If you could improve the fan appeal of F1 how would you do it?

[A2K78]

Serious discussion, but anyhow as a F1 fan this Vettle interview on the autosport forum had me thinking about the subject and I clearly agree him that there are more F1/FIA could do to keep the hardcore fans interested instead of trying to trying alienate them.

Anyhow some things I would like to see:

Dump the craptacular race numbering as its useless and does nothing for the fans:

While its nice to award the #1 to the champ, overall I don't like the idea of a driver having a car number based on a constructor rankng as it does nothing but make said driver look faceless to their fans.

Now if there is one thing I like about both MotoGP and NASCAR is the fact in both championships the riders and drivers have race numbers that give them an identity. Whenever I see numbers like 46, 74, or 42 the first that come to mind is either Valentino Rossi, Daijiro Kato or Juan Pablo Montoya as those personal numbers keep me as a fan connected to them and allow said driver/rider to be unique.

Institute an All-Star race/weekend:

Why doesn't F1 have something like this? If there is one thing I like about NASCAR is the fact as a service to the hardcore fans(not the suits running show) they stage a special non-point race to celebrate both the drivers and fans. Whats also interesting is the fact this all-star week is complete with a a pitcrew challenge .

Now why on God's green earth can't F1/FIA/Ecclestone stage such an event? I mean of all the idiotic rule making that have been taking this past year and years before its sham F1 can't really do something for the fans.

In the end I would like to see F1 thrive, but IMO the game seem to be alienate the fanbase and piss of the drivers as its what FIA, F1 and Ecclestone seem to be doing. In fact I personally believe the reason why some teams are defecting or now questioning their participation in F1 has very little to with the current economic conditions, but rather there is a [hidden]wanning fan enthusiasm.

 

[ExigeEvan]

I'm sorry but this has to be the most badly timed thread ever.

For next season...
-Last 2 world champions on the same team, in the same cars.
-Said team will be all British drivers, against an all German drivers Mercedes team, that were previously a British team and won last season. Brits love Germany V Britain!
-3 new teams. Brand new, underdogs, any point is worth an arm.
-Michael Schumacher is back. I dislike him, others love him, can he still be competing for the title?

Next season should be EPIC.

 

[Roo]

Dump the craptacular race numbering as its useless and does nothing for the fans

Until 1996, F1 numbers remained attached to the car for years; the only time a number changed was when a driver won the championship. The reigning champion had #1, his teammate #2 and the outgoing champion would receive the numbers used by the new champion. For example, had that numbering system been in place over the last few years, when Hamilton won the championship in 2008 he would have the #1 for 2009 and his teammate (Kovalainen) #2. Ferrari would have to use #22 and 23. Everyone else would stay the same.

(Actually the numbers would be different had the numbering system stayed, but it requires someone smarter than me to work out who would've had what number in '07-'08-'09, so I just used 2007's numbers as a baseline.)

Institute an All-Star race/weekend

The last F1 Race of Champions took place at Brands Hatch in 1983. Non-championship races occurred regularly took place - at least one a year - until then, apart from '82.

I do think F1 could do more for the fans - apparantly this year drivers had to go to extra autograph sessions, although rumour has it one circuit held them in a heavily restricted area - but fairly soon you run into a problem: NASCAR, as I understand it, is a single-chassis formula, with manufacturers only able to fiddle with the engines. F1 cars are different from team to team. You can have fans wandering around a NASCAR team's base because what secrets can they take home? In F1, especially with the competition so close, every advantage must be a closely guarded secret or you'll drop down the grid like a stone.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

There is one thing that needs to be change: shift focus from aerodynamic to mchanical grip. Restrict the designers to single-plane front wings. Force homologation of parts (ie when one driver gets an upgrade, the other does too), and limit the number of upgrades permitted over the course of a season.

Institute an All-Star race/weekend:

Why doesn't F1 have something like this? If there is one thing I like about NASCAR is the fact as a service to the hardcore fans(not the suits running show) they stage a special non-point race to celebrate both the drivers and fans. Whats also interesting is the fact this all-star week is complete with a a pitcrew challenge .

Now why on God's green earth can't F1/FIA/Ecclestone stage such an event? I mean of all the idiotic rule making that have been taking this past year and years before its sham F1 can't really do something for the fans.

What good would a non-championship race offer? The teams and drivers would have no incentive because there would be no points on offer. Yet they would still be placing wear on their engines and gearboxes, and with the current rules about their having to last for a certain amount of races, it makes the race totally unnecessary.

 

[Jim Prower]

I'd basically cabbage the old CART series rulebook. See how they deal with a physically larger car...Iron brakes and the like, too.

copy+pasted from another thread...

Basic car specifications

3.0 turbo V8 with pop-off valve at 15psi, and overboost function to 19psi. Valves controlled by FIA
Car physically larger and heavier (700KG without fuel/driver) (simply because I want to see how the constructors overcome this)
Allow limited ground effects tunnels with a set cubic meter limit: limit will be determined by laser inspection on raceday
steel brakes
no KERS, as not even teams are enthusiastic about them.
Win Penalty system: more a car/driver wins, and the better they finish, the more weight it must have at weigh-in before and after race. 30kg - 1st, 20kg - 2nd, 10kg - 3rd, or something to that effect.
13,000 RPM Rev Limiter
Alcohol-based fuel (methanol or ethanol)
Minimum fuel mileage of 2.5 MPG (US)

Homologation:

All parts must be submitted, inspected, and homologated before they are allowed for use. A team may not race with an unhomologated part. If a team is found to have an unhomologated part, the team loses all championship points earned, must return the race winnings, and the car shall be impounded, only returned after a thorough disassembly andinspection. All parts other than those in an engine may be submitted for homologation mid-season. Engines, transmissions and their parts may only be homologated during the off-season. All points-scoring cars will go through an engine-disassembly-inspection to check for part homologation. Parts must be bolted-in: permanent methods of fastening (rivets, welds, casting parts within others) is prohibited. Homologated parts are kept on hand to compare, in order to ensure that a part is the same. Chassis Parts may not be outside a + - 1 mm consistency tolerance, tighter for engine parts. Chassis parts must also weigh within + - 1g of the homologation part, less for engine parts. The main chassis is kept to tight tolerances as well.

Lean inspection methods will be used to expediate the homologation process.

 

[Northstar]

What good would a non-championship race offer? The teams and drivers would have no incentive because there would be no points on offer. Yet they would still be placing wear on their engines and gearboxes, and with the current rules about their having to last for a certain amount of races, it makes the race totally unnecessary.

Not sure how familiar you are with NASCAR, but the All-Star race is always one of the most exciting races of the year. All they do is wave a million dollars in their faces and it seems to motivate them enough.

They could just make it exempt from the gearbox/engine rule.

Obviously they would need a different setup though as there are less races in a F1 season.

 

[CarBastard]

The "Big Book of Top Gear - 2009" has two pages on "How would Top Gear would improve Formula 1". It's printed to appear like it was handwritten on a messy notebook with doodles/childish drawings on it. Give it a look, I'll quote from the book:

[QUOTE="Big Book of Top Gear - 2009" Pages 62-63]

*All drivers are paid £8000 a year, but they get £1 million everytime they score a championship point.

*All tracks are fitted with sprinklers around the edges that come on at random points during the race.

*Whoever won in the last race starts at the back. Whoever came last starts at the front. Everyone else is in reverse order in the middle. Should make for an exciting race or a massive crash!

*All drivers must come to every press conference with at least one amusing anecdote or interesting story. Id they don't, they lose a championship point.

*Every driver gets one joker card. They get double the points in whichever race they play it. Yes, like "It's a knockout".

*NO traction control, NO flappy paddle gearboxes, NO supercomputers. Get rid of engine regulations. If you want to run a massively turbocharged four-cylinder or a V16 radial aero engine, You can! (There's an
underlined note under this paragraph saying "Sort out gas bill!!")

*A special Top Gear F1 comitee will be appointed to award extra championship points to drivers caught getting drunk/going clubbing until 5 A.M, bedding a supermodel or generally being a bit interesting.

*The TG F1 comitee can also dock a driver championship points for excessive use of phrases such as "For sure" and "The team did a great job". Think of something more interesting, you dullards!

*Carmakers are allowed to stick their drivers in adverts but no more personal appereances at sales conferences and openind dealers in Bromsgrove. It makes drivers into tedious robots and takes precious time away from drinking and shagging.

*Sponsorship is allowed on cers but drivers are not permitted to wander around looking like a walking bloody billboard. Nor are they allowed to put their sponsored watch on as soon as they get out of the car at the end of a race.

*Spinning into the gravel and getting stuck is always a bore but if the driver can run back to the pits they can jump in the spare car and get out there for another crack.

*NO MORE JAMES ALLEN, EVER!
[/QUOTE]

Most ideas are childish, and there are some that are absolute nonsense, but there are a couple that do actually make sense. Like making the engine regulations more interesting (Remember the era of 4 cylinder, 1.5 liter F1 cars that churned out 900HP with a turbo?), paying the drivers according to their performance and not their name so they give their best efforts on track, and limiting the sponsorship to the point of keeping the sport alive but not making it into an alienating commercial machine that makes money so Max Mosley can continue with his kinky basement ventures.

 

[JacoJa]

- Get rid of the awful Bahrain Grand Prix, and replace it with the North American GP.

- Give Ecclestone the flick...

 

[CarBastard]

- Get rid of the awful Bahrain Grand Prix, and replace it with the North American GP.

- Give Ecclestone the flick...

That brings me to another point I've been thinking about...SCRAP ALL TRACKS MADE BY HERMANN TILKE!!! THEY'RE PLAIN BORING!!!

Bring on the Nordschleife . Although, that isn't a realistic idea since the track is (I suppose) very narrow and the pit complex isnt enough for an F1 race.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

That brings me to another point I've been thinking about...SCRAP ALL TRACKS MADE BY HERMANN TILKE!!! THEY'RE PLAIN BORING!!!

Based on what? His tendency to build a sharp corner at the end of a long straight? That's nothing new to Formula One - Spa, Monaco, Monza and even the Nurburgring all have them. A better solution would be to reduce the reliance on aerodynamic grip and make it easier to pass. Then you'll start seeing more excitement, on both the pre- and post-Tilk circuits.

 

[Jerry786]

Less business and more sport! I wanna see proper racing on proper tracks. No point holding races in countries where the scenery is fantastic but the tracks re dull as hell, Monaco is the prime example, Less glamor, More racing! This is what I want to see! If only we could have 18 more tracks like spa or the Brazilian GP! This alone would make F1 more exciting and more appealing

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Do you honestly think Hermann Tilke sits down and thinks to himself "Okay, I'm going to make the most boring circuit imageinable"?

 

[CarBastard]

Do you honestly think Hermann Tilke sits down and thinks to himself "Okay, I'm going to make the most boring circuit imageinable"?

I know he tries to design the most technical and challenging circuits, but he ends up with basically a collection of just straights and tight slow corners.

See Yas Marina:

Everything that isnt straight line is taken in 3rd or 2nd gear.

Same with Valencia:

But this one is my favourite...:

He basically drew a square and then added chicanes and closed curves in everything but the main straight...wow...sheer genius track design...👎.

 

[Roo]

Valencia and Bucharest are street circuits - you can only go where the streets go, and not all streets are suitable for race cars, particularly F1 cars.

In any case, Tilke's never produced anything less imaginative than the designers of the Marrakech Street Circuit...

 

[Jim Prower]

Well...It's better than Kaz's Soeul Circuit...

 

[P1]

Bahrain is good and F1 is fine as it is apart from the engine limit

 

[prisonermonkeys]

He basically drew a square and then added chicanes and closed curves in everything but the main straight...wow...sheer genius track design...👎.

There are three major constraints that Tilke has to work with:
1) Geography - Tilke doesn't get to choose the piece of land he builds on. It is set aiside for him. Ideally, he'd get something like Istanbul with its multiple elevation changes every time. But it doesn't always happen that way; the owners of the circuit will set aside a piece of land for him. Sometimes, as is the case with Yas Marina, they'll make requests, like a marina section.
2) FIA Regulations - the FIA has set aside some really tight guidelines that dictate just about every facet of circuit design: minimum and maximum circuit length and width, the degree of banking (anything more than ten degrees - which isn't much - require special dispensation), the size of run-off areas (though the advent of the new Techpro barriers means this can be reduced). The FIA have even determined the entry speed that drivers must be able to take the first corner at (relative to the distance to the Start/Finish Line) to reduce the chances of first-corner accidents. The rulebook is really very restrictive.
3) Budget - although this one applies more to circuit modifications than to actual design. Nevertheless, it is still a factor: Tilke does not have unlimited money to work with.

Take Hockenheim as an example. The FIA decided that it was too long to be safe, especially since there was no real access to the Ostkurve, except for the circuit itself. If a bad accident took place down there, it would take longer than acceptable for emergency services to get out there. So they asked Tilke to re-design it, and from what he produced, one thing is pretty clear: he had to consider the existing circuit to be the boundary. He didn't extend beyond it because he couldn't. He had to do the best he could with what he had to work with, and what he had to work with was a very cramped infield, given that Hockenheim is a long, narrow circuit. He was never going to be abe to do much, and at least he tried to retain some of the original character with that long sweeper.

 

[Jim Prower]

Interestingly enough, was reading through this weeks Autoweek. They described their "perfect" race course. their turns? One of them was the corner Ayrton Senna died on, several have walls very close to the track, lots of fast sweepers...

From this, I think what the fans want is for the FIA to quit nannying course makers, and for actual danger to be present in racing again. Granted, we never want to see anyone die or get injured, but seeing drivers cope with an ever present danger, a thought of, "Hey, I could get HURT, here," and then decide to take the corner at the absolute limits of their abilities, anyway...that's what we want to see.

List of corners

1. Front straight and turn 1 of Indianapolis
2. Eau Rouge of Spa
3/4. Indianapolis/Arnage of La Sarthe
5. Pre '94 Tamburello of Imola
6.Turn 12 of Road Atlanta
7/8. Maggots/Becketts of Silverstone
9. Porsche Curves of La Sarthe
10. Tabac of Monaco
11. Louis Chiron/Swimming pool of Monaco pre widening
12. Carousel of Road America
13. Kink of Road America
14. Turn 1 of Sebring
15/16. Turn 6 to Corkscrew of Laguna Seca
17/18. Aremberg/Fuchsrohre of the Nordschliefe
19. Turn 7 of Mont Tremblant
20/21. Turns 4/5 of Mosport
22. 130R of Suzuka pre-2006
23. Parabolica of Monza

Length: 6.5 mi (10.5km)

Also, apparently, we want to par-tay. we have Indy's gasoline alley, pagoda, and "snake pit," Lake Lloyd from Daytona, (presumably from all the elevation change we'll have to make here,) Concessions from the Nurb 24 (stand that says "beer,") a "Le Mans Campground," Phoenix International's "Rattlesnake Hill," a Monte Carlo Casino and Swimming Pool, Watkins Glen's old bog, (with a burning bus in it, apparently,) and Suzuka's ferris wheel.

 

[TheBigMan045]

Get rid of the restrictive pit enviroment

Have a non-championship event at the end of the season with prizes for drivers only and incentives for the next season for the teams that do well, such as free travel a joker card in which the team gets double points for one race and nominates when it will be played a week before the race, at a track they've never been to such as Road America

 

[Sharky.]

From this, I think what the fans want is for the FIA to quit nannying course makers, and for actual danger to be present in racing again.

👍

The cars these days are pretty safe, and, well... safe cars on safe circuits is never going to be very interesting. If the cars are safe surely it doesn't matter *too* much if the track's a bit dangerous? Designing tracks in this day and age to be safe from the outset is pretty pointless, given the advancements in driver safety offered by the cars themselves.

Massa stuck his Fezza head-on into a tyre wall after getting bonked on the head by that bit of Rubens' car, but he's made a full recovery; Hamilton had his wheel fall off at the Nurburgring in 2007 and as a result stuffed it into a wall at high speed and Kubica's car pretty much exploded into a million pieces in the 07 Canadian GP.

So why can't we have slightly dangerous tracks anymore?

 

[Dotini]

I'd basically cabbage the old CART series rulebook. See how they deal with a physically larger car...Iron brakes and the like, too.

copy+pasted from another thread...

Basic car specifications

3.0 turbo V8 with pop-off valve at 15psi, and overboost function to 19psi. Valves controlled by FIA
Car physically larger and heavier (700KG without fuel/driver) (simply because I want to see how the constructors overcome this)
Allow limited ground effects tunnels with a set cubic meter limit: limit will be determined by laser inspection on raceday
steel brakes
no KERS, as not even teams are enthusiastic about them.
Win Penalty system: more a car/driver wins, and the better they finish, the more weight it must have at weigh-in before and after race. 30kg - 1st, 20kg - 2nd, 10kg - 3rd, or something to that effect.
13,000 RPM Rev Limiter
Alcohol-based fuel (methanol or ethanol)
Minimum fuel mileage of 2.5 MPG (US)

Homologation:

All parts must be submitted, inspected, and homologated before they are allowed for use. A team may not race with an unhomologated part. If a team is found to have an unhomologated part, the team loses all championship points earned, must return the race winnings, and the car shall be impounded, only returned after a thorough disassembly andinspection. All parts other than those in an engine may be submitted for homologation mid-season. Engines, transmissions and their parts may only be homologated during the off-season. All points-scoring cars will go through an engine-disassembly-inspection to check for part homologation. Parts must be bolted-in: permanent methods of fastening (rivets, welds, casting parts within others) is prohibited. Homologated parts are kept on hand to compare, in order to ensure that a part is the same. Chassis Parts may not be outside a + - 1 mm consistency tolerance, tighter for engine parts. Chassis parts must also weigh within + - 1g of the homologation part, less for engine parts. The main chassis is kept to tight tolerances as well.

Lean inspection methods will be used to expediate the homologation process.

Jim Prower is on the right track, except for the idea that the cars should be bigger. Heavier might be okay, but they need to be physically smaller so that more of them can race side-by-side through the corners.

To prevent wheel-to-wheel contact and thus promote more side-to-side racing with attendant rubbing, the teams and FIA also need to institute new bodywork requirements which would semi-enclose the wheels from the front and rear. The tires should of course be exposed on the top to preserve the tradition of open wheel racing.

Respectfully submitted,
Dotini

 

[homeforsummer]

My method to improve the fan appeal of F1 would be quite simple. Formula Fords.

Okay, perhaps not that simple. But no downforce chassis with perhaps 500bhp engines of any configuration (so low capacity turbo'd four cylinders would be as eligible as V12s...) and no pit stops for the entire race.