The F1 revolution

[jonffm]

Who's heard about the new rules being applied to F1 racing? For those who haven't...

From BBC.com...

The Formula One teams have agreed to sweeping changes that will dramatically change the future face of Grand Prix racing, according to the sport's boss.
FI president Max Mosley said the teams were in almost complete agreement over the "revolutionary proposals".

One of those proposals includes using a single tyre manufacturer and smaller engines, by 2006, Mosley said.

He also believes the meeting had ended any threat of the carmakers setting up their own championship in 2008.

However, a senior F1 insider cast doubt on Mosley's positive assesment of the meeting, saying it was little more than a discussion group.

"An agreement was reached in principle but, as ever, the devil is in the detail."

It is also believed that a new qualifying system may be introduced by the end of the season.

Team bosses expressed their satisfaction after leaving the meeting.

"I was enormously pleased," said Eddie Jordan, whose team has struggled to compete against better financed rivals.

The changes may also have much to do with Michael Schumacher's continued domination of F1 - the German, in the Ferrari, has won the drivers championship for the last four years and the first four races of this season.

The introduction of a single tyre manufacturer and smaller engines are measures designed to allow all teams to compete on an equal level and increase competitiveness.

Mosley said engine manufacturers were spending as much as £1bn a year on 14 of the 20 cars that currently race - an amount that he said was not sustainable.

He said there was a wide measure of agreement to reduce engine costs by 50%.

Other measures including technical changes to the cars were also agreed to, he said.

Mosley said commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone had agreed to increase revenue payments to teams in line with what had previously been agreed with the GPWC group of carmakers before talks between the two sides broke down this month.

"Everything the GPWC set out to get, they have got," Mosley said. "Their raison d'etre has disappeared."

Agree with it? F1 seniors gone too far? Should the same thing happen to other sports?

[PJ]

no and im not that intrested in f1 racing maybe nascar and rallys

[seaempty]

Originally posted by Peej
no and im not that intrested in f1 racing maybe nascar and rallys

Then why bother posting?

I think that it's good that they are trying to level out the playing field, but I don't think that the measures will have that much of an impact. The bigger teams will always have the advantage on the little teams. Reducing the costs is a start however.

The only really way to make F1 "fair" is if there was only one engine, one car design, etc but that's just ridiculous.

[Cap'n Zola]

Yeah, I think trying to level things out is the way to go because I'll barely watch Grand Prix's now because it's just not that competitive now! It's all about Ferari's engine. That's it. They win.
Good move by the seniors, methinks!

[jonffm]

I think its great. Finally a sporting body has the guts to get in and make solid changes to make sport fairer and more exciting. Its worked for me, because I haven't watched F1 in years..not since the Damon Hill years, but I'll start watching again when they start these rules.

[Dr S]

it will mean that the drivers will have to ... learn how to drive their cars.
Making it a much fairer and in my opinion better sport.

I can't wait

[Dr_nwa]

While a bit drunk last week, we came up with a suggestion for F1. for the first half of the season, as normal. then when there are half of the races left to go, swap the best drivers with the worst drivers. so, for example, Michael Shumacher would be driving a minardi. give them 4 weeks to sort out the ergonomics of each car and then race for the second half of the season!

Okay, maybe its not such a good idea. but it would show who the best drivers actually are. If Schumacher could win in a minardi as well as a ferrari, he must be a damm good driver...

[i-am-the-eggman]

I agree with the changes but if anything its gonna make schumacher EVEN BETTER since he is one of the few drivers still in there from the old school that learnt to drive without all the computer techy stuff - the man is truly a racing legend, even if i still havent forgiven him for writing of hill when he was gonna win the title ;)

I like F1 but prefer british touring cars myself as its more intense racing with more room for contact without writing the car off.

Thoroughly pleased F1 is going back to driving rather than the scalextric game it was going towards.

[Mystical Parrot]

i like f1, its a good way to waste a sunday afternoon, hopefully the changes will make it fairer, the changes last season made it pretty close to at the end but to be honest if the last set didnt stop him maybe new ones wont also.

still the changes would be nice and a welcome addition to last seasons changes.

1 lap qualifier is great :)

[i-am-the-eggman]

maybe they should make schumacher drive around in a vauxhall nova, that might make him a bit less competitive :p

[astral]

Sorry for the bump, but I've only just spotted this thread...

I'm a huge F1 fan, and I hate the idea of these new rules. Don't forget that the reason F1 is so screwed up at the moment is because of the safety measures that Max Mosely put in place after Senna's death in 1994. Mosely is the one responsible for F1's current mess. All he has to do is reverse the rules by five or six years to take the sport back to greatness - remember the Schumacher v Hakkinen battles of 1998 and 1999? Those were the days... *reminisces*

But no, instead of reversing the current rules that make F1 artificially competitive, he's introducing more artificial rules that try and cancel each other out. I hate it. :(

They're trying to reduce costs and "level the playing field". THIS IS FORMULA ONE, not bloody karting!! It's csupposed to be cutting-edge technology, it's supposed to be expensive! By reducing the cost of things will not mean the teams spend less, because they'll always spend every penny they have trying to make the cars faster. The only way to curb costs is to introduce a limit on the team's budgets, but of course the FIA never listen to the fans. </rant>

[jonffm]

I think it'll make it more intresting to watch, and put the pressure on the driver rather than the car.
At the moment, whoever is driving the ferrari is nearly sure to win. Its the reason I don't watch F1 anymore. I'll see what its like when the rules are changed though...

[astral]

Originally posted by JonnyFFmaster
I think it'll make it more intresting to watch, and put the pressure on the driver rather than the car.

That's true, but there's a lot of other series where the cars have been slowed down to put the emphasis on drivers instead of the sars. F1 is the only series in the worls where the teams build their own cars from scratch instead of buying them and tuning them, so it makes no sense to slow the cars down.

Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if the FIA introduced a one-make series for F1 in the near future... :(

[SWE]

I think it's a good idea. My dad will probably love it. He likes F1.

[Mystical Parrot]

1 car idea is bad for f1, it would totally ruin the sport as the whole idea is you support a manufacturer, if all the cars were made the same it would just become another racing thingy (i dunno what to call it) that few people will watch

ive only been watching f1 for the past 2/3 years, so i cant comment on what it was like before the changes

but still micheal schumacher is a great driver who can drive well without a car working to its peak, just like he did on sunday with the broken exaust

[jonffm]

Well we'll see when he has to drive a less powerfull car. I used to like F1 alot more when Damon Hill was in it. It was alot more open and fun to watch.

Besides, racing shouldn't be down to who can make the best engine or who has more funds, it should be down to the skill of the driver. At the moment, its boring as hell with Ferrari winning everything in sight, and will continue to do so untill the new rules apply.

[astral]

Originally posted by JonnyFFmaster
At the moment, its boring as hell with Ferrari winning everything in sight, and will continue to do so untill the new rules apply.

Nobody seems to complain that Arsenal win pretty much every match they play, or Tiger Woods wins every golf tournament going. Should they be penalised to make it a closer contest? Arsenal play with only ten men starting, maybe??

The reason Ferrari win everything is because they have the best car, driver, team and engine. It's not their fault, it's the fault of Williams, McLaren, Renault and the rest. Although I always hope for Schumacher to suffer some bad luck and actually retire from a race for once, I know I'm watching F1 history being made. The man is a genius, that's all there is to it, and it'll be all the more significant when someone finally knocks him off the top spot.

[jonffm]

Arsenal win because of talent. Ferrari are like Chelsea, they try to win using money.

I think its about money. I think ferrari wins because they have the money to be able to afford such a car. Racing should be about the driver, not the car. I guess we'll see whos best when the rules come into place.

[astral]

Nah... I'd say Toyota are like Chelsea, because they spend the most money. Schumacher is just the most talented driver, that's why he outpaces Barrichello so easily in almost every race. :p

I'm still not keen on these new rules. There's already thousands of racing series out there with similar rules, and F1 is supposedly the peak of the sport. How can that be if they have standard tyres, ECU's only one-lap qualifying, engines meant to last three times longer than usual (meaning drivers slow down whenever they can to not risk a failure), etc? I preferred it when we had proper qualifying, consisting of one hour, four runs for each driver and cars designed to do the one lap before blowing themselves apart. Seeing Kimi Raikkonen sliding sideways at 180mph in the rain a couple of years ago on his way to pole was pure F1. With these new rules, we'll never see anything like that again. :(

[jonffm]

I'm no guru on F1, so you're prob right.

But hay, once the new rules are in place, I guess we'll see the truly great drivers.

[astral]

Yeah, i suppose we will. I just hope they won't go putting even more rules in, as Schuey's probably going to still be near the top... if he hasn't retired by then.

[i-am-the-eggman]

its no surprise that ferrari plough a helluvva lot of money into f1, and with schumacher providing the skills and ross braun poviding the brains, they are nigh on unbeatable.

I would agree that 1 car make would ruin f1, but making them spend less money is a good idea because teams like minardi and other also rans (who add to the excitement of race day) are seriously struggling to make ends meet. At least reducing the amount teams spend on computer aided racing it keeps more teams in the races - which adds infinitely to the greatness of f1

still this season could prove quite exciting as even though schumacher will most likely win it, the scrap for 2nd with williams, BAR, toyota, renault and the flagging mclaren should be fun - cant believe whats happened at their place, real bad change of management there