As today’s sprint and a couple others this season show, the sprint can be a good show. The shorter duration reduces the effects of tire degradation on the racing, keeps the field bunched up and makes for more passing and extended duels, instead of on the full-length race where teams are playing a longer strategy game rather than fighting to hold position on the track, and smaller performance differences between the cars accumulate over time to spread the field out.
However, I think F1 needs to either make changes to maintain that level of intensity throughout the longer race distance (i.e., longer lasting tires that won’t melt from agressive attacking or defending maneuvers, allow refueling to reduce weight at the start of the race, tighten up the rules more towards a spec series to keep car performance closer together) or accept that F1 is a different kind of racing from NASCAR or IndyCar, with a more tactical and cerebral presentation. Teams don’t particularly like the sprint format and it takes away from the quality of the main event due to lost practice sessions.
I hope F1 never gets close to being a spec series (there are tight regulations obviously, but not many parts are spec. A big part of F1, for me at least, is car development.
I agree, but in general it’s very hard to achieve close racing while also allowing broad freedom to engineer your car, particularly in a formula that is so aero-dependent. CFD and wind tunnel time is ruinously expensive, and the more permissive the regs are the larger the problem space you need to explore to find the fastest car design. Consequently, it’s easier for a well-heeled team to just outspend everybody else to optimize their car into victory (see Merc until '21 and Red Bull since the new formula began).
WEC is having some luck with its “downforce design quota” approach, but even so they can’t get really close racing over an endurance race without BoP adjustments, which is something I don’t think the teams will countenance.
As today’s sprint and a couple others this season show, the sprint can be a good show. The shorter duration reduces the effects of tire degradation on the racing, keeps the field bunched up and makes for more passing and extended duels, instead of on the full-length race where teams are playing a longer strategy game rather than fighting to hold position on the track, and smaller performance differences between the cars accumulate over time to spread the field out.
However, I think F1 needs to either make changes to maintain that level of intensity throughout the longer race distance (i.e., longer lasting tires that won’t melt from agressive attacking or defending maneuvers, allow refueling to reduce weight at the start of the race, tighten up the rules more towards a spec series to keep car performance closer together) or accept that F1 is a different kind of racing from NASCAR or IndyCar, with a more tactical and cerebral presentation. Teams don’t particularly like the sprint format and it takes away from the quality of the main event due to lost practice sessions.
They’ll never reallow refueling during the race, it’s much, much too dangerous for everyone involved.
Indycar doesn’t agree - and rightly so.
Tell that to people who get set on fire.
I hope F1 never gets close to being a spec series (there are tight regulations obviously, but not many parts are spec. A big part of F1, for me at least, is car development.
I agree, but in general it’s very hard to achieve close racing while also allowing broad freedom to engineer your car, particularly in a formula that is so aero-dependent. CFD and wind tunnel time is ruinously expensive, and the more permissive the regs are the larger the problem space you need to explore to find the fastest car design. Consequently, it’s easier for a well-heeled team to just outspend everybody else to optimize their car into victory (see Merc until '21 and Red Bull since the new formula began).
WEC is having some luck with its “downforce design quota” approach, but even so they can’t get really close racing over an endurance race without BoP adjustments, which is something I don’t think the teams will countenance.