Random Thoughts...[F1 edition]

I wasnt expecting super high speeds simply because after a certain point it probably becomes more beneficial to steepen the rear wing and retain some corner speed which will also help the tyres to last.
 
I was thinking how can you make the lower teams more competitive? It's all down to money anyway... and the money is given away by order of the constructors championship... a place could mean tens of millions of dollars

So how about at the end of the year there is a draw, where one of three options comes out: give the prize money as usual (and in this case the draw will happen again the next year), equally divide the money among all teams (next draw in two years), or reverse prize money, where the last in the championship gets the most, and so on in inverse order (three years).

The inverse thing is what I thought first, but then teams would be trying to finish lower down to get money... so that's solved by the draw. It might be, it might not be. Since there's always a chance the distribution is normal, teams should still compete for the highest spot possible, and whenever the reverse distribution comes out, you get at least 3 years of the normal distribution anyway.

I was falling asleep while thinking about it after the Italian GP. It'd take care of several problems like more exciting races, pay drivers, lapping slow teams 3 times in a race distance... It may not be a great solution, but something should be done.

Do these newcomers for Caterham and Marussia and the sort get more experience driving the slowest cars ever? They're probably losing their race craft, the only skill they develop is pulling aside to get lapped...
 
mpicco said:
I was thinking how can you make the lower teams more competitive? It's all down to money anyway... and the money is given away by order of the constructors championship... a place could mean tens of millions of dollars
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Weird, I was just thinking about this 30 minutes ago on my walk home from work.

I think it'd be nice if the money split was there to "top-up" finances in lieu of sponsorship. So the more your team got in money coming (sponsorship or cash injections from parent companies), the less of a cut you got from FOM.
It would have to be weighted so that you were still always better off if you got more sponsorship though (otherwise teams would not bother and just live on the hand-outs).

It wouldn't have to result in all teams getting the same amount, it would only have to partially equalize it. I don't see how $50m going from FOM's pocket to a team which gets $400 from a parent company to sustain the team as a marketing tool is worthwhile when that $50m would represent a huge budget increase for a smaller team and bring them into the fight and create a more even field.
 
I know but that'd only lead to teams faking their financial incomes and being shady... You can't really trust people's honesty when it comes to millions of dollars.
 
I think one beneficial step is for FOM to distribute money to all the teams, and not just the top 10.

I believe the 10th place monies were all that was keeping Caterham F1 afloat and now that they've lost that going forward thanks to Marussia's 10th place last year (and being assured at least 10th place this year), Tony F. pulled the plug and sold the team. And I expect if Marussia had not scored 10th last year and again this year they probably would be joining HRT as former F1 teams. Heck, there is talk that if Sauber doesn't score any points, they may be sold, as well, since they won't be getting an FOM payout (EDIT - I see they're now rumored to be bought by a Canadian).

Thanks to being the "junior Ferrari Team", Haas F1 should be guaranteed a Top 10 position, which puts Marussia back out into the cold with Caterham. And if Forza Rossa Racing makes it to the grid, that will be three teams that won't be collecting any FOM monies under the current system.
 
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they should allow the top teams to "buy" testingtime, or -mileage
and this money should be split amongst the bottom 5 teams or sth...

it would be peanuts compared to finishing in the top 7 or 8, but at least they would get something!
 
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No money for the lower teams is the primary problem.
The secondary problem I was trying to solve was this positive reinforcing feedback that happens when the best team from last year gets the most money, so they have much more for development, testing, whatever, so they have the best chance of being the best team again the following year, and so on and so forth.
If once in a while the prizes were given in reverse order, plot twist. That was the whole thing behind what I wrote.
 
bone said:
they should allow the top teams to "buy" testingtime, or -mileage
and this money should be split amongst the bottom 5 teams or sth...

it would be peanuts compared to finishing in the top 7 or 8, but at least they would get something!
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That would be a great idea, but probably not something the FOM or the FIA would go for because of how stubborn they are.
 
the lower teams should just compete in GP2 or another class altogether, their presence in F1 is pointless IMO.
 
Cellos88GT said:
the lower teams should just compete in GP2 or another class altogether, their presence in F1 is pointless IMO.
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Alas, GP2 isn't looking too healthy at the moment, either, as it costs a boatload more than running in GP3 and no longer seems to be a solid career path to an F1 seat.
 
^indeed, look at palmer
very likely to be champion, yet hasn't been mentioned anywhere for an F1 drive...
 
It'd be interesting for F1 to look at bringing over very successful IndyCar drivers again. Look at Villeneuve and Montoya - came over and were immediately complete, mature and championship contending drivers.
Even if you get a fast boy out of GP2 or Formula mickey mouse, he's still a wee boy.

Not going to happen though with the move towards just picking a potentially marketable foetus to put in your car 16 years later.
 
Cellos88GT said:
the lower teams should just compete in GP2 or another class altogether, their presence in F1 is pointless IMO.
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Problem is that if you equal "lower teams" with "cashflow problems", you end up with only a few remaining teams:
-Red Bull
-Ferrari
-McLaren (who might be going the Williams way soon)
-Merc
-Toro Rosso

Force India and Lotus are struggling. Sauber, Caterham and Marussia are permanently on the brink of bankrupcy.
And Williams are making the gable of a lifetime right now - they posted 20 million pounds in losses for the first half of 2014 and freely admit that's because they overspent in order to get back to the top. If they finish fourth or better, the gamble will pay off and they are back where they belong. If not - they are off the grid for good.

I don't want a four and a half team F1.
 
Are you actively following the competition between Marussia, Caterham, and et. al.?

The only other option I can think of, is if the top tiered teams sold complete cars or chassis to the lower teams.
 
Cellos88GT said:
Are you actively following the competition between Marussia, Caterham, and et. al.?
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Apart from Caterham, who are hopeless, yep. I am interested in F1 as a sports, that includes the lower half of the field.
 
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Well kudos to you, I struggle to find what teams like Marussia and Caterham bring to the sport aside from being a spring board for the young engineers looking to make a career out of F1.
 
There's no competition between Marussia and Caterham anymore. Marussia won, probably down to Ferrari's help, it even outraces Lotus sometimes.

Everyone knew it'd be like this when the 3 new teams were allowed in (and USF1 which never made it). It's not like they created conditions for them to stay competitive or even get close to the rest of the pack, extending the prize money to cover all the teams, it's only a matter of time before everyone out of the top 10 just has enough.
 
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Cellos88GT said:
The only other option I can think of, is if the top tiered teams sold complete cars or chassis to the lower teams.
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Bringing back "customer cars" could be an option, as it would allow new teams to enter without as significant an investment. Some speculation on why Haas F1 was waiting until 2016 was that they (and Ferrari) were hoping this happened and they could have run customer Ferrari cars. However, last week the F1 teams killed that idea.

Cellos88GT said:
I struggle to find what teams like Marussia and Caterham bring to the sport aside from being a spring board for the young engineers looking to make a career out of F1.
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mpicco said:
Everyone knew it'd be like this when the 3 new teams were allowed in (and USF1 which never made it). It's not like they created conditions for them to stay competitive or even get close to the rest of the pack, extending the prize money to cover all the teams, it's only a matter of time before everyone out of the top 10 just has enough.
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Well when the FIA started the bids for those four teams, they also intended to impose a significant cost cap (I believe around GBP40 million a year). So those new teams might have been able to be more competitive against the mid-field teams and mixed things up in the lower half of the grid.
 
From axis
TecPro is a french company which has developed a system of foam filled plastic barriers joined by nylon straps that first originated in karting. The barriers are more expensive than tires but require much less maintenance than a homologated tire wall where tires have to be bolted together and contained by as conveyor belt.
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So why aren't all F1 circuits using this? Is the stuff at the end of the tunnel at Monaco similar to this?

Also, as I've vehemently pointed out before, the amount of willpower it takes to let go of that steering wheel during a crash; fortunately Bell left unscathed.

First person

Third person
 
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