[NeilP]

Prompted somewhat by my own thoughts and in truth an article on the BBC.  Not so much the article itself rather the responses.

We are, I accept just four races into the new season but be honest with yourself are things any better?  I will answer in part for Forza. Yes.  Mercedes are dire and the Red team are back on top. Okay I get it but in reality what has happened? Well the two horse races of the past seasons have been replaced with, wait for it. A two horse race. The contenders may have changed but the fact is there are just two teams in the races for the titles is impossible to dispute.

Following is easier but that does not make for better racing.  We were promised it would be easier to overtake. It is not. The gap between the top two teams and the rest of the field is just as wide if not wider than before.  The budget restraints put in place are not helping going to help. Williams and Haas are already struggling for parts. One assumes this is down to finances. Teams like Mercedes and McLaren are going to catch up how if their financial ability is constrained?

Is this Formula 1. Yes but its now Liberty Formula 1. The DNA of the sport most here loved is on life support maybe already dead. Maybe it did not start this year maybe its been going on for a long time. Maybe its not all Liberty's fault.

This last race was a joke. No DRS for an age. A DRS zone that was much too powerful. I did see some what I thought were great ideas from people on the BBC HYS. Suggestions like do away with DRS and give a set time per use that the drivers can use DRS when and where THEY want to use it. Limit how many times per race.  I like those thoughts they seem sensible.

Lets be honest here overtaking is pretty much only achieved through disparity of tyre wear, Safety Car timing, and the artificial method called DRS.  Without any of these would there even be any overtaking?

Do not mistake my comments as being from a disgruntled Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton fan, for whilst I am disappointed in that situation it is clearly of their own making and is their problem to resolve if indeed it is recoverable. Point is we have forced changes upon teams, forced vast expense on teams and the results are to be frank hugely disappointing.

Maybe as the season winds on and maybe next season too we will see some better results but I for one am not holding my breath.

[forzaferrari]

I would counter the above by asking....Is the sport in any worse shape than it was last year or the year before? (Forget about Imola as that was track specific imo)

Also "Point is we have forced changes upon teams, forced vast expense on teams and the results are to be frank hugely disappointing."........same happened when we moved to the hybrid machinery.........now that WAS vast amounts of money, this time round the teams had to research and develop with a budget that was (albeit begrudgingly) agreed upon.

Set time of DRS usage or boost per lap isnt the worst idea.........even if its origins are from American car racing.

[NeilP]

Is the sport in any worse shape than it was last year or the year before?

I guess it depends whether you want a specific fan of a given team answer or whether you have the ability to put that aside and discuss it as a whole sports issue.

Speaking as a Mercedes fan its a disaster. However as I stated above that is on them not so much the rules per se. They clearly got it wrong. That said is the sport better off not having Mercedes challenging for wins? I think its a pretty myopic but understandable view that will be held by many fans because they were sick and tired of them winning so much. It is great to see Ferrari being super competitive and again and I am sure their fans don't give the tiniest damn that their arch rivals of late are suffering. I get that, I totally get that.

From an overall sports point of view it is hugely debatable and depends how you want to look at things. We were promised that with this enormous shift in the regulations overtaking would be easier. I am seeing ZERO signs of that being true. To me many of the professional observers are all so thrilled at the cars being able to "follow" each other much easier but following and overtaking are two completely different things. Lets not forget that was THE primary aim of these regulation changes. Personally I dont need to see any more races to reach that conclusion. Overtaking relies on more than just following a car easier.

As regards the financial side of things teams have spent millions of Pounds/Euros/Dollars changing their cars. Again as I have previously stated it seems not to be doing Haas and Williams a whole lot of good. Haas were said in Australia to have no spare parts especially the floor and if one of them had a crash pre race they would not be able to compete. How is that progress.

We just finished a season which had many observers declaring it to be the best season in many years and exciting to the end. Clearly the teams at least the top teams were closing the gaps in performance. Now we are back having large gaps in that area and worse a reduced amount of money for teams to try something different to catch up. Whilst its great to see Alfa and Haas doing so much better performance wise I think we have to put that down to the Ferrari engine (and maybe other Ferrari parts they are using I am not sure of that its way too deep for me). As much as I hate Red Bull there is no denying their engineers have nailed the spec changes. One thing I would point out about that is if these engines specs are so tough to nail how can a team with relatively little experience do such a brilliant job whilst the likes Porsche, Audi, maybe Ford are all saying they will not enter the sport until the engines were simplified. Does not speak much as to their abilities does it.

Have the changes delivered what was wanted. Yes and No. Yes in the fact that the domination of the sport by one team has been broken and to me that is the only plus point looking at it from a whole sports viewpoint. No in the fact the sport is no more exciting or the racing closer than it was last year and now with other rules and regulation changes it will be hard if not impossible for teams to develop their cars to make them better.

In closing I would like to make two points:

1) There are many things that could have and still should be done to improve the sport. Few of them were addressed by Liberty and the governing bodies. We absolutely need more financial equity between the teams. The tyre situation has been a shambles for years. Pirelli have way too much power being wielded more so than some of the teams. They have effectively strangled innovation in the fear that any given team could dominate. These are high performance machines in every sense of the word. That performance needs to be freed up and released not curtailed and highly controlled. This is F1. Innovation and technical expertise of the highest order.

2.) I hesitated to say this but I am going to any way. So what that Mercedes were dominating and as a result many saying the sport was boring. Were the rest of the grid that incapable of producing a car that could challenge them in EIGHT YEARS ? The rules had been in place since 2013 are you telling me that has not been sufficient time for others to catch up....really? It just adds to my point that excellence far from being rewarded will be punished. Quite how many years we will have Red Bull and Ferrari dominating I dont know but if they do so I am sure there will be further changes to break that up too.

Believe it or not I really am enjoying seeing Ferrari back up front. I love that Haas and Alfa seem to be making progress of sorts. I get that fans in general are and will be thrilled to see Max Verstappen winning Championships. I temper that view with the fact that I have real grave doubts about Haas and Williams surviving. I hate the idea McLaren may be sold. I hate the fact that F1 is moving further and further away from its roots. I hate the way the sport is being managed and run it is highly suspicious to me that what we get is to a larger degree being "manufactured".

[forzaferrari]

Imola aside, I dont think the racing has been too bad thus far Neil, we have seen CLC and big lips go toe to toe on several occasions......Im just sticking to these two as my brain actually hurts and is in limp mode right now.
Much as I dislike Toto and the forth reich I dont want to see them struggling to make Q3 (ok, ok it does give me a little satisfaction after lewis & toto`s remarks before the season started).....but truth be told I would much rather have them fighting for wins, especially now george is on board as I like the kid.

[NeilP]

That is the point though Forza there is no change in the racing other than the top teams being different. In fairness to the sport I fully understand that it is good for the sport in general that there is at least one new team at the top I for one would not argue with that. Fanhood aside I would love to see Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren trading punches and positions at the top, maybe Alpine could be there too. Fact is they are not.

Pretty much most people love an underdog, pretty much most people like to see a giant fall. That is nothing new in any sport. I was joyous when Williams became dominant. I was joyous when McLaren did the same. Equally well I was joyous when Ferrari fell off the top of tree and equally so (No I am lying MORESO) when Red Bull declined.

I am enjoying the races, truly I am. I am still gutted what happened at the end of last season and I know I need to move on from that but its slow progress for me. I did not know what to expect this season I guess I must have had it mind that more teams would be fighting harder and a lot more racing and overtaking would be happening. I am almost more disappointed in that fact than I am Mercedes decline. As such I am losing my faith in the sport as a whole too much interference and not enough freedom to innovate.

PS I am sick and tired of Both Wolff and Horner. I want more Binotto, Seidl, Krack etc on screen. Sky's love affair with Red Bull and especially Horner is utter sickening to watch.