#BBCF1 #F1 The debate about refueling is just a smokescreen masking the real problem

The only real drama in Sunday's Canadian GP was the groundhog which crossed the path of the oncoming procession of cars on the track.
I don't understand why some of the teams think that allowing refueling might be a cure for the current level of ennui amongst the fans. While it's true that a couple of the drivers were told that they should "lift and coast" to save fuel, I really don't think that it made the slightest difference to the outcome of the race. And it may well be that the instruction to Hamilton was more to get the TV cameras back onto him, and his sponsors, at the front rather than on the middle of the field where the real racing was taking place.

Do we really need driver's concentration on this sort of clutter on the steering wheels instead of on getting round corners?

I have a feeling that the teams are being reluctant to discuss the real issue which is that the introduction of hybrid engines was a disastrous mistake.
Okay I know that the excuse for it was that Formula One helps with the design of production road cars and that everybody thinks that hybrid technology is the future. Well that may or may not be the case (and, personally, I think that it is not) but the FIA will pretty soon have to make up it's mind whether it wants Formula One racing to benefit the car manufacturers or the fans and whether the two things are mutually exclusive.

Of course the problem is that it's not exactly the FIA which ultimately decides on future strategy - it's Bernie Ecclestone whose mind is firmly fixed on the money. And Bernie doesn't seem to care that much about the fans as he only concerns himself with how much he can screw out of the circuits and the sponsors.
We have already lost one race this year (The German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring) and you can be certain that it will not be the last. The Spanish economy is not what it was and neither is the Italian which could mean the end of races at Catalunya and Monza. With lack of interest from the paying fans the end of these races will come sooner rather than later.
Ecclestone's idea is that he can fill the gaps with races in the Middle and far East where circuit owners and race organisers can afford the fees demanded by him without particular resort to local fans. These races have little or no appeal to Western fans for whom the circuits are boring and the racing mostly takes place at inconvenient times if you want to watch the TV broadcast live.

Okay I've had my moan, now what would I propose to liven things up. Well for a start I'd put in my ear plugs and get rid of those stupid hybrid engine rules. They sound dismally pathetic and the cost only serves to widen the gap between the performance of the manufacturers. And the technology doesn't just cause a disparity in the car's performances but also the drivers.

I was watching a Caterham race the other day and it was really exciting. Now I'm not suggesting that Formula One cars should all be identical but why not embrace a return to an older, more simple formula such as; 1600 - 2000 cc, normally aspirated and in V6 or V8 configuration. I know the cars would not be as fast but speed, like size, is not everything.

I imagine I am not alone in having only the barest grasp on what energy recovery actually means and all of it's implications for top end performance. I'm having less enjoyment watching cars whizzing down a straight now since I do not really understand how the engines are working.

And as for "brake-by-wire"; I don't see that giving cars even more reasons to break down is in any way adding to the thrills and spills.

I do not want race outcomes to be decided by some nerd sitting on a pitwall watching a bank of computer monitors.

Tyres are another component that could be radically simplified. I'm quite happy to let the drivers decide what tyres should be used according to the conditions and for it to be up to him to manage their usage. Limiting the number and types of tyre sets available to the teams was one of the silliest pieces of bureaucratic rule changes in recent years. It's just having rules for the sake of having rules.

Please FIA can we go back to a state where 90% of a race outcome is down to the skill of the driver and the rest sheer luck.
There would be more teams because it would be cheaper and the array of talent which at the moment remain in the lower order of teams would have a chance to shine through. Racing would be far closer and far more competitive, fans would return in their droves and we might get the classic racing circuits back on the calendar.