No, I'm not proposing to stick a bloody great nail in one of Jenson's tyres!
I believe F1 needs a "make over", above and beyond the rather cerebral ideas of the FIA TWG or FOTA's OWG, to reconnect the sport more to the fans and increase the influence of the driver (and driver errors) when racing a car. So, my thoughts are:
- Steel brakes. An old chestnut but one which (theoretically) should increase braking distances especially if the whole system is a "control" design. One less area for the teams to spend millions of dollars in development.
- Return of the gear lever and a gated gear box. The "flappy paddle" gearbox makes it impossible for drivers to miss a gear which in previous generations was a great way for a following driver to gain an advantage. Put the guy under pressure, make him miss a shift...
- Foot operated clutch pedal. Allied to the return of a gear lever the driver now has to use his left foot for two operations as in days of yore.
- No anti-stall. If these guys can't make their cars move off the line without computer assistance what are they doing there? Perhaps a little controversial as there are potential safety issues, although Rubens probably presented just as much of a hazard on the grid yesterday as a car which is stopped (perhaps more so as he was moving so slowly and erratically).
- More work need to be done on the aero side of things as well given the problems shown yesterday as Vettel cruised up behind Button and then just sat there. Ban double deck diffusers? No, ban diffusers entirely; make the whole of the underside of the car flat. Allow larger front and rear wings but control the number of elements.
I believe changes like this could allow the return of things like active suspension and anti-lock brakes (useful ideas for humble road cars) as the driver input would increase. The guys in the touring cars have ABS but they still run into one another under braking, just not accompanied by a haze of tyre smoke.
If you think these ideas are crazy, not a problem. I've been wrong before and I'll be wrong again. Perhaps you can add or improve on these?
I believe F1 needs a "make over", above and beyond the rather cerebral ideas of the FIA TWG or FOTA's OWG, to reconnect the sport more to the fans and increase the influence of the driver (and driver errors) when racing a car. So, my thoughts are:
- Steel brakes. An old chestnut but one which (theoretically) should increase braking distances especially if the whole system is a "control" design. One less area for the teams to spend millions of dollars in development.
- Return of the gear lever and a gated gear box. The "flappy paddle" gearbox makes it impossible for drivers to miss a gear which in previous generations was a great way for a following driver to gain an advantage. Put the guy under pressure, make him miss a shift...
- Foot operated clutch pedal. Allied to the return of a gear lever the driver now has to use his left foot for two operations as in days of yore.
- No anti-stall. If these guys can't make their cars move off the line without computer assistance what are they doing there? Perhaps a little controversial as there are potential safety issues, although Rubens probably presented just as much of a hazard on the grid yesterday as a car which is stopped (perhaps more so as he was moving so slowly and erratically).
- More work need to be done on the aero side of things as well given the problems shown yesterday as Vettel cruised up behind Button and then just sat there. Ban double deck diffusers? No, ban diffusers entirely; make the whole of the underside of the car flat. Allow larger front and rear wings but control the number of elements.
I believe changes like this could allow the return of things like active suspension and anti-lock brakes (useful ideas for humble road cars) as the driver input would increase. The guys in the touring cars have ABS but they still run into one another under braking, just not accompanied by a haze of tyre smoke.
If you think these ideas are crazy, not a problem. I've been wrong before and I'll be wrong again. Perhaps you can add or improve on these?