There are a lot of people who aren’t happy with the way things are in Formula 1 at the moment, beyond just the fans. So much so that there was a meeting held by the F1 Commission on Tuesday to discuss a radical overhaul in the rules and regulations of the sport to be implemented by next year. Ferrari, a big proponent for changing things up, brought attention to these talks by releasing a design concept of just what the future of Formula 1 could hold.
Think of it as a “For your consideration” ad for motorsport instead of the Academy Awards. Accompanying the picture is Ferrari asking “Would it be possible to come up with an F1 car which not only is technologically advanced, but also captivating to the eye and aggressive-looking?”
The F1 concept was conceived by the Ferrari’s central design team in an attempt to make a Formula race car more aggressive and striking to look at, but still roughly staying in the ballpark of the technical regulations, something that would captivate the spectators better. It’s certainly impressive, but we haven’t yet met the F1 driver who would agree to having his head bolted onto the bodywork of the racer.
This is similar to the Red Bull X1 car that the team dreamed up fpor the Gran Turismo racing game series, only that car was an exercise to see what car they could design that was unbound by the sporting rules.
From what’s been reported, we know that the sweeping changes, including increasing the output of the six-cylinder engines to 1,000 horsepower and using wider tires, are on hold until 2017. Some proposed cost cutting changes were also on the table, which would help financially struggling teams stay in the game, likely in response to this year’s fall of Marussia and Caterham.
The extended time frame means the changes proposed could be given the proper time to be implemented instead of hastily applied, potentially causing more problems than they’d solve. Until then, it’s just another day at the races.
