From the very outset, Formula One has been built on four major pillars – money, politics, driver skill and engineering. While the execution of each of these things may have changed vastly over the years, their significance has barely wavered. Out of these four primary aspects of the sport, engineering has witnessed the greatest degree of change. From the front-engined cars of the fifties to the aero-dependent beasts of the present day, Formula One has given rise to a fair share of new technologies that not only help make a racing car go faster, but also have the potential to make lives outside racing more convenient.
Formula One Tech: Born on the racetrack, made for the road
Innovation has been at the forefront of Formula One engineering over the years and a lot of it is down to the freedom of engineering the sport has offered. Back in the day, there were barely any constraints on the engineering side of things – that is exactly what led to the then-unusual developments like the ground effect Lotus 79 or the Brabham BT46 ‘Fan Car’. This lack of constraints offered a great deal to the innovative and forward thinking engineers that came up with their remarkable findings.
However, Formula One has drifted away from being a proving ground for automotive technology that can be brought down onto the road. Today, the regulations have become so complex that these types of developments have become a rare sight and while safety has been the big benefactor, one of the four major pillars – driver skill – is losing significance.
Entertainment over innovation?
Unlike the ultra-entertaining MotoGP championship, Formula One teams largely develop their cars on their own. One can carry out an interesting exercise of finding parts that are exactly the same throughout the grid – the list of parts would probably be smaller than Williams’ points tally for the season. This means that a large performance deficit tends to develop for those teams that get it wrong which then splits up the grid into various classes and naturally, the entertaining racing action that millions watch the sport for, is lost.
MotoGP has produced dramatic races more often than Formula One
As the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures and in an attempt to bunch the pack up, save costs and encourage close racing based on driver skill, Formula One has decided to head in the direction of common parts. A lot of significant components such as the brakes, wheel rims, driveshaft and steering wheel among others have now been added to the list of common parts of 2021.
The Prancing Horse Disagrees
As with every decision, there are some who back it all the way and others who tend to disagree. In order to get teams to use more components as standard Formula One will have to go against the wishes of probably the most important and influential name in the paddock – Ferrari.
Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto has expressed his dissatisfaction towards common parts
Recently, Ferrari’s team principal Mattia Binotto said to Autosport, ““I think since the very beginning we always said that we are against the standardisation, and I feel we are going too much in the direction of standardisation. Why are we against [it]? Because we believe that, first, the DNA of this sport is competition, and standardising somehow is against the spirit”
The need to contemplate
The decision to move to standardised components would definitely go against the spirit of Formula One but the bosses now have to answer the age-old ethical question – maintain the essence or commercialise; nurture the innovation or go for more exciting races?
The bosses at Formula One now need to weigh up the options and make an informed call. They will be upsetting Ferrari and many other admirers of innovative engineering with their current plan but is it a risk worth taking? Is it worth aligning with the far less stable midfield teams and implementing a budget cap and getting standard parts on board? All of these questions trace their root to the big question – aim for the masses or satisfy the niche?
The pressure is on Formula One
Whatever Formula One decide to do, they will be upsetting a sizeable amount of people. That said, if the sport starts to grow and produce even greater audience figures, the reasons to complain will slowly start to disappear. Will standardised parts be a definitive path to success in terms of having more entertaining races? Will keeping the sport the way it is still produce dramatic races?
All we know is that those in the board of directors meeting will surely need to have a lot of foresight to make this challenging decision!
None of the media used in this article belongs to me. Credits belong to the rightful owners.
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