FOTA Announcement 05 March 2009

[ISLAMATRON]

So,

Is there a REAL pinnacle racing series out there that I am not aware of?

Most of this stuff is cool, but only fixing what the dumb-asses have screwed up over the last few years.

Why limit CFD when we are on the verge of quantum computing?
Why make race fuel known, and keep parc ferme?
Why remove tyre warmers?

Because it is now Theater, not Pinnacle Motorsport Racing.

Who has the alternative, because I am very much looking for new options at this point.

The Golden Age of F1 is far behind us, and the course is NOT set to return. Why waste any more time on it? I dont have a good answer for that...

Yes why waste any more of your time on F1technical.net.... see ya.

[ISLAMATRON]

Who did they survey that said theywould like the races to be shorter? What kind of fan is that?

The races should be exactly 2.5 fuel stints long so we can see a true race between the 2 and 3 stoppers.

Revealing the fuel spec is somewhat assinine, ecscially if they ban refueling next year. Maybe they should reveal the fuel loads right after the first round of pit stops... or else they will be taking all the suspence out of the start of the race save for the standing start.

A point for the fastest pit stop is stupid... unless maybe if/when they ban refueling. then it might be a little interesting... especially if they lower the amount of people allowed to work on the car.

[jddh1]

Wind tunnel use will be restricted this year, and teams will only be allowed to use 60% models and maximum speeds of 50m/s.

Well, that would suck for USF1..hmm, sorry, USGPE. They have the full scale tunnel ready and they won't be allowed to use it in the sense.

[mx_tifoso]

Who did they survey that said theywould like the races to be shorter? What kind of fan is that?

I never even knew of that survey, but I guess many idiotic people must want that, along with Felipe Massa.



Would Ross Brawn still be a member of FOTA if the Honda team didn't survive? Rendering him unemployed in F1. How would that work out? At the moment he is the chairman of the Technical Working Group.

[natef1]

Shortening races? What is the point of that? To be more "green" ?

Seriously, I don't get it. Massa says "nothing happens in the last 15 laps".. Well if you took that last 15 laps away you'd get the same thing but 15 laps earlier, surely?

And as ISLAMATRON says, what kind of fan would want shorter races? It won't induce more overtaking, it just shortens the parameters in which strategies work.. So if you are one stopping in a current 80 lap race for instance, so lap 40 you pit..And then you reduce the race to say 60 laps, a 1 stop will go at lap 30..It makes no real sense. Do football fans want matches to be an hour? Would that ever happen? No, so why the hell would anyone want it for F1..

Fuel loads, again a stupid idea. Part of the suspense is finding out that the Trulli Train is holding up the pack

Although if refuelling is banned surely this will be irrelevant.. Unless the teams plan to run out on fuel a few laps before the finish?

Some of these changes are making me worried ahead of what should be a great 09 season, and I am already worrying about the future of the 2010 season..

[jddh1]

Why limit CFD when we are on the verge of quantum computing?

I agree with that.

Why make race fuel known, and keep parc ferme?

They make race fuel public because I remember teams last year were very good at projecting the other teams' fuel loads anyway. I guess they went in there and said: "Hey, we all can figure out how much fuel you will start with. Why bother hiding it? Won't change anything in terms of racing, so let's have the public know about it as well."

Why remove tyre warmers?

I'd like to see drivers work with cold tires. Who will be the one that brings them up to temp quicker? That would be interesting to see for fans.

[jddh1]

Fuel loads, again a stupid idea. Part of the suspense is finding out that the Trulli Train is holding up the pack

Read my above comment about the fuel loads. And it's not really suspense if you already know, now, before the season even begins that Trulli will be holding up the pack.

[Sawtooth-spike]

Seriously, I don't get it. Massa says "nothing happens in the last 15 laps".. Well if you took that last 15 laps away you'd get the same thing but 15 laps earlier, surely?

HAHAHAHAHA No nothing happens.... well other than losing the World Championship on the last lap.

Sorry could not resist

[kilcoo316]

Why limit CFD when we are on the verge of quantum computing?

I agree with that.

We aren't on the verge of quantum computing guys!!!




Not before 2020 in any kind of industrial capacity.

[natef1]

Fuel loads, again a stupid idea. Part of the suspense is finding out that the Trulli Train is holding up the pack

Read my above comment about the fuel loads. And it's not really suspense if you already know, now, before the season even begins that Trulli will be holding up the pack.

Well duh

I was saying part of the suspense before was that you didn't know until a few laps in who was just slow or who had a huge tank of fuel onboard, and with the rule changes we won't get that..

But I did see your other comment and I would agree, but for the viewer there goes a bit of suspense out of the window. Anyway it won't matter if refuelling is banned.

HAHAHAHAHA No nothing happens.... well other than losing the World Championship on the last lap.

[ISLAMATRON]

Seriously, I don't get it. Massa says "nothing happens in the last 15 laps".. Well if you took that last 15 laps away you'd get the same thing but 15 laps earlier, surely?

HAHAHAHAHA No nothing happens.... well other than losing the World Championship on the last lap.

Sorry could not resist

Or blowing an engine... or being slower than everyone else in a last minute rain shower.

[Scotracer]

Well, I first had hoped the teams would save F1; put it back in it's rightful place as the king of motorsport...but, as I should have expected, I was left wanting. At no point in reading that press statement did I feel anything other than corporate compromise - nothing out of that will bring more enjoyment to the fans.

Shortening races? Get lost, at a rough average speed of 200km/h they'll be over in 1h 15! And Monza in around an hour! NO. If I have to wait two weeks for a race, I'm not willing for it to be an hour long.

Why didn't they mention the real issue with the fans: the lack of technical innovation? I'm close to calling it a day with F1 now that it is a pseudo-spec series with horrible sounding engines and even uglier bodywork. Don't they realise that is a major part of the sports appeal? At least it was to me - back in the late 90s and early '00s we had cars on the verge of self-destruction with frontiers being broken with each weekend. Now, it's "Oh look, they have a new pitstop lollipop system!".

I do try to not sound mellow dramatic about it all but I've had to put up with so much disappointment over the past 4 or 5 years that I think it's time to call it a day. We take it for granted now but if you had mentioned to someone say in 2000 that by now we'd have rev-limited engines, horrid-sounding V8s, Engine freezes, standard electronics, and a bunch of child-drivers that have as much charisma as a gangrenous wound they would have laughed you out the building. But it's now a reality.

[nudger]

Well, I first had hoped the teams would save F1; put it back in it's rightful place as the king of motorsport...but, as I should have expected, I was left wanting. At no point in reading that press statement did I feel anything other than corporate compromise - nothing out of that will bring more enjoyment to the fans.
.........................
.

reading between the lines, i sense you are not entirely happy with fota proposals?
you know what, i reckon the big 5 at least would agree with you. The trouble is they have to placate Mosley. I think this is fota trying to stave off even more draconian measures that he has been threatening.
Like you, i believe the point of formula one is to make a better car than the other guy...but the truth is, the average armchair punter just wants to be entertained on a sunday afternoon.
and btw...whether lewis has a personality or not i care not, but he would hold his own as a racer in any era im quite sure. in fact, i think the quality of drivers in depth is as high as its ever been.
and a last btw...i dont think fota will get their way...mosley smells blood and hes not going to let it go.

[WhiteBlue]

A lot of hot air and the nonsense about shortening races. They should make significant cost reductions, go to low fuel quali and fill the grid. We heard very little that will achiev this goal. I'm afraid there will be another initiative from FIA to fix this.

[donskar]

I think this belongs here. (Sorry of already posted - I have not seen this anywhere in this forum. From GrandPrix.com:

It has been expected for a while, particularly given that this year's Renault F1 is not looking like a world-beater, but Renault has now officially said that it will quit F1 unless the team receives a bigger share of F1's revenues.

Renault's chief operating officer Patrick Pelata said at the Geneva Motor Show that Renault must reduce its F1 costs beyond what has been agreed by the teams.

"We’re seeking to bring down contract costs and receive more of the revenues from broadcast rights, circuit fees and trackside sponsorship," he said.

The thick plottens. And the pressure builds on the Max and Bernie Axis of Evil.