that would be too oldschool to me;)

I would say the opposite - the cars are too fast for the tracks. Put any other car than a F1 on a F1 track and it looks... very lonely. So should they invest billions to rebuild all the tracks, which in turn will allow them to build even faster cars, which will put the spectators even further from the track and make it even more difficult to use the track for any other form of racing? Or should they make the cars more suitable for the tracks they run on?

Im all for dramatically slowing the cars, but I don't think most fans would support it.

Reality is that if you make the tracks bigger, the sensation on TV is that it goes slower.

Well they aren't going to race on tracks where they have to slow down properly, and they won't slow the cars down. So it's hard to see how they're going to fix things. But alternate routes and no mirrors aren't going to create overtaking either so I think it's more of the same for the future.

What do you suggest then, tracks made of 2km long straights connected by hairpins?

i would have no problem with slowing the cars down if they still kept their amazing ability to change direction the way they do.
People keep on posting use steel disks but as has been said time after time steel disks are almost as effective as carbon now.
Do you limit the amount of braking a cars brakes can apply or do you limit the amount of traction the car has to the circuit.

Either will increase the braking distance.

But will increasing braking distances mean more overtaking or will it just mean all the cars slowing down in file but further away from the corner?
After all in the end there would still only be one quickest way round each corner.

They might be almost as effective when both are working on their optimum, but a steel brake would not be as predictable as a carbon ditto over a race distance. Carbon brakes, when they are heated up, will stay remarkably consistent until they break.

Sorry, there is only one of me and I have other things to do

I was asking Ross, not you.

They don't have much braking even for hairpins. What they need is a literally a ton less downforce.

I know, and that is what annoys me. People make plans and expect me to do all the work.

the problem is as we all well know how long do you really think it would be if steel was reintroduced before the teams developed them to a point when there was no difference?
I feel certain it would be weeks before they had steel disks working reliably and consistently into the 1000 degree range or developed a way to ensure they managed the envelope so their brakes were consistent.
The bottom line IMHO is that steel disks are not the way forward they would at best just put the teams back maybe a few months at best and then we would be right back where we are at right now.

edit add

So if they were to go the brake route the only realistic option would be yet more spec parts on F1 cars this time spec braking systems including disks, pads, callipers etc.
call me selfish but i dont want more spec parts in F1.

he is the only "hairpin" available
he's got other stuff to do than connect all the 2km long straights on all the circuits

Well in his picture he definitely looks like and R-Clip to me, nice picture of him and the wife I am assuming.

Then the problem can't be the tracks.





That totally woooooooshed over my head.

They can only punish people within the framework of the pre-agreed rules. Both incidents were in a grey area of the rules, and had lots to do with the actual wording of the rules. Lewis was weaving to prevent Petrov getting a tow, not blocking an overtake move. Not explicitly against the rules at the time. I can't remember the exact thing about the MSC move at Monaco, but from what I remember Mercedes interperated the wording one way, and the FIA said, 'No ! this is what we mean.'

The problem is the cars and the tracks. They don't match each other. If F1 is going to continue on this rules package or similar, the current tracks wont work.

there are some nice rumours for 2013 - more df from the floor, less from the wings would be nice!

Most 1979 F1 cars could overtake that.

They need to put F1 on ovals, with 2X number of cars, maybe a X-track with jumps and flaming hoops to promote wreckin'.
then Bernie will have finally cracked the US market.

That is not why overtaking is not happening, Hairpin.

The problem is that the cars cannot follow close enough to each other in order to make a pass. Basically the cars are making too much downforce, so when you get in the wake of another car, you lose a bit of downforce. Therefore you are slower through the corners and cannot get close enough to make a pass at the end of the straight.

The solution is twofold. The front wings need to be smaller and produce less downforce, and the diffusers need to be smaller to give off less wake. Another thing is that with these huge diffusers in the back you can run much more wing in the front than the OWG originally intended, and the car still will be balanced.

Personally I think they need to go back to a 1998 size front wing. Diffusers should be fine next year with the DDD ban.