New race weekend format 2021

[Wouter]

FP1, FP2 and FP3 will last one hour.
The races will start every full hour this season and not 10 minutes past.

[hollus]

Opening post moved from the Covid thread as requested.

[Wouter]

Opening post moved from the Covid thread as requested.

Wow, that titel change was quick! Thank you @Hollus!!

[GalacticHitchHiker]

It will be interesting to see if the reduced practice time has any impact on the unpredictability of race strategies, especially at the two tracks we haven't visited before.

[Unf]

2020 history showed that the less time Hamilton had for practice, the more likely Bottas was to win a quali.

[the EDGE]

I doubt it will make a difference as there are the still the same number of sessions over the same number of days with the same time in between to crunch the numbers & run the sims

Practice sessions are normally limited by tyres not the length of the session, and I assume there is no change in allocation there?

All it will mean is that teams will spend less time sitting in the garage and will have to work a little harder in the sessions

The only issues that could really arise is if the session is red-flagged for some reason it will have a greater impact and when the weather plays it part

[Morteza]

[Zynerji]

https://twitter.com/Motorsport/status/1 ... 4594569222

Great idea. Award points. Adjust to 5 engines a season. They are literally talking about adding 23, 1/2 GPs to the calendar at the last minute!

Should not replace knockout qualifying tho. That is the only unbroken part of F1.

[Wouter]

Formula 1 teams also in 2021 without free tire choice

Pirelli offers Formula 1 teams fixed tire sets

These 'recycled' procedures also include the supply of fixed tire sets to the teams, Pirelli Mario Isola releases: 'Yes, we will continue to do this next year. This is a proposal that actually came from the teams themselves. They said it went well last year as it was organized then and that it offered the participants sufficient flexibility. In addition, the tires delivered are roughly an average of what the teams would choose anyway, so that's why the participants had no problem with it.” he explains. In good consultation, agreement was therefore reached on an extension of the directive.

[nzjrs]

https://twitter.com/Motorsport/status/1 ... 4594569222

Great idea. Award points. Adjust to 5 engines a season. They are literally talking about adding 23, 1/2 GPs to the calendar at the last minute!

Should not replace knockout qualifying tho. That is the only unbroken part of F1.

Would be cool do dedicate one specific (extra) engine to be used *only* on Saturday. It might allows some different usage strategies.

On the other hand, the difference between a fresh and an old engine would be so great near the end of the season, it might set up some perverse incentives for an engine 'exploding' because starting from the back of the grid for one race might not be punishment enough.

[Harvey]

Would be cool do dedicate one specific (extra) engine to be used *only* on Saturday. It might allows some different usage strategies.

On the other hand, the difference between a fresh and an old engine would be so great near the end of the season, it might set up some perverse incentives for an engine 'exploding' because starting from the back of the grid for one race might not be punishment enough.

Should allow them one whole powerunit and gearbox assembly for the sprint races only, and only allow that one set up for the entire season. Then tell the teams that if any of it goes pop then tough luck, you don't get a replacement. That then stops a tactical redline or mis-shift to get a better result towards the end of the season.

[Zynerji]

Would be cool do dedicate one specific (extra) engine to be used *only* on Saturday. It might allows some different usage strategies.

On the other hand, the difference between a fresh and an old engine would be so great near the end of the season, it might set up some perverse incentives for an engine 'exploding' because starting from the back of the grid for one race might not be punishment enough.

Should allow them one whole powerunit and gearbox assembly for the sprint races only, and only allow that one set up for the entire season. Then tell the teams that if any of it goes pop then tough luck, you don't get a replacement. That then stops a tactical redline or mis-shift to get a better result towards the end of the season.

Less rules is the way forward, not more.

[fritticaldi]

The voting for the new format is scheduled for this Thursday February 11. The first weekend targeted is Canada

[El Scorchio]

I like that it's only a three race trial to see if it works or not, and hopefully won't have too much impact on the season overall.

However there are a number of questions- What happens if you crash in one and damage the car? More importantly if it's not your fault. What's to stop skullduggery in the races? I.e. a HAAS or Alfa blocking purposely or even taking out a RBR or Mercedes in the sprint race to handicap them in the main race? Will there just be first corner pile ups with the better cars outbraking the weaker cars? Will everyone be too banzai trying to get to the front and cause lots of accidents, or will everyone be too timid for fear of damaging their car and wrecking Sunday?

Will the performance differential from front to back be enough for anyone to overtake anyone else in a short race where tyre strategy and undercuts are probably out of the window or will it just be a long DRS train of cars unable to really get past each other?

I think it will create as many questions/problems as it addresses. Aside from one or two circuits, qualifying ain't broken. Don't try to fix it.

[Just_a_fan]

https://twitter.com/Motorsport/status/1 ... 4594569222

Great idea. Award points. Adjust to 5 engines a season. They are literally talking about adding 23, 1/2 GPs to the calendar at the last minute!

Should not replace knockout qualifying tho. That is the only unbroken part of F1.

Perhaps they could allow them a set of sprint PU and a set of Sunday PU. In fact, just have an entire rear end for each, then the teams can just swap them over. Or better still, have a whole different car, although that would be a massive increase in costs all round so there's no chance of that happening.

Agreed about qualifying. The best bit of the weekend. Sadly, this being F1, they'll probably mess that up next too.