Ferrari Mailing List: How to fix Formula 1

[Pat Scopelliti (pscopell]

OK, here’s some grist for the mill…  think of it as a starting point.  It is time to reset the technology saw-tooth curve.  That curve has complexity on the Y axis and time on the X axis.  As time goes on things get more and more complex until a breaking point is reached.  Then everything gets simplified, to resume a slow complexity climb again.

 

Ok feel free to discuss among yourselves.

 

Aerodynamics:

DRS banned

Widen the cars back to 200 cm

Mandate flat bottoms (no diffusers)

Mandate exhaust straight out back with last foot of pipe parallel to ground

Front wing: One plane with defined endplates

Rear wing: Up to two wings allowed, each one plane with endplates

No winglets

DRS banned

 

Suspension and brakes:

All moving suspension pieces must be metal (no carbon fiber)

Brakes discs must be metal (no carbon fiber), brake pads cannot be carbon fiber

Front tires: slick, 16 inch width

Rear tires: slick, 21 inch width

 

Engines:

Pump gasoline

Turbos banned

KERS or ERS or whatever is banned

No fuel flow limit

No refueling

3.0 liter

8, 10 or 12 cylinders

No rev limit

No development freeze

Limit eight race and qualifying engines per season

Limit eight practice engines

Standard engine ECU

Limit on exotic materials (e.g. exhaust pipes must be iron-based not some cupro-nickel exotic that results in $25000 exhaust pipes)

And the term “power unit” will be banned

 

All current driver safety components remain

Car chassis must be carbon fiber

 

Pit stops:

During routine pit stop only eight workers allowed to work on a car (one at each wheel, one at each end to lift/lower car, one at each end to adjust wings and help moving old tires out of harm’s way)

 

Teams can enter up to three cars, but only the top two will score points (the third cars will be eliminated from points calculations)

Points awarded:

24, 15, 9, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1

1 point for pole

 

Testing:

Two days of testing allowed whenever there are at least two weeks between races.

 

Esthetics:

Numbers must be clearly visible from 50 feet distance

Veteran teams will return to historical numbers, other teams will be granted pairs that they will keep as long as they partake in Formula 1, since no one gives a damn about driver #15 or even knows who he or she is.

Williams 5 and 6

McLaren 7 and 8

Ferrari 27 and 28

 

Sporting regulations:

Workers can push-start a stalled car back into the race when safe

 

Financials:
All teams must share in the revenue  F1 generates (There will be some prize money, but not such that the worst teams get crippled).  What made the National Football League years ago was some key rich owners deciding that sharing of revenue would help the league.  That’s why there are no NFL: teams going bankrupt every other year.

 

Pat

 

Pat Scopelliti

pscopell [at] stny.rr.com