So how was 2013 for you?

[nigel greensall]

Or do as we do in Funcup, the winner has to start last for the next race, with the rest of the grid a lucky draw numbers from a hat !

[Derek Smith]

London424 said:

The 1987 British GP where the person finishing 3rd (Senna) was lapped once and the person finishing 4th (Nakajima) was lapped twice.

Sounds like an amazing race!

If you are one of those who thinks the only real battle is for the lead, then it was one of the best ever. If you are the type that likes battles down the field then it was a normal race, with lots of little battles.

It was electrifying. The whole stand was concentrating on what turned out to be a classic duel. It was played out from Mansell's tyre stop, less than half way through the race. If you had a stop watch (pre F1 Live Timing) then it was riveting.

It built up to a climax - and then delivered.

[Muzzer79]

People forget that messing with the format runs the risk of ruining something else.

Grid position drawn from a hat?
That's qualifying defunct then, and an hour's potential intrigue and (in few cases admittedly) excitement missed. All they'll do is effectively practice/test on a Saturday and if the weather is inclement, stay in the garage.

Removal of practice (as suggested by Sky F1 on Sunday)
So, no running on a Friday/Saturday morning. Want to take any more action away from the fans at the circuit?

Ballast
Artificially slowing cars down? Hard to calculate the correct ballast, ballast could potentially be used strategically.

Winner starts from the back.
Potential for drivers and teams to calculate that winning a race is not the best option and deliberately slow down. Witness WRC cars taking intentional time penalties to guarantee running order for the following day or even event.

Just leave it as it is but:
Give them tyres that wear out after 15-20 laps, but don't melt after 3.
Allow regular testing at the circuit after a race in suitable locations (Malaysia, Bahrain, Silverstone, Austin, etc) One day of each test has to be a tyre test that all teams can participate in.

[ooo000ooo]

Muzzer79 said:

Removal of practice (as suggested by Sky F1 on Sunday)
So, no running on a Friday/Saturday morning. Want to take any more action away from the fans at the circuit?

Ballast
Artificially slowing cars down? Hard to calculate the correct ballast, ballast could potentially be used strategically.

Allow regular testing at the circuit after a race in suitable locations (Malaysia, Bahrain, Silverstone, Austin, etc) One day of each test has to be a tyre test that all teams can participate in.

IIRC Martin Brundle suggested Qualifying on Friday, Sprint race on saturday and another race on Sunday (presumably using the results from saturday?). Good for the fans on circuit?

I think Ballast should be used to stop one car running away with things.

Testing the day after a race would generate income for the circuits and maybe make the teams run their test or new driver in one of the cars to give them experience?

[FiremanRob]

Whichever idea you choose, my object would be to stop the practice of the pole sitter, whoever it might be, from simply getting a good start, thus staying out of the mayhem, and running it away. We seem to have bred a clutch of drivers who are simply good at putting in very quick laps unopposed. Which is not wrong, but denies us good racing, which is the reason for watching....The converse is that the new teams, who always start from the back are hindered from the green light by all the midpack nonsense, and are half a lap back before the first corner.
That 1987 GP I remember well, my all time favourite, shouted at the tv for the whole race.......if only we could get that sort of racing back. BUT WE HAVE TO TRY SOMETHING, THE STATUS QUO JUST DOESN'T DELIVER..........To many important F1 figures just have their heads in the sand.

[h8tax]

How about we have the following :

Friday - free practice as normal.

Saturday - 25 lap sprint race, reverse grid from finishing positions of previous Sunday race. The results of this sprint race determine the grid position for the SUNDAY race.

Saturday race gives 10 points down to 1 point for first ten finishing positions

Sunday points as currently.

What's not to like? How do we submit this to the FIA?

[RDMcG]

It seemed like a good enough half season that then meandered as Vettel sped off into the distance without too much difficulty.

It has now got to the stage that its very difficult for a neophyte to even understand it...today's choice of tires, keeping some KERS, DRS passes and the like, but not much in the way of passing beyond that. I very much doubt that I will continue to follow it. WIll try the first race or so and see, but there is precious little excitement.


When the speed of the pitstop is the highlight, something is seriously amiss.

[vonuber]

I thought was alright. No worse or better than a lot of other seasons.

[Kaiser_Wull]

jsf said:

When you have one of the most talented drivers on the planet telling his team " I cant drive any slower man", you have a st race series. What we saw was not motor racing. A season to forget, and it has nothing to do with the dominance of Vettel/Red Bull.

No argument from me.

[Otispunkmeyer]

h8tax said:

How about we have the following :

Friday - free practice as normal.

Saturday - 25 lap sprint race, reverse grid from finishing positions of previous Sunday race. The results of this sprint race determine the grid position for the SUNDAY race.

Saturday race gives 10 points down to 1 point for first ten finishing positions

Sunday points as currently.

What's not to like? How do we submit this to the FIA?

Also no pit stops for the sprint race.

[LiamM45]

Bernie would probably like that. More racing time equals more sponsorship money I would imagine.

[The Stiglet]

h8tax said:

How about we have the following :

Friday - free practice as normal.

Saturday - 25 lap sprint race, reverse grid from finishing positions of previous Sunday race. The results of this sprint race determine the grid position for the SUNDAY race.

Saturday race gives 10 points down to 1 point for first ten finishing positions

Sunday points as currently.

What's not to like? How do we submit this to the FIA?

Increased cost. Everywhere.

[IainT]

The Stiglet said:

Increased cost. Everywhere.

Engine regs would have to change and costs would really go through the roof. With the added number of races as well the toll on teh teams would increase drastically.

[oyster]

vonuber said:

I thought was alright. No worse or better than a lot of other seasons.

Agree.

I think people are forgetting how dry the 2013 season was? That's a major factor.

[tank slapper]

I completely lost interest by the end of the season, to the point that I didn't make a point of even watching the highlights of the last two races. There are a couple of reasons. One is the obvious domination of Red Bull and Vettel. Watching one car disappear into the distance while the others tiptoe around trying not to instantly destroy their tyres is tedious.

Secondly is the coverage. I don't have Sky, and don't particularly want it. If I wanted to get full coverage of the races I have to either get a full Sky sports subscription, consisting mostly of football, cricket and other stuff I will never watch or pay an extra £27.50 per month to Virgin for it. It's just not worth it. The result is races not covered by the BBC I end up not bothering with because it means trying to avoid all media until I have watched the highlights. It's not even possible to watch the full race later unless I download it from elsewhere. I used to make a point of getting up to watch all the far east races, now I find I don't care.

The result is I followed the season far less closely than I have in the past. I couldn't even say who finished 2nd and 3rd in the championship off the top of my head. I'm quite interested to see what happens next year with the rule changes, but if it continues in the same fashion I just won't bother. I have better things to do with my time.

[h8tax]

The Stiglet said:

h8tax said:

How about we have the following :

Friday - free practice as normal.

Saturday - 25 lap sprint race, reverse grid from finishing positions of previous Sunday race. The results of this sprint race determine the grid position for the SUNDAY race.

Saturday race gives 10 points down to 1 point for first ten finishing positions

Sunday points as currently.

What's not to like? How do we submit this to the FIA?

Increased cost. Everywhere.

Not really - engine and gearbox longevity rules would be the same as they are now. The front runners are doing 12 to 16 laps anyway during qualy, so we are just adding ten laps to that. Or make the saturday sprint only 15 laps?

Teams free to test parts etc in the saturday sprint.

[Tony2or4]

I think part of the problem with F1 these days is the phenomenal level of mechanical reliability that the cars now have: we just don't tend to get the shake-up created by the car at the front falling out because of some problem or other.

[Mikey G]

Not the greatest of seasons given, but I still enjoy F1 and make any excuse to put the F1 channel on. I didn't get to see many races live, mostly saw the early or late ones. But I did go to the British GP.
If I was to sum up the season for me in few words it has to be:-

Poor McLaren
Multi 21
Monaco
Tyre Gate
Silverstone
Webber
Tyres exploding
Mercedes Win
Traction Control?
Domination
Records broken
Money

Bring on 2014

[Tony2or4]

Tony2or4 said:

I think part of the problem with F1 these days is the phenomenal level of mechanical reliability that the cars now have: we just don't tend to get the shake-up created by the car at the front falling out because of some problem or other.

ash73 said:

I'd rather see them taking some risks on the limit and falling off the track due to driver error than the random lottery of mechanical failures.

I agree with you about preferring to see the drivers take some risks, but it was the randomness of the mechanical failures which added the element of unpredictability, and had the effect of sharing out the wins a bit more.

[Driller]

Mant times this year I've been grateful that I've recorded the highlights on BBC and been able to fast forward on 4 or 16x from about lap 5 to the final 2 or 3 laps.

The Sky package showing the Grand Prix live would appear to be pointless unless you enjoy being bored.