Formula 1, for a not very enthusiastic or passionate fans, is a difficult sport to understand. Many fans correctly assume that it is all down to 20 men in racing cars fighting on track to see who is the fastest of them. The top category of motorsport is difficult mostly in terms of understanding certain rules and, to further complicate the picture, in applying them.
Just think of the how the tires are used and determined after the qualifying sessions divided into three sections. The first ten are forced to use the tires from Q2, the others are be able to move freely. On this front, the International Federation, already in 2023, will try to impose a type of compound for each section of qualifying with free rubber for the grand prix on two occasions during the next season, which have not yet been announced. A first attempt to rationalize and simplify things and reach out to an audience that wants to have fun and not get lost in the complicated sporting rules.
The truth is simple: a good portion of those who follow a sport do not follow the regulation books. This is absolutely normal. Formula 1, by its nature, is complex since the cars are subject to an infinite series of technical-regulatory burdens necessary to keep the design imagination of the engineers in chains.
If other ties are combined with this disciplinary factor, then everything becomes more difficult and, consequently, less attractive. What the motorsport governing body does not want to happen. Here further changes are expected that intend to meet that process of clarification which Mohammed Ben Sulayem, from the first day of his inauguration, has placed at the center of the operational agenda.
The International Federation, in a very turbulent period in terms of relations with Liberty Media, is determined to go ahead with its idea of an “intelligent Formula One” made up of less rules and more substance. You will all remember the mess of the Japanese GP in which, at the end of the race, drivers and men on the pit wall wondered who was world champion since the event had ended without completing all the scheduled laps. None of the participants knew the rules well, an awkward situation that was not a good commercial for the series.
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Precisely to prevent a new world champion from finding out that he has been awarded the prestigious trophy from an interviewer, Johnny Herbert on that occasion, the Paris-based institution has decided to make a change. The push started last January 18, when Steve Nielsen joined the FIA staff as sporting director of the new structure that will take care of the series.
We are talking about a true expert on the subject as he has been active in the category for over 20 years, boasting a past in Lotus, Tyrrell, Arrow, Benetton and AlphaTauri and then arriving, in 2017, in the technical sector created by Liberty Media Corporate which played a key role in defining of the technical rules in force. Steve Nielsen will be responsible for the sporting aspects, including the development of race control on the track and the remote operations center. And also of the future updates of the sporting regulations.
No sooner said than done. It is precisely the sporting regulations that are the subject which the British engineer is analyzing in order to arrive at substantial changes that are able to overcome embarrassing moments like the one experienced at Suzuka. It is directly the FIA president who gives an account of it in a media style that has recently been rather aggressive.
“The rule is changing, Steve [Nielsen] is dealing with it. We asked for a report on what happened in Japan and published it on the FIA website. Regarding the scoring system in place last year, who chose it? The teams! Who approved it? Again the teams! And if something goes wrong, who takes the blame? We! It’s all a bit frustrating, isn’t it?”
The former UAE rally driver is clearly able to charge like a bull when there is a need to exempt his group from responsibility. Evidently Ben Sulayem has an issue with the team principals and this emerged clearly after the plan of Andretti/Cadillac to join Formula One. The head of the Federation pleaded the cause of the American group by putting himself in opposition with the teams who would like to keep the doors tightly closed while preserving the ten-team model that is bringing so many profits.
But what is the idea for not having cases similar to the Japanese one? In the next Formula 1 Commission a proposal should be discussed which foresees a correlation between the number of laps covered and the points assigned. Something that goes beyond the concept currently in use which is based on the percentages of the race covered that, in mathematical conversion, has proven not to be intuitive and, above all, quick.
Formula 1, the sport of speed par excellence, still takes too long to decree certain verdicts. Hence the need to recalibrate the system in a mega transparency operation invoked by all, announced by many and applied by few. Indeed, by no one. Is it really the right time?
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