Formula 1????

[zako85]

The problem with the track limits and the penalties is due to the fact that, thanks to the prevalence of mickey mouse race tracks, the track limits are no longer where the physical race track ends. In the old days, there was no need to police track limits on many venues because outside of the track limits there was grass or sand. Put your wheel over there, or both, and your car will get seriously unsettled, wheels will get dirty, and in fact you may get stuck in the kitty litter and your race is over! But in our days, cars that put the wheels outside of track limits will always return back to the race, and in fact, as we often see, while gaining an advantage! This issue is not easy to fix. I mean it's unlikely that the pavement around the track limits will be torn apart just to return to "pure racing". This is why there are penalties.

Another problem is the power unit reliability rules. These were ostensibly introduced to reduce the costs of engine supply. However, seeing now that the cost of engine supply is still often the biggest bill paid by the privateer teams, the cost savings from this are doubtful. However, the unintended result of these rules is the incredible reliability of cars. We no longer see cars blowing blue smoke and catching fire on regular basis. This combined with the mickey mouse tracks that don't naturally punish drivers for veering off track limits results in very little attrition and unpredictability. In 1980s and 90s, there were often races with just barely a dozen cars finishing. In some races barely six cars saw checkered flag. Some backmarker cars could ended up scoring points and even podiums when they were reliable enough.

And finally, the DRS, the king of slingshot overtakes has greatly reduced the amount of close racing and heroic drives. It seems among these three issue only the DRS/aero could be somehow reworked or changed.