I hope you chaps will permit a newbie to weigh in here? Thank you. Thank you very much.
While the discussion here is about tires, what is REALLY being talked about is making the racing exciting again. Some of us (like me) are old enough to remember Formula One as it was in the 50's and 60's. I may have rubbed elbows with some of you at Watkins Glen when BRM brought their insanely complex H-16 engine to the track. You may recall Ken Tyrell's 6 wheeled racer, electronic suspensions and turbocharged 4 cylinder engines that made 1200 horsepower in qualifying trim.
Formula One today touts itself as the being the technilogical pinnacle of motorsports but it is not. That honor belongs to ALMS, where hybrids and diesels and bio-fuel racers compete head to head. Formula One today is to racing what processed cheese food is to cheese - a weak, watered down and essentially tasteless imitation of the real thing.
After Malaysia and the gigantic flap over team orders, Red Bull's Christian Horner acknowledged that most of the cars were just "cruising around out there" for most of the last half of the race. That isn't racing. That is a stage managed carnival designed to squeeze as many sheckels as possible out of the rubes. We have been duped into thinking we are watching racing when in fact what we are watching is very weak tea indeed. :-"
Pirelli is simply doing what the FIA has told them to do, which is make tires that last 10 - 20 laps. Why a tire company would want a worldwide audience to witness its product self destruct is a mystery to me. Seems counterintuitive to a sensible marketing strategy, but there you are. Jim Clark used to complete 2 or 3 races on one set of tires. And they were treaded tires that looked a lot like what was on your Mom's Mustang.
I have colleagues elsewhere (another forum that shall remain nameless) who pontificate that racing is always about which driver can conserve fuel and tires enough to get the car to the finish line ahead of the others. And there is some truth to that. Way back when, mechanical failure often dictated race results. Engines used to blow up now and then. Gear boxes would scatter their component parts all over the track. But no more. Today's mechanicals come with something just short of the famous Hyundai 10 year/100,000 mile warranty.
No, my new found friends. The fault is not with tires or refueling, it is with aerodynamic wizardry that makes the cars too fast for any track in the world today. Great racing is born of mechanical grip, not aero grip or pixie dust. Get rid of the dastardly wings, diffusers, trick undertrays and Coanda exhaust systems.
A series that prides itself on technical viruosity but which forbids virtually any form of technical innovation that is not related to aerodynamics is fooling itself.
So, here's what to do.
1. Re-introduce refueling, but not from high pressure rigs that spew a plume of lethal combustibles all over the pit lane when they malfunction. Limit fuel tank size so that cars cannot complete a race without refueling. Let the teams find the best balance between outright speed and fuel economy.
2. I like the idea of three tire compounds. Let the teams decide which tires to use. Tire A is fast but fragile. Tire B is not so fast but more durable. Tire C is highly durable but slow. Limit the number of tires available to the teams for the race weekend. Let them figure out whether it is best to burn up their fast tires for qualifying only to fall into the clutches of their competitors during the race. It's called strategy and it is something that is sadly lacking from today's contests.
3. Introduce the "sonic orifice" used in other series. This device when inserted into the intake system limits the amount of air the engine can take in. Then let the teams figure out which combination of cylinders and fuels gives the best results. If it turns out a tri-turbo Y-9 running on peanut oil is the answer, then so be it. And kudos to the geniuses who find the best answer.
4. Forget longevity standards for engines and transmissions. The fans could care less. If the equipment breaks, it breaks. Nothing will induce the engineers to figure out how to build in reliability faster than seeing their car sitting silently in the edge of the track while the other contestants rush by.
5. Ban carbon brakes. They have no role in the real world. There was a time when drivers could outbrake another car into a turn. It was exciting stuff.
6. KERS and DRS? Mehh.....not sure it adds much to the racing for all the expense and complexity involved. I prefer the "push to pass" technology that IndyCar uses, and which will be available to F1 in the new turbo era coming soon. I mean, if some team wants to try KERS to gain a competitive advantage, they should be free to do so. But I doubt any of them would.
Finally, I think the STP 4wd turbine car was pretty darn exciting. Let's loose all the silly and overly complicated technical regulations and put some RACING back in the racing. I could care less if Felipe Massa's Ferrari has a trick new floor configuration. What I want to see is a pack of snarling race cars nipping at each other during the closing laps of each race, fighting for the lead. I want to see the crowd on its feet, urging their hero home. I want to be dancing around the living room screaming at my TV during the last lap.
As it is, too often, I just fall asleep and have to watch the conclusion of the race in replay from my DVR. THAT is what should worry King Bernie and CVC Partners and the FIA most. They have taken the product and turned it into pre-chewed mush. I don't know what it is anymore. All I know is it is NOT racing.
