GP Wizard Silly Season

[Jericoke]

2023 is done and dusted.
The Grid for 2024 is set.
We are still months away from testing, and weeks away from launches.
What is there to talk about?

How about silly ideas for Formula One?

I was watching a video about the demise of NASCAR, and the presenter was especially down on the 'play off system'.  He even commented plenty of people think the NASCAR playoff system will work with 'tweaks' and he said no, the old standard of racing and adding up points over a season is just fine.

I do not disagree with him, BUT in the interest in having something to talk about, I propose an F1 'play off' system.

Why does F1 need a play off system?
F1 often has the championship sewn long before the final race, which can turn off casual fans, or even let dedicated fans find other sources of advertising to watch.  Making the last race the only race a 'champion' can be crowned makes sure that casual and dedicated fans watch to the end.

What about people who are turned off the sport by this change to the traditional way of crowing a champion?

I give you:  the double championship.

The current WDC champion wins according to the current rules:  points obtained over the course of the season (including during the 'playoff' races) go towards the driver's totals, and most points wins (with all the tie breakers in place)

THEN, the last X races (5?  I don't know) are counted seperately.  Drivers get points for podiums only.  10 64 or 3 2 1, doesn't really matter.  Whoever gets the most podium points during the 'playoffs' is the 'play off champion'.

So, it's possible two different champions in the sport, although we're likely to see the same driver win 'the double'.

What is the advantage of this?

The current F1 rules very much mean that a team that gets their car right at the start of the season can build an insurmountable lead and coast to the championship on the back half of the season.  Again, this is part of the sport, I fully support it, and believe that championship should be allowed to continue.  HOWEVER, some teams will then give up, letting their crappy car get worse while they focus on next year... or even mid field teams might decide the same thing, and rather than improve, let someone else overtake them for 5th in the championship.  Further, a team that works really hard and finishes the season strongly isn't really awarded for that.  Getting things wrong in February, but right in September just isn't rewarded.  Unless we have a late season championship.

Having the second champion means teams need to work on their cars as the season progresses.  Imagine if McLaren in 2023 wasn't just fighting to move up to 4th, but actually fighting for the second championship.  It provides more 'story lines', but it also provides more for teams to focus on and work towards.

We all know that the Driver's championship is the one people care about, even though the constructors championship is the one that 'counts' officially.  Fans would get to decide if the Season champion or Play Off champion is more impressive.  Sure, most seasons would see someone winning double championships, but we can point to seasons where there would be two different champions, and then debate how things would have unfolded with a second trophy on the line.

Most sports so have a 'regular season' and 'play off' champion.  Usually the play off champion is the one that's remembered, but first over all is still an accomplishment for the teams involved.

Again, this is just for discussion.  I'm not suggesting that F1 must change or die (indeed, I accept that this change might be a step towards F1 dying).

But let's have some fun here, talk about things that just don't normally come up.

What's your GP Wizard Silly Season idea?

[cosworth151]

Most of the really silly ideas I can think of for F1 have already been used by Liberty. 

The start of NASCAR's "Race to the Chase to the Cup for the Thing" (as John Hindhaugh called it) was the beginning of the end  of my love of NASCAR. This playoff plague has infected the NHRA now, too.

Along the idea of two championships - For a year or two back in around 1987 there were separate Driver and Constructor awards for the non-turbo teams. They were called the Jim Clark and Colin Chapman awards. How about doing something like that for the smaller teams? The award would include a big enough monetary award to make a difference to the winning team.

[John S]

I'm liking this silly ideas thread Jeri,  more 'party hat' than 'blue sky' thinking. 

In light of it being a slightly preposterous excersise I propose that instead of Rookies having to be in the cars for some of practice time they should actually get one or two races.

With the calendar expanded to to 24 and talk of limiting trackside personnel to 20 or fewer races, for 'Elf & Safety' or 'Balance of life' reasons - whatever that is - perhaps drivers should be limited to 22 or 23 races.

Giving Rookies a full race weekend would be much better for their development, and crucially it would give teams a much better chance at a proper evaluation of young chargers. 

[lkjohnson1950]

How about if we make the sprint races rookies only? More seriously, let the teams prep a 3rd car. If someone has a bad crash, most teams will fly in everything they don't have on hand, up to and including a new tub. Let the guys at homebase assemble it instead of forcing the teams to do an all nighter and spend the extra cash to express parts.

[Jericoke]

How about if we make the sprint races rookies only? More seriously, let the teams prep a 3rd car. If someone has a bad crash, most teams will fly in everything they don't have on hand, up to and including a new tub. Let the guys at homebase assemble it instead of forcing the teams to do an all nighter and spend the extra cash to express parts.

I've subscribed to F1TV and have been watching some 90s era races.  Everyone had 'T Cars', which meant if there was a big crash, just move over to the spare car. 

Don't get me wrong, the stories of mechanics working 17 straight hours to repair a car that crashed in qualifying, and dropping it off the jacks 12 seconds before the formation lap are impressive, but it would be a lot easier for everyone involved if they could just wheel out a spare, at least on Sprint weekends.