Two tier Formula 1

[Derek Smith]

This season has given us some thrilling racing at the front but most of the entertainment came not from the top three makes of cars but from the rest of the field.

We’ve had multiple ‘winners’ from the best of the rest, with all by Williams putting someone on the mythical top step. It has been thoroughly entertaining.

Autosport did a bit this week on the B Series. Instead of fulsome praise about the entertainment, it was highly critical of the F1 organisation. As it quite rightly pointed out, most teams are merely a ‘little me’ of one of the top teams. The only one that is any way independent is Williams, and they are dismissed out of hand as not even in the B team.

It makes for depressing reading. More to the point, the logic seems irrefutable.

I thought there was hope for F1 given how competitive and exciting the B Series is; it could be a model for the new owners perhaps? But no, it seems. Far from being a restricted cost series, it is part of the problem.

No real answer is provided, other than they need to do something different.

[Derek Smith]

thegreenhell said:

Red Bull have the budget of the major manufacturers. There were reports in the past week or two of the most recent accounts of Mercedes and Red Bull, and the spending was almost identical, both over £300M for 2017.

It is budget that the article focused on. Renault is a case in point, or rather the case.

The 3.5 and 1.5 seasons are not the same as it was temporary and was brought about by a change in regs.

The point of the article was that the separation between the top teams and the also-rans is a feature of the way things are organised. There is a basic unfairness. RB has TR to support them and the same with Ferrari and other teams. There seems to be no end in sight. Williams is independent.

[Derek Smith]

DanielSan said:

Mclaren are independent also, not just Williams. And they're both doing appallingly. Teams still being independent is a noble idea, but when it comes to cost it's more effective to buy in huge parts of the car rather than design and manufacture everything.

What do we want in F1? More teams and better racing, or some nonsense about the good old days and teams being independent but being in no way competitive?

It is not about what I wanted. It is about what a columnist in Autosport was concerned about, and that's nothing to do with the 'good old days'.

The point is that this season the battle of the B teams has been thrilling, with a 'winner' from every team apart from Williams. It appears, on the face of it, highly competitive but it hides a worrying trend.

What do we want in F1? I can't say for anyone but myself. I'd like 26 competitive cars on the grid, with fast newcomers being able to challenge the top teams. At the moment we have cars in the top 6 being relegated to the back of the grid and yet getting to 6th position in a few laps. Or at least some form of level playing field to encourage new entrants. $100m to Ferrari for being Ferrari. It's not fair, merely giving into threats.

I'm certain the big teams, with their little also-rans using the same engine, gearbox and floors, do not cheat by testing their bits in windtunnels as such. It means that the teams at the bottom have little hope to get on terms.

You suggest that McLaren are performing appallingly. Compared to whom? They have a driver who is 4th in the B class. That gives a clue as to the problem the independents suffer. The mighty McL with Alonso are in a separate race.