Bernie cracking up?

[V12]

You have to give these people a chance. So many people made, and still make, jokes about Minardi and Super Aguri, etc, but if you think about it, Minardi very rarely missed races due to DNQ's. They, and a lot of those other teams you mentioned were great independent racing teams who did very well to get into races and sometimes score points, etc.

You know what though? This budget cap may encourage others to try to make it. I'm all for pre-qualifying coming back if it's worth it. You never know who could spring a surprise given the right circumstances or some tricky weather. Look at Pierluigi Martini in ??Estoril 1992?? or Jean Alesi in Phoenix 1991. Even Barrichello at Silverstone last year. That was a worse car than what the aforementioned pair had lol.

One of the great things about NASCAR is that a lot of independents enter. For example, a 72-year-old almost qualifed for the Daytona 500 a couple of years ago: James Hylton. He was barely a second a lap off pole which wasn't bad considering he beat some guys in their 20s and 30s.

I love the small teams, and them making races and scoring points occasionally is what F1 is all about. That's another reason why the most wins sends out a negative message. I know points will count for the championship, but the idea of a points system is that everyone starts out equal. What's the point for these guys if they know the objective is impossible?

To be fair Martini and Alesi's heroics you mention were mostly down to running favourable (in that individual race or session) Pirelli tyres as opposed to the more generally preferable Goodyears, a situation that has been lost to us in with the control-tyre ruling, but I digress...

I agree with the general gist of your post though, a lot of people get too hung up on the "quality" aspect, but as far as I'm concerned your plucky tailenders are just as valid a part of the spectacle as your powerhouse teams and perennial midfielders (now known as "backmarkers" since there's no-one left to be behind them!!)

As I said, as long as they aren't an Andrea Moda style outfit (while I find the stories of backmarkers against the odds somewhat romantic, the story of Perry McCarthy's steering rack seizing through Eau Rouge because they were just using his car as a "spare" for Moreno is kind of taking it too far), and as long as they are willing to face the challenge head-on Williams 1970s style, then bring them on

[DexDexter]

To be fair Martini and Alesi's heroics you mention were mostly down to running favourable (in that individual race or session) Pirelli tyres as opposed to the more generally preferable Goodyears, a situation that has been lost to us in with the control-tyre ruling, but I digress...

I agree with the general gist of your post though, a lot of people get too hung up on the "quality" aspect, but as far as I'm concerned your plucky tailenders are just as valid a part of the spectacle as your powerhouse teams and perennial midfielders (now known as "backmarkers" since there's no-one left to be behind them!!)

As I said, as long as they aren't an Andrea Moda style outfit (while I find the stories of backmarkers against the odds somewhat romantic, the story of Perry McCarthy's steering rack seizing through Eau Rouge because they were just using his car as a "spare" for Moreno is kind of taking it too far), and as long as they are willing to face the challenge head-on Williams 1970s style, then bring them on

In 1991 they had quite good cars in pre-qualifying, I remember Scuderia Italia's JJ Lehto and Pirro being quite quick at some races, and they had to prequalify. But hey if Bernie gets his wish and we have about 30 cars, maybe they could change the rules again, let's decide the world championship based of prequalifying, whoever is the fastest in prequalifying gets "a win", and whoever has most wins, be it in prequali or the actual race will be awarded the world championship. Then surely the drivers will overtake, do summersaults and other "exciting" things.

[keysersoze]

Terrific idea. Now all that needs to happen is convince some sponsors to throw a ridiculous sum of money to support a fledgling team on the off chance that they will make the race. That's money well spent!

JMO, but if you pay the fees, produce a car that adheres to the rules, have drivers who have or can get a superlicense, and are within a certain percent of the pole speed, you get to race. Why can't a race accommodate 26-30, or even more cars? Even Monaco.

[maximilian]

I believe the most contentious issue with having more than 26 cars at any race was always... not enough room in the pit lane to accommodate all the teams, although I personally never felt that was a real good reason to potentially make teams travel 8000 miles with all their stuff, just so they wouldn't even get to see the starting grid.

[jens]

I'm all for pre-qualifying coming back if it's worth it. You never know who could spring a surprise given the right circumstances or some tricky weather. Look at Pierluigi Martini in ??Estoril 1992?? or Jean Alesi in Phoenix 1991. Even Barrichello at Silverstone last year. That was a worse car than what the aforementioned pair had lol.

One of the most notable "prequalifying underdog" achievements was in my mind Johansson's P3 at Estoril in 1989 in an Onyx.

Anyway, in current hi-tech environment I suspect the "good old days" are over. I can't deny the days, where almost anyone could construct a car in their garage and turn up at GP weekends - even if as a total failure - were somewhat likable. Now only "chosen" ones can afford participating in F1 even on a half-decent level and despite all the cost-cutting measures that are likely to be taken, it looks like it will still be difficult to make it into F1. 20 teams and 29 drivers per season getting points like in 1989. I suspect those days will never come back. We are in a new era. Unless... F1 will be a spec-series one day.