Big Changes Coming to F1…My Thoughts

17Dec08

“Formula 1 will still remain the pinnacle of motorsports, it will change a bit, but life is about changes.”

Michael Schumacher (Seven times World Champion)

Formula One is a sport I am passionate about. I have been a dedicated fan for over a decade now and through downloading races, I have seen the majority of the past 30 years of Formula One.

While some are absolutely disheartened with the new rules coming to F1 for 2009 and beyond, I cannot and do not feel the same about the sport as some of these people do. Through reading blogs, posts, forum comments and listening to independent Podcasts, I am actually surprised at the negative reaction to these new rules.

(Read some of the new rules here)  http://f1fanatics.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/full-list-of-fia-changes-and-cost-cutting-measures-for-2009-2010-and-onwards/

Why are so many F1 fans so up in arms about all of these changes? As fans we have demanded that the sport give us more action, more pure racing and more overtaking for the last decade that I’ve followed this crazy motorsport and now we may get these things we demanded for so long!

Some of the biggest criticisms have come from bloggers and podcasters in the direction of Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone. Ecclestone owns the commercial rights to F1 while Mosley is president of the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile). But we are forgetting the impact that the teams played in these cost cutting decisions. Some of these measures were in the works prior to the most recent announcement of cost cutting. FOTA (Formula One Teams Association) unanimously voted for these changes. Many would argue that F1 didn’t need to be fixed or changed at all. But it did. It really did. I, personally, am tired of watching races where the pole sitter wins from the front every time…even if the guy in second is faster then the leader is, but simply cant get around the dirty air coming off the front runner’s car. The new aero measures will change that and the engine regulations will put the best driver on top in the end, hopefully. News coming from the F1 paddock at tests is quite positive about the aero regulation changes. The biggest criticism is that the cars are not quite as streamlined and don’t have the “traditional” F1 look to them. But in my opinion, this is a small price to pay to get us overtaking in a sport that has been mundane (aside from the scandals) for the last 5 years. 

Fans may see much more overtaking in 2009 thanks to the new look of F1 cars.

Testing too will have a dramatic impact on the sport’s cost for teams running cars. Getting even the relatively small number of personnel to the test track and getting the car running and working requires a great deal of skill, man power and time. Eliminating this will do two things, make the sport more competitive through less in season development and less variation between cars from start to finish and decrease the cost of getting a team to the test track more than is necessary which will allow massive budget cuts for the teams and continue to make operating in F1 more feasible. 

Mid Season Testing is not necessary and will help save the teams tons of money...

Formula One’s technology is what makes F1 unique and interesting to many. But it is also the thing that single handedly causes all the problems. BMW Sauber for instance run one of the, if not the, most powerful computers in the world. This computer sits day and night running tests on the car’s data and aero efficiency. All in the search for .00001 of second of speed. The engines too will be changed for 2009 and beyond. It was not that long ago now that an engine could be replaced after every weekend and now the rules say they must last three weekends. Why is this kind of a rule a bad thing for F1? The argument against it is that initially, it will raise costs. And it will. But F1 needs to be looking to the long run. The business plan of F1 is so unfeasible that there is no team that wants to enter F1 at the current stage. They all see better options in leaving. People may hate on Honda and their ridiculous “earth cars” and Jenson Button’s apparent lack of driving skill, but both he and Honda have been statistically successful over their careers. Jenson is a race winner in a less then average car but Ross Braun was set to take Honda to a new level, when the corporate powers that be, pulled the plug on the operation. 

After having listened to the Chequered Flag BBC Podcast, I am optimistic toward F1’s future. Journalists and the inside men on F1 all seemed genuinely hopeful about the future for the sport. Eddie Jordan, former F1 team owner was one of the true insiders giving his take on this round table discussion. Jordan had advocated cost cutting in 2002 and 2003 and as such was pushed out of F1 because of the rising costs. But he got out on his own terms, when and where he wanted. If F1 had not changed, other teams may not have been so lucky. Two F1 teams (Super Aguri, and Honda) have withdrawn from the sport. Much like global warming in some cases… what is it going to take for people to wake up? Honda and its beneficiary Super Aguri is a good “canary in the mine” alert system. Honda, above most other teams, have the corporate budget to support F1 racing indefinitely, but the fact that it was not a good business plan for a company as big as they are, is a telling sign of the direction F1 was heading prior to these measures being taken. (Listen to the podcast here)

http://rapidshare.com/files/176212584/CFF1__The_future_of_F1__17_Dec_09.mp3

On the subject of refueling, I am pro-banning refueling. Here again, F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport and technology, yet F1 cars have not been pushing the environmentally friendly technology needed on the roads today. A little known fact is that an F1 car, per engine power and rpm is probably the most efficient combustion engine on the planet. Considering that a guy like Kubica can go for 45 laps in a race and not need to pit for fuel tells you there that the cars are efficient enough to do this and it would take minimal changes to push that fuel life another 20 laps to the end of the race. As Senna argued back in 1993, when refueling returned to F1, all gassing a car in the pitlane does is turn F1 into a battle of pit crews. The drivers have to simply get it around the track and into the next stint. And that is wrong for motorsport. F1 should be about driver skill and not how few mistakes a pit crew can make. I personally don’t want to see passing in the pitlane. Rather, I want to see passing on the track. But with passing on the track, drastic reforms need to be made with the steward’s decisions. I personally agreed with the fine Hamilton was given after the Belgian GP. While many who read this will not agree that it was a fair punishment considering that Räikkönen crashed himself out of the race one lap later, never the less, Hamilton should not have been allowed to get away with it under the current rule book. Of the drivers interviewed after the race, all agreed that Hamilton had gained a serious advantage on Räikkönen and his pass on the following corner would not have been possible without him cutting the turn prior. Steward’s decisions must be made public. All video footage, telemetry, and onboard radio communications must be given to the TV audience at the time of the incident so that we can make a decision for ourselves. While I am no fan of NASCAR, the inbred country sport does a damn good job of keeping the TV audience in the know and giving them all sorts of media to work with to make their own informed decisions. With the ban on refueling, came an announcement that shortening of the races may be looked at as well. This I have less of an opinion on. I see neither good nor bad from a rule of this kind. I would not mind seeing the doldrums of the middle of a race disappear. It would force the drivers to be more aggressive because they have less time to drive the car. They cant afford to wait for the driver ahead whom is slowing them down to make a mistake or take a pit stop. 

Ayrton Senna opposed refueling's introduction after the '93 season

Finally, F1 engines must be made to be more efficient and cost effective. Of a teams budget, I have read that about 50% goes into engine R&D. For a team like Toyota, who are believed to have one of the largest budgets in F1, a 50% budget would mean about 100 million dollars is spent on the engine alone. That is outrageous. While I do not agree that teams should be driving the exact same engine bought from an outside source, I do agree that the engine should be blueprinted and all teams should be made to follow that specification. F1 is an event. It is as much about the racing as it is about the cars in them. While I do NOT EVER want to see F1 lose its shrill piercing scream that makes it so enjoyable and unique, I do want to see racing get better. Having a repeat of 2004 where Schumacher and Ferrari simply started the engine and everyone else was fighting for second from that point on. Its no fun. I would rather have one hundred 2008’s then another season like 2004. I believe the new engine and aero regulations will give us that kind of racing. Imagine 6-8 different drivers statistically able to win races each weekend. That kind of pressure would truly make the best drivers stand out. I have a feeling that men like Vettel, Räikkönen, Alonso, Massa, Hamilton, Kubica and even some of the less “successful” drivers like Webber, Heidfeld and Rosberg could showcase what theyre really made of. A guy like Webber is a perfect example of a driver who will be helped immensely by the new rules. The performance gap between teams must be lessened. Motor racing is not racing if there is only one or two men who could actually win. I want to see a season like 2007 and 2008 repeated again, but with more drivers in the fight for the championship. We may not get it in 2009. But I have hope that F1 has saved itself a lot of heartache in the future by cutting costs as they have and changing the sport to suit the current needs.

The 2009 front wing and slick tyres on Heikki's Mclaren.

All that said, F1 must not forget its past either. Eccelestone and Mosley are particularly guilty of this. Ecclestone’s personal greed has led to a raft new tracks being added and some of the classic old ones being put on hiatus or taken off the calendar. This is unacceptable. While I enjoyed the new Singapore night racing venue. I would never trade Singapore for Monza, Spa, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve or any other ones that have been axed by F1’s governing body and Bernie Ecclestone. Keeping those kinds of tracks is important to F1, its fans and its past. And they must be supported at all costs. F1 must also start paying attention to its fanbase. The F1.com website is poor to say the least. While I find other ways to watch races and find historical footage of F1 races, drivers and things like that, I would have no problem paying for these things if it was worth it for me. But right now, All F1 offers its fans is a lackluster live timing screen and very little television and radio coverage. This for the world’s most popular motorsport and second (maybe third) most popular sport overall. That is ridiculous. 

To all you F1 fans who feel the FIA is against you and is making F1 a laughing stock by making the cars look this way and that the budget cuts are killing F1, remember every team on the grid unanimously voted for these rule changes. I personally trust that the teams know more then we do about the sport and that perhaps, the rule changes will do the sport a lot of good. Before F1 fans go blowing their horn in anger at the FIA and FOTA and the new direction of F1, lets wait and see what the rule changes actually do to F1. These rules weren’t just dug out of the back of Bernie or Max’s head, but well thought out actions by all parties involved with F1. And lastly, whether you like them or not, the rules are going to happen and they will be enforced. So you can either withdraw support for F1 now without knowing exactly what theyve done to the sport, or you can wait around and see the changes for yourself over the next few years. People act like this is the first time new rules have been put on F1. Rules as radical as this, probably not…but then again, the economy simply cannot support the F1 of old. So why not welcome the new rules with open arms and be there to support of a new generation of F1 cars and drivers and potential champions.

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Tags: F1, FIA, FOTA, Rule Changes