German Car Zone

Williams died because they didn't/wouldn't/couldn't understand the importance of the manufacturers.
When the Renault top engines, big paycheck, track testing facilities and technical support were withdrawn after 97 Williams fell, just like they fell when Honda switched to McLaren in 88, just like they fell after BMW switched.
Williams always had won with the manufacturers behind them providing engines, money, technical support and even track testing facilities.

I personally see the new Nissan GT-R (not to mention the upcoming bigger brothers) as a superior technological achievement to the McLaren F1.

As I said before: the only limitation in F1 should have been the budget limit.

And then it's all up to teams how to spend all that money - either for R&D, or for drivers' fees, managers fees, fancy parties, superstar guests fees, etc. So I guess some teams would pay drivers more, some would invest more in R&D, some investing more in marketing / promotion etc. It's all up to team CEOs.

Regarding the tech - carmakers know best what tech is available, and how affordable it is. So, they shell create the tech limitations / rules by themselves. Not by FIA.

Regarding overtaking etc ... IMO tracks should be designed in a way to allow more overtaking. Geez ... Today the tracks are almost unchanged from the beginning of F1. Despite cars being much bigger & much faster.

Less track, but those which left being more sophisticated & more to contemporary F1 standards.

And stick to the markets / places where F1 is popular. In the last few years Bernie have been abandoning some traditional F1 key markets - to conquer the new ones. But (un)fortunately that doesn't work well. Eg some markets dive a da.n about F1. Or only some reach investors are interested in races, while people are not. A complete failure.

Today's F1 is completely mismanaged.

Ok. I concede that I agree with some of your points but not all of them. The point I want to make is that there is an inherent ebb and flow in Formula 1 that influenced, first and forement by technology and money which in turn has driven the outcome of the regulation and legislation around the sport.

[And btw, the GTR is 14 years younger than the F1 ]

LOL

what I meant: Indy are wild, whereas F1s are nimble and have finesse, and I appreciate that finesse (since I like GT3s) but at the end you need some rawness and wilderness too..



And that played a huge role I think. Although bad, somehow the idea that it is dangerous increased its appeal, yes a bit like the gladiators era..

Bernie and Max (rightfully) removed the thrill of danger (red flagging alot, yellow flagging all the time, and limiting cars, and dozen other new arrangements) and eliminated any trace of danger from the sport, and then they whined about the lack of appeal and tried to fix that by a sequence of changes to the rules that made the thing more complicated to follow than the stock market, meaning, if you catch the race in its middle, you have no clue who is where and you need three pages of data before enjoying what you're seeing.

But I know, in the greater sense of things, F1 is superior, by far, to other sports. and one can't wish that it be dangerous, since the safety of the drivers are far more important than how much I or anyone enjoys the race. F1 for me is about the concept of top notch sport and not entertainement (unlike what Bernie thinks). I just want Bernie to go, can't stand the chap anymore.


Mike