Is it possible to boycott the F1?

[machineman9]

I keep on hearing about how the FIA are trying to restrict the cars (didn't really work did it? They are still getting faster) and compared to a few years back, the F1 cars just look plain ugly.

A few years back the cars looked like racing cars, now they look like the racing cars of like a decade ago!

I'm just wondering if anyone has attempted any boycotts or protests against all this. I think it is just ruining the sport and making it pretty plain where it should be a competitive and highly skillful sport. I think a Facebook group might be in order - Stop watching the F1 (as hard as it may be) until those in charge actually change the rules to make it into a sport rather than making all the cars a clone of each other. Eventually we will just get everyone coming in at first place because they will restrict the sport so much that basically everyone is in the same car topped at 1mph!


What are your thoughts?

[Craig.]

To be honest I've given up on that line of thinking.
I'm old enough to be able to say I've seen several differant era's of F1 and each time it changes its been the same response and eventually people get used to it and then just as we do they change it again. I wont lie I much prefer last years cars in terms of looks to this years, but then again this years cars are far more entertaining to watch. Just a few minutes with the onboard channel last week showed they were much more difficult to drive and they move far more on the track, which is a good thing. Last years cars for example were a bit of a black sheep, by design they were meant for traction control and all the various other electronics that were banned at the start of the season, so its difficult to say how good they could have been, but just look at the Mclaren from Brazil, its got so many aero bits the levels of downforce they were aiming for must have been huge. Add in the traction control that was banned, those cars could have been much much quicker.
Go back to 2004. in Particular the F2004, 980bhp from the engine, virtually perfect aero balance, but thanks to rule changes the previous 2 years it was again not 100% the car it could have been, they got rid of the low front wing after the 2001/2002 cars were becoming too quick, same with the Automatic gearboxes that were a short and unwelcome addition to the sport.
We can go back even further 1992/93, the FW14b, the car that was considering the times it was designed in, perhaps the most advanced F1 car ever made. Active suspension being its key weapon.  But it also had various other bits and pieces stuck on and in it that blew away the other cars, all banned afterwards. It could have been even faster had the FIA not banned the CVT gearbox willams were testing.
go back again. Turbo's banned. Ground effects banned.
All these innovations banned because they were making the cars faster than ever. Yet despite this lap times got faster and faster.
It's pointless boycotting it because we're not actually losing out much.
The one thing I remember an engineer saying was. They could easily make an F1 car that could go round corners at 300mph if they were given ultimate freedom, but the limiting factor is always the driver. The rules are there for that exact reason. Left up to the engineers we'd have cars that would be designed at the limit of the drivers even possibly incorperating G-suits to speed them up, and we'd likely end up back in the 60's in terms of drivers not surviving a season.

[machineman9]

You do make a lot of good points. I just think that they are taking away a lot of the freedom of the sport. It isn't so much 'build a car with the parts you need and want and race it' as it is 'heres your car now where's your driver?'.

F1 seems a bit more spoonfed - Do this, do that, let's make it fair.


I think that if they didn't have all those limitations then the race would won by the best engineered car. Now I know they are extremely well engineered and that is proven by their getting faster each season, but I mean having the turbos and the wings the right size and cars which are built up and include the best parts. There's no fun in a race where everyone is driving the same thing. Making the cars a bit different and a bit special is what makes it interesting... Who can design the best thing and race it and have it win.

Yes there are some limiting factors which should exist for safety reasons such as maybe a top speed (I mean, hit the wall fast enough you will go through it or crumble yourself into a small ball) or something like that. It seems they are just making everyone the same and removing performance parts where it clearly didn't matter if they were there or not because the cars are still getting faster.

[C]

You do make a lot of good points. I just think that they are taking away a lot of the freedom of the sport. It isn't so much 'build a car with the parts you need and want and race it' as it is 'heres your car now where's your driver?'.

F1 seems a bit more spoonfed - Do this, do that, let's make it fair.

F1 has become very wary. Over the past decade the traditional "privateer" teams, who in various guises were the spirit of F1 for the previous 30 years, were swallowed by the major manufacturers or billionaires (Benetton  [Renault], Minardi [Mateschitz - STR], Stewart [Ford, then Mateschitz - RBR], BAR [Honda]) and the arrival of Toyota, and the "partnership" that has developed from McLaren Mercedes. Now we are seeing the reversal. The major manufacturers can't all justify continued investment and expense (see Honda), and need to cut the budgets back. In doing this they can also attract new investment, or, in the case of Honda, allow a team to attempt to make it out of the ashes.

I think that if they didn't have all those limitations then the race would won by the best engineered car.

You've answered you own point. The last two races have been won by this year's best engineered car, which was gained through Honda's substantial pockets and the writing off of their championship running last year.

[machineman9]

What I meant more with the 'best engineered' bit was more about having the better parts to start with. Yes engineering will also help for the shape of the car and the performance of the parts, but I was more talking about having the parts to begin with.

I can understand some of the restrictions are to make the sport cheaper to have more teams, but surely not all of the restrictions are just to prevent the costs rising too high.

[eno]

I'll just reiterate what the Craig and Charlie have said ..... with the addition of the fact that even with the tight rules each team has to come up with the best solution within those rules.

Just look at the appeal over BGP's diffuser ...... it is, according to the opinions of most commentators, within the regulations..... but may not be within the "spirit" of the regulations. Hence the appeal.

Also the debate about KERS .... is it worth the extra 80hp boost per lap compared to carrying the extra weight? The results of the last two races say no ..... but who knows what may happen in the next 15 races.

You've also snaffued your argument by saying that even with all the rule changes the cars are as fast or faster than before ..... this has been the case for as long as I've been watching F1 and will be for as long as I'm able to watch it.

I relate the relationship between the FIA and the team engineers to the Wacky Races ..... The FIA being Dastardly and Muttley and the engineers being the rest of the wacky racers..... no matter what the FIA throw out the engineers still manage to win the day.

[ShaneG_old]

I think common cars are a good idea to a point.  

If you're from the crowd who only appreciates the machinery, then yes it is a bad thing.

But racing seems to be centered more on the drivers nowadays than the machines they race. Like it was in the beginning. Not as many legends today as there was in the past.

When the cars are equal, then it is all about who is the best driver.

Anyone could build a car that is unbeatable, but you still need a great driver to pilot it.

If everyone had the same level of equipment that Shumacher had for his run of championships, would he have won them all?

If he's a great a driver as I think he is, maybe. But if it's all about the cars, then no, I don't think he would have.

Look at how exciting this season has been only two races in.  If left up to the engineers, we would have one or two teams winning everything (2001-2006 Ferrari/McClaren), there would be no suspense, no surprises.