Posted on 28th September 2014
It was announced yesterday to the media that Formula 1 chiefs have begun a study to look at ways of making Grand Prix cars more challenging to drive in the future.
As part of ongoing discussions about making F1 more popular, the current teams believe that one element that has turned off spectators is the perception that modern Grand Prix cars are too easy to race.
This has been fuelled by driver complaints that they are no longer as hard to take to the limit. This is also alongside the implication that Toro Rosso’s decision to promote 16 year old Max Verstappen to Formula One starting next season to F1 showed how easy the category now was.
Now following discussions in recent Strategy Group meetings, the FIA will evaluate potential rule changes that could make the cars tougher to drive. The investigation that will include input from teams will be completed over the next few months and it is possible changes could be implemented as early as 2016.
It is understood that the main areas that will be investigated are tyre grip, car dimension, and aerodynamic performance. In a recent interview, Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo admitted that although the current generation of cars were technically complex, they were not as hard to drive as in previous years. Ricciardo stated the following on the situation:-
'Physically, it’s not a walk in the park, but it’s easier than it was a couple of years ago at least. If the cars are quicker they’ll be physically harder to drive. But what we don’t want is to make the cars fast like it was 10 years ago so that you can’t even follow another car because of the dirty air.
'I think right now is not a bad compromise but it’s probably a few tweaks that could be made.'
From what Ricciardo has stated, it would seem that he feels that the challenge of driving a Formula One is different from a few years and you can understand why he feels that way. As he points out, the cars a few years ago were indeed quicker but the cars were also compromised when they tried to overtake another driver for position on the track.
In my opinion, it would seem that even though Ricciardo understands the situation, he is also being realistic about the issues of driving a car a few years too. But the fact of the matter is that despite all the changes that Formula One has had over the past few seasons (some for the good of the sport, some not so), it still provides the drivers with a challenge that cannot be found in any other sport and F1 remains the ultimate challenge that many drivers would like to achieve in their careers.
Also, four times world champion Alain Prost reckons that the time had come for cars to become harder to drive – so that a ‘proper’ F1 returned. In his interview with the media recently, Prost believes that he doesn't know what will happen when Verstappen makes his debut for Toro Rosso next season but feels he will be able to drive the car with no problems. Prost said the following:-
'I don’t know what’s going to happen with Max Verstappen, but it’s true that he’s going to be able to drive the car no problem. This was absolutely not possible in our time – the cars were so difficult to drive. Every year we were testing in Portugal, we were stopping sometimes for a month testing.
'But the first time we went to Portugal it was not possible to make a complete day of testing at all, no way! It was physically really difficult, which is not the case today. That doesn’t mean you absolutely want to go back to the way it was, but I think the speed of the cars during the races and the grip is not very good. It’s quite slow, so you need to have a proper Formula 1.'
As Prost states, no one knows what will happen when Verstappen makes his debut into the sport next season. But from what I have seen of him racing in F3 this season a few times, he has the talent to succeed in Formula One absolutely. But I would agree with Prost that I feel he will be able to drive the car and get up to speed very quickly.
With the contrast to Prost and when he was racing in Formula One compared to Ricciardo currently, the sport provided him with a different challenge. The cars back in the days when Prost was racing was indeed difficult to drive, they were also very unsafe and also the drivers did not follow the training and also the nutrition that the drivers undertake nowadays.
But that does not mean that the challenges that Prost faced during his Formula One career was different or worse to what Ricciardo and the current crop of drivers face and will face in the near future. It is just a different type of challenge and it also shows the journey that Formula One has made while not taking away the ultimate challenge that it presents to drivers.
Of course, Prost does not want to go back to them days as I don't think the FIA would allow it and neither would the teams, drivers or even the law for that matter. But Prost makes a valid point however and I would agree with him that certain aspects of the sport could be changed to give the drivers more of a challenge without taking away the safety away which is the most important thing.
But overall, I believe that looking into the ways of making a Grand Prix car more challenging and less 'easy' to race is understandable. But if they are to make changes to this, they have to been viable solutions that are thoroughly researched, are tested and approved by the teams and the drivers and also do not damage that challenge that Formula One has presented to the drivers since 1950.
From what Ricciardo and Prost have stated about their thoughts on the matter at hand, it is clear that both drivers may have encountered different challenges while racing and competing in Formula One and both of their views are equally valid and important.
And both drivers to me are realistic in what can be achieved with the F1 chiefs looking into this matter. Both drivers do not wish to see the sport going backwards and compromising on safety or risk what Formula One has become now, but they want viable solutions to help resolve this issue. But they appear to be reunited in one thing and that is the most important thing here, which is Formula One giving and providing a driver with the ultimate challenge that they face in the pinnacle of motorsport.
But we shall have to wait and see what happens in the next few months with this investigation and what regulations they would like propose and to implement in order to be ready for the 2016 season. No matter what the challenge has been in the past, what it is at present and also what the challenge will be in the future, it is clear that the investigation into making modern Formula One cars less 'easy' to race is an ongoing matter and it has to be taken seriously too by all parties involved and does not damage the sport we all love in the process.
