I wasnât saying to race the same as BTCC. Just chop up the starting grid
If you think F1 needs daft stuff like success ballast you are watching the wrong type of motor sport. You can find balance of performance stuff, reverse grids and similar pantomime stuff elsewhere. Periods of domination by one team arenât new and while there is much that can and should be done to improve F1 (primarily less aero and more racing in its European heartland) I donât want to see it reduced to BTCC type family entertainment.
I wonder what cars and development would be like if we got away from making tracks faster, wider, smoother with enormous âno punishmentâ run off areas to accommodate the evolution of the F1 cars as upside down piston engine aeroplanes. Increased ride height? Less downforce as a result. Choice of lines through âbumpy cornersâ.
In MotoGP they have a very wide line laned off on some corners, and riders are given âlong lapâ penalties where they must ride this line when they have infringed some rule or another. This costs the rider several seconds and has immediate on track impact. Much better than the lottery of a start go, or adding the time on at the end of the race like they do in F1.
So how about automatic penalty for every âTrack limitsâ infringement? No stewards investigating, simply an automated system.
Just for fun Sundayâs race result,
1, Bottas
2 Hamilton
3 Verstappen
Sorry - have to go for,
- Hamilton
- Bottas
- Verstappen
Unless there is an outside influence (crash, tyre issues etc) I cannot see another result⌠however I would like to see Verstappen win.
Remember, no party mode in qualifying this weekend. How about verstappen on pole, and staying there for the race. Perez punts Hamilton off the track on the first couple of laps, Bottas finishes second and Sainz for third.
1 Verstappen
2 Bottas
3 Sainz
I think there are some very un-patriotic comments entering this thread. Hopefully they are just meant in fun.
Lewis Hamilton, being a Brit, should be applauded for what he has achieved in F1, and we should all wish him well, and all the best fortune, in his efforts to win as meany races as he can, and break Schumacherâs record - and break as many other records as he can in doing so.
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Hear, hear!!! 
Well said Chris!
Or you could watch the entire field as opposed to just the 3 at the front. LH wins all the time because as currently the best F1 driver, he naturally gets to drive the best car from the best team. Itâs in the nature of the sport (see Schumi or Vettelâs runs) and not much can be done about it.
However, race after race, a lot of very interesting action happens in the midfield, which is super close, with many changes of leads and uncertainty in the constructor championship (including with Ferrari struggles).
In addition, there are many interesting technological aspects to how the car/driver/team races; with choices on tires/strategy/downforce/luck with SCâŚGasly race in Belgium being a good example; or the Renault tracking down Albon with an overtake right at the very end for Ocon, but Norris missing out by a lap or two on doing the same, or even Hamilton winning on 3 wheels thanks to being super kind to his tires.
I, for one, enjoy F1 very much. I seems to me that all those crying about F1 being too boring right now are not true F1 fans. So itâs good. True Ferrari fans wonât stop being Ferrari fans just because of the current bad spell for their team. Thatâs true love. Similarly, true F1 fans will enjoy watching history being made by LH (already most successful British driver ever and soon to be most successful F1 driver ever) and enjoy his brilliance and be grateful that they lived through that era whilst at the same enjoying all the intrigue (Albon vs Gasly at Red Bull? Where for Vettel? Alonso back! McLaren / Renault resurgence? Will Williams finally surge again?..) and related midfield battles, not to mention the challenge of tackling modern social issues for F1 (when will we have other Asian, Black, Female, etcâŚsuper skilled F1 racing drivers on the grid? That would add even more intrigue & tension, which would be super fun to watch !!! kudo to LH btw for at least trying to tackle this head-on).
And even better, hopefully new regulations for 2021 & 2022 & even more tracks (and hopefully back-to-backs) will make racing even closer, more hectic and shake up the order even more.
I wouldnât change a thing.
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Without tire strategy playing a part, there would be even less drama/overtakes as the fastest car would simply start in front of the slower ones and just more or less maintain that advantage throughout the race. Except for big driving mistakes, which wonât happen often because drivers will all quickly adapt by adopting a slightly more conservative driving style in key parts of the lap.
Thatâs why F1 specifically for tires that are not as good as they could be. For the extra show.
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Maybe removing the top 10 limit on fastest lap and making it worth 10 points could shake it up a little?!
I do like the idea of having the fastest drivers/cars start at the back. It is better for the spectators, as they get to see overtaking and I am sure it would be more fun for the drivers. They are racers and it must be boring starting at the front and the only overtakes are back markers, who have to move out of your way anyway. It would be a level playing field as to win the championship you would have to start at the back any driver would have to do more overtaking. You would not win the championship without having to go through this process, so it could not be seen as âunfairâ. It would only be an issue if the points were awarded for a driver that consistently started mid table and finished mid table. Therefore there needs to be a points structure where you benefit more from overtaking. Perhaps you could get 2 points per position you finish higher than you start? This would also incentivise the drivers to start as far back as possible as they would have more available points.
You are right of course. But until Gordon Murray reinvented the planned pit stop in 1982 we had overtaking on track , not the oxymoron that is overtaking by pit stop algorithm. The current tyre regime is a bad joke and an awful advert for Michelin .
Re the charge of being âunpatrioticâ elsewhere I had to laugh. One of the reasons I fell in love with motor racing in 1967 was its lack of tribalism and overt displays of nationalism. I couldnât care less who wins as long as the race is good and what little favouritism I do have features an Italian team and an Austrian driver ⌠The driver for whom I had the least time out of the cockpit was from the West Midlands - but on his day he was mesmerising on track. One of my happier memories was being in the grandstand at Acqua Minerale (Imola ), surrounded by a sea of Ferrari tifosi who could not have made two Brits more welcome.
ETA - I have seen overt nationalism twice at Grands Prix (I donât include the tifosi, as they cheer the team , not the country ) and it wasnât an edifying spectacle. The near riot at Brands in 1976 , when a day already feverish with Hunt hysteria degenerated into a farce when he wasnât allowed to restart . The brave public school Brit against the dastardly Austrian ubermensch, as the tabloids portrayed it, if not in as many words. But the real disgrace was Silverstone in th late 80s and early 90s , when some Mansell fans, wrapped up in their silly Union Jack garb , were screaming obsceneties at Senna every single lap , thanks to The Soaraway Sunâs xenophobic copy. Include me out .
Hitler was very good at it of course with the mighty Auto Unions and Mercedes steamrolling the opposition in the Thirties , thanks to huge budgets . And how ironic one of the Silver Arrows drivers back then was Richard Seaman âŚ
And Stirling Moss in Mercâs in the '50âs. Winning combinations - British drivers in German cars???
The guy from the West Midlands I presume was the one with a moustache? I agree he was not one of lifes great characters, but I too remember him doing a qualifying lap at Silverstone in his yellow/blue/white Williams and it is one of the most memorable laps, as he was just demolishing the track⌠The fact that I still clearly remember its effect on me many years later shows how good it was.
Moss in the Mercedes indeed. I have recently reviewed Richard Williamsâ excellent book on Seaman, who drove for the Nazi patrty funded Mercedes team from 1937 until his death in '39. As wasnât unusual at the time , and in his British upper class circles , Seaman was no stranger to anti semitism , if not the ghastly manifestion it was to take in the war.
So how interesting that Mossâs father was Jewish , and the fact Stirling was racing in a German car only a decade after the Holocaust bears testament to how motorsport post war transcended politics and history .
Back to Mansell - I recall being literally speechless at his pace in 1992 at Stowe in the all conquering FW14B , apparently over 30 mph faster than team mate Patrese. Almost as good as Rosberg in 1985 , again in a Williams , but this time with 1200bhp , getting pole . In light drizzle , with a slightly deflating tyre and an average of 160.9 mph. The single best lap I have ever witnessed from trackside
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Current tyres are Pirelli or at least they were yesterdayâŚ
True- it just shows how fascinating they are, that I canât even remember who is responsible for making the current joke rubber.
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Shares in Durex perhaps.
Ultra thin, a burst can be tragic, and they make blokes go where sometimes they ought not to go.
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What a sad day for F1 
as the Williams family leave the sport. For myself it was never about supporting a British driver they come and go. It was about supporting a great British Team and I for one am sad to see Frank and Clare leave the Paddock. Racing without them will never be the same. Best wishes for their future. 