After reading RasputinLives Team Mate battle thread it got my brain working overdrive. We are trying to work out which drivers are better compared to another driver in a different team. Due to the differences in this generation of F1 cars it is like comparing apples to oranges.
The obvious answer to this problem would be to make F1 a spec series like GP2 and the new Formula E series starting soon.
Before you all start shouting saying what a terrible idea this is and how much it will stifle the engineering and ingenuity by the F1 designers who are constantly striving to squeeze every extra ounce of performance out of the cars, I think I may have a potential solution.
Currently in NASCAR there are 3 actual car manufacturers, each of these then sells their chassis to a team who compete against all other teams. This isn't too different to what we have in F1 as far as the engines are concerned. What I'm proposing is a reduction of constructors from the current field of 11 down to 3 or 4. The teams will stay as they are but the actual number of different chassis types could be reduced.
We could take the best designers from the Mercedes powered cars and put them together in a think tank, same with the Renault powered cars & another group for the Ferrari powered cars. Each team would be in charge of their own set-up and pit-stops as normal. Taking this season as an example, McLaren, Mercedes, Williams & Force India would have the same chassis so instead of one team dominating we would then have four teams with equal performance making the importance of the driver a key part of any team.
This will also help the smaller teams. The backmarkers would benefit from having more powerful cars and saving money on development means the end of pay drivers. The development of each chassis would continue over the season. Pooling the best of the design talent and spreading the cost would only improve the racing for the spectators as well as enabling new teams to get on equal terms a lot easier than the current crop.
There are plenty of positives to this idea but what do you guys think?
The obvious answer to this problem would be to make F1 a spec series like GP2 and the new Formula E series starting soon.
Before you all start shouting saying what a terrible idea this is and how much it will stifle the engineering and ingenuity by the F1 designers who are constantly striving to squeeze every extra ounce of performance out of the cars, I think I may have a potential solution.
Currently in NASCAR there are 3 actual car manufacturers, each of these then sells their chassis to a team who compete against all other teams. This isn't too different to what we have in F1 as far as the engines are concerned. What I'm proposing is a reduction of constructors from the current field of 11 down to 3 or 4. The teams will stay as they are but the actual number of different chassis types could be reduced.
We could take the best designers from the Mercedes powered cars and put them together in a think tank, same with the Renault powered cars & another group for the Ferrari powered cars. Each team would be in charge of their own set-up and pit-stops as normal. Taking this season as an example, McLaren, Mercedes, Williams & Force India would have the same chassis so instead of one team dominating we would then have four teams with equal performance making the importance of the driver a key part of any team.
This will also help the smaller teams. The backmarkers would benefit from having more powerful cars and saving money on development means the end of pay drivers. The development of each chassis would continue over the season. Pooling the best of the design talent and spreading the cost would only improve the racing for the spectators as well as enabling new teams to get on equal terms a lot easier than the current crop.
There are plenty of positives to this idea but what do you guys think?
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