Letter to FIA

[Lost Formula 1]

Hello.
We thought to write a letter with ideas and suggestions to send to FIA, about the changes to introduce in F1.
You can read it and add your contribution to it.
Thank you all.

Lost Formula 1 website

[Wrex]

Sorry my friend, but I dont agree with enough of it to sign it.

Added to that, as nice as some of those ideas are, they just are'nt realistic.

[DriverT]

The following are proposals you make on your website:

Modifications to the cars:

1. prohibition of any wing and aerodynamic device

Well that would make it look like FFord.

2. prohibition of any electronic system

Even the most rudimentary cars have had electronic systems for years now.

3. prohibition of any gearbox that is not completely manual and handled by a floor stick

5. fuel tank with adequate capacity to finish the race without any refuelling

6. slick mono-tyre for dry conditions

Agreed.

7. prohibition of any special tyres for the qualifying sessions

Why do this?

8. well visible equal positions for the drivers’ number on the nose and on the sides of the cars

I thought that was already in the regulations...

9. one single producer supplying equal tyres to all teams with the possibility to change producer every year

Sorry, I fundamentally disagree with you here. It's just totally wrong. I think there is another thread on this anyway...

Modifications to the Races

3. 1 only set of tyres each team to use in the race

Interesting proposal.

4. 1 only engine to use during the weekend of the race

They are already doing this now.

6. time lap extracted from the average time of three best laps signed by each driver in the qualifying session

Interesting...

7. points attribution system as in MotoGP or Superbike

I don't think that would be accepted by any team.

8. 1 Championship point for the pole and 1 Championship point for the fastest lap in the race


Yes I think this should be done.

In summary, I think some of your car modifications take F1 back to the 1950s. That isn't necessarily appropriate for the 21st century and will make F1 a laughing stock with status no more than the current Formula Ford. F1 is the pinnacle of motor sport and it should stay that way.

I agree with Wrex. I agree with some of your points, but I think some of your other points are not well thought out at all. Thus I cannot sign the letter either.

It's a good idea mate, keep at it. It just needs a bit more thought.

[Glen]

So many of your assumptions are just plain wrong that you can't expect to be afforded any credibility. Sorry. I'm pretty sure I'm right in saying that the gap in performance between teams is the lowest it has ever been for example - it is certainly not any wider than the 80's.

[Kicking-back]

Back when we had regulations like you propose we had people winning races by a country mile and drivers finishing in the top six despite being two laps down.

And awarding a point for pole is silly.

Qualifying is purely to set the grid - starting first is your reward.

The race is the important thing and is the only place you should be able to score points.

[1200Datto27]

One set of tyres PER TEAM? that would really make MS the no. 1 driver in the team!
And a floor shift on an F1 car, where would it go? between the drivers legs?

[Red]

Well, the manual shift doesnt really need to sit on the floor; can be on the side. Anyway, if all those proposals were to be implemented, why they don't just call it "hystorical racing"?

[ASCII Man]

stick shifts have been sitting on the side of the cockpits since the 60's..
Some, well pretty much all those proposals are either too unrealistic or already in place.

[1200Datto27]

I'm amazed that people are only mentioning the shift, not the tyres that I mentioned as well. I know where they normally put manual shifters in formula cars (driven them), but it was the term used to describe them that i was picking up on mainly, in that a floor shift is (in Australia) a shifting mechanism mounted on the transmission tunnel, in the center of the car.

[Knowlesy]

Some good ideas, but far outweighed by some abysmal suggestions.

[ralf fan]

agree with Knowlesy.... some good suggestions but some of them are quite poor... hence i wont sign

[300kph]

A letter to FIA maybe a very good idea because they will have the say of the grass roots...... if we can settle down the contents of it.

The letter should represent the majority of us.

[x_dt]

With regards to getting rid of the wings; the teams will never agree to that as the front and rear wings are valuable sponsor space.

[pirenzo]

plus with the sort of power these cars are putting out the cars wouldn't be possible to drive. (you're talking about half as much power again as the old pre-war cars, with a fairly major improvement in tyres, but the throttle response is so much sharper you couldn't put the power down well enough. Sure you could make that less but teams would fairly rapidly find the optimum bite of the engine as it were and the cars would hit a performance ceiling.

[Hazard]

I think the last few seasons would have incredibly close, decent seasons of competitive racing if you remove one factor.

Michael Schumacher.

The guy's the best driver in the world, and it'll be hard to ever beat him. If he was in a Williams or BAR this year, he'd still probably have won 4 races. I think the FIA would be best off paying him £300 million to take a nice holiday.

If he wasn't in any of the races (and Ferrari had no second driver I guess) - this is what this year's title fight would look like so far:

30pts Barrichello
30pts Button
23pts Montoya
21pts Alonso
19pts Trulli
12pts Schumacher
6pts Coulthard
6pts Sato
2pts Massa
2pts Webber
2pts Raikonnen
1pt da Matta
1pt Panis
1pt Fisichella

What do you think? Worth watching?

[BARrouette]

Originally posted by Kicking-back

And awarding a point for pole is silly.

Qualifying is purely to set the grid - starting first is your reward.

The race is the important thing and is the only place you should be able to score points.

I agree with you.
And about the scoring system it should be like Souperbike.

[Liz]

The only thing they really need to do to make the racing more exciting is to force TGF to retire.

The racing is good and close and exciting except for him. He has nothing left to prove except that he doesn't care a rap for the sport itself -- only about himself. Remove him from the grid, and without changing another thing, you have Formula One again.

[ysofast]

Hard not to laught .... sorry but most of these ideas are completely unworkable. A point for pole and or fastest lap could work but would it really improve the game? Let's compile a workable list of improvments and vote on the most workable ones and put our collective weight behind it. My suggestion off the top of my head ........ downforce from the underside of the car like cart. It would make for more passing.

[Lost Formula 1]

Hi all and thanx for read the letter.
Well it's not that everybody has to sign it, the letter it's just a proposal. We thought about some ideas but the meaning it's to make FIA listen to the people instead to do everything by themselves for theirselves, or almost.
It's sometime they're trying to bring the audience back, I don't know if any of you watch motorbikes: well it's a complete different show.
Unfortunately the main reason of the lack of interest in F1 it's not Schumacher but the money. It's obvious that if strong team will earn more money than a second row one, that team will continue to lead the group no matter what. And you have a clear sample with, just to say a couple, Ferrari and Minardi.
More, Ferrari gets a money bonus just because it's the team that has been in F1 since forever.
If you give cash prices to the teams, if not in the same part to each team, in a close one, the smaller teams will have a chance to reach some good point.
Anyways evry point in the letter has its reasons, obviousy.
One tyre supplier: a team of engineers can improve a car performance by 2-3 tenths in one year, a good tyre can do the by 2 seconds. Having only one supplier at least you "should't have" th e incredible rush to improve the performances betwen two producers and would have al the cars on the same basis.
The wings: the reason of the wings is mainy for advertising. Taking the wings away it means less speed, less handling. It doesn't mean that a car must resembe a 50's one. There shoud be a mandatory layout of the chassis, just the sizes. So it woud be left to the designer's skill and imaginations.
The number: just try to find a number on todays cars. Take a look, for example, to the front number on Williams. I think it's more important for the people to know what car is been showed than to read the name of a sponsor.
Special tyres for the qualifying: there were special tyres until years ago, then they stopped them because of the danger. It woud surey be more expensive and it would start a run to improve performances. Better to usa the same tyre you're going to use in the race.
1 point for the pole: as it was in the past, as well as 1 point for the fastest lap. Why reaching the pole? Is it useful to do it? Probably just in Monaco. Points for several reasons are in Nascar, F.Cart, etc. etc. Anyways not a main change.
Gearshift: staten as floor stick, read it as side stick due the fact a Formula car doesn't have a central tunnel. Anyways it's againt any help for the driver.
In the end Formula 1 it's, or it should be the top of the motor sport and a driver who drives a F1 car should be one of the best of the many.
Unfortunatey it's not in this way, as Massa said in an interview when he drove a F1 for the first time; he said that the F.3000 cars where more difficult to drive. That almost costed him his F1 seat.
In the '70s or early '80s you could see cars skidding when passing the corners almost regularly; now they look lik being on a rail. Car is more and more important than driver.
So any idea, thought, suggestion is highy welcome.
Feel free to post what you think.
Hoping to watch a better F1.
Thank you.

[f1atic]

While I agree there are some changes that probably ought to be made, it doesn't seem that ANY of your recommendations are in keeping with the concept of F1.

No way!

[pirenzo]

Originally posted by Liz
The only thing they really need to do to make the racing more exciting is to force TGF to retire.

The racing is good and close and exciting except for him. He has nothing left to prove except that he doesn't care a rap for the sport itself -- only about himself. Remove him from the grid, and without changing another thing, you have Formula One again.

I'm getting fed up with these kind of silly remarks
I've obviously missed something somewhere down the line becuase i still thought people became sportsmen becuase they enjoyed it not because they thought a point needed proving.
Just because he's won 6 world titles doesn't mean he should now retire because there's no more left to do. There is more left to do. There's a 7th and an 8yh and a 9th and so on championships to be won. And if the man can stick around long enough to win all those titles then damn good for him.

[Hazard]

I never said he should retire. I just said it would make the sport more interesting in the sense it's not the same guy winning everytime if he's not in it.

He is the best driver, and he has every right to hang around until his tenth title. Just my frustration is with everyone saying the sport is boring because of the money & technology.

It's not...the FIA have done a good job keeping F1 the top, most competitive and top notch sport in the world - apart from one lap qualifying, which was a desperate juggling act.

The first season Michael's out of F1, will be the most competitive season since 1999, when he also wasn't in much of it.

[santori]

Oh good God.
Agree or disagree - there's no reason to prove your status by being being unpleasant.
I agree with most of DriverT's comments, although I'd like to see the back of wings. The cars would be more attractive, I think, quite apart from the better racing. They'd look like Concordes.

[Dani Filth]

and for me the concordes were stunning

[Speed]

" 1. elimination of every asphalt or concrete pavimentation on the tracksides "

I thought this was implemented for safety reasons.