5 reasons F1's racing is worse in 2023

Formula 1 is under fire in 2023, with driver criticisms of the regulations and a groundswell of fan complaints about processional races, the lack of overtaking and dominance by one team.
It’s a narrative that has played out repeatedly in the 21st century, which has been one of dominant spells interspersed with occasional interregnums. First it was Ferrari, then Red Bull, then Mercedes before Red Bull re-asserted itself as F1’s leading team.
Through that time, there were periodic existential crises with repeated rule changes, new ideas and supposed performance-balancing measures that rarely had the desired effect.
Hopes were high when F1’s new ground effect regulations were introduced. But of late, drivers have offered a string of criticisms for the perceived lack of overtaking and excitement.
00:00 F1 under fire
00:49 #1 Aero development
02:37 #2 Tyres
04:34 #3 Performance spread
06:00 #4 DRS zones
06:51 #5 The cars
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[@nchmusic99]

F1 needs to make their cars smaller in the next regulation to have better racing

[@ForzaPolska06]

And lighter Which might be even more important

[@LSchelvin71]

2026 mate.,

[@KillZoneHart1]

Like previous comment said weight is key. Fortunately the 2026 regs aim to reduce weight with smaller fuel tanks, thanks to more efficient fuel, along with slightly smaller car design overall too. Hoping they stick to those goals anyway 🙏

[@Ariespradana13]

can they reduce the size of the car in 2026? considering the F1 component of the hybrid era is complicated and large, so hopefully it can 🤲🙏

[@xcmledder3420]

​​​@@Ariespradana13cars were already smaller when the hybrid system was introduced - then they got stretched out in 2017 to improve lap times, so I doubt shrinking them back down would be a problem

[@Dopamine833]

I remember when people complained about Pirelli's tyres degrading too fast and insisting that if they were durable it'd make for better racing

[@brakefast3930]

But no one asked for tyres that last the whole race

[@zNoah]

The problem back then was that the Pirellis had a huge performance cliff, instead of a more linear wear. That makes drivers drive more conservably trying to keep the tire "alive".

[@F1ll1nTh3Blanks]

Which proves the point, no matter what direction you go, someone will always complain, that said, that was also kinda a safety risk which is ultimately eliminated by more durability so it's like.. idk.

[@bipolarminddroppings]

Fans will never be happy with the racing unless there's 4 cars in a massive battle for 1st and crashes happening behind, every single race. In other words, they should go watch Nascar...

[@ultrascreens5206]

Its finding a balance, I think multiple tyre manufacturers each with their own strengths and weaknesses would add some extra spice.

[@thisissanjay3935]

The only good thing about this season is Aston martin. I am really excited about what they will achieve in the coming races and seasons.

[@lukasschmitz7231]

watching the leclerc-ferrari relationship slowly dying is also kind of entertaining

[@WicherBos]

They are evidence that Ferrari and Mercedes have failed massive… shame on them..

[@alphabeta2515]

lmao. No one in their right mind wants to see Alonso come 3rd in 24 races straight! FIA needs to fix this mess asap

[@kityhawk2000]

Stand by I'm going to predict the future. They will achieve.... 3rd at most and probably several times less than that. Frankly the races would be more interesting if we just gave Max and Perez first and second trophies for all of them now so they didn't need to bother turning up to any more and we could just have the rest of the races between the other 9 teams.

[@theread3480]

Everyone would probably be complaining about Fernando Alonso dominance if Red Bull didn’t exist lmao

[@SebastianElgarCocks]

So in short, the solution is waiting for the 2026 regs after we were told the 2022 regs were the ones to wait for

[@aberamagold7509]

Yup, and in 2026 the process will start all over again.

[@DailyShit.]

2022 and 2021 were great. FIA just suckled up to Mercedes and hate to admit it. Every team hates it and Merc still licks ass.

[@HikrisDopl]

@@aberamagold7509 wait for 2030

[@purwantiallan5089]

@@HikrisDopl or wait until 2206.

[@sulphurous2656]

"New regulations will make racing better" says the increasingly nervous chief technical officer of Formula 1 for the seventh time this century.

[@CalomaGames]

1. Pirelli to fix their tyres, they are way too durable. Need a mix of strategies. 2. Smaller cars, they are way too wide making races like monaco a snooze. 3. Lighter cars. Side note, really want to see more teams and more deivers given a shot.

[@S2GUnit]

Personally, I disagree with the "too durable" idea. I think the problem, is the same problem (maybe a bit less more recently) we've had since 2011. The tyres can't be pushed. The drivers are still driving a time trial for 1.5hrs & then engineers let them know if they need to battle the cars around them. Why? Because the tyres can't get too hot, can't be pushed too hard or they lose performance. How are we supposed to enjoy racing when we often see cars just letting others car by just to preserve tyres.

[@directorofnolearning]

You want Pirelli to deliberately make tyres that aren't the best they can be?

[@davidvasquez08]

Monaco will always be a snooze fest, you can watch FE for a much better Monaco GP

[@Ariespradana13]

2026

[@umungus518]

​@@directorofnolearning yes I do

[@deltaghostrider]

The ground effect cars is in the right direction. We have never seen so many overtakes in Hungary like in 2022. That happened because the following car was able to stay close to the car in front before the relative small straight. The next change is to make the car smaller or the tracks bigger to give the option of different lines mostly at the apexes

[@purwantiallan5089]

2026 we will see about that.

[@raytrevor1]

Since they have managed to increase downforce (yet again), why not reduce the size of the wings as well.

[@pablo_jeffscobar_8988]

Maybe a way for the FIA to measure how clean the air is behind each car in a wind tunnel? Teams are obviously measuring this and adding aero the disrupt the air behind them

[@tobythehairlessdog8876]

Cars need to be much narrower, and tracks wider. Woof!

[@oldschool8330]

@@raytrevor1 yep, they should definitely simplify the wings. Especially the front to stop them out washing. Why can’t they have a 1988 style front wing? Yes they will be slower but that doesn’t really matter.

[@MrDavekek]

If we look everywhere else than Red Bull, I dont recall when we've had the field being this close together on average

[@robbie5181]

and yet overtaking and battles and general visual driver effort remains low

[@purwantiallan5089]

John Rambo, seems like AMR chasing RB constantly.

[@TheAnzamin]

​@@robbie5181 because the assumption that being close on performance = more battles/overtaking is inherently flawed in F1.

[@superdrol2055]

Agreed, but don’t tell the Brits that.

[@TheAnzamin]

@@superdrol2055 the merc/hamilton crowd is a lot bigger than brits since the netflix stuff. Also as a brit, i cant tell you that most of us who were f1 fans before the social media crowd arrived, cant stand hamilton, mercs (because they encourage the tribal attitude and are 100% PR focused) or the tribal BS around picking a team and acting like they are holier than thou. But your assumption that it is a british thing says a lot about you - primarily that you are one of the social media tribal idiots.

[@salkdhfpoahergpoahre1534]

The indycar race at barber had a 2 vs 3 stop strategy battle, which the 3 stop won. It was a great race!

[@MsZeeZed]

It was the best race of the year so far, but the strategy battle was a fluke, only 2 of the Penske cars made the 3 stop work all the rest of the top 10 were 2 stoppers.

[@soisaidtogod4248]

GP2 at it's best.

[@connorgagnon603]

@@soisaidtogod4248and GP2 has better racing than F1 currently does so your comment is kinda pointless

[@Bolt_theG35]

@@soisaidtogod4248 apparently the entire meaning of this video went completely over your head lmao

[@chrisccc22]

Wait a tic! How many overtakes did Formula E have two weeks ago?

[@GloomGaiGar]

At this point, it's a dilemma between being the pinnacle of technology or the pinnacle of racing. The more they push for tech, the less racing we get. If hybrid systems (which they insist is the "future") contribute to the very heavy and wide cars we have now, then it's time to lose them. Once they start pushing for synthetic fuels in 2026 then we just might get our light and nimble racecars (and our good racing) again.

[@kaotmus]

Once F1 switches to full electric we will get even more light and nimble racecars

[@johnjones928]

Don't forget that the cars were made bigger in 2017 to make up for the fact that the hybrids were MUCH slower than the V10's.

[@GloomGaiGar]

@@kaotmus Assuming they even last the race distance without having to jump to another car (FE Generation 1 style). I don't think they will though.

[@kaotmus]

@@GloomGaiGar Technoology is evolving very fast in this area so I doubt that will be a problem

[@Degenevesting]

@@kaotmus Why would you even want that? We can have carbon neutral V10s with synth fuel but you reckon F1 should just become FE 2.0?

[@tiagodumont4422]

The thing is, Pirelli actually made the tires more durable so that drivers could push them harder. However, with the overtaking problems, teams instead decided that's more profitable to just drive slowly and save the tires.

[@demonsun]

Michelin didn't even bother to participate in the latest tire contract bid because they didn't want to be forced to make tires that wear out. Their whole goal is to make the most durable and fast tire possible, and F1 doesn't want that so...

[@leo1fun]

it will always be more profitable to save the car, because of the tires, but mostly because of the engine limitations of nearly 8 races per engine, and with the cost cap, the overall limitation to develop and manufacture new parts. If people want F1 teams and drivers to take more risks, there needs to be more room for risk to be taken.

[@daraghmorrissey]

Karun had a good idea on the Sky Sports podcast - make it mandatory to use all 3 types of tyres if there is no rain - all tyre types are shipped to each anyway - so there is incremental cost. It would introduce more unpredicatability with a min of 2 pitstops.

[@CBrown621]

So basically allow the small teams 0 ability to gain points...?

[@onelapfilms]

It would be great if there was a larger difference between compounds as well. They always pick three compounds closest to each other. I'd love to see them pick Compound Ex: 1, 2 & 4 or 1, 3 & 5. I also like forcing the Q3 qualifiers to use the exact tire they qualified on. That rule made sense.

[@ab8jeh]

Yuk. We need to stop manipulating this false stuff and return to something more pure.

[@itsmealex8959]

It seems like this season had a perfect storm of problems which wouldn't be so bad on their own, but just so happen to be occurring simultaneously

[@ChrisPBacon9]

And mightve been inevitable given the nature of the series. I wonder how much of the trouble following again has to do with teams finding more downforce in their designs but creating more turbulent air again in the process

[@BrendanP]

Both on and off the track...it's all happening at once.

[@chrisccc22]

Wait a tic! How many overtakes did Formula E have two weeks ago?

[@aberamagold7509]

​@@chrisccc22 I think Formula E and F1 are far to different to compare.

[@chrisccc22]

@@aberamagold7509 I've been to over 80 GP since 1982 and seen some exceptional GP season. This is not one of them. The topic of the video we are watching sums it up pretty well. Having one team dominate is not good for the sport. It's a snooze fest. The super bowl style glamor F1 is trying to identify itself with is absolutely tarnishing the sport. They are in bed deep with oil producing countries and do not really care about racing. If you look over the past 4 decades, F1 always seems to stumble on the perfect recipe, only to botch it with new regulations. This is a rinse and repeat dynamic only F1 seems to always find a way to blunder up. We are always waiting 4 seasons until we get a good one. A back to back championship was almost unheard of in the past. Now we have drivers winning 4 in a row.

[@thrillathakilla]

To quote Jeremy Clarkson "Pay the drivers a normal wage, say £30,000. Then give them £1m everytime they overtake. Then watch them make up their complaints about tyres and aerodynamics"

[@zaynsadiq5536]

I love Jeremy Clarkson as well but some things he has no clue what hes on about. This is one of them.

[@gold9994]

Max gonna start P20 and make 400 million dollars in a season.

[@MidnightGear1]

​@@zaynsadiq5536 and you clearly have no clue about the joke going past your head

[@zaynsadiq5536]

@@MidnightGear1 ok

[@jeettrivedii]

Kimi in Lotus and his contract with them was the best example of this. He nearly made Lotus Bankrupt.

[@MaSiDa337]

I would suggest to have a limited ammount of DRS-uses per race This would open up new strategies and hopefully reduce DRS-trains

[@Kentucky_Cobra]

Like "push to pass" in Indy Car

[@Icepyr0]

Basically Kers from before. I think DRS is OK how it is but it's used for too long on certain tracks. Make it shorter I say. As most overtakes are now done before the braking zone which elimates the skill

[@ToeCutter0]

DRS was supposed to go with ‘22 regs, but they decided to keep a bandaid they said they wouldn’t need, which should inform everyone on the sorry state of F1 in 2020s.

[@dandookie1738]

I’d love to see the next regulations have smaller and lighter cars, and a change in the tires to introduce more pit stops. All RB hate aside it’s hard to punish a team that just figured it out compared to others, Mercedes had it before, etc. I think fans just want to see more exciting races that aren’t just DRS trains. The 61 overtakes in Miami sounds great on the surface but it just lacked much excitement, I’d love to see drivers be able to battle for 3-10 laps instead of 1-2 and they either spread out or stay in a DRS train.

[@DominicGreene72]

@@atkascha yeah, I agree, it comes with the territory. More design freedom, more performance gap because every team is expected to have their own ideas. It’s simply an equation with more variables. I’ve started to appreciate it for what it is a bit more, which is really a long term race to get better faster than the other teams can, but it will naturally have some really low points if you’re only watching the front of the pack on a race by race basis and you get these periods of dominance. There’s probably more excitement to be had having at least a mid pack team or two to follow, which I should probably do more

[@arunashamal]

The problem is too many rules... smaller teams cannot compete on ingenuity with this much rules...

[@Gnrnrvids]

@@atkascha yeah street racing is in general bad for overtaking. lack of room etc. Having said that ALL the racing this year has been good, just that that racing is happening behind the front.

[@jimijames6449]

There were 61 overtakes in Miami ? All I remember is max overtaking everybody. Which was good but the Miami gp was not good - meaningless overtakes with drs does not produce excitement on an awful track

[@purwantiallan5089]

@@atkascha Atkascha, seems like 2026 hopefully gonna reduce the weight to 460kgs.

[@ipwinston]

Going in on the tires: the target degradation isn't even being met. A set of hard tires should be literally falling apart 42 laps in, yet they've lasted that long and could probably have gone longer in Miami.

[@yahyarajaee5883]

The funny part about the whole thing for me is the editorial Ross Brawn wrote at the end of last season which was a victory lap about how well the new regulations work and how the doubters were in the wrong.

[@Admiral_Hipper37]

To be fair that was before the new directive raised the floor edges

[@Roxor.Z]

If we ignore Ferrari fucking it up really badly, the regulations worked last year. The cars were able to follow more closely than previous years. The problem was that Red Bull and Ferrari were around half a second faster on race pace than everybody else and then Ferrari flopped in performance during the second half

[@GloomGaiGar]

It's a product of its time. That's hardly a fair or relevant criticism when all you have going for you is hindsight.

[@yahyarajaee5883]

@@Admiral_Hipper37 the TD was after the finale of 2022? I remember they talked about it mid season

[@yahyarajaee5883]

@@GloomGaiGar yes exactly, that’s why I find it funny. You are confident and glad that your ideas have worked but half a year later and you’re in panic mode. You got to admit it’s funny

[@tuttutteddy8889]

The irony of these regulations made for closer racing (that worked) until they chose to raise the floor height for safety and put the following back to how bad it once was …

[@patepulkkinenvtec2403]

Raise the floor height for safety? You mean, a certain team whining about it and getting their will through (as usual) because they couldn't design a good car without the help of FIA?

[@alotl1kevegas860]

FIA raised the minimum floor height because Mercedes cried and whined about it. One of the main reasons I will never support or respect Mercedes. They're a bunch of cry babies. Instead of grabbing their nuts, and man the fuck up, and admit they got it wrong, they whine like a 6 month old baby.

[@vincentlandry2528]

@@patepulkkinenvtec2403 as usual? you forget how much the fia banned their concepts in 2020 and modified the ride height in 2021 to favor redbull...

[@patepulkkinenvtec2403]

@@vincentlandry2528 And you also forget how FIA banned flexi wings and slowed down pit stops to help Mercedes in 2021.

[@kwl189]

​@@vincentlandry2528 you also forgot the part where FIA refused to punish Mercedes-Benz for an illegal tyre test and also gave them insider information to the V6 regs years before anyone else thought about development and allowed Mercedes to financially abuse development into the V6 engine which was developed by Andy Cowell, with input from non other than Michael Schumacher, Niki Lauda and Ross Brawn who also had significant weight in the development and structure of the team.

[@tigerrx7]

Other Cars: Slip stream is not as effective RB: I make my own slip stream.

[@MsZeeZed]

Miami had so little slipstreams, but so many OT on track in braking zones

[@purwantiallan5089]

@@MsZeeZed yep. Miami also only had 1 DRS Zone.

[@rossrreyes]

When Adrian Newey retires then F1 will become more competitive 😂

[@MukulKumar-pn1sk]

Who is this guy?

[@tt-nm4yj]

@@MukulKumar-pn1sk arguably the only reason that redbull is as fast as they are now

[@peterfighter]

Or when Mercedes stop manipulating FIA into regulations change

[@Milkydrummer]

Adrian is a genius, but he wasn’t at Merc for all those years… mind you, Ross Brawn was to start with! Those two guys have virtually every championship going back to the mid 90’s!

[@rottieshepcalibre9156]

​@@peterfighter 😂 redbull Masi dhabi..... nuff said

[@rakebullet5200]

How much is related to increasing the minimum height after Mercedes complaints?

[@maxw89]

A lot of it was caused by this. That’s why the racing felt so good at the start of the new regulations, and it feels so terrible now. Raising the cars defeats the whole purpose of the new regs.

[@juliemittel3931]

one thing that i'd like to see pirelli try is to go revert back to the option-prime system last seen in 2015. by eliminating the hardest of the 3 compounds available at each race (practically meaning that teams now only have softs and mediums), teams would be forced to run with more sets of tires per race as they wouldn't be able to complete almost an entire race distance on hard compund tires (see australia 2022, baku 2023), which would inherently open up more tire strategies.

[@purwantiallan5089]

Yes. 2015 and 2017 has Hypersoft tyres too.

[@maxsteel32]

The grip difference between the tire compounds. Often the hard tire can both last the entire race and be on par with the medium in terms of pace. The performance gap needs to be big enough to create more strategy choices.

[@purwantiallan5089]

Maxsteel32, 2026 hopefully FIA permanently ban DRS.

[@Rustylad12]

Whatever happened to the mandatory 2 stop idea? Considering it's difficult for pirelli to hit the right balance of Tyre deg when you have 23 different tracks to consider.

[@mo-v03]

I think f1 could do the indycar-attempt on tyres. Just do 2 compounds, regardless of the circuit. If the circuit is very tyre-consuming, then do a three-stopper. This would also give the circuits more unique Features and diffrent strategies

[@Peteman81]

Yes that would be much better

[@seanskinner4012]

All i want is f1 seasons like 2010 and 2012

[@gmartinez5433]

This is what first got me hooked. Now I rarely watch a GP and stick to Indycar. Races are better in my opinion.

[@wolfgangvan-uber6515]

2017, 2018 and 2021 were also great.

[@OumuamuaOumuamua]

@@gmartinez5433 F2, and Indycar has good races, I enjoy them

[@meowiguess903]

@@OumuamuaOumuamua I like f2, f3 too. They're fun

[@karammilo]

2007

[@algentry1992]

Bringing back some old rules will help! The Q2 tire rule gave a strategy advantage to the bottom 5 teams… even engine mode changes helped some teams.

[@M4RK_F]

Q2 tyre rules gave an advantage to the front runners as they could easy through Q2 on mediums. So removing that rule was for the better

[@samuelbabachev3177]

​@@M4RK_F Easily? I bet You only Reb Bull could do that in the current era. And even if they advance, its not an advantage because the guy in p11 can put BRAND NEW SET, rather than 3 lap old. Thats why I am still confused why they removed it.

[@gold9994]

@@samuelbabachev3177 They're older (theoretically). One quali lap eats away like 20-25 percent of the new tyre. Used tyres eats away less.

[@algentry1992]

@@M4RK_F I disagree… Yes for a few who earned the right to start on mediums it was an earned advantage. But max won a race starting in Hards this year. Also when the back 10 plan to go long, strategy wise they know they can stay out longer than all soft runners, which used to be at least 5/6 cars.

[@algentry1992]

@@samuelbabachev3177 and they removed it going into new Regs. The current gen cars can race closer. And with this rule out, the softs are only used in FP, Quali, after late safety cars, or for a Red Bull to get fastest lap.

[@GeliCarlosJ]

Just some suggestions 1. Lighter cars 2. Smaller cars 3. Bring back refueling 4. Teams REQUIRED to use all 3 compounds for minimum 20% of race distance 5. Bring back KERS/ERS 6. Stop going to street circuits

[@JorgeLopez-cw5gk]

I think they need to bring back the qualifying tire if you force the start on a certain tire it would bring more strategy

[@DK-on7vb]

Ya I don't know why they got rid of this. It was small but it was something.

[@scsutton1]

​@@DK-on7vb Because no-one in the top 6 would go out at the end of Q2 unless it was essential.

[@daniellyons7190]

No because all it actually achieved was giving the top teams a greater advantage over the midfield teams as the top cars have the pace to go through to q3 on medium, whereas the midfield didn't, so lost out in the race

[@callejarvholm]

@@daniellyons7190 this.

[@F1ll1nTh3Blanks]

The only teams that benefited from that was the top 6 because they could get through and start on mediums. Everyone else had to use softs anyway. Although.. the grid is closer this season so you never know, really only Redbull would be able to get the advantage from this.

[@BenS44]

My favourite thing you pointed out was blaming Mercedes and Ferrari for why they've gotten nowhere near Red Bull this season. Mercedes sidepod was heavily flawed last season yet they stuck with it anyway.. and Ferrari have somehow made a good car (in terms of performance, not soo much reliability) worse.

[@johnking3279]

Lol All the hate mercedes got from 2014-2020 and nobody hated RB and ferrari for not catching up.

[@soul0rison536]

@@johnking3279 to be fair Mercedes was also spending tons more than any other team with the cost cap top teams have far less of an excuse to be so uncompetitive

[@johnking3279]

@Soul 0rison their overall spend was higher yeah, but have you actually broken the figures down? There are loads of costs involved in running an f1 team. Just because their outright spend was higher does not mean they spent more on R&D.

[@soul0rison536]

@@johnking3279 no it doesn't however we as the public didn't receive detailed reports on spending all we got is rough figures and many of the figures involved in running an f1 team are consistent from team to team there's no way you spend 10s of millions more and don't have more resources for rnd wether it be engineers or materials etc we also saw an exodus of some Mercedes staff when the cost cap was enacted so it is obvious they were dumping tons of money into development staff

[@johnking3279]

@Soul 0rison yes, but hard to believe RB and especially ferrari weren't breaking the bank in order to catch up. You want me to believe RB and ferrari spent less money than merc on R&D from 2014-2020 when they were significantly slower in many of those years? Unlikely

[@alexherman77]

Surprised the raised floor edge rules for 2023 weren’t mentioned, given they inherently reduce the downforce generated from ground effect and shift the solutions for effective floor designs towards 2021-type complex floor edge aerodynamics which are very susceptible to dirty air.

[@PRAY1211]

@TheRace I totally agree that the shortening of DRS zones is a bad idea. There also lied a DRS zone problem in this year's Australian GP, it was a good choice to add a long DRS zone for overtaking but having it with a dual DRS detection point was the problem making the overtake mostly redundant/unchallengeable...

[@alismitheman1819]

For the DRS, each zone needs its own timing section so once a driver has overtaken the car in front then they can’t pull away in the next zone giving the other driver a chance to come back at them

[@johndough-jr6od]

good idea

[@jamesbambury]

And this is why I am enjoying GT sports car racing this year and loving it! Plenty of overtaking here.

[@DS-sh1wk]

Yup, I've jumped ship to IndyCar for the same reason

[@uprightfossil6673]

Exactly. F1 is for team fans and the fan boys. Real competition takes place in every other racing series. Just compare the number of different drivers on podiums

[@AdrielBGaming]

I'm enjoying Super GT these days, tbh.

[@seandp85]

Key word BOP

[@neosonixyz]

Formula E and Indy as well, MotoGP is fun if you enjoy that as well, F1 this year is all about the midfield

[@Myrkskog]

Surely reducing fuel tank size and thus the weight of fuel would reduce total weight, wet or dry...? Also, adding in something to throw in the odd spanner in the works come pit stop time. I see people argue against refuelling as a slam dunk for 'sustainability' issues, but surely if the total amount of fuel is controlled it makes no difference.

[@ForzaPolska06]

Racing was good in Miami Just the fact that the track lacks any character and fact that there was no drama at all killed it

[@nakki123]

The fact that no one can challenge Red Bull killed it.

[@soundscape26]

That's the thing about the Miami rice... it wasn't that bad overall but a week after it I barely remember it anymore.

[@kreiseltower]

If you ask me, only the traditional tracks have "character". I don't enjoy watching any of these street race events where the cars are caged with no run off areas

[@RBot21]

​@@kreiseltower street circuit need more concentration

[@flyingphoenix113]

​@@kreiseltower, likewise. It's clear the drivers aren't pushing as hard in the races (for fear of doing what Charles did in quali).

[@donaldfedosiuk1638]

I recently saw an ancient tape of an Aurora F1 race at Silverstone in 1979 that was infinitely more exciting than anything I've seen the past few seasons.

[@Zidobox]

@@MC-dh8lwdts fan bro

[@sunnohh]

The days when most of the field finished on a different lap? 😂

[@samwlloyd]

Those races where exciting because reliability usually predicted the outcome

[@djmustang000]

Size of cars should return to late 90's/early 2000's, shorter wheelbase, removing DRS so cars don't get passed like sitting ducks, etc. For real, current regulations leads to overtake for the sake of overtaking, they are often hollow in entertainment factor.

[@sirhenners204]

because races where the top 3 lap the rest of the field were so much more entertaining than what we have now. "aT leAsT tHe cArS sOunDeD bEtTeR"

[@djmustang000]

@@sirhenners204 well, drivers like Max being able to go from 10 to 2nd in a few laps by pressing a button instead of having to properly fight and pass is definitely worst IMO. The only races where DRS was actually an entertaining gimmic, was when drivers tried to play chicken at the detection zone to see who'd get it last year.

[@seandp85]

I always said it and I’ll say it again that DRS is a gimmick and it needs to banned, so we really can see who is real race car driver passing with pure skill in instead of pressing a button

[@Appletank8]

Unless one team has a car that's notably faster, I assume most drivers have to slowly catch up, then use the draft to get a boost in speed to get alongside for a pass. F1's problem is that the wings and its downforce that enable their high cornering speeds is sensitive to the air in front of it, making them struggle to keep pace in the corners. Conversely, cleaning up that air means drafting is less useful. Theoretically, one could get heavily cut down on overbody downforce, relying mostly completely on the floor which is less sensitive to airflow, then mandate a certain amount of drag on the car so they get a more natural boost from drafting without needing DRS. Pretty much only RB can reliably overtake with DRS, plenty of midfield teams who just don't have the pace and still aren't even fast enough with DRS to complete the pass.

[@soul0rison536]

@@seandp85 and you will see less than a dozen overtakes per race

[@Junior_Meat]

Seems like movable aero is going to be an expensive added feature. Calculations and optimizations will need to be made for every degree the part(s) move. I imagine there will be large trade offs over focusing on movable aero vs other components in the cost cap era, with the possible result of widening the field in a given season vs tightening it. It's another large variable, along with the floor, that teams will have to consider.

[@Appletank8]

Technically DRS is already movable aero, you could have certain standards to keep costs down. Like, rear wing, front wing, Diffuser wing, x by y cm, this much movement, when you’re allowed to move z cm open. One theory i’ve seen tossed around is that cars following ina corner get more wing angle to reduce tire slipping and overheating

[@Junior_Meat]

@@Appletank8 Oh, are we talking active aero? I was assuming that the force of the air moving over the part would cause it to flex. It would be pretty interesting to have actuators forcing parts to move within a prescribed range. Not sure how feasible it would be, but it would still be pretty amazing.

[@christopheroconnell3479]

Bring back refuelling, limit the tank to 60 % race distance, it will lower the weight as the tank will be smaller and will cause different strategies by going lite at the start of the race and softs, or heavy and mediums, the cars would be smaller

[@timgriffith9149]

change the DRS to the push to pass system. they can use drs anywhere on track but only have 200 sec per race.

[@cpcxgsr]

IndyCar system works. Also factors into overall team/race strategy as well

[@Ran2thedom]

They can't allow opening DRS at any part of the track due to safety reasons. Still, I think what you're wishing for could still be achieved by using KERS or a similar system instead of DRS (afaik Formula-E has systems like that in place, where you can essentially get a boost by driving over a virtual boost pad).

[@uprightfossil6673]

They will never adopt an idea from a “lower class” racing series. F1 is for snobs and fan boys. Real racing is done in every other series and they know it.

[@cpcxgsr]

@@uprightfossil6673 I like the idea of F1 where all teams must design their cars from scratch. And have to follow a formula when doing so. Basically F1 is a blank canvas, where you let your imagination run wild. Vs IndyCar, where you’re allotted 1 chassis model from Dallara and 2 engine manufacturers to choose from… It makes it way too cookie cutter series. But allows drivers skills to shine.

[@shrimpshrubbery7664]

@@Ran2thedom Use a push-to-pass system not DRS that can allow them to use it anywhere. It's not unsafe at all, Indycar does just fine with it.

[@michaeltelfer3483]

The Nerfing of the floor mounting last year was the start of the problem. Changed the rules to close a loophole when teams were mid way through desiging 2023 cars based on evolutions of their 2022 cars. Made only 1 concept really possible now.

[@casualobserver1204]

Can we have: • Smaller lighter cars • Normally aspirated 3ltr. internal combustion engines (ditch the hybrid etc.). • Unlimited amount of synthetic fuel. • Three grades of tyres (apart from wets and inters) with no rules on what and when to use them. • Full active aero at all times (including ground effects). • Less street circuits • Grid girls

[@C41N4]

They need to have active suspension systems. Perhaps the same for everyone, but it would help with keeping the cars low to ground while allowing them to drive the car harder

[@TacGKilgore]

Interesting idea

[@ToeCutter0]

It’ll never happen. It was ungodly expensive to build and gave the few teams that could afford it physics-breaking grip. It’s too disruptive to the grid.

[@mugshotmarley]

They raised the minimum floor level from last year to try to close the gap between red bull and the rest of the top teams. This didn't help at all and made following cars even worse (harder to overtake).

[@johnking3279]

How was that to slow RB down

[@platano4924]

No,,, they raised the floor cuz Mercedes was crying about safety while being the only one that wasn't safe..they wanted the floor raised thinking that they would close the gap to others instead of fixing their car.

[@sulphurous2656]

Kind of unbelievable how people keep overlooking the fact that TD39 manages to noticeably neuter the goal of these new regulations, and how team Brackley was pretty much responsible for getting it pushed through.

[@flyingphoenix113]

1. Shorten the wheelbase 2. Narrow the front and rear tires (especially the rear tires) 3. Shorten the suspension wishbone lengths to further decrease the width 3. Reduce the wheel rim diameter (15 inches seems to be the sweet spot. 18 inches creates needlessly heavy wheels and significantly obscures driver visibility. This will also reduce the brake disk diameter, meaning longer braking zones and greater overtaking opportunities) 4. Bring back the early 2021 ride heights, but add a tuned mass damper or heave damper to counter porpoising. 5. Reduce the hybrid component (lighter/smaller battery), as this will mean immediate weight savings and lower powertrain costs.

[@MsZeeZed]

If anyone in the FIA suggested this they’d be fired. It goes against the wishes of the car manufactures.

[@Xiphactinus]

Or do what WEC did in the early to mid 2010s when LMP1-H was taking off, and allowing for engine and fuel choice, where Audi went for a V6 TDI, and Porsche went for a turbocharged V4 petrol engine.

[@Appletank8]

The only reason different choices of engines was allowed in Lemans/endurance racing is because there’s a BOP preventing any one engine/vehicle design being massively better than the others.

[@emilianoyaciuk4864]

I think less comunications with the pit wall would improve. Just the signs at the main straight and the "feels" of the driver

[@Anonymus-ih7yb]

I think it would be interesting if F1 would move to less rules, so that the teams can come up with entirely new concepts instead of looking for loopholes in the rules. I’m thinking of things like DAS, the F-duct, the extra break pedal. I feel like rules now days are too constraining

[@khawajabasit977]

I think you maybe on to something they should reduce the budge to say 100 million so that we can have teams like Haas, Williams and Alpine in contention as well because without the cap we're gonna see an even wider spread. However it should be noted that the innovations the team come up would more likely make the racing worse than it is now .

[@kstxevolution9642]

You do realise these innovations you mentioned only came up as workarounds of the rules that were in place at the time, right?

[@onelapfilms]

As much as they try to make it a spec series it only makes it worse. LOL

[@ananastudio]

This. Keep the safety rules as they are, keep and enforce the 107% rule, then only need 3 rules. The cars need to be openwheel, max size of car and number of laps and races to be completed.

[@Anonymus-ih7yb]

@@kstxevolution9642 and were banned either right after they were discovered or at the end of the season closing these loopholes. And I feel like by now they have closed so many of them that it’s way to difficult to find significant performance increases by finding said loopholes.

[@bynahelemaal]

6: Blame Toto and merc for building a shitty car, having to raise it, then forcing Fia to raise other cars to combat porpoising, even though other teams had already figured out how to fix it! blame toto for keeping that design in 2023, when they could've and should've switched designs before starting this season... in 2022 the rules actually seemed to be working, yet after raising the cars any progress made last year has disappeared.

[@AndreaGiramondi]

Facts. Though probably not mentioned due to some english bias here........

[@leonmitchell8821]

You literally make no sense. You're looking for an opportunity to hate for the sake of hating. A shitty car isn't the 3/4 fastest, even 2nd in AUS. Either way merc is entirely aside from the point of this video. The grid as a whole is WAY closer than it has been. RB has a great car and thats fantastic for them, but literally the rest of the grid is much more tight knit than it has been in a very long time. The rules are very much working NOW as they did last year, regardless of a height change. RB being an outlier doesn't equal rules not working because of merc. No correlation in what you're saying. Grow up and be objective for once.

[@brusque2460]

2 ideas: 1) restrict teams to competing in only 50% of the races, that's roughly the same number of races as in the 1980s. Introduces all kinds of variables and gives lower ranking teams a chance to win points. 2) Random reverse grids for 10 races. Drivers will still have to go for pole because they will never know when the grids has been reversed but slower cars will get opportunity to start at the front in 10 races, leading to lots of overtaking.

[@212Hasse]

Wait, for 7 years F1 Mercedes AMG Team had dominated F1 Racing Series, where Top 4 F1 Team scored over 150 points over each Team. Now, in 2023 with only 5 Racing, F1 Team like Aston Martin (102 points), Alpine (14 points), McLaren (14 points), Haas (8 points), Alpha Rameo (8 points), Haas (8 points), Alpha Tauri (6 points), Williams (2 points) - 8 F1 Teams have earned points, compare to era of Team Mercedes AMG dominance. How is it 2023 F1 Racing Season is Worse where more F1 Team managed to earn points?

[@rimmerblues1586]

Would going back to the smaller wheels help the cars over the kerbs? I always preferred the look of fat profile tyres in F1, low profile is more like tin-top racing.

[@flyingphoenix113]

Yes, it would. The sidewall of the tire used to be considered a suspension component (due to its high degree of vertical elasticity), where the new shorter-sidewalled tires are extremely stiff. The new giant wheels and tires also greatly inhibit driver visibility, as seen with Fernando and Esteban struggling to place their cars before the white line at the start of the Bahrain and Saudi GPs.

[@Rearmostbean]

But "they look cool" and Pirelli doesn't make 13" tires for vehicles Sad Ps the low profile tires cars run just cost me $500 due to pot holes, so I am a little bitter

[@philipbarton3456]

@@flyingphoenix113 The other part was that in those 2022 regs they severely simplified suspension. So teams are running less complicated suspension then they used to by a lot. Some of the suspension tech that was banned was stuff that teams have been running since the beginning of the 2000s. So simplified suspension, plus low profile tires equals a bit of a mess. Its why Red Bull is ahead.

[@hankrearden5460]

@@philipbarton3456 This is what has hurt Merc the most, they were always good with this during their run. Especially in 2019-2020.

[@ariersheron]

Just only the second year of RB domination (and only after 5 faces), British media has already made millions of claims saying F1 is getting worse, RB is too far ahead, DRS should be banned, etc., etc. Come on guys, just didn't see the same during 2014 - 2020

[@kwl189]

That's the biased British media for you. Tifosi and Ferrari had to put up with their constant whining for years in the early 2000s. Nobody cries like the British. Funny how domination was a bad thing when Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel were winning then it became okay when Hamilton won all the time and very much acceptable and now we've barely had 2 to 3 seasons of MV winning and the incessant whining has begun again. Sour grapes from losers.

[@cuma4893]

So Alex, is it exciting or are you just a RB sissy fan boy who is on about whataboutism???

[@ab8jeh]

Ferrari were on the pace in 2017 and 2018. Why does noone seem to remember this simple truth.

[@ariersheron]

@@ab8jeh Didn’t they choke after summer break and result in Merc winning, continuing their dominance? Or did Ferrari win? I must be confused

[@ab8jeh]

@@ariersheron the car was quick and they pushed them far into the season with the oil burn engine. Just because mercedes won doesn't mean they weren't unchallenged like Red Bull this season.

[@ultrascreens5206]

Smaller, lighter cars like the 2000s but with ground effect to promote closer racing should do the trick. Also consider multiple tyre manufacturers and possibility of refuelling to bring more variables in to play.

[@Scafatiello]

Too many rules, few technical improvements and little freedom for the mechanics. that's all. Limitations are the key of problems.

[@Leuname008]

More tire deg + reduced time lost at pit stops = more interesting racing

[@harry4454]

They can't really make the speed limit faster for safety and Pit stops are usually 2ish seconds

[@Leuname008]

@@harry4454 add a chicane at the end/beginning of the lap. If you pit you cut before the chicane and safe a couple seconds.

[@harry4454]

@@Leuname008 a chicane at every start or finish of every track? Cmon that's a bit much

[@GarfieldRex]

Smaller cars are needed. As well as refueling for better and more complex and fun strategies. Also try to diminish the amount of street circuits and add more traditional ones that have been out of calendar for a while.

[@Admiral_Hipper37]

There’s a reason refueling went away you know

[@alexpeak16]

@@Admiral_Hipper37 Yes but nowadays, there is probably tech that can prevent fires or leaks from happening. Bring back refuelling and you can lose the limo-like wheelbase, get rid of the width and lose 100kgs in the process.

[@dreskle]

@@alexpeak16 I would assume so because almost every other series has refueling.

[@shrimpshrubbery7664]

@@Admiral_Hipper37 Other series do just fine with refueling.

[@8020drummer]

game theoretically, you don't want a rule set that only succeeds in making racing closer if the cars go slow. No team is going to forego the outwash effect because it's vital to speed, so figure out another way to make racing better. Maybe look at what went right in years things were more competitive. But it's time to stop assuming you're going to defeat wake turbulence in an enduring way.

[@ibleminen]

If they go for smaller and lighter cars which could be possible with refuelling coming back, it will make it much easier to control the tyres as the downforce will be less and the cars also weights less. On another note, it could be interesting to see 2 mandatory pits stops be implemented so we don’t need the drivers to manage their tyres as much.

[@kevinbell9255]

Need 2 more teams, Reverse the ride height change from last year, bin the sprint weekend format. It may also be beneficial to partially standardise the rear wing so that the DRS functions the same for each team so the DRS zones are easier to manage but I am aware that is a dangerous step towards making F1 a spec series akin to Indycar.

[@griffinfaulkner3514]

Red Bull's DRS being as powerful as it is isn't a result of the wing design, but the beam wing and diffuser being aerodynamically dependent on the wing generating a low pressure area above them to keep the airflow attached. When DRS opens, that low pressure dissapears, stalling both the beam wing and diffuser, dramatically reducing drag.

[@AceBlake]

The Race will mention every reason in the book... except the Mercedes ride height directive

[@johnking3279]

The FIA are the ones who are in charge of technical directives

[@MrTomWaffles]

Not sure why people think the racing is much worse then years gone, its just the fact 2021 and 2022 were above average and baku this year was below

[@TheMightyAntar]

I would continue to allow tyre stops and keep the limits on tyres sets available, but drop the compulsary requirement. Try DRS zones on much shorter straights and slower sections of the track and reduce them to only the start of long straights. I would also further reduce the volume of allowable pit to car communications.

[@cortespsygreg]

for better racing: - make cars smaller (like 2014) and at least a bit lighter while maintaining focus on ground effect - replace DRS with the OTS system using in Super Formula - mandate use of all three tyre compounds during the racing, so there will be variance between teams opting for running softs earlier and managing later and others going completely agressive towards the end using their softs for the last stint

[@onelapfilms]

I like the OTS but this concept started in the IndyCar series and F1 seems to never want to take good ideas that are developed by IndyCars

[@WH0oo...]

Three tires won't do what you think it will. Most of the time mid/hard/soft unless P11-20.

[@cortespsygreg]

@@onelapfilms it's a shame because OTS is brilliant, brings a whole new strategy front to the game

[@cortespsygreg]

@@onelapfilms at least that would improve racing from the back of the grid, bc rn people are just running the same strategy from P1 to P20. I think could be interesting also limiting the fuel in a way the drivers will have to manage to get to the end of a race - causing whoever is in a tow to save fuel more efficiently and bunching up the field like in Formula E.

[@gelmir7322]

i think the three tyres suggestions could work if the cars aren't so spread out in terms of performance. We have seen a lot of "from the back end" recovery races in the recent past because teams decided to have them run on a endurance stint at the start of the race. Front runner ain't just gonna worry about the cars next to them at the start of the race but also those from the backs who will have a better tyre advantage at the end phase of the race.

[@ReadyPlayerDog]

We should bring Massi back. Let him decide who wins each race.

[@joetri10]

Naaaa we dont want a merc dominate season again xD

[@titan_fx]

Toto is ready to slam the entire stock of FIA's tables.

[@RBot21]

​@@ThroughJermainesLens sarcasm

[@ThroughJermainesLens]

@@RBot21 oh ok :)

[@erikvermolen8371]

aaah you are still hurt, i feel for you.

[@cacojugon]

I think the 15mm raise of the floor edges has led to less close racing. It was done to prevent porpoising but most of the teams had that under control by the end of the season. We should go back to the original floor regs. On the other hand, suspensions were simplified to reduce costs and that left teams with less options to mitigate the porpoising without a big impact in performance. Allow back more complex suspensions. We have the cost cap to control the spending.

[@Schadows77]

The DRS zone at Miami was almost perfect. The overtakes were not happening easily along the straight, but at the end of the straight, under braking because the DRS did just enough to bring the opponents together just before braking. We all complained about DRS and how "easy" (and unappealing) the overtakes were because to it. Don't start the opposite move now, unless you want flavorless overtakes.

[@HeliSal700]

Enforce the use of all three tire types for each race. Enforce that one new set of the three types is allocated for each car. This can improve strategy variance as different cars potentially start on different compounds.

[@MsZeeZed]

So remove one-stop strategies and condemn the small teams to no points at every race. That’ll bankrupt half the grid.

[@onelapfilms]

I wish they could increase the pit speeds or somehow reduce the pit time loss. So many times you see cars slowing their pace to avoid pitting and losing 1/2 of a lap in time.

[@hard-wired-g3787]

This is what happens when automobile racing becomes a "product". Job one becomes keeping the customers happy and you just end up chasing your tail.

[@lucabray8761]

Even though this will never happen, I wish the fia would just say “do whatever you want, just follow these safety things, if you do that you’re good” and let the teams do whatever with whatever engine, whatever aero. It would spark innovation and creativity back into F1

[@ShittyUserName]

Solution to no overtaking without DRS: push-to-pass. We can get rid of the DRS if we give the following car more power and since we already have hybrids it's easy to do it. We can limit the electric power available at all time to x and for every driver there is a certain amount of time they can get extra electric power by pressing a button this can be either be used whenever (also when defending) or we can limit it's use to only within 1 sec of the previous car like DRS

[@mrj3217]

I bet Mercedes is complaining the most. But when Mercedes had the car that was seconds faster than the entire grid you never heard a peep from them.

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

You expected them to ask the FIA to make it easier for other teams to win races?

[@mrj3217]

@Biggie Trismegistus No they asked to change their suspension system..last year at Baku with their whole Lewis Hamilton's my back is bouncing so badly we must change the suspension for "driver's safety purposes". This is what Mercedes tried last year. Wouldn't you know it when the FIA said no to them for the first time in the past 8 years and told the teams they would measure acceptable levels of force the driver's experience and if those teams can eliminate them they will just have to raise the ride height. Mercedes never mentioned this again for over a year. Strange right? It's almost like they were just giving the FIA the proper excuse to help Mercedes skirt the rules that ever other team had to deal with?

[@christopherguy1217]

Bring back refuelling. This will return the drama and strategies that can allow a lesser team to win or place. Allow more work and tuning to be done in a pit stop so trams can react to race day conditions.

[@jimrustle270]

Refuelling kills overtaking.

[@dreskle]

@@jimrustle270 Facts look at indycar GT racing prototypes NASCAR Supercars

[@FerralVideo]

People talk about the lack of tire degradation and single stop races. What I want to see is removing or tuning the mandatory pit stop rule. Let Ocon run Hards to the end if he can! Surely you remember what happened when tires were "artifically falling off a cliff" to try to create more excitement and strategy. Then everyone complained about "overtaking in the pits and nothing happening on track", as well as drivers getting caught out by the "cliff" and ending up with a dangerously uncontrollable car. I also strongly agree with smaller, lighter cars.

[@divorcelawyersuicideencour9461]

The perfect F1 cars were from 1985-1994. They were light, nimble, agile, brutally fast and allowed each driver to develop their own style of taking lines whether attacking or defending and more importantly overtaking was possible without DRS. With Ayrton Senna's tragic death in 94 and then again Jules Bianchi later on in the 2010s, everything from the monocoque was changed and even the halo was implemented, add to this the V6 Hybrid Turbo PU era where the KERs system adds additional weight causing chassis designs to expand. While the 80s will never return, I think the more F1 tries to prioritise both safety and hard racing, the harder it is to do both. The real fix is uncomfortable for the FIA but it's this: The halo should definitely stay BUT we're at the point where in order to get smaller cars and still keep the KERS aspect of the PU while also getting rid of dirty air from the wake of large cars, the monocoque needs to be smaller which would make everything else smaller. The problem is safety, the driver needs to accept some risk as does the sport if the goal is better racing especially on narrow street circuits. The physics is basically dictating that the FIA cannot have maximum safety, expanded PUs and ground effects while also trying to downsize which won't change anything from just 35 kilos. To get the sport where it needs to be 1.) Active Suspension ... 2.) Smaller Cars... 3.) Smaller PUs (not in terms of power but size) but something has to give.

[@soul0rison536]

I have to disagree with this on account of the formula e cars being tiny while still being safe

[@divorcelawyersuicideencour9461]

@@soul0rison536 That's not really a comparison. Formula E technology can afford to be smaller and safe because the speeds are slower. Even if a Formula E top speed somehow was similar it would take a century for the acceleration speeds and braking G forces to be anywhere near Formula 1. Senna's crash that killed him was at a 195 mph while trying to downshift to 135 mph in 5th gear all while cornering. Formula E doesn't have this problem and therefore, consequently, doesn't have an audience.

[@soul0rison536]

@@divorcelawyersuicideencour9461 firstly formula e cars can now reach over 200mph and the acceleration difference between an f1 car and a formula e car is not very big 0-100 kph f1 cars are like .2 seconds faster

[@divorcelawyersuicideencour9461]

@@soul0rison536 Yeah but the modelling says that Formula E cars still lap around 10-15 seconds slower than F1 cars which is a MEGALITHIC gap in speed. The difference from a Haas and RedBull in Q3 is around 2 seconds and that is seismic in F1. So regardless, even if the Gen 3 cars claims which are still being tested hold true over quali and race-pace, where taking about the rates of speed, rates of acceleration and deceleration. Hypothetically the KERS battery in an F1 car already uses Formula E tech combined with a V6 Turbo engine for added power. Speed is a science, there's a massive difference being able to reach 300kph on 300 metres of straight and then having to brake down to 130kph (slow for motorsport) on the corners because of the battery and aero of a Formula E car and reaching 350 + kph and maintaining 300kph on medium and high speed corners for F1. A Bugatti might hit 400kph on a straight but the loss in time in acceleration to an F1 car with a lower top speed means a gap will have to be made up if there's enough straight and if there are corners that Bugatti chassis and W16 engine is dust. Formula E has a long way to go but I think the McMurtry Spierling E-Car is the future. I think that car could beat a number of F1 cars depending on the circuit. Again, it's a weird proposition, because the fan propulsion power plus high end dual battery power in the McMurtry gives the car downforce via ground effects with massive cornering (better ground effects and downforce than F1) and the lack of need for an engine allows the car to be as compact as possible with only fans and battery power. However, the major red-flag to that is that I don't see the FIA greenlighting a small 80s chassis around a rapid aero high propulsion down force fan, active rear wing aero concept with only the battery as the weight. It's beautiful, but safety is the name of the game these days, they'll find a way to make the monocoque completely shock absorbent which means bigger cars. It's a catch 22, currently Formula E loses a lot of time in the corners, 10-15 seconds off a lap which means that even a Haas or Williams would be lapping the fastest Formula E car. The FIA can play around with these small cars because the speeds are still slower whether in the corners or in braking to allow Formula E to be safe due to slow cars (in comparison with Formula 1 and IndyCar).

[@soul0rison536]

@@divorcelawyersuicideencour9461 yeah I'm not saying formula e is as fast or faster than f1 however the cars do have to be just as safe the worst case is a crash on or at the end of a long straight and if fe is going 200mph down the straight they have to be able to keep the driver safe at those speeds so no they are not incomparable in terms of safety so to pretend like a formula one car couldn't be made much much smaller while still maintaining safety for our drivers is ridiculous

[@DS-sh1wk]

I still think bringing refueling back would be an excellent way to add strategy differences and bring the weight of the cars down significantly. It's done safely in other series, why not F1?

[@jimrustle270]

Refuelling is terrible for racing. Cars just pass in the pits.

[@douglasdejager8450]

Lol but when Lewis had a yawnfest it was fine

[@joshn1678]

Why do we throw our hands up and say "wait until 2026" to do anything to make the racing better? It's insanity, F1 has a fatal flaw, stop letting teams dominate for years, it's a damn cycle that needs to be broken.

[@dobakito]

I don't understand the defense of Pirelli. Their tyres have been a point of contention for over a decade now, and when F2 drivers who switch to Indycar state the biggest differences between the cars, they say it's the tyres. Marcus Armstrong said a few weeks ago that he's still getting used to being able to push the Firestone (Bridgestone) tyres hard without fear of destroying the tyres, which you can't do with Pirelli's. And the last Indycar race was a 4 stop race. There's zero reason why Pirelli hasn't been able to figure out how to make tyres that degrade but also allow drivers to push hard and attempt to overtake or follow.

[@MrSniperfox29]

Because Pirelli does what the FIA want them to do, and Firestone don't have to deal with the interference in Indycar

[@nickpierpoint4116]

All the costcap has done is prevent teams bringing updates to become competetive thereby cementing red bulls dominance, raise the costcap or have a sliding scale just like with windtunnel time.

[@MsZeeZed]

Yes let Ferrari & Mercedes spend their way out of their own incompetence and condemn Aston Martin to “best of the rest” its what they deserve 👍

[@pidfenderlane9012]

The costcap is introduced so not one team can spent 50/100mil more on development. That looks like buying the championship. That isn't what F1 is about. It's now more a constructors championship, not a finance championship.

[@killer13387]

Dumbest comment, ever.

[@kwl189]

​@@pidfenderlane9012 and yet Mercedes get to keep their titles.

[@pidfenderlane9012]

@@kwl189, i didn't wanted to point any fingers. But to be fair, that was a part of the rules. The pre-developed engine and illegal tyre testing should be more concerning😉 "Spygate", "crashgate" and the "Ferrari engine" also had a big fraudulent part in the championships standings. Lets hope these things won't happen again.

[@jaystannard]

... Meanwhile in Indycar

[@RBot21]

What happen?

[@davidvasquez08]

@@RBot21 the championship is between 5+ drivers frighting for the championship and at least to guaranteed at least 8 different winners before the end of the season

[@RBot21]

​@@davidvasquez08 it's just, I don't like the point system 😐

[@davidvasquez08]

@@RBot21 at least everyone gets points, better than being constantly at the back with no hope of moving forwards

[@redbullsauberpetronas]

​@@RBot21 now that's a cope, if you don't like racing and just like F1 just say it

[@tuttutteddy8889]

I really wish f1 would fix the microphone aspect of coverage. The cars although not as good sounding of yesteryears don’t sound terrible (or as bad as they sound on broadcast). Just by sorting the microphones out they would far better the broadcast imo. Sound is a key component of motor racing

[@dylanlange5521]

Can’t really have a ground effect era when you raised the floor height. You were able to follow a lot closer before the TD went into action after the summer break, and now we’re back to DRS trains and tyre problems

[@blenzo8344]

I was watching onboards from 2010-2016 and I just jaw dropped at how close they could follow each other. Imagine those lower downforce cars mixed with the 2022 close racing regs. Dirty air would be way more negligible.

[@ELSTERLING]

...wut? Following was a nightmare in 2010 - 2016 and the drivers regularly said so. 2022 was the single best year for cars following other cars since the 80s.

[@mondodimotori]

Are we sure fans are complaining? Because what you can read in comments or on twitter don't represent the majority of people watching races or going to the track. Of course driver complains. But they should look at their team's tech department.

[@chrisfurlough466]

It's fans, MERCEDES/HAMILTON fans.

[@mondodimotori]

@@chrisfurlough466 I doubt it. I think it's the usual Internet vocal and frustrated minority. GPs are still getting record attendances. Fans are not actually complaining. The racing is good and the new rules are working.

[@jordza2k11]

It’s legit just the biased UK media crying because where was this bad press when Merc dominated? They didn’t say a word

[@kityhawk2000]

​@chrisfurlough466 cause the only people who watches F1 are Max fans and Hamilton fans right? How about you get over yourself and face facts. You've become everything you used to hate about F1 fandom.

[@jay2xdam]

Regarding the dirty air/wake problem: Rather than having a whole stack of regulatory minutia attempting to force the result we want (cleaner wake), why not regulate the result/wake itself? The teams are already used to fitting huge pilot tube arrays to their cars during testing to test the airflow coming off of them. Why not give the FIA the same tools and mandate and test a certain level of aerodynamic uniformity coming off of the back of the cars?

[@Appletank8]

Aerodynamics are difficult to test accurately in CFD, and teams only truly know what their car is doing by the time they hit the track a few weeks before the season (see Merc and whoops bouncy time), I’m not sure how you’re going to reliably catch that months before hand, and not leave the grid mostly bare as everyone’s car got sent back to the garage being reworked. Or everyone gets to sit in a spec open wheel race car while teams scrap their previous plans.

[@__-lt4hm]

I wonder if refueling would help. The fuel dictates more the pit stops instead of tires. Raising the minimum floor height must not have helped for dirty air behind. Lighter cars, no tire warmers should contribute for better racing as well.

[@aglloadh8403]

What about the cost cap? Teams who got it wrong can’t make up the difference quick enough. Given the increased popularity of the sport maybe the cap should be increased to allow further developments.

[@chrisfurlough466]

What about the "token system", teams who got it wrong can't make up the difference quick enough. Remember that from the Mercedes era?

[@aglloadh8403]

@@chrisfurlough466 yeah I'm not in favor of curtailing development. I think the cost cap came into effect just as the sport no longer needed it. The token system was also wrong

[@Vislow]

Because of Mercedes.

[@Willbrse]

Adding a max lift to drag ratio in the rules and bringing back dev tokens would help 🤷

[@ghoulman51]

Take away some of the aero from the cars, bring back more mechanical grip with meaty tyres and smaller wheels. Allow teams to pick their engine configuration within certain power/torque limits. Allow refueling but don't make it compulsory. Shorten the maximum length/width of the cars and reduce the minimum weight by more than 35kg, even if it means less battery. Do qualy like Indy where each driver gets a clean track to set a lap. The top teams always get track priority so the lower teams are always at a disadvantage for track position. There needs to be drastic change really, more restrictions and more regulation won't help.

[@mattpike7268]

I'm honestly completely thrilled with this season. I absolutely love it. It's amazing seeing how dominant red bull is, and knowing what the benchmark is, is the purest way to know how each team is doing. So many things to keep track of, we still really need a McLaren video, their upgrades seem to have failed.

[@dewipayne5397]

How is it possibly amazing for there to be a single dominant car that is so much faster on the straights that they can rack up easy overtakes on the long straights? I appreciate that everyone was tired of the merc dominance as was i but we saw how thrilling a season like '21 was when we actually had competition for the title. You can quite easily predict the order that the drivers will finish come the end of the season which doesn't make for good entertainment and on top of that half the races have been complete shit viewing experiences

[@samwlloyd]

@@dewipayne5397 Mate that is F1. Been watching since mid 80s and there have always been a dominant team. Only reasons the grid where shoveled now and then was because of the reliability, it's was nothing strange to see 3 cars having a DNF because of engine failure. Where do you think Mclaren & Williams got there following from?? Bar RB race pace, qualifying is the closest it's ever been in F1

[@richardashton5015]

Nothing wrong with the racing, but your Lulu is not in the lead anymore so thats a problem.....get over yourselves.

[@Ruylopez778]

1. They could absolutely change the front wing regulations to prevent what teams are doing. They could even do mid-season. The teams would just have to lay some additional carbon over the slots and gaps they intentionally created. All they need to do is stipulate in the wording. 2. Again, no, the problem is that Pirelli are told to make the tyres sensitive and degrade. They could make fewer compounds, with bigger difference in performance, that drivers can push harder on. Give them less sets per weekend. We need to move away from this obsession with worn out tyres creating drama at every race. And we need to limit how much data teams use to predict the perfect strategy.

[@justinkoziol4684]

Why can't they quantify and prescribe a certain amount of outwash? Then the FIA could allow teams greater creativity in terms of car design while allowing for overtaking. I'm sure quantifying would be difficult but you think it would be at least somewhat achievable. Teams could submit any updates to design for CFD testing by the FIA.

[@needlesslylongnametospell]

"fans complaining over dominance of 1 car" 😢 meanwhile same fans when Mercedes dominated for 7 years straight 😊

[@ab8jeh]

They didn't dominate for 7 years. Ferrari with the oil burn engine were very quick in 2017 and 2018. Only those with short memories can't remember it.

[@philipbarton3456]

@@ab8jeh Furthermore in the first leg of the Mercedes era there was at least the battle between Nico and Lewis to compensate. Max having zero challenge making people just write off the season is where the cries for eliminating Red Bull's advantage came from. Sure, the Mercedes were miles ahead in seasons past, but Lewis and Nico throwing blows made things at least a bit interesting. Sergio just doesn't cut it as a driver to keep up with Max.

[@needlesslylongnametospell]

@@philipbarton3456 just better. To be fair I'd prefer Checo to be more competitive, but Max is clearly in a different league even for the team mate that rides same car

[@dwaynehicks6838]

Definitely been a poor season compared to last year.

[@nakki123]

After first few races last year wasnt that great either.

[@Dario01]

Small, light, high drag, no drs, no Pirelli. Problems gone. The 80s 90s 00s cars were awesome for a reason. More is not always better

[@yashar283]

All I know is before the rule change the action on track was better. The new cars visibly look stiffer and heavier around corners they need to bring back the agility of cars. They should drive like big go karts instead they look more like open seat lmp cars.

[@tubularcandy812]

Why is everybody complaining about dominance? When Merc dominated there was never complaining. Maybe because the favorite driver was winning?