Welcome to my 11 point plan to make Formula One more exciting for all. But before you jump to ‘Tiff’s Top Tips’ and get upset by any of my ideas please understand where I am coming from and the reasoning behind my suggestions.

All too often I find myself accused of moaning too much about Formula One and told not to bother to watch if it annoys me so much.

I get accused of being a Luddite or a dinosaur living in the past but the fact is I’m a diehard fan who’s been passionate about the sport ever since I began clinging to the fences of Goodwood, Silverstone and Brands Hatch way back in the late 1950s.

I love my favourite sport but I make no apologies for wanting it to be better.

No the racing wasn’t always brilliant in the past, yes there were many long processional races with hardly any overtaking but one rather unfortunate ‘advantage’ the sport did have in the past was terrible unreliability!

Even if Jim Clark did have a half lap lead with just five laps to go there was still every chance a mechanical failure would prevent him finishing and that meant the tension and suspense remained right up until the chequered flag dropped.

Clark often drove off into the distance - but the threat of unreliability was ever-present Clark often drove off into the distance - but the threat of unreliability was ever-present

Remember how stunned we all were when Lewis’s engine failed in Malaysia? Well that was commonplace from the 50s to the 80s.

Of course no-one wants to bring back unreliability but there are ways of making the responsibility of getting a car to the end of a race more in the hands of the driver - and it’s getting the driver back to being a much more important part of the equation that is central to my desires for the future of our sport.

I know that many love the development of future technology as being part and parcel of F1; they love the high-tech side to the sport.

Yet F1 cars have already been stopped from having ABS, ESP, automatic braking and automatic gear changing so they are far from being at the forefront of technology - and if you follow the mantra of wanting to be leading road car evolution you are heading for autonomous cars!

Do we want F1 to be contested by autonomous cars?! (Pic: Getty) Do we want F1 to be contested by autonomous cars?! (Pic: Getty)

So surely the time has come to make our sport more of a sport and accept that technology has overtaken us and moved way beyond.

Let's escape from manufacturers’ massive budgets ruling our world. Teams love manufacturers because they bring that money and save them all the aggro of having to find sponsors and justify their spending.

I’m delighted manufacturers are turning their attentions to Formula E and the road cars of the future but already the existing teams there are warning against a manufacturer arms race because they know it will lead to the biggest budget dominating their races.

If I were Ross Brawn I’d be looking to create a formula where a new Lord Hesketh - or more likely a Roman Abramovich in this modern world – could buy a competitive engine, build his own car and have a chance of winning.

Gene Haas has tried to do it - albeit as a sort of semi-works Ferrari - but he now admits he is ‘really depressed’ at how far ahead the top three teams are.

Gene Haas has found it much more difficult than he thought (Pic: Sutton) Gene Haas has found it much more difficult than he thought (Pic: Sutton)

Mind you Red Bull are one of those teams so perhaps we have to look at restricting not just manufacturers’ spending but soft drinks magnates as well!

So how do we reduce those costs? How do we bring the driver more back into the equation? How do we make the races more entertaining?

Well here are ten simple steps that I feel would at least guide us in the right direction:

1. Make it harder!

We must accept we are a sport where the elements that are most important are demonstrating the skill of the driver and entertaining the spectator.

The difference between a brilliant driver and a very good driver is now two or three tenths of a second proving the cars are too easy to drive so we must make it harder.

2. Forget Hybrid engines

Forget about hybrid engine development. Manufacturers have already abandoned LMP1 where they themselves had created rules to allow them to show off their battery fuelled technology.

We were told Honda would only join F1 if we had hybrids yet they happily supply half the Indycar field with straight forward V6 turbos.

Hybrids bring heavy batteries and the loss of another driver skill with their need for fly-by-wire braking.

Whatever we get we need a lot more power - and bigger fuel tanks! How often has anyone ever commented on how fuel efficient modern F1 cars are?!

3. Make standard wings mandatory

Front wings have become far too complex (Pic: Sutton) Front wings have become far too complex (Pic: Sutton)

We should standardise front and rear wings and allow greater freedom for ground effect downforce.

When it gets to the stage that teams like Sauber spend their entire annual development budget on just building new front wings it is ridiculous.

The fact that their size means collisions often slash other cars' tyres and then shatter with sharp shards of carbon fibre flying in all directions is surely enough reason to ban these modern monstrosities on safety grounds alone.

4. Standardise brakes

Put the brakes on brake development (Pic: Sutton) Put the brakes on brake development (Pic: Sutton)

Braking distances are now ludicrously short not only because of the speed a modern F1 car can enter corners but because of the incredible efficiency of the brakes.

So take away some of that efficiency by producing smaller discs with harder compound brake material and make outbraking someone at least a possibility.

5. Ban all car-to-pit telemetry

This would not only put the driver back in control but also save a fortune by cancelling the rows of computers being monitored both in the back of the garage and back at the team’s base.

Do we need all these guys? (Pic: Sutton) Do we need all these guys? (Pic: Sutton)

All engine settings must be fixed before the start and if the engine has a problem a big yellow lamp comes on and the driver can either choose to try and limp home or pit for a computer diagnostic to be plugged in.

Same for brakes with a ‘thin pad’ warning just like we have in most road cars.

6. Take away power steering

Out with power steering (Pic: Sutton) Out with power steering (Pic: Sutton)

Much of the fuss about the ‘five seconds faster’ plan was that modern F1 cars aren’t as physically demanding as they used to be.

Well obviously adding a bit more cornering force isn’t the answer because if an F3 driver can jump in and do the best part of two Grand Prix distances in a day round the very busy Hungaroring then it’s not tough enough!

Removing power steering also hands more control back to the driver.

7. Ignore lap times as an indication of the success of a formula

If I can’t see the difference when an F1 car laps five seconds faster in qualifying compared to the start of the race I’m pretty sure most of the spectators can’t either.

Remember: the most dramatic and memorable races tend to happen in wet or mixed conditions when cars are often going ten seconds a lap slower – but are visibly harder to control.

8. Reduce downforce

Select several corners around the world, starting with Eau Rouge, and, if all the cars pass through on full throttle, introduce rules for the next year to reduce downforce. Easily done with my standardised wings!

Eau Rouge - it should be one of F1's greatest challenges Eau Rouge - it should be one of F1's greatest challenges

If everyone is flat through Pouhon at Spa this year the once most challenging circuit in the world will be reduced to three S-bends, two slow corners, and two hairpins.

9. Sort out the tracks

Stop spending money on outlandish Paddock facilities and demand track alterations that take a few squiggles out and add more straights.

We all love to drive the Nurburgring but, like so many Tilke designs, it’s actually a never ending series of corners with one long straight – and, in equally matched cars, there’s very little chance to overtake until you get there!

Make all first turns simple, medium speed affairs that you can take side by side. For example move the Monza start/finish (they do need new pits) to the straight that leads to the Parabolica otherwise every year someone’s race is ruined at that stupid chicane.

The chicane at Monza - always ruins someone's race (Pic: Sutton) The chicane at Monza - always ruins someone's race (Pic: Sutton)

And, talking of Monza, move all finish lines back to where the startline is to create that final dash to the line.

10. Make F2 compulsory

We should make F2 compulsory for a Super Licence and make all F1 teams have to pay for a seat for their official reserve driver.

Yes Raikkonen, Button, Verstappen and all made the jump without doing F2 (or its equivalent) but so many young drivers are giving up the dream and we need to make graduation to the top formula at least look harder from the public’s view.

Jenson Button jumped straight into F1 from British F3 (Pic: Sutton) Jenson Button jumped straight into F1 from British F3 (Pic: Sutton)

Delaying any of those mentioned from moving up by one year would have done little harm to their careers – and it probably would have helped Lance Stroll.

11. Guarantee an F1 seat for the F2 champ

Finally, get the FIA to sponsor one F1 seat and then put the F2 champion in it.

If the champion declines, as he has contracts elsewhere, then offer it to the runner-up. Brilliant publicity for the sport and a real incentive to young drivers trying to prise open that door.

Under my plan, Leclerc would be guaranteed a place in F1 next season, without Ferrari's help Under my plan, Leclerc would be guaranteed a place in F1 next season, without Ferrari's help

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