Are FIA plans good for F1?

Renault boss Patrick Faure insists a proposed new rule which forces teams to run engines for at least six races before discarding them is far too restrictive.

Federation Internationale Automobile (FIA) President Max Mosely recently announced plans to reign back on technology, cut costs and improve racing.

Many welcomed the change, including Jordan owner Eddie Jordan who said: "It's a huge day for F1".

But others, such as Faure, claim teams' ability to showcase their technology is being compromised and that traction control, two-way radios and other advances improve safety in the sport.

Do you approve of the changes?

This debate is closed. A selection of your e-mails appears below.

One way to improve the Formula One spectacle would be for the BBC to get the television rights back. The races are always spoiled by breaks (which increase in frequency as the race nears its end). I wouldn't imagine football fans would put up with this!
Keith Marriott, UK

Yes I agree with the FIA plans. F1 has become too predictable and boring. I have been a fan of F1 for over 20 years but the last two seasons I have lost interest in it.

Lack of overtaking and jockeying for position on the race track is the main problem. Circuits should be changed to give drivers a chance to race and overtake. Team orders should also be banned.
David Frost, UK

The news of the changes has put the excitement back into the sport and I cannot wait until the season starts Nigel O'Donnell, UK

Max Mosely intends to limit the teams to one engine for six races. Where is the sense in that? If an engine blows do the team then have to work flat out on a problem engine in order to use it for its full rota - surely if it is a problem engine the last thing you want to do is continue racing with it? What about driver safety Max?
Clark Wainwright, Scotland

Up until last season I watched every race from start to finish. Last season I found myself watching the start, now made dull by launch control, and then coming back for the end.

The news of the changes has put the excitement back into the sport and I cannot wait until the season starts. Good news.
Nigel O'Donnell, UK

I think all the proposed rule changes are reasonable and they will improve the racing which has been so sterile in recent seasons. A return to slick racing tyres should be a must as well.

In addition to the above, allow two or three days practice but then pull grid positions out of a hat. This will stop the now tedious spectacle of the two fastest cars disappearing at the start of every race.

At least we would have the spectacle of the fastest drivers working their way up through the field, probably the only overtaking you'll see these days.
Robby, UK

We want to see racing, which means overtaking. Surely the way to produce this is to reduce the braking efficiency so that the cars can't go full tilt into a hairpin bend and break from 180 mph to 40 in a few feet.

The new rules won't make for more exciting F1 and will probably only take us back a couple of years Bob, Iceland

There is no longer a margin for error in where they break - so nobody gets to make a pass other than in pit lane or, if they have the power, on the straight.
David, UK

While I agree that there is a fundamental need to put the fun back in F1, I think these rule changes won't do the trick. The FIA couldn't police conformity with the high-tech regulations in the past and I have no faith in its ability to do so in future.

The new rules won't make for more exciting F1, and will probably only take us back a couple of years to when allegations of cheating and circumvention were rife.

The main appeal of F1 is cutting-edge technology; take that away and the baby goes out with the bathwater.
Bob, Iceland

These measures are really just tinkering. Pit-to-car radio, traction control and electronic aids offer very small performance gains - and the investment in developing them has already been made.

Plus, as was found a few years ago, it is almost impossible to ensure that teams are not cheating by hiding, for example, traction control within engine management software.

Equally, plans to extend the life of engines might reduce manufacturing costs - but will once again impose a huge burden of cost on smaller teams in terms of developing a whole set of new, ultra-reliable but higher performance engines.

Mosley and Ecclestone are not really in control of F1 - the big manufacturers and advertisers are, and if they don't like changes then the manufacturers will set up their own series.

Meanwhile, this tinkering with minor devices will do nothing to improve the racing spectacle. More major changes to the fabric of F1 - not the cars - are what is required.

Something needed to be done, but this isn't it Brendon, USA

Reduce the politics, reduce the outrageous hold that TV companies (such as Ecclestone's own) have, improve the live racing spectacle for the fans by paying more attention to circuits and opening up access to the drivers.

Let's bring back more of the sport and less of the rules and politics - I for one might enjoy watching races again if they did.
Aidan, UK

Something needed to be done, but this isn't it. F1 has always been about ingenuity, technology and cutting edge. If we wanted basic racing, we could watch Indy cars or Nascar.
Brendon, USA

I am not sure what some people want from F1 racing. Some talk of NASCAR, some of CART, some of Sports car series, why don't they watch those races and leave F1 the way it is?

I believe the so-called fall of viewers is the results of more choices available on TV. It happens to all programs. If you have 200+ channels it dilutes the viewership.

Why bring the cars back 20 years? It will not change the results. The good cars, drivers and teams will remain where they are. Everybody calls last year boring, I found it fascinating with Ferrari and Michael being on another planet.

As far as letting the Ferrari drivers race each other, look at SPA and Japan, the results are the same. Michael is a superior driver and nobody can challenge him. F1 is what it is and should remain the same. If you don't want to watch it, we will not miss you.
Frank Mascitelli, Canada

I believe that F1 is meant to be a test of the best driver, not the best technology. While accepting that the driver and his car come as a package, I watch F1 for the excitement of watching drivers compete against each other.

Allowing those with the deepest pockets to dominate is bad for the sport. Look at the USA, in which there is a 'standardised' car - it is all about driver skill over there and those who claim that F1 would be hurt by limiting the technology on the car should take the American motorsport model into consideration.
Sarah, England

How many drivers have a feel for the car now? Clarke, Moss and all the other greats had to contend with changing gear hundreds of times a race, each time could have lead to a missed gear or loss of concentration that could have cost them their place or worse.

I feel manufacturers have no idea what an F1 fan wants to see Matt Jackson, England

Not only did they race F1 but other formulas as well, giving them a vast array of experience. Contractual agreements have done away with this. Anything to remove the computers from the race is welcome.
Pat, Norfolk

As with most of the comments, I am stongly in favour of these changes. I have been an ardant F1 fan for the last nine years but last season, quite frankly, for most races I just switched off after the opening few laps, because more than likely those positions were unlikely to change! It's time the race was won on the track, and not on pit stops.
Tony, Ireland

The changes proposed for F1 are essential as the racing has become predictable. Last season we often saw the grid line up in manufacturer formation, therefore even to the novice it was obvious the cars do the work and the driver has little input in terms of skill.

This scenario seemed to happen more often on the "new" re-designed tracks that also seem a little clinical, like the racing. Therefore do the circuits need spicing up too?

As a fan for the last 20 years it pleases me no end that we are going to see real racing and driver skill. As for technology, it does have its place but not in terms of software to run F1 cars.

I feel manufacturers have no idea what an F1 fan wants to see, nor do I think they know what is best for the sport! I don't even want electronics fitted to my road car let alone in F1 so why do they persist in irritating the fans?

I remember reading in an F1 book about Ayrton Senna sending a Christmas card to Max Mosley begging for driver aids not to be introduced.

They were, of course, and then they were outlawed a short time after. Then in 2001 they were introduced again. Can't the FIA and manufacturers realise that we do not want it and it is the job of the FIA to police electronics?
Matt Jackson, England

What's the point of a spare car if you can't use it? One engine per race!! What's next limiting cars to 150mph so they last all season. Mostly good stuff otherwise.
Dave , UK

The only thing I would do is allow in car radio with set frequencies which can be monitored by the FIA, this will allow fans and other teams to listen in, so it would be fair Andrew Powell, UK

F1 is dead! Too much politics, too many rules, too little racing... R.I.P.
Kai, USA

I have been following F1 and NASCAR somewhat for the past couple of years. I have to say that I like the road course style of the Grand Prix tracks more than the ovals of NASCAR. I have to say that lessening some of the technological "aides" to the driver should help liven things up some more in F1.

But I don't agree with the pit to car radio ban. I strongly concur with the others who have pointed out that this is a fatality accident in waiting. I'm also thinking that the bans on a spare car and work on cars from qualifying to race might be harsh too. Allow some changes to the car to set it up if the weather or track conditions change. But if there is a need for major mechanical fixes or if you need to use the spare then you can, but you will have to start from the back of the grid.
Joey Bahr, USA

If Mr Mosley would like to save each team some money, allow the cars to only have one full tank of fuel at the start of the race, like they did in the late 1980s and early 1990s. oh, but no, if he did that then Mr Ecclestone could not charge the teams for transporting the refuelling rigs all over the world in the airplanes his company owns.
Steve Thomas, United States

I don't see what all the fuss is about concerning the removal of pit/car radios. It's only in the past few years that the technology has been perfected, before that the drivers had to make do with pit boards and very intermittent radio anyway. It's just a small step backwards to remove them.

Is it going to be more dangerous? It certainly shouldn't be and will, in fact, be safer for the marshals. It means drivers will have to re-learn some respect for yellow flags that they largely ignore now they have reached F1.

I think it's great. Complex team orders cannot be used, and if team orders are used we'll all know about it because it will have to be much more open.
John O'Neill, England

This has taken guts from the FIA to do. The manufactures and Constructors have all got there own agendas and would not have made the decision that had to be made. This will make F1 fun and show the true racing drivers from the ones with little racing experience. The only thing I would do is allow in car radio with set frequencies which can be monitored by the FIA. This will allow fans and other teams to listen in, so it would be fair.
Andrew Powell, UK

I agree with most of the changes. They should have gone back to slick tyres too !! I think pit to car radios should stay but be open channels. Let's face it; TV & advertising rules F1...If we turn OFF there may be a chance that some racing may return. There's plenty of other wheel to wheel racing going on around the world in, lesser formulas, but we don't get to see much of it, and from the majority of comments on this site, people want to see action on the track, not in the pit lane. The only driver aid they should need is a map of the circuit.
Andy, England

Just one question for Max. Why wasn't there anything done during the two decades that Williams and McLaren were dominating the F1 circuit? It's Ferrari's time now: best car, best driver, best management. Why punish them for 20 years of hard work to get back on top again?
Claudio Bergamo, Belgium

I would really like to see real racing return with fully manual gear shifts and slick tyres. I don't see any value in insisting on standardised rear wings.
Will Strange, UK

How many more times do people have to say it before Mosely finally gets it? Slick tyres and small wings! No launch control and definitely no traction control! No radio communication? Come on even touring cars have radios.
Andy , England

I see a certain driver is already complaining it will be hard to drive in the rain, lets see what the drivers who earn millions can really do with the car instead of letting electronics do it for them.
Doug Foley, UK

Anything that returns F1 to being a test of driver skills is to be applauded Taeho Paik, Italy

Ferrari's inability to let its drivers race each other is the real issue. Many complain of "Ferrari domination" and cite this as a reason for decreasing viewing figures. Not so. In 1988 when McLaren dominated F1, viewing figures were at their peak. The reason? Nobody knew which driver would win the race until the chequered flag was waved.
Kylie, Finland

F1 is supposed to be a constructors championship as well as a drivers championship. The other teams should take a lesson from Ferrari for heavens sake! Get a talented group of people working well together doing their jobs to the best of their abilities. That wins races! If you want more overtaking, build a wider track!
Thomas Hrubecky, USA

I agree with all except the radio link ban. This works well in NASCAR because the frequencies are available and fans can listen in to the pit discussions. There is also a serious safety issue if the driver cannot be warned of a crash ahead. Let them have the coms and let everyone listen in, including the TV. This would increase the fan involvement and make it a bit more interesting.
Brian H, England

Hooray! Finally its going to be real racing again. I am now really looking forward to the next season. The last one was SO dull I turned off and I've been an avid follower for a couple of decades. This really is back to the driver and car. Removing these items will allow real racing, lots more manoeuvres and some overtaking again. All we need now is Mika! Please comeback now!
Iain Ferguson, UK