Hmm, plenty of engines ran over various seasons with 750+ in the races. BMW/Megatron, Honda, TAG/Porsche, Renault across 1985/1986/1987. Somewhere between 850-900bhp as a 'safe' race figure wasn't unheard of. Whilst it's true that a lot of people regurgitate the inflated numbers like "they were all making 1500hp in the '80s and now we've only got 750hp", the good engines were making serious power even in the races.
Karun is replacing Trulli for Germany. He's been pounding the laps in at Whilton for a month or two now so it was obvious he was planning for something
If you're a fan, 15000 rpm is not news and only thing of those four things that actually matters to the viewer is that pitlane rule. I guess no longer violent wheelspins after pitstops.
What's the point exactly? Green washing PR, or...?
And yea Shotglass, F1 will not die any time soon, but quite frankly, it barely has anything to do with the good old exciting F1 of the last century nowadays. Though those news don't bring any surprise, they do not bring anything exciting either.
Road cars are not as exiting and pure anymore either so it's only natural that that reflects in racing aswell. Technology just takes away character but sticking to proven technology would be artificial aswell.
I think running on electrics in the pits is quite sensible and even though it might seem dull, leaving the pitlane and firing the engine up on the line could make up for it.
Didn't understand this part. External starters like those screw drivers that are stuck to the back of the car to get the engine going? Or outside help? So seems like we're getting starter motors now. There goes another bit of the good old F1, but you can somehow justify it now that half of the season is composed by Tilkedromes with no elevation changes, so you can't really coast the car on a slope to get the engine going again in case you stall.
The engine must be started from within the cockpit, ie a starter motor.
No, but you could use KERS (or the electric motor - Im not entirely sure they are the same thing in this case, I haven't read the regulations in detail). I mean if you can use it to drive down the pits, then you could use it to, in effect, bump start the engine.
I'm not, but I do often watch old races and reviews. I am fully aware that the racing in itself used to be dull at times(though at least the reliability issues did keep the things slightly unpredictable until everyone had cross the finish line). But for god sake, racing isn't all about on-track overtaking. Watching exciting cars hotlapping on proper tracks can't be any worse than the DRS-ised Tilke shows we have now.
Oh well, but at least we are getting better and better coverages right nowadays, one of the truly positive things of the modern era.
You said high revs are not 'spectacular'. I am saying they are. The engineering that goes into making an engine work at those revs without exploding is incredible. It also creates loud, edgy racing.