Get ready for better Merc
EPIC STRUGGLE AWAITS IN FRANCE – BUT F1 SET TO BECOME A GLOBAL TOURIST BUREAU F1 chief Carey wants places where people see it on TV, and decide to visit it.
Last Sunday, Ferrari’s engine updates certainly provided the extra power required to compete with Mercedes during the Canadian F1 Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel’s pole position and his subsequent dominance on race day was proof positive as he took victory and regained the driver’s championship by one point from Lewis Hamilton.
But one must put it into perspective. The French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard should see the introduction of Mercedes’ engine upgrades, delayed prior to Canada due to quality control issues.
This could result in an epic struggle between Maranello and Brackley. One hopes so, as Montreal was no classic, becoming processional after the early laps.
Behind the scenes the quest for a new, improved F1 continues. F1 chief Chase Carey, after the rather boring Monaco Grand Prix, stated that any new venue must provide great racing.
An admirable ambition, but I am not sure his solution is the panacea to ensure future F1 racing has you on the edge of your seat.
Carey was reported as saying: “To start we want a track that will deliver a fabulous, exciting race. Second, we want a site that is going to capture the world’s imagination.”
He continued: “We are in the great cities around the world. We use the phrase ‘destination cities’, in places where people see it on TV, think it looks spectacular and might decide to visit it.
“We want those magical cities and magical countries that really intrigue and fascinate the world.”
So, F1 is set to become a global tourist bureau with a few car races attached.
Oh, dear. This indicates a move to more street circuits, an idea receiving support from prolific track designer Hermann Tilke.
The German engineer has been involved in upgrades to many circuits and is responsible for the design of new tracks including Shanghai, Sepang, Bahrain, Yas Marina, Korea, Istanbul, Buddh and Circuit of the Americas.
Tilke has voiced his support for Carey to put F1 into cities, with Miami and Hanoi almost on the calendar and Copenhagen on the not so distant horizon.
He is reported as saying. “The trend of going to the city tracks is really good for professional sport with the idea behind it unique.”
He explained that the tracks we design today are built to be used by many different types of driver, starting with young and old amateurs who wish to experience some form of motorsport or just to get behind the wheel of a performance car in a safe environment.
For circuit owners this is an essential criterion to ensure financial viability.
Therefore the track has to be a compromise to cater for all activities and does not offer the challenge F1 drivers should be facing on street circuits.
He commented. “For instance Baku is a track built only for professional drivers. You could never have strictly amateur drivers on this track and that makes a difference.
“The investor of a permanent track wants to use a track for everybody, not only F1.”
Now, according to these statements only street circuits can of- fer F1 racing at its best, when generally they have been unpopular and over the years dropped from the calendar.
I have ascertained that since the inception of F1 in 1950 the sport has utilized 71 circuits around the world and of those only 15 were true street circuits, not to be confused with road circuits such as Spa, Sebring and Sochi.
A properly designed circuit surely offers the best driving experience for all.
An amateur lapping Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in just over three minutes will be delighted with his time, but an F1 driver lapping at just under 1 minute 11 seconds pushes himself to the limit to gain that extra fraction of a second on every subsequent lap. Is that not challenging? So, pushing to the limit on tracks where walls wait to punish one slight error and safety cars proliferate seems the future of the sport.
Then, how did we ever enjoy F1 that was mainly limited to circuits offering high speed straights, challenging sweeping bends and hairpins with nothing but a catch fence or gravel trap to put a driver out of contention?
In my book, the sight of cars battling it out though Raidillon Eau Rouge is more demonstrative of F1 than skimming stone walls.
Right now we have Monaco, Singapore, Baku and Albert Park, Melbourne.
But if the powers that be have their way, classic tracks could be replaced by city centres in the search for better racing or perhaps a better bottom line on the annual financial report of Liberty.
Discussions have already suggested shorter races, less practice, qualifying becoming a sprint race and a general streamlining of the F1 weekend .
All to make it more attractive to the under 30 age group, who previously have shown no interest.
It may work, but for every new devotee captured the sport is liable to lose an equal, if not greater, number of current followers.
Recent changes to the sport have already resulted in a drop in television viewership.
Surely retaining fans is equally as important as attracting new ones?