My Report.....

[Andrew2001]

Hey everyone, been absent for a while...

There are problems in F1 at the moment. And it is all to do with money, as it is....something HAS to be done to chop the costs down so that the smaller teams can survive. It is just getting out of hand now. There are far too many teams that are just fighting to hold their heads above water.
One of the changes I am a big supporter of, is making the top 3 teams from the end of the previous season run three cars.

Re-position the front wings where they always were, bring back slicks, 3 car teams for the top teams. Take further bans on testing. None of these aspects will help prevent cost but they are just some of the many that I can see.
Get rid of the hungarian GP!!! because it is a seriously **** race. the only thing I like about it is seeing all the support for Finnish drivers the grandstands are just packed with blue and white. But the track itself is just not suited to modern F1. There is no close racing because the cars are constantly tackling corners. We need more circuits like the Hockenheim revised track (which is fantastic I think), and Malaysia too.

Jordan, Arrows, Jaguar and Minardi are all in serious trouble, financially, and competively as well.
What the hell will F1 do with just 7 teams?? Please tell me.

I think the FIA needs to steer F1 cars towards the setup of the familiar champ cars in the States. And no I don't mean exactly the same cars for the entire grid, but simple things such as a manual gearshift with a gearstick for one, slick tyres and the traditional wide body layout of open wheeler racing cars. Just simple things like that.

Anyway, I am rather concerned at the moment....Thats just some of what is in my mind at present.
That's my report anyway....

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Andrew2001
One of the changes I am a big supporter of, is making the top 3 teams from the end of the previous season run three cars.

Surely this will take away the chance of the "lower" teams scoring any points and putting an even greater strain on them?

[Sato san]

i agree....they will have even more data to draw from which will help them go even faster..

[Andrew2001]

I think that putting more enphasis on the top teams having to concentrate on even more cars would stretch their resources further still.
Making the top 10 points finishers is also a move I support.
But when Fag sponsorship is forced out at the end of 2005 that should help matters. No more B & H, West, Marlboro, Mild Seven.
That has GOT to be a good thing!

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Andrew2001
But when Fag sponsorship is forced out at the end of 2005 that should help matters.

Don't think that that will affect things either Andrew, looking at the teams out there now, Williams don't have any tobacco sponsership, neither do Jaguar or Minardi, Ferrari's deal with Marlboro is financed by Vodafone (allegedly). Most of the teams will be looking for replacements now, even with 3 whole seasons to go.

[Red]

Furthermore. Building the car, altough not peanuts, is a small percentage of the R&D costs, so actually I believe that Mr V is right on that matter too.

[Champ69]

What I would like to see is a change to the concorde agreement that allows the smaller teams to get more money so they are less dependent on sponsorship.

[Red]

sorry. mistake.

[Liz]

Ferrari runs three cars? So TGF has TWO drivers to step aside for him? Don't see how that will improve anything, really.

My suggestion would be to make the rules clear and obvious, and force all teams to hew to them equally. That and an end to pre-arranged race results might help revive interest.

However, the best thing might be to just stand back and let it crash, and then reassemble the bits into something more friendly and competitive.

[Bononi]

Your last point is the most interesting to me, Liz.

The top teams got budgets that all the others can't handle. FIA should put limits on that and concentrate efforts to improve the smaller teams and new ones to come...

Maybe like Liz says... a wreck and start from scratch again.

[Red]

Originally posted by Bononi
a wreck and start from scratch again.

And the survivors of the wreck would be....... ?

[JohnSSC]

Missed something! Did not realize that this thread was a bash TGF thread...Is there any way possible we could stay on topic? Drivers will come and go, but the state of F1 is the question i believe.

I agree that the 3 car team may only add to the dominance of the top teams. I for one would be happy to see an end to two-way telemetry, the already mentioned grooved tires and perhaps a "spec" tire that everyone has to use. Keep traction control but lose the "programmed" shifting. I think F1 has gotten expensive because engineers do things because they can - not because it is really needed to keep them at the pinnacle.

Maybe Bernie can do what NASCAR does and if someone gets too large of a lead show the caution flag for "debris."

[Bononi]

I'm afraid to say...

[Bononi]

Welcome JohnSSC !

Oh, there's no TGF bashing here... I see that the financial status is crucial at this moment. In fact is a global trend and F1 won't be above this. Seeing Minardi, Arrows struggling and Prost sinking in debts is just a sign that something must be done, and the GOD-like bosses like Ron Dennis should change their minds...

[JohnSSC]

I will not make an issue of it - but some of the postings have a heavy tilt toward personalities and not the thread.

In any event, the beauty of F1 (to me) when I was coming up were the privateers like Hesketh and Rob Walker or teams like Brabham or BRM. They were interesting. They each had their own take on building an F1 car. It seems the drive to have two-way, interactive, pre-programmed fuzzy dice has taken the focus from the racing and turned the whole scene into nothing but a well-financed engineering exercise.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by JohnSSC
I for one would be happy to see an end to two-way telemetry, the already mentioned grooved tires and perhaps a "spec" tire that everyone has to use.

But one team has got to test this tyre to make sure it will work, that team is likely to be the biggest team out there, thus, that team gaining an advantage!

I'd go with your idea of one tyre for all, if Minardi are the only team to do development tests on it.

[racing_guru]

I see no reason why the top teams should lower themselves so that the less funded teams can compete. No matter what rules you introduce, the top teams will have more money and therefore a better chance at winning.

If you take away the ability to test everyday, the tops teams will have the money to compensate for that. The lower teams will always struggle, no matter what you do.

F1 is capitalism at it's best (or worse, depending on what side you stand on) - the opposite would be NASACR, which operates on a socialistic model. Even the playing field for everyone, no one can ever gain a competitive advantage.

Would that model work in F1? Personally I think it would strip the soul out of F1. F1 has always been like this, when the economy is good, the lower funded teams survive. When the economy turns south, teams fold.

[Bononi]

In fact,not a cut, but a range should be applied, so the differences between teams will be shortened. I think you're right when thinking that this is the competition of F1. Teams getting more money in order to test and get more development and so on... but times have changed and soon we'll have no small teams to run.

[JohnSSC]

While I despise NASCAR one thing you can say for them is that at most tracks any number of teams are capable of winning. I do agree though that the NASCAR model would not be good for F1.

In any form of racing, amatuer, entry-level pro or whatever $$ have often dictated who performs best (not ALWAYS!). I think the trick here is to come up with a set of rules by which the well-funded teams will not prosper at the expense of the Arrows/Minardis of the world. That is why I think some of the extraneous stuff like two-way telemetry should be scrapped so the focus can be on the car/driver combination. Life will always be unfair, but let's give the clever a chance!

[Red]

Yeah, but somehow I believe that 2-way telemetry and TC were meant to actually help lesser teams. It's always cheaper and easier to develop software than mechanical stuff (imagine various types of mechanically-controlled-differentials for example) that will do the same tricks. Even though the SW engineers are paid big, but the development process costs almost nothing...

[Gt_R]

Firstly, i think the current system of sharing TV and commercial revenue ought to be changed. All the teams should get a far greater percentage of the revenue. And instead of rewarding it in proportion to the points finished, i think approx 60% of the money should be shared equally among all the teams, and the remaining 40% be shared equally among all the privately-owned teams which are owned by individuals and have NO works contract. That way, the money can be used by the private teams to pay for supplies like engines and tires which can be quite a strain on their expenses otherwise.

F1 is all about competition, and in a way technological advances. We should not foresake these just because we want to even the field and put up a good show. Neither should we penalise the top players for their good performance.