New rules thread (merged again)

[Knowlesy]

So we've had the first race with the new tyre and aero rules. What are your initial impressions?

The first stages were a worry because nobody made a move. It was particularly odd watching Michael and Kimi doing nothing all race.....they seemed overly patient let's say! This was tru of a lot of the field.

But on the other hand, the race unfolded nicely and was very intriguing from start to finish. It livened up towards the end and a lot of moves were made. Alonso drove particularly hard and he'll wonder what might have been.

So overall I'm happy. Whilst the action is less explosive and frantic, the race was attention grabbing from start to finish. There are certainly improvements to be made, but it's a good starting point!

Your thoughts?

[ralf fan]

I certainly expected more on-track overtaking especially with the grid...but an intriguing race...not the best but still intriguing...

[Kicking-back]

I think the new rules are very good.

The race had more of a "Grand Prix" feel to it - and held the attention all the way through.

I reckon now the drivers know where they are tyre-wise we might see a bit racier action in the coming events.

[Red]

I think the rules suck, especially the 'omg, we hugely save costs because we use less tyres' one. I mean, tyre manufacturers still develop new compounds for each race, but instead of improving old ones they have to redevelop new. So what if a team only uses 6 sets instead of 14, if they're more expensive? Where's the cost reduction? Want to really save a couple of bucks on tyres? Force them to use same set of tyres for an full season.

As for racing is improved, first half they're saving tyres, last half they're saving engine. And/or trying to nurse a car home, if they shot the tyres in the first half.

[Pingguest]

The rules sucks. We have seen less overtakings, as a directly result of the new tyre rules.

[pink69]

I agree, the new rules aren't great. The qualifying changes are ridiculous, the engine and tyre rules are bit ott in my opinion and theres little or no clarity on when it is legal to change tyres without incurring a penalty. Go back to last year or 2003, the rules were much better then. This is another season on rule changes, we need some continuity. The 2003 or 04 rules could have worked if they'd been given another year or two.

[Red]

2003-2004 rules were bad as well, but what was wrong with 2002 rules?

[Knowlesy]

The qualifying is obviously something that needs looked at.

I agree that perhaps everything is a little unclear. I think when the rules bed in and we get a settled weekend then they'll come into their own.

[Sodemo]

Im with you Red on this.
Not too keen based on the first race, we'll see what happens in the next few races...

[Kicking-back]

There's never much overtaking at Melbourne.

[Liz]

I find the new engine rule to be unenforceable, with the loophole through which not only TGF but BAR have driven (into the garage and parked). That is, anybody who is out of the points can park their car for no reason and is allowed to change engines. This was apparently pointed out to the people in charge before the season but they said they did not think anybody would actually do it.

Now two top contending teams have done it, and one has admitted it. Will BAR be punished -- say, if they finish high in the points in Malaysia, will they be DQd on a technicality -- to prevent this from being a trend? (We know Ferrari will not be touched.) If this does not work, and if McLaren retires its cars in the next race after Malaysia, will the rule be changed? If it is changed, how will it be monitored? (See the rule against Team Orders that cannot be enforced because you can't prove it or if you are Ferrari because it doesn't mean you.)

The advantage of course is that until this is sorted out, we may get a few unusual winners as top running teams decide that retiring one of their two cars in every race guarantees them a new engine every time, and act accordingly.

[Kicking-back]

Originally Posted by Liz

Now two top contending teams have done it, and one has admitted it. Will BAR be punished -- say, if they finish high in the points in Malaysia, will they be DQd on a technicality -- to prevent this from being a trend? (We know Ferrari will not be touched.) .

Why would they be disqualified - they've done nothing wrong.

As for the suggestion "top running teams would retire one of their cars every race" - they'd rather score points.

To score points at every race you need an engine which will run two race distances.

[Inigo Montoya]

I have no problem with the engine rules, but the qualification system should go back to the one we had before the FIA decided Ferrari was winning too much. The other cars have caught up, we can go back to real qualifying and a points system that makes sense. The one tyre a race rule is interesting, but it makes the pit stops look funny with all those people standing around doing nothing.

Still, I am not complaining about the outcome of the first race

[RWC]

The two-race engine rule it stupidity as only max can think up

The whole qualifying system saga is unbelievable! JUST FIX IT.
Just go back to qualifying as it was in the old days and make small modifications to make it workable

The one race tyres idea has some potential but i think it may not work too well in the end.Besides the obvious safety concerns there are hints that it may make for very boring races .
Very much like 500cc Bike GP's used to be like -they all go fast'ish and neat for most of the race then everything happens at the end once they can afford to abuse the tyres.
In most types of racing that would be OK-at least alot would happen at the end of most races,but in f1 of course there's only a small chance one can pass so it doesn't look too good.

Funny that Liz
I await the first hints of furrari favouritism of the season eagerly,fans are getting wise to the way max works and are less likely to put up with his ****

[eatapc]

I agree with Liz on the engine rules. Unenforceable and a bad idea. If they don't change the rule immediately, we'll see only 8 cars on the last lap in Sepang. All the losers will get new engines for the next race, while all the points finishers will have to race on fragile old engines. The F1 powers that be are looking very foolish right now.

[Hazard]

In a word, I'm not optimistic that these new rules will provide any better racing - just a different spin.

I expect a few alterations as the season continues. The aggregate session was annoying to watch, it's difficult to gauge who is actually quick on their own right until the end of the session. It's just an easy way to get some cars moving on the Sunday for the spectator's in the absence of the warm-up.

The two engine rule obviously needs fixing...BAR's blatent play with the rules isn't acceptable. Of course Minardi (if they HAD spare engines) would just change them regardless - what's a 10 place penalty to them! I also have reversed my opinion slightly on Stoddart trying to sneak in 2004 aero...Freisacher's Minardi just looks dangerous! It couldn't even drive in a straight line.

Anyway...today's race was good and there were some cracking and somewhat surprising performances...I think maybe the way forward is random artificial soaking's of the track!

[Snrub]

I don't know why everyone isn't jumping up and down here! There was not a single competitive on track pass. Passing is possible if the car behind is 3 seconds a lap faster, but only then. If this was last year and the order was mixed up like that, we would have had a fantastic race! I'd much rather that a red car was leading and we had some interesting racing going on behind it - like last year. After what I just saw, I doubt I will bother watching more than a handfull of races this year. After years, F1 finally had good racing and now it's gone. Why are people accepting of this garbage?!? Welcome to 1998-99.

I suspect the hard tires are part of the problem, but perhaps the new aero is more turbulant?

[RWC]

We're just now hearing some small tidbits of facts and thoughts in various articles
Some that seem to make sense:

No one wants to pass because either the tyres offline grip is lethal or they take way too long to clean up again? Juan and Ron mentioned that his off made him lose a lot bit of time due to the tyres losing heat

No one want's to pass or fight for most of the race at all due to the risk of flat spotting or damaging the tyres

Not sure yet what the new aero does yet.Unfortunately i didn't get to see the race-did it look like anyone was understeering when following close?
Or did they all keep their distance anyway?!

Has anyone looked at the lap times through the race? Were the times dropping alot towards the end as one would expect from stuffed tyres?
Michelin recently commented that their tyres are very consistant after the initial 'new tyre' grip has settled down

[dtype38]

Hmmm... I may be in a bit of a minority here, but after originally judging the new qualifying as a fiasco, I've completely changed my mind and I'm as surprised as anyone.

Firstly we didn't see Michael and Kimi storm through the field to take up their expected positions at the front. That means that both will have to work double hard in the races to come if they're to get in contention with the Renaults. Bodes well for the rest of the season

As for Fisi and Alonso... Faultless drive from Fisi in a fine car to take a well deserved win, and great drive from Alonso to take third from thirteenth, which proves it can be done! Bodes well for the rest of the season

Tyres... great to see teams and drivers having to do more than simpy calculate when to change tyres then have it all decided by who has the most reliable mechanics. It was aparent to me that "hot laps" were possible, but had risk in terms of tyre wear so drivers who looking after their tyres had much better overtaking potential later. Much more skill involved than just three or four splash and dash sprint races. Bodes well... etc etc

Engines... Strangely I think the engine thing makes it much more interesting. For the first time there is a direct knock on effect from one race to the next (other than grid penalties) which means "championship" strategy is needed rather than just "race" strategy. Personally I think that a bit of unreliability isn't a bad thing for the championship, but even if there aren't any breakdowns from the "second race" engines, will BAR roll the dice and dial up the power at the next round to get back in contention? Interesting...

(PS: will BAR still have to do two rounds, ie. R2 & R3, with their new engines or is it all back to new engines every two races? Anyone??)

Mobile chicanes... not entirely sure what JV was up to, but it sort of reminded me of the days when slow cars didn't jump out of the way the moment a quicker car arrived behind. That meant leaders had to actually "deal" with traffic, not just complain that they didn't get out of the way in just the right way and just the right time so that they could maintain their humungous lead. I like it

Anyway.. More intrigue, more interest, more strategy, and this time its about technical ingenuity, teamwork and driver skill, not about team orders and politics. I like it

[smoshinvon]

Last year was way better than this year. New rules suck for lots of reasons. THE CARS ARE VERY VERY VERY SLOW IN THE CORNERS COMPARED TO LAST YEAR AND IT HURTS TO WATCH IT, IM BETTER OFF WATCHING IRL THIS IS BS. LESS DOWNFORCE?!?!?! WOW TEAMS USE USE THE BEST OF THEIR ABILITY TO CREATE AS MUCH DOWNFORCE AS THEY FREAKIN WANT LIKE WTF, CARS ARE UGLY SLOW AND TWITCHY NOW.. DID I MENTION NOBODY IS OVERTAKING PEOPLE, OTHER THAN IN THE STUPID PIT STOP... LOOKS LIKE FOLLOW THE LEADER... I MISS WATCHING THE FERRARIS OF LAST YEAR SCREW THIS YEAR, I BET ANY MONEY IT WILL BE LONG AND BORING JUST LIKE THE OZ RACE!!!!!

[f1manoz]

The race was intriguing, but not particuarly exciting. New rules were simply interesting because they were new, but they didn't really improve the show. Although it was only the first race...

[Tim Falce]

It just doesn't do anything for me at all. Nothing seems to have changed apart from the doubly boring qualifying.
With the new engine rules it now appears that there can be even more gamesmanship taking place off track.
As a non fanatical, but one time avid follower, the new rules have done nothing to temp me back to watching F1.
With the two BARs changing engines today will they be able to change them again after the next race or is it a two race rolling rule?

[ysofast]

If they went back to changing tires and clawed back even more wing to balance it so the cars don't speed up any we would see people beating up there tires to pass and not have to pay the price of bald tires all race. There is no cost savings to one set so that argument is out. It would also be job security for all those fuel sniffer pit crew that had no work but to run for coffee

[BootsOntheSide]

The race was terrible, and the new rules are terrible. Simple as that. Teams are now spending more on engines and tyres, and smaller teamsa re gettng even less attention as a result. Overtaking seems to be as hard as ever, and no one was going flat out - the whole time they were worrying about conserving hardware. The new aerodynamic parts look dreadful,a dn the shaping of the wings is quite forced and inelegant. The tyre rule reduced excitement early on (as no one took risks with them) without increasing excitement towards the end. Overall, utter rubbish.

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

The race was terrible, and the new rules are terrible. Simple as that. Teams are now spending more on engines and tyres, and smaller teamsa re gettng even less attention as a result. Overtaking seems to be as hard as ever, and no one was going flat out - the whole time they were worrying about conserving hardware. The new aerodynamic parts look dreadful,a dn the shaping of the wings is quite forced and inelegant. The tyre rule reduced excitement early on (as no one took risks with them) without increasing excitement towards the end. Overall, utter rubbish.

Judging that one race by itself I would agree with you Boots, however lets not make snap judgements, things might be different in races to come, then again, it might be exactly the same.

However a potentially explosive looking grid didn't produce the explosive race everyone was anticipating...