Should F1 adopt F3 technical rules? Laptime v. racing?
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Originally Posted by Teretonga
(Post 4253652)
When the current regulations were written an overriding rule was that high speed (in terms of lap time) was essential, ...
[But] The cars can be smaller, lighter, nimbler, and you don't need as much runoff, so circuits can be much simpler and safer and the present-day track width issues will disappear, resulting in closer racing, more available lines, and easier overtaking. |
No one can deny that Formula 3 produces much better racing than Formula 1. The cars can follow closer, run side-by-side and (in theory) the series can race on circuits with lower safety grades and less run-off than F1 circuits (e.g., F3 can run at Macau which is even tighter and has even less runoff than Monaco).
But which is more important: laptime or close racing?
A) Laptime is more important and F1 cars should perform close to the current F1 cars, at least within 5s/lap of current laptimes.
B) F1 cars should be slower and have less downforce, +10s/lap, but it's ok if they remain large and 'powerful' (600+ hp) in line with F2 (795kg) and Indycar dimensions, weights & downforce, which are similar to F1 car weights. The 2026 cars will be the same basic dimensions as current F2 cars, around 10-20cm smaller in length and width, but still quite a large car (5.3m x 1.9m, down from 5.5m x 2.0m).
C) Close racing is more important and F1 cars should be very small and agile and perform similarly to F3 cars (<450hp), or even F Regional or F1 Academy cars (<200hp), as the racing is most important. +15/s to +25 lap on the laptime is perfectly acceptable.
Red Bull Ring lap time comparison for reference:
The F3 v. F2 v. F1 comparison from the grandstands:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6tVUYhtHn1o
[The current regulation F1 cars are noticeably faster than everything else, as if they are in fast forward.]
Obviously the current F3 rules are a spec series, but the broad idea would be to have F1 cars with those dimensions, that level of downforce, that level of power, those tyre sizes and so on. Or the classic open-formula F3 rules could be used for F1 (with 200hp from a stock block inline-four with an air restrictor).
Thoughts? :)
I note the last time there were rules to make F1 cars similar to junior cars in the 1.5L rules from 1961 to 1965 (obviously performance is relative, we are talking about the performance for that era and performance compared to sports prototypes of that era), the F1 drivers were largely not happy about this AFAIK -- were the drivers mistaken on this front?