Briatore back in F1

[woof]

Well not quite but it's only a matter of time
Ex-F1 team boss Flavio Briatore to sit on popularity working group:
Former Formula 1 team boss Flavio Briatore is to be involved in a new working group being set up by Bernie Ecclestone to looks at ways of making the sport more popular.

I would imagine knowing Flav he'll suggest throwing a lot of drugs and booze at the situation


http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/115160

[Crafty_]

According to Adam Cooper one of the teams suggested Briatore and Bernie went with it. I wonder if said team had their palm greased

Bernie has suggested success ballast, allegedly the teams responded positively - I can't imagine the fans will for a second. IMHO its a bad move.

I think the only thing missing from "the show" is some more interactivity - NASCAR fans get to pick whichever camera they want to view (there is one in every car + others trackside) and listen to team radio all online. NASCAR are working on more stuff like this, potentially even telemetry being available. Pretty much upstages F1 in the tech stakes completely.

[mattikake]

Reverse grid 2nd race. I've not seen this work badly in any other formula in terms of racing, stopping runaway leaders and still enabling the best driver/team to shine.

[FourWheelDrift]

Crafty_ said:

According to Adam Cooper one of the teams suggested Briatore and Bernie went with it. I wonder if said team had their palm greased

Probably the same team that told Brundle they had asked to remove the legs of drivers to reduce weight.

Sometimes the jokes backfire.

[Silent1]

mattikake said:

Reverse grid 2nd race. I've not seen this work badly in any other formula in terms of racing, stopping runaway leaders and still enabling the best driver/team to shine.

that works in bumper cars, but then i guess that's part of the F1 fun...

[Vaud]

Crafty_ said:

According to Adam Cooper one of the teams suggested Briatore and Bernie went with it. I wonder if said team had their palm greased

Bernie has suggested success ballast, allegedly the teams responded positively - I can't imagine the fans will for a second. IMHO its a bad move.

I think the only thing missing from "the show" is some more interactivity - NASCAR fans get to pick whichever camera they want to view (there is one in every car + others trackside) and listen to team radio all online. NASCAR are working on more stuff like this, potentially even telemetry being available. Pretty much upstages F1 in the tech stakes completely.

My ideas..

A point (or more) for pole and for fastest lap.

Better access at the events to drivers and teams - pit lane walk, etc - or make it affordable for people to do a pit lane walk for a Thursday or Friday, not just paddock club.

Or how about a better pre-race event? Friday 15 lap sprint race in identical saloon cars, rotate manufacturers, a bit like the Mercedes 190 (?) event in 1984. Random grid, or even reverse to championship order. Low risk to teams, could be great for adding value to a Friday ticket.

Obvious rule changes to further reduce aero. I'd consider a reduction in the variables a driver can adjust. Maybe ban car to pit telemetry or reduce the variables that can be sent.

One set of super sticky qualifying tyres per race - plus if you don't use them in quali, you can use them in the race.

Return of T cars. They carry all the bits to make up a spare car anyway - so allow one to be pre built; I don't see the cost saving.

Return of Kangaroo TV. Losing that was just stupid.

[A500leroy]

How about not charging 200 quid for a ticket, that may help

[Vaud]

A500leroy said:

How about not charging 200 quid for a ticket, that may help

€80 for a General Admission to the Italian GP on race day.

[007 VXR]

Vaud said:

A500leroy said:

How about not charging 200 quid for a ticket, that may help

€80 for a General Admission to the Italian GP on race day.

£99 for Hungary weekend pass last year

[Vaud]

007 VXR said:

£99 for Hungary weekend pass last year

Awesome, that is good value. I have a mate in Budapest, I might go next year. Flights for £100, ticket £100, bit of nice food and drink... £300 for a long weekend.

How was the view? Was it concrete bleachers like Monza or grab a space on a banking and take a coolbox?

[woof]

At the track:
Better access to the teams and drivers for all.
(use Nascar as the model)
Points for fastest laps / Pole
Tyres - produce tyres that provide less grip but last.
Fuel - allow cars to run more fuel
Fanvision/Kangaroo TV
More coverage for the support races.
Drivers allowed to have a personality and cheer up in the press conferences !

Off track.
Embrace social media.
Integrated coverage, web, TV
Ideally provide free to view coverage.

[The Hypno-Toad]

Words fking fail me.

What a brilliant idea. Lets get someone was actually convicted of fixing a fking race in to make the sport more popular.

Success ballast? Why...why...that's genius!!!
I mean because lets face it, its only the meant to be the pinnacle of world motorsport, where billions are spent to make the fastest car, where manufacturers are trying their hardest to put reflective glory onto their roadcars by... lets see now... Oh I remember, by winning!

So now a poison dwarf and his fat pig faced crony (who remember was banned from F1 for LIFE at one point.) will decide how much weight you have to lug around in order to stop it becoming boring.

Just fk off Bernie. This joke isn't funny anymore.

[007 VXR]

Vaud said:

007 VXR said:

£99 for Hungary weekend pass last year

Awesome, that is good value. I have a mate in Budapest, I might go next year. Flights for £100, ticket £100, bit of nice food and drink... £300 for a long weekend.

How was the view? Was it concrete bleachers like Monza or grab a space on a banking and take a coolbox?

On the grass bank by the last bend, Massive TV in front of us too. Took the wife and my boy, 11 nights 5 star hotel with breakfast, Flights and tickets £1200 for all 3 of us, Was a great summer holiday

[Crafty_]

Vaud said:

My ideas..

A point (or more) for pole and for fastest lap.

Better access at the events to drivers and teams - pit lane walk, etc - or make it affordable for people to do a pit lane walk for a Thursday or Friday, not just paddock club.

Or how about a better pre-race event? Friday 15 lap sprint race in identical saloon cars, rotate manufacturers, a bit like the Mercedes 190 (?) event in 1984. Random grid, or even reverse to championship order. Low risk to teams, could be great for adding value to a Friday ticket.

Obvious rule changes to further reduce aero. I'd consider a reduction in the variables a driver can adjust. Maybe ban car to pit telemetry or reduce the variables that can be sent.

One set of super sticky qualifying tyres per race - plus if you don't use them in quali, you can use them in the race.

Return of T cars. They carry all the bits to make up a spare car anyway - so allow one to be pre built; I don't see the cost saving.

Return of Kangaroo TV. Losing that was just stupid.

I like most of these. The saloon car thing is easy - engine manufacturers supply a car, so renault give them a megane, Merc an A-Class, Ferrari have to borrow a fiat from group.. you can have (say) 300hp, 2 wheel drive only. Grid picked from a hat. More road relevance.

Totally agree on the T car thing, the irony is right now a bunch of Merc mechanics are screwing together a spare tub to make Lewis a car and probably using a curfew joker to do so. If they had a T car they could have all left the track hours ago. Curfew was only implemented so mechanics don't have to work all hours of a race weekend.. doh!

[Vaud]

Crafty_ said:

I like most of these. The saloon car thing is easy - engine manufacturers supply a car, so renault give them a megane, Merc an A-Class, Ferrari have to borrow a fiat from group.. you can have (say) 300hp, 2 wheel drive only. Grid picked from a hat. More road relevance.

Totally agree on the T car thing, the irony is right now a bunch of Merc mechanics are screwing together a spare tub to make Lewis a car and probably using a curfew joker to do so. If they had a T car they could have all left the track hours ago. Curfew was only implemented so mechanics don't have to work all hours of a race weekend.. doh!

Agreed. The saloon car idea is fun - would also allow countries like India and Korea to position local manufacturers for even better relevance to their local market... might have helped political sponsorship.

I wouldn't mind if Ferrari were allowed to put, say, a Maserati in for Monza.

[andyps]

Bernie doesn't care about people at the track, he makes no money directly from them.

He does care about people watching TV as he can charge more if more people watch. But he has got too greedy and by asking so much only subscription channels can pay his fees (witness Sky v BBC) the audience has been reduced. teams and sponsors don't like that as they get less exposure. So the simple answer Bernie is to stop being so greedy and allow people to watch on free to air.

And at the same time, hopefully that would mean that traditional circuits (the ones which generally produce good races people want to see) wouldn't have to pay as much and therefore entry to watch live would be cheaper.

Geese and golden eggs come to mind.