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F1 2020

Love the idea from a spectacle point of view, but there are a few practical problems.

How do the drivers get paid if their contracts aren’t with the teams? Performance related pay via FOM? How do the teams develop and improve their cars with different drivers each weekend giving probably conflicting feedback? How do the fans and commentators know who is in a given car on a given weekend? Recognising them on track would become a mission in itself. How do the teams keep their secret secrets secret, when next weekend the driver they are briefing on all the tricksy pedals and buttons is in someone else’s garage?

Probably a lot more reasons why it will never come to pass, but it would be fun, I’ll grant you that!
I don't think any of those are genuine problems.

I imagine money flows into this sport in all the normal ways - broadcast rights, sponsorship, etc. My plan simply requires a re-routing at source - performance related contracts for drivers and constructors similar to what happens in other sports (tennis for example). Yes, there will be arguments - but there always is when it comes to divying up the cash!

Car tuning and development would be different from how it is now, but that would be part of the skill - which garage can 'tune in' to drivers needs the fastest? Be more adaptable on race day? Lurch from one set of priorities to another from one race weekend to another, more precisely than other teams? It offers opportunities for smaller teams to gain 'soft skills' advantages for example.

Recognising drivers would not be a problem at all. Colour coded halos or something would take care of that. For broadcast there are loads of clever ways of enhancing that.

Secrets is more of a problem, as is impartiality (how do you ensure the cars are set up similarly for each driver?). But again - neither is insurmountable. Lots of advantages can probably be kept constructor-side ("When you hit these revs there will be a downforce increase - but we can't tell you exactly why!"), and teams will have to differentiate themselves using engineering that doesn't rely on driver confidentiality. I don't think that will kill innovation, just relocate it somewhat.

As for impartiality - you have to heavily motivate the constructors championship so that having your garage's car compete well is the only thing that matters to you as a team. That way you are going to give an equally facilitated ride to each driver.
 
I don't think any of those are genuine problems.

I imagine money flows into this sport in all the normal ways - broadcast rights, sponsorship, etc. My plan simply requires a re-routing at source - performance related contracts for drivers and constructors similar to what happens in other sports (tennis for example). Yes, there will be arguments - but there always is when it comes to divying up the cash!

Car tuning and development would be different from how it is now, but that would be part of the skill - which garage can 'tune in' to drivers needs the fastest? Be more adaptable on race day? Lurch from one set of priorities to another from one race weekend to another, more precisely than other teams? It offers opportunities for smaller teams to gain 'soft skills' advantages for example.

Recognising drivers would not be a problem at all. Colour coded halos or something would take care of that. For broadcast there are loads of clever ways of enhancing that.

Secrets is more of a problem, as is impartiality (how do you ensure the cars are set up similarly for each driver?). But again - neither is insurmountable. Lots of advantages can probably be kept constructor-side ("When you hit these revs there will be a downforce increase - but we can't tell you exactly why!"), and teams will have to differentiate themselves using engineering that doesn't rely on driver confidentiality. I don't think that will kill innovation, just relocate it somewhat.

As for impartiality - you have to heavily motivate the constructors championship so that having your garage's car compete well is the only thing that matters to you as a team. That way you are going to give an equally facilitated ride to each driver.

Good arguments. I‘m sure it could be made to work (what can’t?), but equally sure it’ll never happen 🤣
 
Crap start from Hammy.
My wife, who’s Finnish, was raging against how shit Botty’s starts always are, and how he should work on that instead of going cycling with his new GF. She cheered up a lot when I pointed out it was Bottas in the lead and Hamilton who’d had the shit start.
 
Because that wouldn't be F1.
But our starting point, acknowledged by everybody in the sport, is that F1 has serious structural problems. So any solution is going to be something of a departure from the past. I think this preserves the integrity of both championships while adding intrigue and meritocracy all round.
 
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