Greg Cunneen - Tokyo

If Friday is a test day AND all other mid-season testing is banned, then I am in favour. Friday is only meaningful if teams do their testing on those days and not elsewhere on non-race days in front of empty stands (like Jerez yesterday).

I used to go to race events and get 4 days of action. Now it's down to less than half on-track action, spread over 3 days, at increased ticket prices. Lose anymore (i.e. reducing it to 2 days only) and I'm not going. Period.

Mark Dewell

I like the sound of this, but ..... How useful would Friday only testing be?

You test to either develop the car, in which case would you really want to be totally reliant on your test drivers rather than your race drivers; or to get the car set up for that particular track, which is of limited value unless
your test drivers have very similar preferences to your race drivers (A car set up for one driver might be undriveable for another. Nothing wrong with the car, just different driving styles).

Deane Walpole

Reduce testing away from Grands Prix to about 10% of what it is now. Make the Friday before the GP an all-day test session, and stipulate each race driver must do at least 40 laps of running. Further stipulate a minimum number of laps each team must do so that the upcoming guys get decent mileage too. Make it part of the teams contract if they wish to be in F1 that their race drivers and sporting directors are easily accessible to the public and press for a large chunk of the day.

James Delloyde

What’s important here, a) the F1 teams making more money, b) Max showing everybody how powerful he is, c) or the fans/sport? If it is a or b then just carry on and the silly b****rs will destroy our sport. If it is c then please please please will somebody bang some heads together and give our sport back to us. What do fans primarily want? To see F1 cars up close and also in action, followed by seeing exciting racing and maybe to get up close to their “hero” drivers.

Max, you want to cut costs? Use the Friday of a Grand Prix (hope you don’t mind me using that term Bernie) weekend for testing, use non race drivers, maximum of 2 cars per team 1 of which has to be a race car, maybe 3 or 4 hours with unlimited laps. The fans get to see the cars on track, the teams bring in revenue for testing instead of pounding out mile after mile with nobody watching, and the stars of tomorrow gain some experience. The race drivers can then use the day to give something back to the great unwashed by doing some PR work and mixing with the fans instead of the “suits” ,who probably don’t even know which end of a race car is the front!!!!. Allow the real fans as well as or instead of the “parasites”/”klingons”/C list celebrities into the paddock and even (shock horror) maybe let some real fans onto the grid.

Another fantastic but radical idea for cost cutting, Max, would be to stop interfering with the rules. How much did it cost all of the teams to develop new V8 engines for this year? I think maybe “just a little” bit more than if they had carried on developing last years engines. Yes, I know it was also a safety issue to slow the cars down but that didn’t work either did it? Moral of that particular story don’t try to fix it if it isn’t broken.

Anyway, could somebody tell me what is wrong with teams using V10’s or V12’s, flat 12’s or even H16’s if they want to, that’s how it used to be and it was bloody good back then, the sound was fantastic.

I won’t get into the quali’ debate, but fix it so the fans get something out of it too. As for the racing, reduce the size of the front and rear wings, take off traction control and launch control make the drivers change gear with a proper gear shift, open up the scope of design for the cars so they don’t all look like the same car with different sponsorship. Ban Herman from designing anymore F1 circuits and bring back some of the real drivers circuits like the full length Spa or Monza without chicanes, if the cars are too fast for the circuits the drivers will have to slow down and drive within their limits then we will really see the skilful and brave drivers come to the fore.

I could go on and on but in reality nothing will happen, Max will not listen to us fans, the teams who will carry on taking our money and not giving anything in return will also not listen to us, the drivers become ever more reclusive.

Well I can dream cant I?

Mauricio Sillano

Having two test drivers per team running around on Friday… sounds like a Friday F1 series to me!

It will turn into a break-away series, for testing. With the current levels of excitement and flair, F1 risks succumbing to the test!

Turn it into a two day, test-all-you-want event and reduce all testing elsewhere to a bare minimum i.e. whatever is required by Bridgestone, in a non-team car, to produce safe tyres.