Backmarkers testing days scoring system

[Henne]

I was wondering whether the FIA should be thinking of handing out a reversed score system in terms of testing days.
Top teams now get a big bonus moneywise, and thus can invest so much more in their cars. The winning teams get stronger, the weak need super engineering on a tight budget to get back to the front (and get their bonusses back).

The worse you score in the championship, the more test days you earn for pre season. This way, teams who don't have their package together, get more test time, can "easily" fix a number of issues and get back closer to the front of the grid.

We used to have far more testing, since they banned these and changed to 2 weeks in pre season, we see teams who have to cope with issues for an entire year (Renault engine issues, Ferrari tyre issues, McLaren engine issues...).

Top teams only get the current 8 days (or 2 weeks of Pre season) track time. Teams out of the top 3 get a day extra for every place lost in the general standing of the championship.

# Team Testing Days
1. Mercedes AMG Petronas 8
2. Red Bull Racing 8
3. Scuderia Ferrari 8
4. Sahara Force India F1 9
5. Williams Martini Racing 10
6. McLaren Honda 11
7. Scuderia Toro Rosso 11
8. Haas F1 Team 12
9. Renault 13
10. Sauber F1 Team 14
11. Manor Racing 15


What is your opinion, could this get the slower teams closer to the front? Or do you already see downsides from an idea like this?

[Manoah2u]

i Understand the reasoning, but it would be unfair competition.

Offcourse the driving point from smaller teams would be that they feel it's unfair that they don't have the resources that the big teams have, but i think that is absolute nonsense.
The reason bigger teams have more resources is simply because they worked harder, worked harder to get sponsors, worked harder to get results, and did everything they could.
RedBull is an example of that, and matter of fact, Haas too. The smaller teams should stop complaining that 'they have more' (in some countries it's called Calimero-behavior, as in
'they are big and i am small, it's not fair) attitude and look more to themselves. Look at Mclaren for example, one of the biggest teams in history and they're nowhere to be found.
granted, that is due to the engine at this moment, but it shows that money is not always everything.
Even more, because Mclaren is so far down the order, the smaller teams suddenly have a chance for a higher position in the WCC and that brings more money.
Same with Williams for years, they were far down the chain despite being one of the biggest constructors in history.

I don't welcome a biased system for testing. I just want to see testing re-introduced in a much bigger scale.

[zac510]

The slower teams (with the exception of McLaren) can't afford to develop parts nor test them on the track so I think this is rewarding them with something that they will struggle to take advantage of.

[FW17]

By the title, I thought you meant winner gets 1 point and so on based on finishing position of the race. The WCC and WDC decided by the lowest points scored.

[Henne]

By the title, I thought you meant winner gets 1 point and so on based on finishing position of the race. The WCC and WDC decided by the lowest points scored.

I admit, the title could've been better. I'll change it .

[rjsa]

Most of the underperforming teams can't ford the extra testing.

[marmer]

if it was at the same location and just extra days added on the cost would be quite small.
example

test 1 - monday - thursday all teams friday bottom 3 from previous season but young driver only so drivers don't get an advantage
test 2 - monday - thursday all teams, friday bottom 5 from previous season and young drivers only again.

in this way no driver gets more track time than any other current driver. teams get a chance to learn slightly more data with the worst teams getting more time.
in a perfect world i leave the top 5 teams from extra testing as in perfect conditions they would all score points in a race.

an idea for in season development would be to allow the lowest team on points to have extra tires in practice but that would be far less fair than the testing idea

[Henne]

Or they could even get more computer calculation time on their windtunnel/CFD tests.

Or doesn't the FIA restrict the amount of teraflops anymore ?

[marmer]

mentioned on sky f1 by pat that they are still limited in some way both in cfd and wind

[f1316]

The answer to not being able to afford to run is surely close to previous system (I believe around 2006-2008) where lower teams could test in an extra session during race weekends.

[Henne]

The answer to not being able to afford to run is surely close to previous system (I believe around 2006-2008) where lower teams could test in an extra session during race weekends.

Not sure if teams would get a lot more info from an extra test in a race weekend. Then they are focussing on that particular track, with those particular circumstances (weather, wind, humidity...).

I think they would benefit more from pre season testing, or even an extra test week mid-season. Not sure if an extra test session for 2 hours would benefit them that much.

[f1316]

The answer to not being able to afford to run is surely close to previous system (I believe around 2006-2008) where lower teams could test in an extra session during race weekends.

Not sure if teams would get a lot more info from an extra test in a race weekend. Then they are focussing on that particular track, with those particular circumstances (weather, wind, humidity...).

I think they would benefit more from pre season testing, or even an extra test week mid-season. Not sure if an extra test session for 2 hours would benefit them that much.

2 hours at every race meeting though, is my suggestion.

Looking back at it, I believe it was the teams who signed up for limited testing who got to use the Friday tests and it was in 2003 it was introduced. I seem to remember talk of Renault in particular benefitting greatly - hence big jumps in competitiveness across these years, resulting in back to back world championships.

Nevertheless, that's a team with decent resources to bring parts, so I grant might not work for, say, Sauber.

[Fulcrum]

I'd rather see some sort of bargaining system with respect to CFD/Wind tunnel time and track testing. And I'd rather see the system slightly favour track testing, as its more engaging than running simulations behind firewalls, the results of which are never discerned by the public.