Which of Bernie Ecclestone’s views on Formula One is closer to the truth?
F1 certainly does look and sound different for 2014, be it with the anteater
appendage noses…
… or the 1.6-litre V6 turbo engines…
For my money, a massive shakeup to the rules will do wonders for Formula One.
As testing in Jerez showed, unreliability will return, and it should open
the door for teams to be either very clever, or very stupid. F1 should be
bloody difficult, for the teams and the drivers, and all the indications are
that the rule changes for this year will make the show vastly more
unpredictable.
As The Shambolic Sceptic argues:
Some seasons are more competitive than others and people tune in to watch a
race. Vettel’s domination turns people off, simple as that. This year’s new
regs should shake things up. Fingers crossed that they do.
Let’s see what else you have had to say on four key issues in our comments
section and on Twitter
THE ENGINES (sorry, the “power train”)
There is no escaping the fact that F1 is going to sound extremely different
this season. There’s a number of different sounds in the new 1.6-litre V6s,
including the welcome return of the whistle of the turbo, but overall they
are significantly quieter, which for some totally ruins the spectacle.
One team principal said last week in Jerez that they sound like “a bag of
spanners”, and Jenson Button admitted they were “less exciting”.
To be fair, in Jerez we did not hear them at anything like full revs, but
even when we do they are limited to 15,000 RPM, significantly lower than
last year.
Martin12345678 clearly isn’t impressed:
It’s all about bloody tyre management and saving fuel. Pathetic sport when
the drivers are asking if they can go fast or what lap time they should be
doing. Going to be even worse now with the Mickey Mouse engines and even
more fuel saving.”
Wrinkledweasel also requests a return to more “basic mechanics”
rather than the hybrid engines for 2014 which harvest energy both from
braking and from the turbo itself.
One argument in the engine’s defence, even for people that like to look back
at the “good ol’ days”: When F1 was more mechanical it was still
incredibly advanced for the time. And, rejoice, the new power trains should
at least bring back the idea that F1 is an engine formula as well as an
aerodynamic one (as Christian Horner has been at pains to point out as Red
Bull struggled in testing).
Mercedes, perhaps because their engine performed so well last week in Jerez,
are also positively brimming with excitement about how these hybrid engines
can push the automotive industry forward, and there was a very real danger
that engine manufacturers would lose interest if F1 did not keep pace with
technology.
As far as the sound goes, the jury is still very much out, but we’ll have to
reserve judgement until we hear full revs at either the second or third test
in Bahrain.
THE NOSES
Whether you want to call them anteaters, crooked crabs, belugas or proboscis
monkeys, the car’s noses for 2014 look, in some cases, nothing shy of
ridiculous.
The Caterham (below), was particularly poorly received.
As well as leading to some fairly entertaining photoshops (via @RealRonFine).
And on a more serious note, Adrian Newey, widely regarded as the sport’s
pre-eminent designer, said he thought the noses, which have been designed to
stop cars launching over another, could lead to “submarining”
under cars.
“If you hit the back of a car square on then you go underneath and you end up
with a rear crash structure in your face, which is a much worse scenario,”
he said at Jerez last week. “There have been some accidents where you
think would a low nose possibly have made things much worse? There was the
accident a few years ago where [Michael] Schumacher span at the first corner
and somebody mounted him. Would a low nose have made that worse?”
But at least F1 cars will look different for a change, and we could see them
changing radically throughout the course of the season, as the teams look to
copy different approaches (Lotus’s “twin tusk” solution springs to
mind).
DOUBLE POINTS
Double points for the final race of 2014 has to be one of the most universally
hated rule changes ever implemented in Formula One.
Mercedes motorsport director, Toto Wollf, admitted the teams had not expected
the “s***storm” they received, while drivers and fans have been
queuing up to lambast the move.
The tweets and comments below are just a selection from the overwhelming
response to the change:
KlingonOffTheStarboardBow reckons:
An idiotic gimmick: an insult to F1 followers and all the great drivers of
the past. Why not go the whole hog and declare that all previously won
points are null and void and it all depends on the last race?
Etonrifle adds:
This is one of the most stupid ideas in the history of sport, and makes F1
look ridiculous (again)…. Imagine the Premier Leagure giving 6 points for
a win on the final day of the season! The teams could work hard all year to
have the rug pulled from under them in Abu Dhabi of all places.
All the comments above are totally valid, and ones I agree with. But having
said that, as Nico Rosberg pointed out in Jerez, what happens if we get to
the final race, and because of double points the championship is still
alive?
I have a feeling complaints about the double points rule will become a tad
more muted if that’s the case.
TYRES, DRS AND THE REST
Regardless of all the change to F1 for 2014, some of the biggest gripes still
seem to be about the Pirelli tyres, and the much-derided DRS overtaking
device.
John M argues:
There is too much on the cars; the KERS, the DRS, the flappy paddle
gearboxes which mean a shift is never missed, the crappy tyre changing
rules, the forced fuel stops, the ridiculously priced circuit tickets.
Greyowl1, who describes him/herself as an “avid ex-F1 fan”,
adds:
It`s just boring now, tyres designed to wear out, no refueling, press a
button to go faster, no overtaking without DRS…
Coincidences makes a very good point in defence of F1’s new gizmos:
Meanwhile back in the real world… DRS and KERS are brilliant innovations
that have really added speed, sparkle and technical interest, tyres
degrading have ensured more strategic considerations from the teams and make
watching it even more enticing. The lack of fuel changes and Vettel’s
domination have made it a drag. Behind Vettel there was action aplenty.
By all accounts, after the PR disaster that was 2013, Pirelli will probably
look to have a much quieter year with more durable tyres, as they let
someone else take the negative headlines.
It can be very easy to moan about Formula One, and reminisce about how it used
to be. But all the indications are that (with the exception of the new
engine note) the sweeping changes to F1 for 2014 will re-energise the sport,
making it more unpredictable than it has been for years.
Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments section below.