The main issue these days is that drivers dont tend to give the room and close the door if another driver is attempting to make a pass on too many occasions. Part of this is due to the fact that the driver attempting to make the pass will often be handed the penalty if there is a collision. Maldonado and Hamilton at Monaco was a prime example of this, where Maldonado turned in extremely early despite the fact that he undoubtably knew Hamilton was there. We've also seen drivers who accidentally ran into the back of someone else recieve a drive-through when their race is ruined because of having to pit for a new front wing anyway.
This handing out of penalties is only the tip of the iceberg though. We've seen situations in recent years where safety cars come in too late in rainy conditions, so much so that drivers almost immediately have to pit for intermediates as the track has little standing water. Im all for good safety but it has become so extreme (and tracks with massive concrete runoffs are another example) that it is taking away from the racing.
My suggestion is just to let the drivers race and stop giving penalties for everything under the sun. Theres been some howlers in recent years by the stewards such as Hamilton at Spa 2008 and Alonso's ridiculous penalty at Silverstone 2010 even though Kubica had retired. It would also help if the regs meant cars werent so reliable on aerodynamics for performance. Give the cars big wide tyres and ground effect aerodynamics and allow the cars to follow closely and race wheel to wheel. We wouldnt need any silly gimmicks like DRS then and drivers might not be so rusty when racecraft skills are required.
My Proposals For F1 Penalty Systems For 2012
in The Land of TWS (aka Ian)
A blog by Thundery wintry showers in Archive
Posted
This handing out of penalties is only the tip of the iceberg though. We've seen situations in recent years where safety cars come in too late in rainy conditions, so much so that drivers almost immediately have to pit for intermediates as the track has little standing water. Im all for good safety but it has become so extreme (and tracks with massive concrete runoffs are another example) that it is taking away from the racing.
My suggestion is just to let the drivers race and stop giving penalties for everything under the sun. Theres been some howlers in recent years by the stewards such as Hamilton at Spa 2008 and Alonso's ridiculous penalty at Silverstone 2010 even though Kubica had retired. It would also help if the regs meant cars werent so reliable on aerodynamics for performance. Give the cars big wide tyres and ground effect aerodynamics and allow the cars to follow closely and race wheel to wheel. We wouldnt need any silly gimmicks like DRS then and drivers might not be so rusty when racecraft skills are required.