Brundle hopes Liberty will restore fast scary F1
- Published on 28 Dec 2017 11:30
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Former Grand Prix driver Martin Brundle believes that Liberty Media must make bold decisions regarding the future of Formula 1. The Sky Sports F1 pundit hopes that the sport's commercial rights holder will form regulations that produce "the fastest" and "scariest" racing cars.
F1 regulations took a shake-up in 2017, with aerodynamics getting a major overhaul. The cars were much faster and proved to be much more difficult to drive than the machines of recent years. With engine rules set to change in 2021, Brundle has urged Liberty Media to take the sport in an aggressive direction.
"They have got to be bold," Brundle said. "They have got to say 'this is the future of Formula 1, this is the direction we're going in, join up or depart'. And they've got to be really clear on that.
"We have to be the fastest, the scariest, the best racing cars with the finest drivers wheel to wheel," he added. "The objective is very easy, and I actually think getting there is relatively easy, but there's just an awful lot of politics and self-interest in the way. So I don't know where it is going to end up."
The new engine regulations were recently presented to Formula 1 manufacturers, with Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault speaking out against them. Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne stated that if he didn't agree with the direction the sport was taking with the regulations, he would pull the Italian squad out of the pinnacle racing series.
But Brundle thinks his words are no more than empty threats: "I think they're bluffing," he said. "For example, where would Ferrari go? Go and get their backsides handed to them on a plate by Mahindra in Formula E?
"They are already in Le Mans, they won the GT world championship - nobody knows about that. They do no advertising around the world, not a penny, because Formula 1 does it for them. So I believe Liberty have to be super tough."
Fergal Walsh
1
Replies (7)
Login to replyRindtchamp
Posts: 304
hear hear
First item on the agenda, bin the halo.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Scary isnt necessarily unsafe. I love horror games of all sorts, but I always use seatbelt.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
I agree with Martin. If Ferrari were to leave than they can also wave goodbye to their massive payment from F1. Ferrari will suffer more and will lose their special privileges that are currently handed to them.
The Electric element to the PU has to be enlarged to keep in line with today’s/tomorrows technologies.
Is there an arrogance slipping into the communication from Ferrari?
Harryw
Posts: 107
Martin is spot on as usual
Pauli
Posts: 140
Too bad fast and scary aero and wheel-to-wheel aero package is hard to design for current regulations. Possible steps might be:
* A minor reduction to ride height (Current height was a reaction to issues exposed in 1994 after active suspension and other driver aids were banned making low ride height safety risk. But I would hope that technology has improved in 20 years enough to allow slight reduction to ride height without safety issues)
* Heavy restrictions to Vortex generators in the front wing (Very likely major source of wake turbulence that prevents close following in corners)
* Narrower Tyres (Will compounds be good enough to work with increased heat transfer requirements?)
* Allow side livery to extend down from the side of floor to block air flow from sides to enter under the car. (Vortex generators are currently creating an invisible air barrier instead of mechanical barrier like in early ground effect designs)
* Reduced pit stop cost (Moving pit lane to a slower part of track would allow reducing pit stop cost from about 20 seconds to 10 seconds or less. This would making tyre changes much more profitable and likely increasing chances for different strategies)
Halo probably is there to stay until someone presents a working aeroscreen type alternative. Too bad Halo and aeroscreen require heavy elements to be strong enough for required impact scenarios. Those heavy elements will be very high from the ground which will cause problems for weight balance because lower weights are easier to balance and control for cornering. Teams are probably having hard time designing strong enough supports for Halo that wight as little as possible (Eg. Wolf commenting about Halo weight issue earlier in the December)
boudy
Posts: 1,168
Love your idea of smaller pitstop cost. Maybe allow for multiple pit entry/ exit points. If there is a way of making this time smaller in relation to track speed it would be great. Having cars loop around 1-1.5 seconds faster since there is way less penalty would allow for greater racing.
There will be tracks where this is impossible, however there will be tracks where you can do this with limited investment.
Barron
Posts: 625
Well done Pauli. Right on the money and you are clearly not an “ordinary” fan unless you are a super fan! The pit stop idea has loads of merit. Regarding vortex generators, I have no clue but it sounds good..?