JV's modest proposal

[eatapc]

Jacques Villeneuve has a great idea for Max, Bernie & the team bosses when they meet on March 19th to discuss cost reduction proposals. Too much testing is driving up the cost of F1 racing without adding any revenue to compensate, so JV has gotten behind a brilliantly simple idea: Less testing, more racing.

Says JV: "More races and less testing would mean the same mileage on the cars and the same costs, but more publicity and more fun for everyone. ... I think the idea of a two-day weekend is great. If that was the case I would like to see 25 races a year. ... We have too much testing and not enough racing. We could have three races a month and then two weeks off -- three races in a row then 10 days off with no testing. It would be better for sponsors because they don't get any publicity out of testing. The place they get it is from racing and the television coverage."

Sounds good to me. What's the downside?

[Mekola]

Well for JV! (More if can interest the businessmen...)

[Ray Bell]

They have to put it on the line without any chance to hone it in secret... that's the downside...

But it would introduce a kind of wildcard element that would be nice.

[Jay]

I like it! Although 25 maybea bit ambitious, I agree that there is waaaaaayyyyy too much testing....and not enough racing.

[Valve Bounce]

I love it. I read with dismay the incredible long tests that Williams have carried out, and all necessary because Ferrari are also carrying out intensive testing at two different tracks on two different models of F1 cars at the same time. The costs of this testing, plus the prangs involved, must be prohibitive, and provides no returns from spectators. I mean, who believes that it is necessary for three cars to be tested at the same time? It's crazy and extremely costly. Let's have more races and less testing. And if the drivers think that's too much wotk, then let's see the test drivers do some racing as well. Allow each driver to drive in two consecutive races to be followed by one week off. That way, the test drivers will also get to drive

[Ray Bell]

Along with the plot, they should be allowed more practice laps at the races... that will help with the testing.

[Bibendum]

This, in combination with a revamped points system (points further down the field), would be fabulous, I think. Valve Bounce's idea seems to me a very smart complement to JV's -- more drivers, more chances, more interesting mixes. On the other hand, that would make the championship rather more complex, to say the least.

One thing is for certain -- this seems to show, if anyone was in any doubt, that despite all the setbacks at BAR with mediocre cars and years without a chance of reproducing his championship, JV still wants to go racing. I admire him for that, and for his imaginative idea.

[Ray Bell]

A very good point...

By the way, would it matter if the Championship, because of added complication, took back stage to individual race results?

[Valve Bounce]

The championship shouldn't really suffer because all the top drivers get to race the same number of times anyway with my idea. I only thought of this when I consider the number of good drivers like Luca badoer, Alex Wurz, Mark Gene, Fernando Alonso who would just love to get on the racetrack. This would give manymore drivers a crack at F1

[Don K]

Originally posted by eatapc
Says JV: "More races and less testing would mean the same mileage on the cars and the same costs, but more publicity and more fun for everyone. ... I think the idea of a two-day weekend is great. If that was the case I would like to see 25 races a year. ... We have too much testing and not enough racing. We could have three races a month and then two weeks off -- three races in a row then 10 days off with no testing. It would be better for sponsors because they don't get any publicity out of testing. The place they get it is from racing and the television coverage."

Sounds good to me. What's the downside?

Well, first let's try to find out what he means when he says "3 races and two weeks off".

At this moment, we are having one race every two weeks.
If Jacques means to have 3 races every 5 weeks, we would have to add 2 months to the season ... So that's probably not what he means.
From this point on, let's assume he means to have oneraceless weekend after every three race-weekends.

In the present situation, I would expect the cars to return to the factory on the tuesday after the race (give or take a day), and to leave the factory on the wednesday before the race (give or take a day).
So in the new scheme there would be absolutely no time to repair or adjust cars between the 3 races. And during the "two weeks off", the guys at the factory would have one week to make the repairs and/or adjustments that are needed because of the previous three weeks.

For the crew, this new scheme would mean that they have a 3-race block of 24-28 days continuous hard labour, followed by 0-3 days off, followed by a block of 24-28 days labour, ...

In the present scheme, during the teams should have about 2 weeks of testing per months, meaning they can keep on improving the cars during he season.
In the new scheme, this would be limited to one week of testing per month, simultaneous with the half week off for the crew, more or less simultaneous with above-mentioned one week of very hard work in the factory.

In the present scheme, I guess new drivers and new teams have about 6 hours to find the correct settings for the circuit. Besides, in many cases there has been a possibility to practice on that same circuit earlier in the season.
In the future situation, they would only have saturday morning to do this, with effectually no chance to practice on that circuit earlier that season.

----------------------------

I think this new scheme would lead to all "rich" teams having a double set (6-8) of racing cars. They would send a specialised testing team (with possibly 3-4 non-racing drivers) to the tests.

So I'm afraid this new scheme would lead to the poorer teams quickly falling behind, and lots of very talented drivers ending up in the test-teams of the richer teams.

As a side effect, this might lead the racing drivers to become lazy, as they wouldn't have any testing obligations.
And it would lead to the guys that are doing the hard work getting even less coverage than now.

[Valve Bounce]

Well, you could ban testing during the 3 weeks, arrange practice, quals and race over two days only. What I imagined from JV's proposal was that theteams use the races to improve the cars rather than extensive testing mileage. Everybody would be on the same restrictions so that testing during the racing season would be minimised, teams would use practice to improve the cars and set the cars up for quals and races. The idea is to let the customers get more viewing of races, and cut down on those extremely long and costly testing sessions that nobody pays much for.
Donk, try to come up with a working programme for this, OK? If we have 3 races every 5 weeks, we could run through 24 races in 36 weeks. That leaves an 18 week break left in the year with no races. Maybe if you adjusted things around a bit, it might make more sense. The idea is to reduce the number of days of tsting by utilising practice and even quals and races to improve the cars, just like they used to.

[Coach44]

I like the idea very much. What do they do now? After a race they pack up and head to a testing ground to normally test for 2-3 days. Instead ban testing and go racing. Here's a calendar for 25 races, if you want more testing/practice the weekend could be made a three day affair with more practices.

Race 1 01-02 March 2003
Race 2 08-09 March 2003
Race 3 15-16 March 2003
Break (12 Days)
Race 4 29-30 March 2003
Race 5 5-6 April 2003
Race 6 12-13 April 2003
Break (12 Days)
Race 7 26-27 April 2003
Race 8 3-4 May 2003
Race 9 10-11 May 2003
Long Break (19 Days)
Race 10 31 May-01 June 2003
Race 11 7-8 June 2003
Race 12 14-15 June 2003
Break (12 Days)
Race 13 28-29 June 2003
Race 14 5-6 July 2003
Race 15 12-13 July 2003
Break (12 Days)
Race 16 26-27 July 2003
Race 17 2-3 Aug 2003
Race 18 9-10 Aug 2003
Long Break (19 Days)
Race 19 30-31 Aug 2003
Race 20 6-7 Sept 2003
Race 21 13-14 Sept 2003
Break (12 Days)
Race 22 27-28 Sept 2003
Race 23 4-5 Oct 2003
Race 24 11-12 Oct 2003
Break
Race 25 25-26 Oct 2003 (End of season)

[ljakse]

That's what I would call a true racing spirit, and I wouldn't expect anything less from Mr. Villeneuve.

Love it!!!

[Glen]

JV famously dislikes testing, so this is hardly surprising!

Trulli has suggested that the whole thing be decided on qualifying, with no races.

Ralf has proposed points awarded for silliest comment - Eddie is seconding that proposal.

Alex Yoong believes that extra miles through the gravel and over the grass should count.

Any others?

[Bononi]

I agree with Don K.

The small teams will vanish... they don't do tests at all.

...or...

The top teams will all have a second custom team like Sauber-Ferrari.

[Maxmil]

Seems to me that the only way you are going to shorten the race weekend is to face up to qualifying Sunday morning and racing in the afternoon. This sounds difficult, but it is standard procedure in amateur racing at least in my country. Assuming the car does not get bent in qualifying, the biggest job the team would face is to change an engine. If the races were started at 15:00 instead of 14:00 this would help ease the pressure. This way we could have extended practice/testing - three sessions - on Saturday, qualifying early Sunday and then a mid-afternoon, or late-afternoon race. As for scheduling races, I think 2 weeks on and two weeks off would work better. That should give us twenty races and a three months break. Let them test for thirty days before the season starts, but then no more except on race weekend Saturdays.

:dog:

[Mania]

Jacques just wants to spend more time at the ballet than on testing. There should be some testing for sure during the season - and they can get rid of friday practice if they want and replace it with an extra hour for practice on Saturday. But thats it. They may add a race in South Africa and one from Asia in the calendar but 25 races is a bit too optimistic.

[Mantis13]

I think the idea of two day race weekends is a very good one. And as a fan of f1 the more races the better.

[Liz]

The only problem I see with two day race weekends is that they would still charge us for three days.

Didn't Ralf say something about laps through the air should count extra for artistic impression?

And what about points for Mr. Congeniality? Or Mr. Anti-Congeniality, that is the one guy who makes the most lists of "Worst Teammate I Have Ever Had"?

Nick Heidfeld suggests the "He Got My Drive" award, which would be a bunch of sour grapes, to the driver who most often says or intimates that someone else has a drive he was entitled to. (At present I hear this is a dead heat between Heidfeld and Wurz).

And what about the "Let Me By Dammit" award for the driver who most often epitomizes the belief that overtaking should be done by subpoena, team orders, or who can throw the biggest temper tantrum? (I think DC is leading in this one, but there are a small but growing group coming up fast.)

[1000HP]

Everything is fine the way it is!

[DNQ]

Glad to see JV is thinking straight....F1 NEEDS to cut costs, if it wants to survive long term. 25 races is too many, but I think 20 is not too much to ask, if the calendar is thought out correctly. I mean, why for example, are the Canadian and US GP's so far apart? And Malaysia and Japan for example. Why not have them back to back, have bigger breaks between races and reduce testing...cheaper, more racing, less testing, more days off, more sponsorship money...No flaws with that plan, sounds great.

[f1manoz]

20 races in a year is a perfect idea. Some of those countries desperate to stage a race now may be able to get one, without having to sacrifice a couple of European races which in no way deserve to be booted.

DNQ has the perfect example of how daft the FIA can be by the calender fixture. Back in the late 80s, the F1 tour did a North American tour - Mexico, Canada, USA while Japan and Australia finished the year. Nowadays we've got races all over the place - Canada mid year, USA and Japan ending, Australia-Malaysia-Brazil???

If the FIA did it right, 20 races could easily be fit into the year, and with a restriction on testing during the season (lets say none), it would be perfect for everyone.

[EERO]

Ozman, when the USGP was slated to return to the schedule, Bernie wanted a June race, right after Montreal, but Tony "The Focus of all Evil" George felt that the date was too close to the traditional date of the Indy 500.

I think you are right though, 20 races sounds about right. 25 would be too many. I also would like to limit testing and if they were to go to 2 day race weekends, then all day Saturday would have to be practice/qualifying.
I think JV is on the right track though.

[Nicholas]

I don't know why they don't just limit the number of test cars per test to something like one or two. That would help reduce costs wouldn't it?

[mariov]

Sounds good to me, cut out all testeing durring the testing.
Increase the number of races.

Help the small teams by restricting to one engine per race, by standerdizing parts...like brakes, shocks ect ect

And increase the amount of cars to 32 like in the 70, and we have got some racing on our hands.