Quote Originally Posted by Zico View Post
Pathetic? I don't think so. You have raised some valid points and yes you are certainly right about there being the all important much bigger picture.... but doesn't that bigger picture also have to include and maintain a certain appeal to a large part of the demographic of F1 fans who seek high entertainment value and consider the sound to be an important part of the spectacle?
No

Quote Originally Posted by Zico View Post
There has to be a balance... if that part is ignored and viewing figures fall through the floor then surely advertising in F1 becomes devalued by team sponsors which in turn impacts the teams budgets and the value of participating in the sport and so on.....
Where it loses in one area, it gains in another. If F1 keeps the same rules, I will attend the GP in Melbourne, whereas I otherwise don't. No balance is necessary. Fans are not really that important. Hence, we have race like Bahrain, that have smaller crowds. To add further, the fairweather fans who don't like these new rules, will find something else they won't like about F1 down the track.

Quote Originally Posted by Zico View Post
Also, combined with the above.
Despite what the general public may think, the current hybrid drive/energy harvesting systems used in F1 are actually nothing new. It is also nigh on impossible that the manufacturers could find a loophole which would allow a new innovative, ground breaking, green technology to be found and developed within the extremely tight, current F1 technical regulations.
For the first time I find myself actually agreeing with BE that other racing formats perhaps such as the Endurance Sports Car Racing class LMP1, which is just as technologically advanced as F1 if not more so, is just much better suited to finding breakthroughs in the design and development of Hybrid Drive/Energy Harvesting Technology which will still percolate down to road car level and also fits in to the 'endurance' aspect of that sport format much more naturally.
Fundamentally, what you and Bernie don't get, is that F1 concedes it status as the highest level of motorsport, if it doesn't apply these technologies. It might not be that obvious to you, but it does.