2017 Rules. The Compromise From The Incompetent
So the 2017 rules have been discussed and have been sent to be rubber stamped for approval by the World Motorsport Council. The cars will now only be 3 seconds faster than the current crop.
This is the 'McLaren' proposal which received a majority vote and was decided to be better than the more revolutionary vision because it gives Pirelli more of a chance to get the tyres right. Of course that as long as they can come to a significant agreement regarding some tyre testing! (Queue the next round of arguments.)
The cars will however 'look nicer' and be ' a bit faster' but only time will tell what that really means. Faster F1 doesn't necessarily mean a more competitive F1.
So then we move onto some new Qualifying rules, set to be ratified for use immediately in 2016. This is an elimination format in which all cars will set times and the slowest get eliminated. This could be quite good fun and set us up for some shock eliminations BUT it is a damn site more complicated than the current system, and alienating the casual viewer is never a good thing!
How this works in more detail:
Q1
-16 minutes duration;
- After 7 minutes, the slowest driver is eliminated;
- Slowest driver eliminated every 1 minute 30 seconds thereafter until the chequered flag;
- 7 drivers eliminated, 15 progress to Q2.
Q2
- 15 minutes duration;
- After 6 minutes, slowest driver eliminated;
- Slowest driver eliminated every 1 minute 30 seconds thereafter until the chequered flag;
- 7 drivers eliminated, 8 progress to Q3.
Q3
- 14 minutes;
- After 5 minutes, slowest driver eliminated;
- Slowest driver eliminated every 1 minute 30 seconds thereafter until the chequered flag;
- 2 drivers left in final 1 minute 30 seconds.
Talk of success time penalty added to qualifying times to mix up the grid was discussed but not thought to have been passed, as was an increase in the 100kg race fuel limit.
We must wait until the formal notifications come through. But at the moment it seems like the blind leading the blind and a massive opportunity missed to make F1 unmissable.
