Here Are All The Ways You Would Fix Formula 1 If You Had The Power

Have Formula 1 fans ever been happy? Do they find joy in life, or just more reasons to complain? I've been following F1 for about 25 years and I don't think I've ever seen a season that didn't leave the fans howling for some change or another to happen. Over the weekend I asked the Jalopnik commentariat to weigh in on how they would modify the F1 rulebook if they were given ultimate control over the sport for a day. Their answers did not disappoint. 

The nature of the sport tends to be that one team finds an advantage that others didn't and they have to work all season to maintain that advantage. Passing has been difficult in this series since before I started watching, and worsened as the cars got bigger, longer, and heavier. More than anything, though, F1 fans love to kvetch about how these cars sound. The current turbocharged V6 doesn't cause hearing damage every lap, so naturally the fans are upset about that. 

Most of the answers to my query boiled down to good ideas, ideas that were almost there but not quite, and truly awful ideas. It might be harder to find a rulebook that appeals to every F1 fan out there than it would be to ensure global peace. Maybe F1 should stop trying to dumb down its on-track product in an effort to make everyone happy and just focus on ways to make the racing better. In my opinion, that begins and ends with having good cars and better drivers.

There are so many ways to improve the pinnacle of open-wheel racing that we haven't even touched on here. If you have input, or didn't get an opportunity to answer this question when it came around the first time, jump in the comments and let us know. Let's dig in. 

I'd give the teams more technical freedom under a budget cap. I'd make B teams illegal. I would allow for more testing but not the 24/7 stuff we saw in the 1990s. I'd bring back the tire wars but tire companies would not be allowed to make a tire for only one team. I'm sure I could think of other things...that's just a start.

Suggested by Music Teacher 17

This is a really good start. Technical freedom is a great one, especially as it would see some cars making their lap time in a completely different way from other competitors, so you could see some really good on-track battles. Good start. 

One new rule: if there is a safety car with five laps or less to go, it's an automatic red flag. This would negate the "some cars dash to the pits for new tires but don't have time to use them" problem, and would eliminate the possibility of ending a race under the safety car. Red flag, everybody pits, everybody gets fresh(er) tires, and you get an exciting dash to the end.

Suggested by Evildad

The fact that this wasn't 100% clarified after the sham that was the 2021 season finale, I still can't comprehend. Honestly, I think allowing teams to work on their cars during red flags is the bigger concern. 

My current kick is what I call '1000hp Formula Ford.'

Obviously I don't mean that literally, but the intent is definitely a car with more power than grip. More than you can really use. Maybe that's 500, and not 1000. No wings.

Much longer braking distances, for sure.

I want them to be fast, but difficult, so you can see the skill needed to drive them well.

Suggested by Poorsche

Unsurprisingly, I absolutely love this. F1 cars should be laying strips of rubber on the ground at every corner exit, and the drivers should be fighting the controls to keep the car pointed in a straight line. That's when wheel-to-wheel racing is at its best. More power, less grip, good racing. You'll see who the seriously talented drivers are immediately.

Bring back fueling during pitstops. Teams can use different fuel loads at different parts of the race. This will increase strategies from the pit boxes.

Suggested by Angel Rivera

I couldn't agree more. Sports car teams and IndyCar squads with smaller budgets manage to run refueling pit stops safely hundreds of times per season. F1 could easily slow down its pit stops and require a standardized safety interlock for fuel rigs. The cars would be lighter and smaller if they didn't have to carry a full race load of fuel. Tire wear would be less of a problem, and strategy would be even more important. This should have been implemented years ago. 

Overall smaller car, no engine capacity or type limit, but limit the amount of the fuel available per race weekend (conversion calculated for diesel, electric, nuclear or exlazer, whatever). No little detail legal languages on the aero but set the maximum surface area allowed on a car. There are other things, but this is where I'd start.

Suggested by JBJB

A smaller car is a given, the current cars are just too big. You could do the fuel limits by restricting races to a certain number of kilowatt hours of energy deployment, and the fuel source wouldn't matter. I don't dislike the surface area rule, but I worry about the ways it could be gamed. Maybe that's the point. 

Go back to naturally aspirated V12s. Let the drivers race. Also, put the races on for free on Youtube so I can actually watch them.

Suggested by ChaosphereVIII

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the problem with F1 isn't its powertrain. Apple TV is good, actually, and it's worth the $12.99 per month. 

Require all of them to install drone capabilities and give them missiles also make it on the moon.

Suggested by Russell Garcia

I don't hate this, but the logistics are a nightmare. 

1) No more B teams

2) More variables as others have mentioned. Allow each team to choose V10, V8, V6 or V12 engines, up to 2l max for turbo, 3l for normally-aspirated

3) Make the cars smaller, like 2000 size. The current ones are too big and prevent overtaking

4) Fire that clown Hermann Tilke out of a cannon and get a real track designer who can make challenging circuits that allow for overtaking

5) Get rid of all of that energy recovery junk

6) Bring back Kyalami and other classic circuits (provided that they can be upgraded to spec)

Suggested by QADude

I agree that B teams should be banned. I do think, however, that factory teams should be allowed to run a third car if they choose, and smaller budget teams should be allowed to focus on one car instead of being forced into fielding two. 

Ban carbon brakes, ban the hybrid electric, enforce track limits. This will make the drivers drive the track, making many more passing opportunities.

Suggested by Jeff OBrien

Track limits are dumb and bad. If it's paved you should be allowed to race on it. If you don't want drivers putting a wheel there, make it gravel. Hybrids are good, actually, and make the cars significantly faster than internal combustion alone. Carbon brakes should be outlawed in general, for all racing and street applications. 

Three things

1. Cut amount of mechanics to service the car during a pit stop in half. No more three men per wheel and such and stops will get longer.

2. reduce front and rear wing size by 35%

3. shrink overall car size by 20%.

Suggested by monsterajr1

If you ask me, F1 teams should be aiming for 10 second pit stops instead of two seconds. Smaller wings will probably look ridiculous, I would personally go for a no-wing design to ensure the cars are too powerful and don't have a ton of downforce. 

Do away with regulations for engine like unlimited displacement, the way they did with Group 7

Suggested by Luc Desaulniers

Group 7 (Can Am and Interserie) collapsed in on itself within eight years because Porsche built a car nobody could catch. Speed increases as a function of dollars spent, and bigger engines won't make the sport cheaper, that's for sure. 

No point [in a budget cap].

Nascar has indirectly tried it. All that resulted was each of the mega teams having satellite teams.

If Ford, GM, Mercedes, etc want to spend a billion out of their budget on aero, another billion on horsepower, etc, f*** it, go for it.

Suggested by MustangIIMatt

A budget cap is nice for the sport, because spending just got way out of hand in recent years. This is already a sport that costs hundreds of millions of dollars to run. There has to be a cutoff point, or it'll just be the team that spends the most will win every year.

If it was just for 1 day: Replace every motor with a Honda D series, add a turbo, NOS, and a rattle can exhaust. Also, more decal stickers and everything that's hella flush, yo. Obligatory "VTEC kicked in!" from the announcers.

Suggested by Chantha Proeung

Could you tell me right quick what would be a better motor for my F1 car? A Gallo twelve or a Gallo twenty-four?