Comments on: How many teams does F1 need?

By: al

al — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:23:26 +0000

I think 28 cars would do fine.

By: Whewbacca the Cookie

Whewbacca the Cookie — Tue, 06 May 2008 08:29:26 +0000

Yeah and just as we speak Super Aguri team announced that they withdraw from F1 effective immediately

By: Chalky

Chalky — Tue, 06 May 2008 08:20:56 +0000

I personally think somewhere around 26 cars is the limit. I know there where plenty of teams tending for the 12th team place, that has yet to happen. Maybe the customer cars argument has knocked this on he head.
I do not think F1 should go down the customer car route as vast amount of money is spent on aero work. Force India mentioned that they have 3 wind tunnels.
Now my opinion is that there is too much aero in F1. I would like the FIA to reduce the wing area on F1 cars. By doing so it should reduce cornering speed and hopefully increase the chances of a following car getting closer in the corners.
Reducing the size of the wings year on year should remove the benefit of spending such vast sums on aero \ wind tunnel work. This in turn should make F1 more affordable \ competitive allowing more independent teams to join the series, pushing the number of cars up.
We’d still need a 107% rule if the numbers got to 24 cars.

By: DG

DG — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:36:55 +0000

Yes, I think there should be more teams in F1, and there should be a definiete ‘Smaller’ category. If we went the way that was talked about a while ago, where both Drivers in a Team could have separate Pit Boxes, and the Drivers raced each other, similar to NASCAR, then you could bring in ‘F1 Junior’ teams at the back of the grid with only one car to race, which at the moment would allow for about six more teams.
They would be set a much smaller, workable budget, they would be allowed to use ‘Customer Cars’ as part of keeping the costs down, they would have a separate ‘Junior’ Championship, and would probably help the ‘Rookie’ drivers get a foothold. Perhaps the more successful teams would eventually get bigger and run two cars, but that is very much what happens in Touring Car and GT Racing at the moment!
Also, by allowing the two car teams to race their drivers against each other, it would mean the two cars could carry different colours and sponsors, making it a more colourful grid, and maybe even more international!
And if you pay attention to GP2, you will realise that a lot of those teams already have connections with the F1 teams – the most obvious being FMS and Force India, but also Ardent and McLaren, and which ever one Jean Todt’s son manages! I think an ‘F1 Junior’ would be a good link between the two, especially with ‘Customer Cars’!
I put ‘Customer Cars’ in this way because although its a dirty word these days, there have always been ‘Customers’ and even now, since even the bigger teams are using each other’s engines, I don’t really see that there can be any argument against buying a complete package. Actually, I want a team to have a fixed budget and to be allowed to buy the chassis, engine, tyres, electronics and fuel from whoever they want, as long as it meets the F1 requirements.

By: Whewbacca the Cookie

Whewbacca the Cookie — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:35:29 +0000

Quality over quantity is one point of view. Personally I would go for quantity and increase the number of cars to about 30. The number of teams on the other hand should be limited to 12, simply because there is not enough pit space in most of the traditional F1 venues. The top six teams could be allowed to race two cars each, whereas the other six to field three cars per team. I agree with SteveK as well regarding the point scoring system. There should be a reward for smaller teams for finishing races even if they fail to end up in the top eight. Perhaps even a bonus point for the fastest lap…

By: the limit

the limit — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:49:00 +0000

Your not the only one George K. Although I respect Greenflags opinion, I am of the belief that there must be a cut off point for the number of teams in F1.
We are getting very close to not meeting that point, and the omens do not look good. Earlier this year, Toyota were told by their bosses back in Japan that they would be given two more years to turn the team around, after spending $3 billion and not recording a single win, or the team would be scrapped.
Also, there are serious doubts over the future of Toro Rosso. Sure, in a perfect world, it would be great to see a Kimi or a Fernando driving for every team, but that simply is not possible, and never has been.
The point being, is that more cars leads to more action, more incidents, and increases the chances of driver errors. Fast cars will always lead, but the others would have to be lapped, which in itself will add some drama.
The nightmare scenario, which few have mentioned, is a repeat of Indianapolis 2005, and for the sport to be exposed in all its folly due to political rangling and pure greed and stupidity.
It interests me how entertaining some of the GP2 races are, before the main F1 races, and how often they overshadow F1 races for pure entertainment. F1′s trouble is that there are too many pampered egos, to many inflated individuals, who cannot agree on the colour of piss, and that is what troubles me the most.

By: GeorgeK

GeorgeK — Tue, 06 May 2008 01:04:46 +0000

In five years we’ll see a common chassis-engine series similar to what Indy car racing has become in America. Chassis and engines provided by……Ferrari, of course.
It’s why they plan on building cars for A1GP, practice for when all the other manufacturers bail out of F1. With Jean Le Toad Todt as FIA president all will be well in the world of Maranello, and Ferrari, the factory team, will never lose another F1 race.

Good God, I just made myself ill! :)

By: Journeyer

Journeyer — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:45:02 +0000

“I’d rather have 12 to 14 highly competitive, reliable cars driven by the world’s best drivers, than 20 or 24 cars simply to meet Bernie’s contractual obligations.”

Bang on the money, Green Flag!

By: Steve K

Steve K — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:15:59 +0000

What F1 first needs is to revamp the points system. Give points to all competitors so the smaller teams are actually competing for something (why would anyone want to finance a team that cant score one measly point?). Plus, there also is a huge difference between finishing 9th and 20th in a race, yet F1 rules says their isn’t.

By: Green Flag

Green Flag — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:07:55 +0000

Let’s go for quality over quantity. Many uncompetitive cars don’t make for better racing. Currently there are only 3 or 4 teams that have a chance of winning a race, the rest make up the numbers and form a sort of moving chicane for the aforementioned top 6 to 8 cars. I’d rather have 12 to 14 highly competitive, reliable cars driven by the world’s best drivers, than 20 or 24 cars simply to meet Bernie’s contractual obligations.