krazik

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/formulaone/17615/

I like the idea of less downforce and high mechanical grip to make for more passing. Not so sure on the other details.

spoiled@21

Yea more passing is good but if it hadn't been for F1 there would be no SMG, no F1 paddle shifting or any of the manumatics that are seemingly everywhere now. I could go on and on with a list of trickle down technologies that the Co** Sucker Bernie wants to esssentially destroy. These are the reasons I love formula one. Teams have the independence to have their own ideas and create new technologies that benefit the whole automotive world. Bernie wants open wheeled NASCAR or at least that is what he is going to get. IMO F1 is about pushing technology to the limits and that is not free. For God's sakes it will be the year 2008 and they will be MECHANICALLY SHIFTING GEARS WITH A LEVER which that haven't done in years already. to put it simply retrograde is BAD.

Elistan

Hmmm... Some of my thoughts.

Engines. I don't like the idea of an FIA supplied ECU. It basically removes any reason for the teams to innovate engine technology. I think teams SHOULD spend money on electronics development. Surely some of the technology and techniques that BMW, Honda, et al have developed for F1 has led to improvements for cars the public can buy. Having traction control doesn't bother me one bit.

Gearboxes. FIA supplied gear ratios are fine. I like the developments in electronically controlled gear shifting though. (I'm one of those people who would love a porper F1 style shifter in my S2000.) Maybe something like what the Daytona Prototype cars use would work instead.

Bodywork. Yay, they're getting rid of all those wiglets on top of the cars. They're great for downforce sure, but I suspect their stupidly expensive to develop, plus their development doesn't do squat for street cars. I think it'll aid in passing since those parts seem to be overly sensitive to the airflow around them. I like the amount of downforce F1 cars have because it allows them to do some amazing things in the corners, so I'd like to see under-body air management encouraged. That'll still allow passing from what I understand, and that kind of stuff can (and is to some extent) be apllied to road cars.

Wheels and tires. I'd love to see tire technology pushed even further, so I don't care for having a single supplier. Slick tires are cool. Low-profile tires are too.

Chassis. Sounds good to me, pretty much.

Brakes. Eh, dunno.

Telemetry. *shrug*

Materials. Innovation should be encouraged here.

Starter. I like this a lot.



Something I'd like to see - gravity-fed refueling. It'll significantly increase the time it takes to refuel, so the fewer stops the better. Teams might spend more effort on increasing fuel efficiency than they do. (Granted it was a 24 hour race, but one reason behind Porsches success at Le Mans with their 956/962 cars was from getting better mileage than the other cars.)

mikegarrison

Not very practically. Ride height makes a big difference, and the lower you get the stiffer and less streetable the springs need to be.

mikegarrison

It will be ironic if the vast majority of high-end sports car drivers on the road end up having "F1-style" shifting while F1 does not. Kind of like ABS....

Trying to limit the money spent on F1 can only have two consequences: failure of the attempt (teams find some other way to spend the money) or elimination of Formula 1 as the event we know today. Spending to excess is the essence of F1.

Rather like America's Cup yacht racing.

Spec brakes? Spec engines? Spec tires? Spec aero? They aren't going to been NASCAR at its own game, so why try?

l8brakr

Hell NASCAR spends too much money on their grocery getters. The more you restrict the rules the harder it is to gain the advantage which they will spend whatever it takes to get. Somehow in every paragraph I read of that article I heard "so Bernie and Max can make more money".

Lets have a spec tire so Michelin will pay Bernie & Max to be the only supplier...

Let's have a spec brake package so every team has to buy them through the FIA so Bernie and Max can make more money.

spoiled@21

mav

I thought F1 is about advancing technology, encouraging competition and innovation? I guess, as F1 is moving more and more towards a spec series, I'm wrong.

spoiled@21

Someone just needs to take bernie out back and hit him in the eye.

drewchie

After the debacle today, I'd say F1 has a few other things to fix first...