.. there will be a new Quali format by the 5th race.

Great news about tyre changes They finally woke up on that one.. even a low-brow series like NASCAR allows tyre changes, and CART requires it

 

I think the new qualifying rules will be great Tough for the TV viewers to see everything but at least we will know somewhat who the fastest driver is during the first 40 minutes. The last twenty minutes kind of ruins the element of surprise because you only have to compare the times to guess how much fuel is on board It should be all out shoot out for the whole 60 min so when they get to the grid the mystery is still there as to fuel load. Is it me or does the math add up to 50 minutes? Is there a break or something?

I think the drivers will still be conservative somewhat because they don't want to crash or spin out because the punishment in starting positions is terrible (except for Kimi )

Tyre changing just makes sense and it helps Schuey and Bridgestone Kimi got screwed majorly and could have been injured or killed earlier in the year with that bouncing tyre after the suspension failure Bridgestone went conservative after their tyres did not last the whole race early in the season as well when Schuey was more competitive. That was one stupid rule.

 

F1 isn't going to be great until they quit catering to the damned Italian red machine.

 

First of all I'm a Kimi fan.. but I appreciate Ferrari. But lets clarify.. they tire changing rule will benfit Bridgestone, Ferrari, Williams, Toyota...

And it's safe to say the rules this year screwed Ferrari.

 

I don't think F1 is necessarily catering to Ferrari...if anything they have been trying to end the Ferrari dominance for the last few years with various rules. The new rules are just fixing the obvious problems with qualifying and tyres.

Don't we all want to see the fastest driver in the fastest car doing the fastest lap with low fuel and fast tyres? We have not seen this for too long now and it has to end. I would not mind giving them points for pole. I would not mind spec tyres. All equipment with a safety issue could be standardized like tyres, brakes, and suspension. I want the drivers to go all out for the fastest lap without tyres being the excuse

 

Great news. Tire changes are back! Qualifying well we will see.

IMHO Max and Bernie are kissing up to Schumi, not Ferrari!

Schumi can drive, no question there, But the lessons learned in his Sauber Mercedies Prototype days are LONG GONE. Not trying to take away from Fernando but, Bridgestone honsetly let Schumi down this season.

And consider the differences between prototype and F1 tires..... TREMEMDOUS! A prototype uses more of a tuner tire. Formula 1 uses basically NASCAR tires in comparison to prototypes

 

Great more wings

F1 Needs less emphasis on Aerodynamic down force and more emphasis on mechanical grip.

IMHO they ought to go to single element wings both front and rear. Like waht was used at Indy around the time between the change over from the old USAC/Cart days to the IRL motors.

This would force the constructors to get mechanical grip and a car that responds to chassis adjustment.

 

Well, lot going on past few hours, I better catch up!

So what about the 10 slower cars, do they get to decide after qualifying what their fuel strategy will be? If so, it seems like you'd be better off qualifying 11th or 12th than you would be qualifying 9th or 10th.

Sure, but we're not going to get that because the fastest 10 are going to be running on race fuel again. That brings up the possibility of some of the cars knocked out in the 2nd session having faster qualifying times than the cars in the final session! Obviously those 2nd-session times would not affect the grid positions, but it's still silly.

Well, more total wings per car, but less downforce overall because there would be less surface area. Keep in mind, the idea here is to let the cars run closer together.

 

I 100% agree. It seems that most fans (and drivers) want to see low fuel and changable tires. A straight out battle for absolute fastest lap, that has always been the most exciting in my opinion. Quali needs to be easy to understand for new fans, and this latest system is WAY too complicated.

Go to low fuel and fast tires and I think almost everyone would be happy. The fans will hate the proposed system and they'll have to change it again!

Aaron

 

I'm sure that someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the fans vote for low fuel in the FIA survey (I thought that was what was reported)...and now we get this somewhat contrived qualifying. IMHO they should have just done low fuel and mandated that every driver take a certain number of laps during each quarter hr period.

The other thing I was hoping for was that they would have made Fridays a true test day (not just the 1 hour limits) and that would have cut back on some of the other testing. Give the spectators more to see at the track.

 

Fridays being the main testing days is such a great idea! F1 mag has talked about it forever. It would give the fans a real show and the TV would be better on Friday as well. Most importantly, it would truly help to cut costs, if they limited private testing away from races. However, Ferrari has two test tracks and won't give that up easily.

F1 is governed by the FIA/FOM, who don't seem to care too much about fans and take forever (and a 100% vote) to get anything done. NASCAR is governed by the France family, and they change the rules to keep the fans happy. I am not saying F1 should be more like NASCAR, I am saying those in charge need to listen to the fans and stop being babies. F1 has been this way forever, hopefully it can change.

Aaron

 

One of the things I like most is fuel strategy. If all the cars are going to be able to just change tires and fuel whenever I think it is going to be European IRL.

 

Here are some of the new regs that have come out of the meeting in Rome:

Each driver will be permitted to use seven sets of dry-weather tyres for each event. All tyres used for qualifying and race must be of the same specification. Tyre changes will be permitted at any time during the race.

Qualifying format
All cars are permitted on the track. At the end of the first 15-minute period the slowest five cars can take no further part in qualifying. These cars will make up the last five grid positions in the order of their times, the fastest occupying 16th position.

The times for the fifteen remaining cars are reset for the next session. At the end of the second 15-minute period the slowest five cars can take no further part in qualifying. These cars will make up the grid in positions eleven to fifteen in the order of their times, the fastest occupying 11th position.

The times for the ten remaining cars will be reset for the next session. For the final period, lasting 20 minutes, the cars will be arranged on the grid in positions one to ten in the order of their times, the fastest occupying pole position.

Cars will be under parc ferme conditions from the time they enter the track for the first time during qualifying until the start of the race. Changing tyres and adding fuel will no longer be part of the parc ferme regulations.

Fuel may be added to cars at any time during the first 40 minutes of qualifying and any car eliminated during the first two periods may then be refuelled at any time until the pit lane opens for the race. Teams will be required to fill cars taking part in the final 20-minute period with the amount of fuel with which they intend to start the race. Any fuel used during the 20-minute period may be replaced before the start of the race.

If 22 cars are eligible to take part in the Event, six cars will drop out after each of the fifteen minute periods leaving ten for the final 20 minutes. If twenty four cars are eligible to take part in the Event, six cars will drop out after each of the fifteen minute periods leaving twelve for the final 20 minutes.

Got all that? I'm gonna need a pad and pencil next year...

 

Not with out Danica it won't be! Well maybe if they ACTUALLY race at INDY in 2006.

 

Could they have made quali any more complex and confusing for fans? This is absolutely the WORST idea I have ever seen them try! I am a long time fan and it will take some effort to figure it out, but I will. Newer fans to F1 will be totally confused and turned off.
I'll bet they will change it to something more sensible either before the first race or by the 5th race next year, which will again have quali changing during the year. Do they ever learn?

 

Agreed. This is a receipe for disaster in that it's too complex to follow. I used to love to attend GP weekends when quali was split Friday/Saturday aggregate times with a limited number of laps permitted for each driver. That way, weather variations could be compensated for (nobody out in the rain - everybody on the track once it stopped) and by having the aggregate of both Friday and Saturday, teams were required to be much more serious about their set-ups right out of the box. Bring back the good old days, pre-Mad Max.

 

Mad Max and Brainles Bernie Syndrome:

Take somethig good and then Fu_k it all up. All the while never adimt that you screwed up and are wrong.

 

The GP Masters series has begun testing at Silverstone in preparation for the November 13/14 race in Kyalami, SA. Nigel Mansell, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ricardo Patrese, Derek Warwick, Andrea de Cesaris, and Patrick Tambay were amongst some of the great names who participated.







Nigel Mansell has stated that the cars are very quick...quicker than they anticipated.

 

Nice looking those Master's cars

 

I don't think it will be that difficult to follow.

1. First 15 minutes: Everybody races around the track, and only the names of the slowest 5 drivers are shown on the screen, plus the time they need to beat to make it to the next session.

2. Next 15 minutes: Same deal.

(I think the top 3 or 4 teams will essentially get a "bye" into the final session since they won't need to run many laps to post "safe" times that will keep them in the running.)

3. Final session: Use the vertical list of the 10 drivers down the left side of the screen, as we saw at times during this year's broadcasts. As they post new times, the list is updated with up/down arrows next to the driver names so you can keep track of each driver's progress.

NOTE: There is a 2006 F1 thread now. We should move these rules-change messages over.

 

It's the return of Andrea de Crash-eris! God help them all!

I think it would be more fun to see these guys fight their ways around the track, and through one another, in something like the Speed Touring Car series, but at least it fills the open-wheel winter void.

 

Anybody remember the ESPN fiasco "Past Masters" aka "Crash Masters" or "Past Bashers" in which a bunch of old racers destroyed all the Jaguar 220s that the factory couldn't sell back about 1991?

Seems like Bernie and Max watched the show... and got ideas of their own!

 

AMEN BROTHER PREACH ON!

 

Brought me to tears many times. The XJ220s were from the TWR North American shop in my home town of Valparaiso, IN. 1000 Jaguar BLVD to be exact.

oops my bad! Should be in the 2006 topic