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Originally Posted by Maky No, I think you may be misinformed on the first point.
Yes there is a cap. A cap which isn't regulated. If the current RRA was regulated i.e. Budget cap was in full effect why would Red Bull have separated from the Formula One Teams Association? For the same reason Ferrari disagreed with any kind of budget cap in their prime. It allowed them leverage against their rivals through their significant financial muscle. Smaller teams are more competitve due to the regulations not changing not because they are given more money. The money they are paid based on constructors position is still a joke.
Additionally, You say that Ferraris domination had nothing to do with engine freeze? Yet don't you think if it wasn't locked that there would have possibly been more competitive teams? Teams that would have gone a different route to compete rather than aero and tyres which at that point Ferrari had mastered?
Also, The rubbish venues you speak of exist for a reason, Because they coughed up more money to fill Bernies coffers than others.
Formula One needs a regulated cap. Not only will such a thing allow mid-fielders to mix it up with the top teams and make it more interesting but also safeguard the future of this sport that will all love. Formula One needs to be owned by the teams not some bloody private equity firm(CVC) & a tyrant that would desire only one thing from it.
You are right on one point though ghost this is Indeed bernie bashing and is completely off-topic from the OP. To both of you, Perhaps this debate better continued over a drink or 5 ; )... |
Fair enough. The RRA is possibly the best situation possible - it would be almost impossible to actually regulate funds down to the last dollar spent because teams would find extremely creative ways to fund their development efforts and keep them off the books.
I remember an article (that was quashed pretty quickly) a couple of years ago which claimed that Ferrari was using so many CFD scientists that it was estimated they were exceeding the RRA by a margin of 60%.
Frankly, I don't care that who owns Formula 1. I don't care about the machinations of FOM, CVC, Bernie, Max, or FOTA. Everyone's out to line their own pockets, and why shouldn't they? As long as I get competitive racing at proper venues like Spa, Silverstone, Monza, Montreal and Albert Park I don't mind.
There will always be crappy venues. Before the current crap venues like Valencia, there was Magny Cours which had one point where you could overtake and was a ginormous snoozefest. Ditto the Hungaroring. That's ok. I can live with that.
I can also live with the
occasional season like 2011 where after the first couple of races the WDC is s foregone conclusion. That will always happen, and I will still love F1.
I guess in conclusion I think the State of the Union is actually pretty positive for F1.
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Originally Posted by sharc_biker Yet again, i agree with you ghostrider that V6s can be awesome too. Especially turbocharged ones. But as i said, F2 came and went in 1985 as Formula 3000 and GP2 wasn't there until 2005. Senna's Honda powered Mclaren churned out a whopping 1200bhp. Unlike today's V8s or the older V10s which have the 1000bhp barrier. It had a manual transmission and less on board computer systems making an F1 driver's job tougher and more demanding than it is today. It isn't that i am totally against on board electronic driver assist/safety systems. I just said that there should be a proper balance in the driver skill requirement and the electronic aids.
The F1 cars of that era needed more driver attention and skill. |
Well said, but at the end of the day F1 is supposed to push the envelope of what's technically possible. It's supposed to sport sport cutting-edge tech that slowly trickles down to lower formulae and eventually to road cars.
F1 needs to be in sync with the times and the entire world is moving to lower capacity engines with forced induction. Turbos are back with a bang baby, so the days of big-block normally aspirated engines were always going to be numbered.
What I'd like to see is go back to the 1200-bhp limit that the cars from the '80s had. Don't allow aero grip to get out of control like it did between 2000-2004 and never, ever go back to grooved tyres.
As long as you do that, you'll still retain the spirit of F1 and ensure that it doesn't become a second-rate formula.