 to become a carbon copy of Indycar. But bear in mind that people thought Indycar had effectively no way forward in 2010, yet it has doubled its ratings in the 15 years since and is able to field nearly 30 car grids. This has largely been thanks to its appealing, competitive and unpredictable racing product with the DW12, achieved through very little help from the manufacturers. Therefore, dismissing the idea that F1 could have plenty to learn from some aspects of Indycar's racing product would be quite foolish in my books.

[CoolBreeze]

1. Get rid of DRS

2. Get rid of Tilke

3. Get rid of all the newer modern circuits

4. Bring Back V10s and V8s. Let the teams choose which suits them better

5. Get rid of 50% races. We need between 12 - 15 races max each season

6. Get rid off runoff areas, etc. Bring back tyre walls, tecpro barriers, and gravel. Mistakes needs to be punished

7. Introduce steel brakes

8. Get rid of aero and technological stuff. Go back to basics, where drivers actually race, and not manage a car.

9. Ban race simulation softwares etc

10. Bring back proper in season testing

11. Scrap all the 10 engine/gearbox race nonsense. Let them push and use over 200 engines a season if needed

12. Bring back 3 pedals and manual gearbox

13. Bring back actual race cars, and not the school busses we have today

14. Stop charging fake inflated fees to host races

15. Bring back proper tyres, so that drivers actually can push and not save tyres nonsense. Let them race in the rain.

[DeKnyff]

1. Less races (16-18)

2. No sprints

3. DRS ok, but restricted to a minimum and even removed in certain tracks

4. No gains for pitting under safety car (10 sec stop compulsory for tyre change under SC, 5 secs under VSC)

5. No tyre changes, mechanical adjustments or repairs during red flags.

 

Rest is ok for me.

[absinthedude]

First off, If I were all powerful I'd lay down the law to the teams that they do not own or run the sport. In no uncertain terms, it is not and never has been a franchise system and if they don't like that then they are welcome to **** off and join another series. F1 is currently open to 13 teams of two cars each. End of discussion.

 

I'd also open it up to more teams. I don't like the $200m bond but am prepared to keep it more as a proof of funding than an anti-dilution thing. Any entity with the funds and who can field a car that conforms to the rules, is driven by a driver with a superlicense and has sufficient staff to run it should be welcome to enter. The story of F1 is not just about Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull and so on....it's also Onyx, Life, Maki, Connew, Osella and so on. Never forget that Williams started out as minnows and were ridiculed for a decade before they started winning for twenty five years. 

 

Inform Michael Andretti instantly that he's in as soon as he can get his team/cars/drivers prepared...and apologise for being utter arses about it. 

 

Ban DRS as soon as it's safe to do so. Probably 2025. Work with experts to hone the ground effect designs to promote overtaking. Work towards smaller cars, if that means ICE engines then so be it. 

 

Negotiate the way out of the contracts with countries that make me sick such as Saudi Arabia and now Qatar. F1 shouldn't be going anywhere near them. I'm just about OK with keeping Bahrian. The track is actually pretty good and the hosts aren't as dodgy as the aforementioned. 

 

Cap the calendar at a maximum of 19 race weekends. Rotate certain races as necessary. No country can have more than two races in any season. Preference for purpose built circuits over street tracks unless the street races offer something genuinely different and exciting. For example, Monaco is nuts and therefore "different". Singapore has lost it's lustre but was exciting to begin with. Baku is nuts and therefore exciting. No idea about Vegas as I didn't watch but racing on the strip could be seen as exciting and different. The Miami circuit adds nothing. The proposed Madrid circuit may offer nothing. Adelaide was a classic, which proves street tracks can work. So was Long Beach. 

 

Monaco, Silverstone, Monza, Interlagos, Suzuka, Imola, Montreal  to have some sort of protected status whereby they will normally be on any calendar. 

 

Scrap sprint races. Just dump them in the bin and be done with it. Consider a separate short series of non championship races which teams are only obliged to enter one car into, but can enter up to three. These could take place at any FIA grade 1 circuit willing to host a race, and offer more fans a chance to see F1 races....because yes, any race run to F1 rules for cars that are eligible for the WCC is an F1 race. More money for the teams if it works, more races for those who believe more is always better....but these races don't affect the grand prix itself or the world titles. 

 

That's the start.I could probably think of more. 

 

 

[dweller23]

There are three things that I'd like F1 to change:

1. Get rid of sprints

2. Decrease the number of races to 18-19 per year

3. Make the cars smaller, to restore slim chances of overtaking on tracks like Monaco

[Ali623]

I would bring in more aggressive MotoGP-esque testing concessions based on WCC order, or points percentage. Periods of domination seem to last too long in the modern era due to the near impossible challenge of catching up (without specific regulation changes, top teams are too efficient) and the scaled wind tunnel/CFD allocations don't seem to be enough to offset that (we'll see if RB still dominate this year). Additional testing both pre-season and in-season based on how poorly a team is doing.

 

Realistically this is the only way stop long periods of dominance without going a spec route or adding things like ballast to dominant cars.

[Anderis]

Easy fixes:

1. Let more teams in.

2. Increase the penalties for collisions and abusing track limits (5 secs time penalty is a joke)

3. DRS closes as soon as the cars are alongside. No "one detection, two activations" DRS zones.

 

Complicated fixes:

4. Ensure that all circuits have natural track limits so that we don't need to give penalties every time a car leaves the track by 2 centimeters on a tarmac runoff

5. Continue to evolve the technical rules to combat the dirty air problem

 

I have a few more ideas that I think would be nice but they're either not essential or too extreme to ever be considered under current circumstances so I'll limity myself to that.

[PlatenGlass]

I think the main thing I would address is the fact that F1 is a completely closed shop with just 10 teams and 20 drivers. The fact that the same drivers are starting 2024 that finished 2023 shows how bad this has become. Any sport to be taken seriously is far more open with competitors able to freely flow in and out of the top levels.

 

So to start with, I'd make F1 a much wider and open category with far more teams and drivers able to compete. Cars would be simplified with perhaps multiple spec parts and a much lower budget required to be able to compete.

 

There would be multiple non-WDC F1 races over the world that teams could take part in, but these would earn drivers and teams ranking points to enable them to compete in the WDC races.

 

The highest performing teams and drivers would qualify for the WDC events with maybe 78 drivers participating (it would not be the same 78 at each race). This could be 39 teams of two drivers each, or if the entry requirements for WDC events is purely driver-based, then some teams would only field one car, but it would be 78 drivers anyway. These details can be ironed out and it doesn't have to be exactly 78. Drivers would be put in qualifying pools to then separate the drivers into performance-based groups of 26, where each group would then have its own qualifying session. It would be a normal qualifying session with a set time period to set your best lap (not a knockout), but it wouldn't need to be anywhere near an hour.

 

There would then be three races. The C race, the B race and finally the A race, or Grand Prix. The B and C races would be shorter, but the A race is the full length Grand Prix, featuring the top 26 drivers of the weekend. There would be no more than 16 WDC events each year.

 

In terms of the cars - drivers would only have the controls necessary to drive the car and none of this proliferation of buttons on the steering wheel, and there would be no telemetry in races. With these simplified cars (with drastically reduced or even eliminated wings and lower performing brakes), following and passing cars would become more possible without DRS having to exist. I think even one compound of spec tyres is enough, durable enough to last a race. This would make it more about racing than things other than racing.

[FirstnameLastname]

Half the cars drive clockwise round the circuit, the other half anticlockwise.

[Benchulo]

Half the cars drive clockwise round the circuit, the other half anticlockwise.

What about the safety car?

[FirstnameLastname]

What about the safety car?

Oh yeah. I hadn’t thought this through.

All the cars are safety cars.

[DeKnyff]

Easy fixes:

1. Let more teams in.

 

I don't think this is an easy fix.

[Enzoluis]

Allow teams to test on thursdays of race weekends, maybe giving more time more down in the championship they are. Open park fermé in wet week ends.

[Benchulo]

- 18 races per season

- Monza and Silverstone will feature every year. Rest rotated alternatively.

- Upto 4 street races per season.

- 2 weeks of pre season testing

- Unlimited in-season testing within the budget cap

- No in-season rule changes.

- No limit on the number of power unit components.

- No parc ferme

- No spec tires. Teams choose their own tyre supplier.

- No live telemetry

- No more Sprints

- The team that signs the current F2 champion would get a bonus of $30million. With the condition that they drive for a minimum of 14 races.

- Every team should have their own rookie driver, who needs to complete a minimum of 300km on track.

- A minimum of 40% of the total laps have to completed for a race to be counted.

- If there is a Safety Car situation with only 8 or less laps remaining, there would be an instant Red Flag followed by a rolling start.

- Harsher sporting penalties

Edited by Benchulo, 30 January 2024 - 13:08.

[Scotracer]

Those stating reducing size and weight without a mechanism aren't really helping other than ranting at clouds.

 

Sporting items:

 

- Testing is unlimited up to the cost cap (have a smaller design team? You can afford to physically test more)

- No sprint weekends (whilst some have been good entertainment, the diluting of the concept of a "win" is too much of a sacrifice)

- No lobbying from the teams on other teams joining; it's a cartel at the moment

- No more street circuit additions

- Only singapore can be a night race

 

 

Technical items:

 

- Remove the mandate for the tyre manufacturers to try and create specific degradation performance

- A technical path for DRS deletion (there's too many negatives for removing it from certain races during a season and getting rid of it without proper care could lead to loads of people turning off on the sport (I remember the 1990s and 2000s; overtaking was a lot less than today)

- Rethink the 2026 powertrain regulations - they are going to be a Frankenstein's monster (a turbocharger without MGU-H is less efficient than going N/A, for example, which would soothe those wanting noise back)

- Reduce the minimum weight (make the teams fight for it within the cost cap; keep the safety standards as they are - you will get teams weighing up shortening the car to reduce its weight, could lead to interesting conclusions)

[lustigson]

Two words: Grandes Épreuves mandatory for each season. 

[Timorous]

Race Weekend

- Scrap GPs completely, replace them with a sprint race on each day of the weekend.

- Scrap qualifying, have a practice session before each sprint.

- The 1st sprint is determined by reverse order in FP1, subsequent sprints in the weekend are reverse prior sprint finishing order

- Each sprint has the 25-18-15 etc point system so winning 1 sprint is far better than 3 middling results.

- Unlimited setup changes all weekend.

 

Cars

- Min weight 600KG

- Free engine / battery choice. Requirement is a minimum of 1,200 BHP and the fuel tank is 100L, don't run out of fuel...

- Active suspension

- All the surfaces can move as much as teams want as long as they don't break. Any parts that come lose from the main body that is not caused by contact results results in an instant DQ from the session.

 

In season testing.

- Scales along with CFD / Wind tunnel time.

- With the exception of the parts / equipment the cost of testing is not part of the budget cap.

[TomNokoe]

I have many small/medium changes I would like to see:

 

Format

• No more sprint races
• FP2 extended to 90 minutes
• Q3 replaced by single-lap superpole, reverse order of Q2 top 10
• Parc ferme begins after, rather than at the start of, qualifying
• Consider extending (some?) (all?) grand prix to 355km

Calendar

• 20 races maximum
• Three in-season tests with free/cheap fan access

Tyres

• Only two dry compounds per weekend with a gap between them
• Allow used tyres to be carried over into FP2 and 3

Race control

• Pit lane closed under VSC
• Rolling restarts after red flags
• Stricter penalties

Miscelleanous

• Reduce the size of the DRS slot gap
• Relax the pit lane speed limit to decrease pit stop times
• 15-12-9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 points system

Edited by TomNokoe, 05 February 2024 - 20:38.

[Wuzak]

1. Scrap DRS. Then work at reducing the dirty air from there.

 
I would open up DRS to be used at any point on the track (where it is deemed safe), but limit each car to a number of seconds per race.

 

Would work like push-to-pass in Indycar.

 

2. Change red flag rules to not allow people to change tyres (stop-go penalty if they have to due to a puncture), and rolling restarts after red flags. Also no pitting under VSC, which should be used more often, with fewer full safety cars.

 
Also needs to be some penalty if car is repaired during black flag. Lose a lap, or something.

 

3. Allow unlimited entries to Formula 1 events. Prize money done on individual races rather than the whole season, as is entrance money. If there are more than 26 entries to a race then pre-qualifying is used with the same criteria as the original pre-qualifying. Teams are allowed to only enter select races, and with one car. The current teams cannot stop new entrants like Andretti.

 
To allow non-regular competitors in F1 would require that the car would be fully spec.

 

There is no way any team would be willing to finance building a prototype F1 car for just 1 Grand Prix.

 

The current teams don't actually have a say in who enters the sport, despite the noise they are making.

 

FOM's only say is in reaching a commercial agreement, or not, with the entrant.

[Wuzak]

- Rethink the 2026 powertrain regulations - they are going to be a Frankenstein's monster (a turbocharger without MGU-H is less efficient than going N/A, for example, which would soothe those wanting noise back)

 

I think the 2026 PU regulations should be rethought.

 

But, a N/A engine will not have the same efficiency as the turbocharged ICE.

 

The MGUH is not what gives the current unit (most of) its efficiency gains. That would be down to the combustion technology, which will continue for 2026.

 

My view is that the 50:50 split between ICE and ERS is impractical for a racing car. It might work for a commuter car or bus, but not for a vehicle that spends as much as 80% of its time at full throttle.

 

The PU manufacturers are seemingly adamant that the ERS remains, so I would propose increasing the ICE power at least 25%, keep energy recovery at 350kW but change deployment to 150kW (currently max is 350kW, except above 300kph). Also would require that the ERS only recovers under braking or off-throttle.

 

I would be intrigued what the FIA's simulations say about the benefit of the ERS against the cost of its weight.

 

My preferred option would be to ditch the ERS, up the fuel flow to around 750-800hp (from ~530hp in 2026 regs) and lighten the car by ~100kg. 

 

They may even be able to make the car smaller.

[ARTGP]

I would be intrigued what the FIA's simulations say about the benefit of the ERS against the cost of its weight.

 

The way the ERS is implemented now has more to do with the image that F1 and it's manufacturers want than it does any objective to simply minimize lap time and total race time. 

Edited by ARTGP, 31 January 2024 - 04:19.

[Wuzak]

The way the ERS is implemented now has more to do with the image that F1 and it's manufacturers want than it does any objective to simply minimize lap time and total race time. 

 

The current ERS is more suitable to they way F1 cars run, with the MGUH able to send power directly to the MGUK to increase output without drawing from the battery.

 

It may not justify its own weight either, but the 2026 PU is significantly less powerful and weighs the same.

[RedRabbit]

1. Less races (16-18)
2. No sprints
3. DRS ok, but restricted to a minimum and even removed in certain tracks
4. No gains for pitting under safety car (10 sec stop compulsory for tyre change under SC, 5 secs under VSC)
5. No tyre changes, mechanical adjustments or repairs during red flags.

Rest is ok for me.

All of this sounds great. Only addition would be tires that don't need nursing for the first 3 laps before being pushed.

[RedRabbit]

The current ERS is more suitable to they way F1 cars run, with the MGUH able to send power directly to the MGUK to increase output without drawing from the battery.

It may not justify its own weight either, but the 2026 PU is significantly less powerful and weighs the same.

I think it would have been more interesting to REDUCE the battery size in 2026 and increase the power of the MGU-H.

As you say, the H is more relevant to how an F1 car (or any race car) operates.

[Beri]

Get rid of Sprint Events. That would fix Formula One. Period.

[Anderis]

I don't think this is an easy fix.

I mean purely from a technical point of view, not from a political will point of view.

Edited by Anderis, 31 January 2024 - 11:56.