Quote:
Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist
I think we need to look back over the origin of the penalty system. The FIA decided that teams should be restricted to X number of engines and gearboxes per season. (Just like most club racers: if I lost an engine, that was my season over.) But they didn't want to be so draconian as to say "That's it. You can't race for the rest of the year." So they needed to come up with some sort of penalty for those who transgress the rule. It can't be a fine as that negates the idea of reducing costs by limiting engines. The chosen solution was grid penalties. It used to work well because initially teams were able to improve reliability/durability so that they rarely fell foul of the penalties. Occasionally one car (or maybe two) would get hit. This was the way it was supposed to work.
With the introduction of the hybrid engines, the system needed to take account of the changing of each of the major elements in the power unit. I can't remember the exact numbers, but this meant instead of just a 5 place penalty for an engine change, a driver could now get a 30 place penalty for changing all the bits that make up the power unit. Even this would work OK (look at Mercedes and Ferrari) if the power units were reliable. But the problem arises because the Renault is pretty poor and the Honda is an unadulterated pile of poo. So whose fault is it? The FIA? Or Renault and Honda?
There seem to be a lot of people suggesting loss of constructor points instead of grid penalties. But how will it look when McLaren finish the season on -200 points, beaten by some other team that has only -50?
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As I have posted in the Future Rules Change thread....
For me the obvious option if F1 is to continue with the "limited" number of power unit bits, would be to hit the teams with championship points penalties.
But struggling teams (possibly because of engine issues) may not be getting many points, so do we want to see the lower places in the contractors championship decided in a battle between teams in negative numbers?
Likewise imposing a fine on teams wouldn't work either, what is beer money for Mercedes or Ferrari could be a significant amount over the season for a smaller team.
My solution would be a secondary points structure.
Firstly lets start with a reasonable number of bits to begin with for the season...lets face it 10 or 12 are built per car as spares for the 4 that are allowed, plus any new development bits as the season goes on.
Each race where a constructor uses 1 additional part they are racing for a revised constructors points list of 2 points less than normal scored and have to finish in the top 9 to score points.
1st: 23pts, 2nd: 16pts, 3rd: 13pts, 4th: 10pts, 5th: 8pts, 6th: 6pts, 7th: 4pts, 8th: 2pts and 9th 1pt.
If 2 or more parts are used then a points list of 4 points less than normal and have to finish in the top 8
1st: 21pts, 2nd: 16pts, 3rd: 11pts, 4th: 8pts, 5th: 6pts, 6th: 4pts 7th: 2pts and 8th 1pt.
Drivers points would remain the same.
Edit to add
If there was a way of including gearbox into this in a fair way, I'd be for removing that grid penalty as well.