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Old 4 Nov 2002, 12:51 (Ref:421346)   #18
Glen
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Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 5,598
Glen should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridGlen should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridGlen should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
I think we need to define the problem, before we can suggest the solution. In many ways the cars are actually very good - they are relatively safe and unquestionably very fast... both high priorities I'd say. The performance gap between quick and not so quick teams is one snag - but this is no different today than in years gone by. Design and development are now so good though that it takes years not weeks to make an alteration and leap-frog up the grid.

Look at some of the popular ideas (none of which I actually disagree with per se, but all of which have "flip-sides")...

1 Reduce areo grip, increase mechanical. It is true that this would enable two closely matched cars to circulate in close formation, and this might give you more overtaking. But it won't do anything to bring the cars' performance closer together in the first place. Additionaly, and more importantly, it will favour whoever has the best aero-efficiency - whoever gets the most out of what is left over after the wings are reduced will have the best of the change. Guess which team has the most aero-efficient car? (BTW aero efficiency is a measure of how much downforce is got out with the smallest drag penalty.)

2. Scrap driver aids. Make the cars harder to control, put more of a premium on the driver. Makes sense. But how will this shake up F1? The best drivers already drive for the best teams, for the most part. OK, the potential for the odd mistake is there and that would produce some surprises... so maybe this has merit on those grounds, but the spirit of this change is at odds with the next idea...

3. Wheras the point (above) of making the car harder to drive is easy to understand, many people are also calling for the car to be easier to drive by making the tyres more forgiving. A return to slicks, let them slide around without such a big penalty... The cars now reward perfection, not over-driving.

All of that doesn't get us very far. We could do all three of those things and end up with the exact same order that we have now.
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