Bernie: "Hey, no one is talking about F1 at the moment!"

[prisonermonkeys]

I dislike the idea of using the track to manipulate the racing in that way, it seems so artificial and really not necessary.

We have seen overtaking, its not impossible, but the design of the cars I feel needs to be properly addressed. We can see from other forms of motorsport that the circits, rules and racing ettiquette are not the problem, its the abilities of the cars which are hampering the overtaking to an extent.

The problem is that there aren't going to be regulation change to reduce aerodynamic grip until 2011 - and even then, it's only a change to diffusers. The issue of the front and rear wings generating too much downforce is yet to be addressed, and to be totally honest, it's unlikely it will be. Car designers would fight those changes every step of the way. And since it would no doubt take years for the regulations to be changed to promote an emphasis on mechanical grip (which will probably be some time since the regulations already had a major overhaul in time for 2009), thereneeds to be something done to improve overtaking in the meantime. If that something is using the circuits to manipulate racing, then so be it.

 

[yeti]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to put headlights on the F1 cars so they can flash their headlights if they want a free pass?

When I heard that Singapore was going to be a nightrace - I instantly assumed that the cars would have lights on them...

I think that would be much better than the streetlights idea...

Would mean some hard decisions for the designers too - more lights = more visibility - but more weight and more drag!!

Of course the circuit would have "normal" streetlights so there was some light - but not enough (like driving in a city)...

The rules would say that everyone has to have lights of some sort (so that the drivers can see them coming) and then it would be upto the individual teams to choose how much light they needed!!

C.

 

[Ardius]

thereneeds to be something done to improve overtaking in the meantime. If that something is using the circuits to manipulate racing, then so be it.

Why? This quest for more overtaking seems pointless to me for the very reasons you have mentioned.

If we want more overtaking, then the reliance on huge aerodynamic forces and the freedom of design are going to have to go - and then F1 will be getting dangerously close to being slower than GP2 and becoming a spec series.
I ask - what is Formula 1? Is it aero? Is it ultimate speed? Is it overtaking?

In my view, there has never been huge amounts of overtaking in F1 in the first place. Its not what the sport is just about.

And even if it was just about overtaking, how is forcing such rules going to improve it? You are artificially creating overtaking, is that really better? I'd rather have little overtaking but when it happens its through skill and luck, giving us quality, not quantity.

 

[Pupik]

In other news, Herman Tilke proposes new "speed strips" that magically speed up your car, along with the addition oil slicks, water puddles, magic wrenches that allow you to forgo pit stops, and roadside billboards that make racing cars explode if touched.

 

[Ardius]

In other news, Herman Tilke proposes new "speed strips" that magically speed up your car, along with the addition oil slicks, water puddles, magic wrenches that allow you to forgo pit stops, and roadside billboards that make racing cars explode if touched.

 

[Hun200kmh]

Bernie's dream for F1. Please note ... no spectators, this is strictly to be seen on TV:







And Tilke's dream ... long straights leading to hairpins included ...

 

[Radracing]

When I heard that Singapore was going to be a nightrace - I instantly assumed that the cars would have lights on them...

I think that would be much better than the streetlights idea...

Would mean some hard decisions for the designers too - more lights = more visibility - but more weight and more drag!!

Of course the circuit would have "normal" streetlights so there was some light - but not enough (like driving in a city)...

The rules would say that everyone has to have lights of some sort (so that the drivers can see them coming) and then it would be upto the individual teams to choose how much light they needed!!

C.

I meant that as a joke. Sorry but no headlights it's only practical in 24hr endurance races and also were different class of cars have to give way by flashing headlights to the car ahead.

 

[Jim Prower]

Bernie's dream for F1. Please note ... no spectators, this is strictly to be seen on TV:


*snip*

absolutely not! that clip shows a woman winning! We can't have that!

[/bernie USGP...'06, I think]

 

[niky]

How about loopty loops?

Eh? Bad idea?

They do always say that F1 cars can drive on the ceiling.

Granted, with the ground-clearance of an F1 car, the loop would probably have to be a kilometer in diameter to keep them from scraping... would enter the Guinness book as the tallest overpass ever constructed.

 

[The Outlaw]

Hmmm...I saw this on PlanetF1

Formula One's New Chicane?
Thursday 14th January 2010

PlanetF1 can unveil the new PF1 Tour de France chicane that could revolutionise dull processional motorsport races, where cars follow each other for lap after lap.

Observant readers to this website will know that PlanetF1 feature writer Frank Hopkinson has long been a fan of the Tour de France, in particular the mighty Lance Armstrong and the Manx Missile Mark Cavendish.

One of the features that caught Frankie boy's eye in previous tours is the way riders take roundabouts on the run-in to stage finishes.The fantastic aerial camera footage of the race shows the peloton splitting and going both sides of many roundabouts and rejoining on the far side.

"What if this were applied to F1?" he thought. It would certainly break up processional races and banish the Trulli Trains forever.

Bernie Ecclestone has revealed today that he himself has been thinking up even more radical proposals to improve the GP show - starting with a controversial plan to introduce "shortcuts" at grand prix tracks that each driver could use for a limited number of times per race.

Talking to Autosport the F1 supremo said: "I think it would be very easy for us on each circuit to have an area where you could gain a bit of time so you could overtake - a shortcut if you like - which a driver could use five times during the race, so it would stop people getting stuck behind somebody," he suggested.

"It's good for TV, good for the TV commentators, they could talk about somebody having three [shortcuts] left and somebody else having two and what's going to happen and so on."

The problem with Bernie's scheme - apart from offending the purists - is that everyone would need to use the shortcut on the opening laps of the race, because that's when you can make up the most places.

Frank admits that his solution is also not for the purists. "It may be a bit Scalextric but quite frankly I'm sick and tired of staring at dull processional F1 races. If F1 is going to reclaim the Xbox and PlayStation generation then it needs to shake things up and this is one of the ways to do it without spending a load of money redesigning the cars."

The PlanetF1 staffer's solution is like a dual chicane where you can take either route and each is the same distance, with the same entry and exit angle. There is a blend line that starts before the braking zone for the chicane. This acts like the pitlane exit line that drivers cannot cross, drivers will incur a penalty if they cross the blend line either before the chicane or after it.

In effect the line is there to stop cars weaving at the last minute, but there could be a certain amount of kidology about which side drivers are going to choose before they get to the line. In effect it broadens the racing line to the width of the track as cars approach the chicane.

"There could be a lot of faking and feinting - like Mansell and Piquet going down the Hangar Straight into Stowe in 1987. Or two drivers might try one side and a third driver, behind them both, could sweep past on the other. It's all to play for."

It'll be interesting to hear what Bernie has to say.

 

[zed300]

Bernies wants more pasing more...exciting racing, sure we want that too, but the penalties incurred for attempting a pass and failing, out weigh the the risk. Your team manager wants points, you want to finish and have a good race doing it.
If you get a tap from a driver at any corner of the car your race is over. Aggresive blocking is frowned upon, any room given is "" he made that a bit easy for him.""
A little bumping is good in touring cars, they get away with it. Open wheellers that accelerate and turn better than anything else, spending more than a few seconds, millimeters from another car will eventuate into a disaster for more than the two drivers involved. Penalties and cost of repairs/ replacement parts and scoring points, is what is stopping the passing.
Bernie: - You can't have the best of both worlds-

 

[Jim Prower]

I dunno...build the cars and allow them to drive like this?



I mean, why do F1 cars have to be fragile?

 

[Ardius]

I mean, why do F1 cars have to be fragile?

Safety, the more energy dispelled by crumpling and releasing bits of the car, the better.
Not to mention the need to make the components of the car out of the lightest materials possible that they can get away with, making the cars able to withstand impacts isn't exactly in the ethos of building fast cars Unless Briatore could have his way

And its not like many motorsports these days allow huge impacts, even at Touring Car level you can still take yourself out of the race if you aren't careful. Its just with an open-wheeler, there isn't any body work to shed and use to nudge people.

At least we still have people like Barrichello who aren't afraid to lunge to the extreme or Webber smashing people sideways!

Also, I don't know why you used that example....the result was a car with broken suspension and another very luckily getting away with nothing. It isn't really an example of drivers making more moves because the car isn't as fragile, more like a typical turn 1 accident you see in almost all races at Montreal.

 

[Jim Prower]

Eh, it was early in the morning...But I suppose what I was trying to get at is that the racing should be about like CART/Champ Car...plenty of action and passing.

 

[LewyOs]

Eh, it was early in the morning...But I suppose what I was trying to get at is that the racing should be about like CART/Champ Car...plenty of action and passing.

I counted 2 possibly 3 overtakes in that video, can't see how that was more exciting than any F1 start I've seen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ng54os6wxg&feature=related

Webber starting at the back of the grid provides plenty of overtakes and action at the start of the Bahrain GP.

Reverse grids would work for improving the show I think.

 

[Dotini]

http://www.caranddriver.com/feature...een-sport/peter_brock_27s_can-am_racer_page_3

Take a look at this concept for a Can-Am car by Peter Brock. It has all the right features that would facilitate close racing and passing.

 

[DK]

Shortcuts? Don't give Thierry Henry any ideas to start racing!

 

[NotThePrez]

This man must be absolutely MAD to even consider putting shortcuts in F1. Maybe he's bored, I dunno. If he wants shortcuts in racing, tell him to go play Need For Speed or something.