More pit stops isn't the answer, IMO. I honestly think there shouldn't be stops unless it's a wet weather race. No more of the stupid "must use two compounds" rule in the races. F1 is trying to control costs and look more "environmentally friendly", so why not go back to the tires that will last a race distance and a special Super Soft qualifying tire to show the pace that these cars can do. Make the qualifying one 15 minute session and a top ten shootout like at Bathurst. F1 is also chasing that "Game 7" moment like NASCAR is. That moment is memorable because its rare, and both series are trying to create that moment every race weekend. that was what pushed me away from NASCAR 15 years ago and F1 is feeling the same way to me. DTS brought a new fan into the F1 world, but I've not sure that's a good thing.
Here's one of mine:
All F1 circuits should be lined with walls up against the first set of kerbs and white lines. Thats how you solve track limits.
The risk with having no stops is a year like 2005 where the tyres did a whole distance and there was almost no overtaking on track.
I'm surprised that there is so much support for fewer pitstops is better - in the current situation.
From sustainability point I would like them to just have 8 or 10 sets of tyres for the season and they have tyres manufactured that provide similar performance for 2000km for eg. However this would require some considerable changes and some other variables to introduce a strategy element.
Without strategy, it is just like a chess game with only 1 move each left - the player with better position or equipment is almost certain to win.
Have arbitrary rule to use all 3 is not the best solution, but it's one that would cost almost nothing to try out and in my opinion there have been so many races that are far more interesting when there is a second pitstop it is worth trying. Single pitstop is easy to cover, however if there are two stops a team has much more possibility to stagger pit times to gain track advantage...
For example monaco last year the extra pitstops due to changeable conditions enabled Perez to overcut 1 ferrari and undercut the other. Simpletons might not like that there wasn't a "exciting on track pass" but the driver had to do the laps to make it work and it was 100% a deserved win.
Another example is Hungary 1998 where Schumacher's car couldn't match the McLaren's in qualifying so it looked like they could easily cover with a conservative two stop strategy... Ferrari put Schumacher onto an extra stop and he ran a blinding set of qualifying speed laps to pull the gap for the win - the McLaren pitwall just about had their mouths open in disbelief and surprise that they were getting beaten...
Generally I think the most logical basis for the less pitstops is better is from a group of Anti-Schumacher fans who forever confused and frustrated how a driver that lost out in qualifying would be able to run a different strategy (over cut, or undercut, more stops or less stops) and be able to win on race day.
Does anyone have statistic with pole positions converting to wins? I would guess boring single stop strategy that is easy to protect in the recent seasons (and reliability) would mean the last 10-20 years would be much more consistent than the earlier years...
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On the walls, I think not every circuit should have the walls - but maybe many should... otherwise they put some underfloor heating or cooling on the runoff so that if a driver runs off he instantly looses tyre performance and then needs to cool tyres or heat them up - problem with that is that the engineers would figure out some solution to combat it.
Challenge today is that you have to be way more perfect in precise driving, braking, cornering while having higher g-forces. Also way more to do in an F1 car with fiddeling brake bias, diff, battery recovery and deployment, DRS and pit communication together while saving fuel and tyres and the nowadays way more important managing of tyre temps.
Also the racing line gets rubbered up so much and marbles offline so that there is a single lane of optimal performance - to go off this any be quick requires much more from the machine.
Yep, I think they should make the cars smaller, way less downforce and slower corners, way longer braking distances, ban the team from having detailed tyre temp data - the driver should manage tyres by feel... probably ditch DRS and replace with a time-limited equal-for-all-driver push-to-pass that works well in Indycar.
Look at Formula E - sure it's not a direct comparison for many reasons, but the cars "look" exciting by the amount they slide.
Fl is just probably too self important to take on ideas from other sports... I think somethings they should try to keep consistent, but other things they should not be too scared to try new things - change them straight back if it doesn't work.
Refueling needs to come back to F1.
Monaco is a garbage racetrack layout that is only alive today because F1 is way too stuck on its old ways and traditions, the track as it is simply has no place in the sport right now.
V8 engines should come back now that e-Fuels are an alternative to downsizing the engines, but V10 and V12 would be not good if those engine can't be as reliable as the V8.
Nah Monaco is still great track - qualifying on the circuit with no run-off, crazy tight hairpins, medium chicanes, fast corners - it is a brilliant challenge...
Even they way the drivers avoid the bump near casino - it just about the only part of the calendar where driver treat their vehicle like a "car"... if you drive a sportscar you avoid hitting bumps too hard and definitely not into walls haha Evey modern circuit releases the driver to "pilot" their grounded aeroplanes especially with the swathes of tarmac runoff - they should just cover those with broken records.
Just the design of the cars is broken at the moment - look at formula e had a cracking race at Monaco.
My unpopular opinion is that they should use Monaco as the template circuit to design the cars. If they make a good race at monaco they they would make good races in other circuits...
Furthermore the cars should be designed to run on more 'realistic' grade of tarmac and deal with bumps, have suspension that works more like real cars etc - Tracks could be upgraded for safety and spectator facilities and less money need to be spend on making perfect tarmac?
