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Are you serious? When was the last time you watched a Formula 1 race? It was boring because there weren't any restrictions, and so the best teams were so far
by mehwoot 13y ago
Are you serious? When was the last time you watched a Formula 1 race?
It was boring because there weren't any restrictions, and so the best teams were so far ahead the races just became a procession. That and the high downforce setups being badly affected by running behind other cars, coupled with tires that didn't wear out much, made overtaking almost non existent.
In the last 6 seasons, we've had 4 championships decided on the last race, one of those on the very last corner, one with three drivers separated by a single point, one with 4 drivers a chance to win it going into the last race, and another twice having the championship decided by the equivalent of coming 5th instead of 3rd in a single race out of twenty. Not to mention more overtaking and wheel to wheel racing than the past 15 years combined, more world champions competing against each other than at any other point in history and a great mixture of old teams and new teams winning races (5 separate teams won races last season).
And yet, in spite of all that, if you think there isn't technological competition winning the races, you're dead wrong. What about the F-Duct, rear blown diffuser, or the double diffuser which almost single handedly won Brawn F1 both titles in its first and only year in existence? If all the cars are the same, how is the Red Bull six seconds per lap faster than the Caterham at Spa when they run exactly the same Renault engine? It has just changed focus to aerodynamics and car setup, rather than making a better engine.
- yareally 13y agoI'd have to agree. Although I'm not quite an avid Formula One race fan, people have said similar things about other sports that place uniform restrictions on all participants and as far as I know has not hurt the sports at all. American football (NFL) has a cap and while it has not equalized the teams in every sense, it at least made the amount each team may spend on players the same. I'd say it has also increased the likelihood an underdog will have a shot at winning the Super Bowl.
- qwerta 13y agoFormula 1 was also technological race, that is now gone. Why should top teams invest into innovation anymore? F1 today is just street race with oddly shaped cars.
- mehwoot 13y agoIf that's the case, explain to me how the Red Bull car is 6 seconds a lap faster around Spa than the Caterham car, when they have exactly the same Renault engine and the same pirelli tires. Did Caterham forget to turn their engine into fast mode? Or is there maybe some technology somewhere in that Red Bull car to justify their roughly $300 million budget.
- nitid_name 13y agoThe odd shapes are one of the areas of innovation. Because the FIA limited the placement and size of aerodynamic fins (i.e. spoilers and front lips), the engineers started using other aerodynamic innovations to increase downforce. One of the most interesting things to come out of F1 cars, from an aerospace engineering perspective, is the use of eddies and other circular air motions underneath the vehicle to drop the pressure (and create a corresponding downforce). Just because the rules stop innovation on something like engine tech doesn't mean innovation stops; it just means it moves to optimizing other pieces of tech.