Proposed 2021 Formula 1 RegulationsFormula 1

[Tired Tyres]

Lose the diffuser, fit single element wings with zero winglets on the body. Give them big slick tyres and no compusary pitstops.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Formula Ford

Not quite the speeds we want to see in F1.

motorcycles

Definitely do

historic racing..

Not really relevant unless they're capable of averaging 160mph on road course laps. The point is that aero isn't just a nice-to-have, it's a must-have. The answer isn't to remove all the wings, specify standard floors and make sure that the bodies are all aero-neutral, it's to ameliorate the worst wake effects of the car to allow closer racing.

 

[Grand Prix]

The point is that aero isn't just a nice-to-have, it's a must-have. The answer isn't to remove all the wings, specify standard floors and make sure that the bodies are all aero-neutral, it's to ameliorate the worst wake effects of the car to allow closer racing.

I don't consider downforce to be a must-have in racing, that is where our opinions differ.

I will, however, accept any reduction in aero grip at this point. Or the currently proposed 2021 regulations, if they work like they are supposed to.

 

[Dotini]

The eye-popping slipstreaming affair at the 1953 French GP at Reims was hailed as the "Race of the Century". The cars had well under 200hp, probably positive lift, and contemporary sports cars were nearly twice as powerful.

Ricciardo, when asked which era he would most like to race if he had a time machine, said "1974". He knows.

IMO today's F1 is stuck in a rut from which it will be impossible to escape. Karts provide far better racing.

 

[TheCracker]

I think people get a bit dewy-eyed over previous eras of F1 racing. I've been watching since the 70's and i can recall that you still had dull races and dominant teams back then. Difference is that reliability was much more of an issue then it is now. A lot of the modern era's reliability comes from the huge budgets the teams have to spend on R&D. You can't just (literally) go back to the drawing board and ban the use of CAD, CNC machining and fluid dynamics simulators etc. They're here to stay and it means racing cars will continue to be largely reliable. It's not just F1, you see it at Le Mans too. What used to be the proverbial race of attrition where for much of a race the teams, even winning teams, would be nursing an ailing car to the finish line, is now a sprint from start to finish.

Take the earlier mentioned 1974 season. Lauda and Regazzoni in the Ferraris dominated qualifying with poles on 10 or 15 rounds, yet only won 3 of the races. You read a report of the season and you see that for at least half the races they retire due to reliability issues or crashes and punctures down to other cars reliability issues leaving debris on the track. You just don't get that these days.

If you want the sort of exciting Grand Prix racing you had back when Grand Prix racing was exciting. You're going to want chassis designed and drafted on a drafting table with slide-rules and built in Russia. Tyres (remolded) from China, 70's Lucas electronics and aerodynamics guest as what looks like might work and then fabricated in an old cowshed.

Then, and only then, will you get the unpredictability that led to the interesting and exciting two hour Grand Prix of yesteryear.

 

[TenEightyOne]

The vote was tied on returning to 2018-spec tyres, it seems the season will continue on 2019 spec.

 

[FutureF1]

So basically this is F1 looking at Indycar and realizing that they did it right with the 2018 regs. These new F1 cars look like some of the old champ cars and I am all for it. The only thing I don’t like here is the addition of 50 kg. F1 should have the lightest cars in the world.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

The vote was tied on returning to 2018-spec tyres, it seems the season will continue on 2019 spec.

I'm guessing the voting was based upon which way the teams thought their performance was going to go. I'm not a big fan of changing tire specs mid-season especially if it might have been factored into the cars' designs.

 

[VNAF Ace]

It's a promising start. The FIA basically adopted what IndyCar accomplished with Dallara's 2018 IndyCar Universal Aero Kit.

They should also extend the sidepods to be flush with the wheels to prevent cars from interlocking wheels (which is what IndyCar did back in 2012). Not only did that improve safety in IndyCar, it also improved racing by letting drivers race side by side more often.

Eliminating tire warmers would also save F1 teams money and let F1 drivers show off their driving skills on cold tires.

Finally, I also hope they adopt IndyCar's Red Bull aeroscreen. This is what the 2020 Dallara-Honda IndyCars and 2020 Dallara-Chevrolet IndyCars will look like.

 

[Liquid]

I think people get a bit dewy-eyed over previous eras of F1 racing. I've been watching since the 70's and i can recall that you still had dull races and dominant teams back then. Difference is that reliability was much more of an issue then it is now. A lot of the modern era's reliability comes from the huge budgets the teams have to spend on R&D. You can't just (literally) go back to the drawing board and ban the use of CAD, CNC machining and fluid dynamics simulators etc. They're here to stay and it means racing cars will continue to be largely reliable. It's not just F1, you see it at Le Mans too. What used to be the proverbial race of attrition where for much of a race the teams, even winning teams, would be nursing an ailing car to the finish line, is now a sprint from start to finish.

Take the earlier mentioned 1974 season. Lauda and Regazzoni in the Ferraris dominated qualifying with poles on 10 or 15 rounds, yet only won 3 of the races. You read a report of the season and you see that for at least half the races they retire due to reliability issues or crashes and punctures down to other cars reliability issues leaving debris on the track. You just don't get that these days.

If you want the sort of exciting Grand Prix racing you had back when Grand Prix racing was exciting. You're going to want chassis designed and drafted on a drafting table with slide-rules and built in Russia. Tyres (remolded) from China, 70's Lucas electronics and aerodynamics guest as what looks like might work and then fabricated in an old cowshed.

Then, and only then, will you get the unpredictability that led to the interesting and exciting two hour Grand Prix of yesteryear.

I've said for a long time that it is reliability more so than regulation that has made Formula One dull.

Additionally, and it's a minor point, too much information for the viewer such as all the radio broadcasts and knowing the pit strategies before the race even starts dulls the action and takes away a lot of the element of surprise; like going to a magic show already knowing how the trick is done.

 

[05XR8]

It's a promising start. The FIA basically adopted what IndyCar accomplished with Dallara's 2018 IndyCar Universal Aero Kit.

They should also extend the sidepods to be flush with the wheels to prevent cars from interlocking wheels (which is what IndyCar did back in 2012). Not only did that improve safety in IndyCar, it also improved racing by letting drivers race side by side more often.

Eliminating tire warmers would also save F1 teams money and let F1 drivers show off their driving skills on cold tires.

Finally, I also hope they adopt IndyCar's Red Bull aeroscreen. This is what the 2020 Dallara-Honda IndyCars and 2020 Dallara-Chevrolet IndyCars will look like.

I like that look. Wonder how F1 would apply a canopy in wet conditions. Add LEDs to the mirrors.

 

[VNAF Ace]

I like that look. Wonder how F1 would apply a canopy in wet conditions. Add LEDs to the mirrors.

Both IndyCar and F1 teams can just do what every other closed cockpit racing series does; coat the aeroscreen with RainX and go racing.

 

[TenEightyOne]

I like that look. Wonder how F1 would apply a canopy in wet conditions. Add LEDs to the mirrors.

Good question, Indy et al use spotters, can't see that working in F1. And it shouldn't be tried. It also depends how well they've fixed the distortion problems that were present in the last F1 aeroscreen tests.

 

[TenEightyOne]

First look at a 2021 car in the wind tunnel.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

It’s interesting to see how “bulbous” the floor is. Not quite as flat as previous sketches made it look.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

It looks like a good roadblock.

 

[mustafur]

From the side view it has a more early 90s look to it.

 

[Dylan]

I love the way the rear wing endplates follow the curve of the wing elements.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

I'm not too hopeful, but it would be nice if cars could follow closer after these changes. With DRS passes being so frequent, it's easy to skew how difficult it is to really pass on the circuit.

 

[TheElbows]

I know it won't happen, but I'm digging the wheel covers on that test mock-up. They remind me of the old Turbo wheels...I'd love to see that return

 

[TenEightyOne]

I know it won't happen, but I'm digging the wheel covers on that test mock-up. They remind me of the old Turbo wheels...I'd love to see that return

Their return has been proposed, so I don't see that they won't happen.

 

[TheElbows]

I assumed that was a thing used in the 80's-90's because people didn't have all the aerodynamic info. I also assumed it'd have been banned because of the reaction to the weird aero-brake tubes that Mercedes was using a year or two ago (didn't they get banned?). Either way...still looks pretty cool. I'd be happy to see them back.

 

[TenEightyOne]

I assumed that was a thing used in the 80's-90's because people didn't have all the aerodynamic info.

They weren't banned in F1 until 2010, a workaround was banned in 2011.

Here's a Ferrari with them on, and off.

 

[andrea]

 

[Dotini]

So, they will be 3 to 3.5 seconds per lap slower, and surely make for easier passing. Combine that with 25 shortened weekends and you can imagine the character of the sport changes somewhat.

 

[DesertPenguin]

Just like Ross Brawn to put the speed into perspective, that's 2016 lap times and no one complained then that they were too slow

 

[TenEightyOne]

So, they will be 3 to 3.5 seconds per lap slower, and surely make for easier passing. Combine that with 25 shortened weekends and you can imagine the character of the sport changes somewhat.

How so?

 

[Dotini]

How so?

Bearing in mind superlicensing rules are being liberalized - hopefully becoming even more so - and assuming the rules and regulation changes are effective as intended, then I think we can anticipate the most jumbled up and unpredictable results seen in many years.

 

[twitcher]

All this talk that F1 needs to be the fastest this, the lightest that....in my opinion, bollocks. Fact is, F1 cars are only fastest on circuits that are tailor made F1 cars. F1 needs to be the best racing series on the planet, they don’t need to be breaking arbitrary records every year just for the sake of “progression”. I say the records are arbitrary because circuits change, tires have as much of not more impact on lap times than the cars, and ultimately, it adds nothing to the racing on Sunday.

What would happen if the decision in 1970 was reversed....ban wings, but allow AWD? There’s your road relevance for every who’s hung up on that notion.

If computer deployed KERS is allowed and no one seems to have a problem with it (it’s doing its job without driver input), then I’d rather see a monstrously powerful, AWD, active suspension car that can race nose to tail, wheel to wheel, than these upside down airplanes that can’t get within 2 miles of one another without the assistance of “Dumb Racing System” aka DRS.

I also think the weekend format needs a shake up.

- 2 practice sessions on Friday
- qualify Saturday morning, as per the current format, but with full points awarded to the top 10 qualifiers. This is the “ultimate speed” portion of the F1 weekend, is an important part of the car build philosophy, which is why teams and drivers are rewarded for doing well.
- Saturday afternoon, SPRINT RACE time baby. Roughly half the distance of the main race, half points awarded to top 10 finishers. Starting order is the finishing order of the previous weekend’s GP, with the top 10 reversed. This way there’s no punishment for qualifying well, you don’t end up with a williams on the front row (ok, after Hungary you would, but that’s once in a blue moon), and you still get some mixed up grid orders that forces people to move through the pack.
- Sunday morning, Top 10 Shootout, a la Aussie Supercars. The top 10 from Saturday morning compete in a 1 lap shootout to set the final top 10 grid order for the race. The one thing I hate about the current quali format is that we rarely get to see good laps in their entirety because the TV director would rather watch offboard clips of cars rounding the final corner. I mean, Leclerc’s Singapore lap was spectacular, and we didn’t get to see the full thing until it showed up on YouTube several hours later. Ya, it’s fun to watch, but we already knew the result. Every time the back end stepped out, we knew he would catch it. Watching that live, without knowing results, would have been edge of the seat stuff.
- Sunday afternoon, feature race as per normal.

Ultimately, this format has significantly more meaningful sessions, pushes the teams and drivers to have cars and skills that cover different areas (ultimate speed, race closely and overtake, etc), more TV exposure for sponsors. Yes, the points table would change drastically because I’d be awarding 2.5x the amount of points every weekend....but we’re F1 fans, addition with 3 digit numbers shouldn’t fluster us.


If they adapted this format, I’d be content with the current 21 race calander. If they continue to keep the current format, then I’d like to see them go to 25-30 races per year.

 

[TenEightyOne]

.ban wings, but allow AWD? There’s your road relevance for every who’s hung up on that notion.

Where's the relevance of AWD in general motoring?

Anyway, I'm a fan of the 2021 rules in general but not of the LCD info-boards on the side of the car. Doesn't work for me.