F1 Fanatic

As Girts said, re-jigging F1′s revenue distribution would be a good starting point. In particular the relative pittance paid to those constructors who finish outside the top ten – i.e. the teams who most need the cash!

Mario Andretti agrees with you as well – your idea of a third car for new drivers reminded me of this interview with him:

(go to 1h06m21s, if it doesn’t start from there)

Lots of great drivers got their first shot at F1 in a third car: Gilles Villeneuve and Nigel Mansell as well as Andretti (Prost was offered one, but said no…)

3-car teams wouldn’t work as a permanent measure – just because Ferrari had one, McLaren and Red Bull would scream and shout until they had one too. But I love the idea of an occasional guest appearance – it would be good not only for young drivers like da Costa, Sam Bird or Kevin Magnussen, but also a chance for guys like Gary Paffett, or Dario Franchitti and the US drivers who tested an F1 car but never had a chance to race one.

I like about a 26 car grid. If HRT look a bit dodgy for 2013 that could leave F1 with only 22 starters per race. The economic climate being what it is I can’t see any new F1 teams on the horizon. I don’t mind the idea of third cars but here’s how it could work fairly. Let’s say for example it’s a season where there was 12 teams in the championship. The FIA and F1 select 12 races where a single team could run a third car. Which team gets which race could be determined by ballot and/or negotiation. For example I could imagine Ferrari would desire to run a third car at Monza and say McLaren would like Silverstone. If a mid or smaller team decides it doesn’t want to run a third car in a given race its option could be sold to any other team – you’d assume the highest bidder. But say a maximum of three times for any given team to run a third car during the year to avoid say Ferrari simply buying lots of options. This idea is an income generator for smaller teams and also doesn’t fundamentally change the nature of F1 or add huge costs. There are different reasons a team might desire to run a third car with a suitably qualifed driver – 1. Pick a local driver and generate lots of local publicity for the team (and the event), 2. Test out a reserve or other driver under consideration for a future with the team, 3. Give a reserve or test driver race experience, 4. Test different configurations on a car. There are probably other reasons.
As has been suggested only two cars as designated by the team can score points in the Drivers and Contructors championship but those designations can be determined after qualifying. The 107% rule would need to apply of course. If a driver has a superlicence and qualifies for the race then there’s no reason he/she shouldn’t be a part of it. It seems to me we need to give more drivers the opportunity to tackle an F1 car in a race, not just in testing. I remember the seventies with 28 car grids (with exeptions like Monaco) and it was terrific.