14 points.. that's quite impressive. I tried to answer a bit differently than others but it didn't pay off this time

In my opinion, this was the most interesting season in last couple of years. At least Mercedes wasn't the only car capable of winning races anymore.

Quote from zeugnimod :

Wow, I completely forgot about that.

Grats to the winner.


Yeah, there were some exceptions but most races were painful to watch. My dream for next season: Hamilton vs. Vettel vs. Verstappen vs. Alonso with the 4 teams all on the same level.

I think this is the series you're looking for:
5 different riders winning (9 last season).
3 different manufacturers winning (4 last season, but only just).
No push-to-pass.

Quote from Forbin :

I think this is the series you're looking for:
5 different riders winning (9 last season).
3 different manufacturers winning (4 last season, but only just).

Pfffft. 13 different winners in BTCC

Quote from Forbin :

No push-to-pass.

Got me there though, they do like their elbows

I can quite get behind replacing F1 as the most popular racing series though, it's an absolute joke of a series IMHO.

Quote from Racon :

Pfffft. 13 different winners in BTCC

If a series has to resort to reverse grids, and penalty ballast for anyone who dares to actually be good at it, how valid a comparison does that make it?

Nascar had 16 different winners And they have push to pass as well.

Quote from sinbad :

If a series has to resort to reverse grids, and penalty ballast for anyone who dares to actually be good at it, how valid a comparison does that make it?

Valid comparison? Have you seen how they distribute money amongst teams at f1? But anyway, I'll take those procesion-busters over a magic overtake button any day

Quote from Hyperactive :

That was quick getting those results!

Congrats to me, nicely done.

I kept that spreadsheet updated during every race, which made making of the results just a matter of 10 minutes.

And which also means i sat through it all. :| Definitely not doing it again. Here's for more entertaining 2018 season.

Also i agree that MotoGP delivered more fun in the very few races i've seen this season, thatn whole F1 season combined.

Quote from zeugnimod :

Yeah, there were some exceptions but most races were painful to watch. My dream for next season: Hamilton vs. Vettel vs. Verstappen vs. Alonso with the 4 teams all on the same level.

Here's hoping!

I wish they would do something about the huge dependence on wings/downforce. Fixing that should help a lot to get better races.

Or we could just convince all of them to race motorcycles instead...

Aero is an issue but personally I'd really want to get rid of the hybrid engines. That is the biggest issue in f1 imho. The power output is just wrong for racing. When all the power is dumped on corner exits and then you drive with far less power to the end of the longest straight and coast to save fuel for the last 200 metres it is no wonder why passing is difficult. The cars are gimped by power in the position of the track they'd need most of it to try to overtake. And the cars use most of the power in the part of the track which hurts overtaking the most.

The big power numbers on corner exit also hurt overtaking chances because big acceleration numbers make the straights shorter in time because your average speed is higher. If the engine output was more constant from exit of corner until the next braking zone the acceleration would be lower in the beginning which would put more emphasis on slipstreaming and would also make the slipstreaming time longer.

I'm not even going to mention sound. But a better engine would improve racing.

Something like a 3 litre v12 would be amazing but I don't want refueling. Any kind of turbo engine is going to weigh too much but is probably the only option. Maybe try something new with the engine regs. Make the bottom part of the engine completely standard and make anything above the connecting rods free excluding the turbo (and no super expensive materials). Standardized parts bring down the costs and set hard limits to engine performance by their own physical parameters while still allowing lots of freedom with the engine design. Also non hybrid so the racing is not crap. And set a maximum engine price limit and force manufacturers to sell their engines to anyone who wants them. Also one spec of engine can be used at any given time. No factory teams with new engines, competitors with half year old motors and saubers with 2 year old ferrari engines.

Peak power numbers should come down a little but with less electronics there would also be more chances for drivers to make mistakes. Something like 800hp is good number if you make the tires rock hard biasplys and reduce the downforce coming from the bottom of the car because of its higher yaw sensitivety and the cars would look like fast instead of on rails.

Or maybe not.

Yeah, I agree. I think the coasting to charge batteries is really weird too and don't belong in racing.

I wish FIA would just say "your non-hybrid engine must cost 1 million bucks tops and you'll have 150 litres of gasoline to spend in the race. Go design!"
But I have no idea if that would work. I really miss different engine configurations for different teams.

Quote from de Souza :

Yeah, I agree. I think the coasting to charge batteries is really weird too and don't belong in racing.

I wish FIA would just say "your non-hybrid engine must cost 1 million bucks tops and you'll have 150 litres of gasoline to spend in the race. Go design!"
But I have no idea if that would work. I really miss different engine configurations for different teams.

F1 identity crisis summed up perfectly there. Technical innovation or low costs and performance parity/on track excitement.

You can't expect both.

It seems that finally the other manufacturers than merc are catching up a bit, interested to see what 2018 Honda will be like. (given that Alonso stayed with McLaren, STR will probably win the WCC)

Quote from de Souza :

Yeah, I agree. I think the coasting to charge batteries is really weird too and don't belong in racing.

I wish FIA would just say "your non-hybrid engine must cost 1 million bucks tops and you'll have 150 litres of gasoline to spend in the race. Go design!"
But I have no idea if that would work. I really miss different engine configurations for different teams.

I really dislike fuel limits because it will always lead to fuel saving. It is usually faster to take something like 5% of the fuel off the car and then save little bit during the race instead of drive hard and carry that extra 5% all the way through the race. Maybe just force everybody to take 100% fuel always?

I'm not too sure about the fuel flow limitation either. Again it gimps the cars at the end of the straights where they'd need that fuel. It is better solution than too low rpm limits (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPDN_ZKMniE) but not very good.

Maybe those 3 litre V12s could work if you gave them 174 kilogram fuel tanks . I actually did a little calculation. Using this number here: http://www.mwerks.com/artman/publish/features/printer_982.shtml. It says 80l/100km fuel consumption although honestly I don't know if that number is even on the ballpark. Race length is 310 kilometers so 248 litres ~ about 0,7 kg/l = 174kg.

We really need V12s.

We don't.