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Keeping It Simple

FEATURE BY MIKE LAWRENCE
14/07/2015

The British GP was pretty exciting, with rain playing a part. A decent race and a capacity crowd should not, however, distract us from the fact that Formula One is in deep crisis.

Instead of blaming the media, as he has done, Jean Todt should ask himself why Formula One is facing so much criticism, often by well-informed people who have been life-long fans. In many cases it is how we have earned a living for most of our working lives. We have a vested interest in the future of the sport and do not criticise on a whim.

It cannot be because of all the pay-drivers, they have always been with us though some used to be called 'privateers'. Among them have been Nuvolari, Varzi, Fangio and Moss.

BRM and Team Lotus often ran a car for a local hero and sometimes the drive was paid for by the organising club. Ferrari sometimes ran a Belgian driver at Spa. In 1977, Frank Williams ran a private March 761 while Patrick Head was designing the Williams FW06. Nelson Piquet made his F1 debut in a private McLaren M23.

In all these cases, the private status was known and in Piquet's case, his performances with an obsolete car led to a Brabham works drive.

What we did not have were occasions like Sauber breaking its contract with Giedo van der Garde and running two pay-drivers (at a reported fifteen million pounds each) as though they were fully-fledged works drivers on the grid through merit.

As one who has long admired Sauber, it saddens me that the team has had to do this in order to survive. Sauber deserves to be on the grid through merit alone, but the FIA has let it down because the economics of F1 make no sense at all.

The crisis cannot be because one team is dominating, that has more often than not been the case. What is different now are restrictions which mean other teams cannot pull out all the stops and challenge Mercedes F1.

When Lotus introduced ground effect in 1977/78, nobody whined instead they all adopted ground effect. Some struggled, not least Lotus whose T80 introduced 'porpoising' to the motor racing vocabulary. Patrick head took a hard look at the Lotus 79 and came up with the Williams FW07.

When Williams perfected active suspension and Nigel Mansell made the most of it, nobody complained. The idea had been around for a long time (it originated with Lotus around 1980), but Williams had persevered and perfected the idea. Everyone metaphorically took their hats off to Williams.

At every other time of domination by one team, everyone else has buckled down and tried to do better, but now they are stymied by the rules.

Red Bull is struggling with Renault power this year, but Danny Ricciardo won three Grands Prix last year. The difference is that last year's Red Bull was designed by Adrian Newey and Adrian has become frustrated by the restrictions in F1. All the great designers have been creative artists. Newey, among the best in history, feels himself restricted. It is though Botticelli was forced to paint by numbers.

The FIA has tried all manner of things to restrict expenditure, it has limited on-track testing, wind tunnel time and CFD (computational fluid dynamics). The Strategy Group has resisted a budget cap, because it is comprised of grandee teams whose main drive is self-interest.

What is needed is a limit on employees and forget about all other restrictions. We are constantly told that F1 is a team sport, but other team sports restrict the number of players in a team. The difference between F1 and football is that the team includes the people working on the equipment.

Teams could still use subcontractors, but X hours would equal one employee. Top people would still command top wages, as they do today. Best boffins are still wooed, as are players in other team sports.

Restrict the number of employees engaged on the design and build of the cars and a team could decide to use them for running track testing, wind tunnel testing or CFD simulations. Restrict the numbers (with a cap on working hours) and you restrict how a team can spend, yet not restrict creativity. My guess is that it would release creativity.

You could still have as many support staff as you needed to run a factory, but a 'cleaner' with a large salary and a PhD in Computer Science would not be allowed.

New pieces have to be made for track testing or for wind tunnel testing. To make a typical F1 front wing takes around 800 man-hours. That I was told by someone who, until last year, worked for Williams. I found it hard to believe and asked him to repeat it. He did and said, 'Can you imagine the pain every time Pastor Maldonado wiped off a nose cone?'

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READERS COMMENTS

 

1. Posted by father guido, 03/02/2016 15:06

"This article got me to re-up! Here is my draft of a good time. Let us take a lesson from the old days of karting.

1. The gov picks 20 races at 20 venues.

2. Anybody can play. 1 race or all 20. Pull a pill for the starting grid. If there are more than 25 entries, then consi races are held.

3.A minimum of rule. Chassis has to fit in the box. Total displacement. Naturally aspirated. 2 sets of tyres of your choosing. as many pit stops as needed. But, only 1 for fuel. And a cap of 5 crew and 2 drivers.

You see where I'm going. In one year you would have a viewing audience extraordinaire. Long tracks, short tracks. Night races. A reverse. An enduro. You would be glued to the screen.

There is nothing more exciting than seeing the Cinderella Kid show up and kick ass. It happens. It always happens when the structure allows the mind the opportunity.

"

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2. Posted by Schnauzers, 21/01/2016 18:13

""My guy is happy working on the aerodynamics of Range Rovers because they present a challenge within his compass of expertise."

Aerodynamics at Range Rover? DURRRHHH"

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3. Posted by Rock Doc, 17/07/2015 16:58

"Excellent article and I totally agree.

Reducing the staff would also have another knock-on effect not mentioned here, more teams.

Most of the staff are probably at the teams because of the love of racing. If staff numbers were to be reduced then what would they all do. I'm not sure there is enough room at Land Rover for everyone. I think that is is more likely that most wil want to stay within the sport. I'm sure that these excess former workers are more than likely to want to start their own teams. They have the skills and knowledge, plus the added motive of beating their former employers.

I see it as a win-win scenario. Lower costs, more racing ... but no-one is listening are they. "

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4. Posted by Paul C, 17/07/2015 12:30

"My friend Mike is correct. Limit pit crews to a reasonable level lower than three people per tire for true safety reform. Limiting total numbers of people employed by teams and shred the rest of the restricting regulations. Penalties should only be for driving not for engineering and maintenance. They also should not go beyond ONE race."

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5. Posted by Spindoctor, 17/07/2015 11:45

"I have pretty much to agree with most of the piece, but I'm not sure that the "solution" will work!"

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6. Posted by GrahamG, 16/07/2015 15:53

"Yes please, lets have some innovation which isn't a vanishingly small change to a front wing.
Why not restrict the number of people who can work on the car during pit stops - at a stroke that would reduce the number of people teams have to cart around the world and reduce costs. Even better make any visit to the pits a minimum of (say) 1m 30s and use a single tyre compound for each race. That would make races easier to follow and again reduce costs by reducing the number of tyres and all the complexity of having two non functional compounds.
There's lots of simple ideas out there, but people who wrte rule books don't like that sort of thing because it reduces their power"

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7. Posted by BWesty, 16/07/2015 12:19

"Great article Mike.
It seems, however, that all our complaints are falling on deaf ears... as the recent rule changes announced by the FIA seem to indicate... the best the could come up with was rules relating to Engine replacements and Super Licence requirements...
Hold me back... I see Tsunami of competitive racing coming up in 10 days time!!!! NOT!!!
Was that the best they could come up with in Mexico???
The really scary thing is, we may have to wait for at least 1 and a half seasons before we see any "meaningful" change. I'm predicting a sudden rise in the popularity of Sunday afternoon Naps in front of the tele over the next 18 months.
"

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8. Posted by nonickname, 14/07/2015 13:13

"Thank you Mike,a perfectly balanced editorial that shows a way to save money by limiting personnel. I see a pit full of mechanics,sorry,technicians sitting waiting to change tyres.Why? Because it makes racing more interesting. CrXp."

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9. Posted by KoosOos, 14/07/2015 8:46

"It is not the medias fault. Then tell me why do you not right about the fact that the TV numbers are up so far this year and more people has gone to see the Racing live or the fact that the budgets are a bit less then in 2000 with is remarkable if you take in to account inflation. No because we want F1 to we do not like it. The media will not wright any thing that will tell the people that F1 is not in a deep crisis because if the no the true they will not want chances. "

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