Simple idea to make a dull runaway F1 season more fun?
Discussion
If a driver wins the WDC with races to in hand, he has to start at the back of the grid.
Maybe even if there is a runaway winner, it will give the fans some extra excitement to hope they do clean up with several races to go? Keep quali unaltered by offering a bonus point for pole up for grabs for the WDC winner.
How could you get a message to Lewis to start at the back, presumably/hopefully for the last 3 races? That would be fun.
Maybe even if there is a runaway winner, it will give the fans some extra excitement to hope they do clean up with several races to go? Keep quali unaltered by offering a bonus point for pole up for grabs for the WDC winner.
How could you get a message to Lewis to start at the back, presumably/hopefully for the last 3 races? That would be fun.
With prize money available for championship points, this won't happen. Teams are more than happy with runaway victories, as although to the casual viewer there is nothing left for a WDC to race for, it couldn't be further from the truth. They're racing for shareholders, statistics, the record books, future sponsorship, and of course, prize money.
Nope, you need lions. That would make things interesting.
Or perhaps other random animals dropped in the cockpit prior to the race; I'm thinking snakes, badgers, komodo dragons, that sort of thing. It could either be done on a handicap basis whereby the leading driver gets the nastiest critter to race with or alternatively they could draw lots at the start. I'd pay good money to watch Maldonado get savaged by a honey badger...
Or perhaps other random animals dropped in the cockpit prior to the race; I'm thinking snakes, badgers, komodo dragons, that sort of thing. It could either be done on a handicap basis whereby the leading driver gets the nastiest critter to race with or alternatively they could draw lots at the start. I'd pay good money to watch Maldonado get savaged by a honey badger...
Maybe I'm unusual but I look forward to the championship being settled because then the winner is free to drive the other races in whatever way they want with no thinking about picking up the points and avoiding risk. Lewis is a great racer, if he seals the championship next race in the remaining ones he can just go for the pass if needed as points no longer matter, a risky move to get a win is more likely than sticking with second to get safe points. The race matters to all the drivers, but not the championship.
456GT said:
What would be more interesting is non-championship GPs. Races that don't count towards the WDC or the WCC and where rules are relaxed so teams can trial some interesting tech, introduce new drivers, etc.
I know they did them back in the day but not sure why they were dropped.
Back in the day there were far fewer Championship races than there are now, leaving plenty of opportunity for Gold Cups and the like.I know they did them back in the day but not sure why they were dropped.
I can't see any of the teams wanting to drop Championship status for existing races, nor the race organisers.
andyps said:
Maybe I'm unusual but I look forward to the championship being settled because then the winner is free to drive the other races in whatever way they want with no thinking about picking up the points and avoiding risk. Lewis is a great racer, if he seals the championship next race in the remaining ones he can just go for the pass if needed as points no longer matter, a risky move to get a win is more likely than sticking with second to get safe points. The race matters to all the drivers, but not the championship.
Unlikely he'll need to go for a pass though isn't it? When has he driven for points, as opposed to a win, this year?REALIST123 said:
Back in the day there were far fewer Championship races than there are now, leaving plenty of opportunity for Gold Cups and the like.
I can't see any of the teams wanting to drop Championship status for existing races, nor the race organisers.
The teams and organisers may go for it depending on what non-championship races could offer. People have talked about shaking up F1 with reverse grids, sprint races and whatnot; non-champ races could allow these ideas to be trialled. If venues could host non-champ events for a lower fee, that would make it attractive to them.I can't see any of the teams wanting to drop Championship status for existing races, nor the race organisers.
Non-champ races could become a bigger spectacle than regualr races as it'll be something different. Perhaps give fans some input into the running of the event (phone poll to decide grid??).
Using a cricketing analogy, The Ashes are decided by test matches, but people still tune in for the ODIs!
mattikake said:
If a driver wins the WDC with races to in hand, he has to start at the back of the grid.
Maybe even if there is a runaway winner, it will give the fans some extra excitement to hope they do clean up with several races to go? Keep quali unaltered by offering a bonus point for pole up for grabs for the WDC winner.
How could you get a message to Lewis to start at the back, presumably/hopefully for the last 3 races? That would be fun.
A driver at Castle Combe did this 'for fun' because his car was so much quicker than everything else. It was brilliant (presumably for him, as well).Maybe even if there is a runaway winner, it will give the fans some extra excitement to hope they do clean up with several races to go? Keep quali unaltered by offering a bonus point for pole up for grabs for the WDC winner.
How could you get a message to Lewis to start at the back, presumably/hopefully for the last 3 races? That would be fun.
Sadly, for all the reasons listed by others, this will never happen in F1.
ukaskew said:
A driver at Castle Combe did this 'for fun' because his car was so much quicker than everything else. It was brilliant (presumably for him, as well).
Sadly, for all the reasons listed by others, this will never happen in F1.
If it's merely just sponsorship and prize money, that can be changed by regulation. E.g. prize money and sponsorship cash earned by places gained not points. (Hmm a whole race season were points are awarded for places gained and quali determines that fastest line up in reverse order that they may gain those places? Now that is a championship even my mum would watch.)Sadly, for all the reasons listed by others, this will never happen in F1.
They said tyres that fall apart deliberately would never happen. Sprint races would never happen and now may well do so. This is our world - we can set any rule we choose...
Edited by mattikake on Tuesday 20th October 23:04
rohrl said:
Start half the grid going clockwise and the other half anticlockwise.
You want this:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM-TbSh6s18
mattikake said:
If it's merely just sponsorship and prize money, that can be changed by regulation. E.g. prize money and sponsorship cash earned by places gained not points. (Hmm a whole race season were points are awarded for places gained and quali determines that fastest line up in reverse order that they may gain those places? Now that is a championship even my mum would watch.)
Sounds fun, but it would be impossible (rather than very unlikely) for the slowest team to get any points. Plus you would no doubt get teams trying to 'game' the system in all manner of ways if you think about it, as not only do the slower cars have a lot more say in how the race unfolds (and as we know, smaller teams are generally linked to the bigger ones in some way), and qualifying is opened up to all sorts of abuse if you can just slow down a bit to try and get a certain grid position.I think far too much has been made over the fact that Lewis Hamilton didn't get much TV coverage at Suzuka. He was circulating on his own and the interesting racing was happening behind him so the TV coverage focussed on the interesting racing. I'm glad for this and hope it continues. If there's an interesting fight for first place then of course the director should concentrate on that but if not then I'd rather watch a scrap for fifth than a car on its own.
ukaskew said:
mattikake said:
If it's merely just sponsorship and prize money, that can be changed by regulation. E.g. prize money and sponsorship cash earned by places gained not points. (Hmm a whole race season were points are awarded for places gained and quali determines that fastest line up in reverse order that they may gain those places? Now that is a championship even my mum would watch.)
Sounds fun, but it would be impossible (rather than very unlikely) for the slowest team to get any points. Plus you would no doubt get teams trying to 'game' the system in all manner of ways if you think about it, as not only do the slower cars have a lot more say in how the race unfolds (and as we know, smaller teams are generally linked to the bigger ones in some way), and qualifying is opened up to all sorts of abuse if you can just slow down a bit to try and get a certain grid position.
That's true. Well maybe you could award points for the top 10, but only say 10 down to 1 (pole to 1st would get you 30 points). Smaller teams only get points when there are retirements or an unusually messed up race anyway. Even so manipulate the grid so your faster qualifying driver overtakes the slower on the last lap - 1 point. At least everyone should be able to score. Sponsorship is about TV coverage ultimately and what do the smaller teams get at the moment? Points are just about making sure the fastest, best, most consistent driver wins over a season and this would be no different. But anyway, this is just silly digression on an aside.
rohrl said:
I think far too much has been made over the fact that Lewis Hamilton didn't get much TV coverage at Suzuka. He was circulating on his own and the interesting racing was happening behind him so the TV coverage focussed on the interesting racing. I'm glad for this and hope it continues. If there's an interesting fight for first place then of course the director should concentrate on that but if not then I'd rather watch a scrap for fifth than a car on its own.
Fair point, but surely most would argue that it's not interesting to watch a car just driving around the track with the nearest guy several seconds behind, for lap after lap. I would've thought it would be fairly unrewarding for the drivers as well? But I guess the £millions glosses over that.I'm not entirely sure why people are seemingly satisfied with an F1 where typically one team completely dominates. It is irrelevant in my mind as to whether this is a new phenomenon (as stated before by others, it's not), it was boring when Schumacher/Ferrari were dominating, it was boring when Red Bull was dominating, it is boring now.
I know it's a gross oversimplification but to my mind the economics of F1 need to come a distant second to providing a spectacle for the fans. I don't much care for whether Mercedes and co are looking for F1 to feed into their production car development, I'd sooner watch F1 if the result wasn't essentially known, or at least a three horse race at best, before a car has turned a wheel on the circuit.
Perhaps that's somewhat hyperbolic - but I don't class Hamilton being taken out or dropping out due to mechanical failure and someone else winning as vindicating the status quo as it stands as the moment.
456GT said:
What would be more interesting is non-championship GPs. Races that don't count towards the WDC or the WCC and where rules are relaxed so teams can trial some interesting tech, introduce new drivers, etc.
I know they did them back in the day but not sure why they were dropped.
BCEI know they did them back in the day but not sure why they were dropped.
Is it a surprise that just as Bernie was running the show NC races disappeared?
Championship races offered inconsistent prize money, NC races offered competitive money. Bernie made sure the former was set uniform and set out ways and means to destroy the latter; teams became contractually bound to F1WC and there after eg. Group C & LM made sure F1 was top dog.
Even if there was an audacious NC race promoter the teams couldn't compete because they'll be breaking a contract with Bernie let alone Max Mosley not sanctioning NC races; and as been said you can't fit NC races today.
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