To hardcore fans, Formula One is the premier motor racing series in the world.

But for the more casual observer, Formula One has gotten a little... stale. Mercedes seems to always be winning, unless there's a surprise challenge from Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel (who won four titles in a row not too long ago). There's not a ton of passing and the new V6 hybrid engines are much quieter than the V8 screamers from a few years ago.

That lack of pizzazz is why F1's "Strategy Group" (made up of the top six ranked teams along with the FIA, the sport's governing body, and FOM, the commercial rights holder) have voted to make the sport more exciting with a number of potential rule changes.

"We need to put on a good show," Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told Sky Sports. "Formula One needs to be entertaining, it needs to be dramatic. It needs to be all about the drivers going head-to-head."

The proposed changes, which could take effect in 2017, would reduce the weight of the cars and tweak restrictions on aerodynamics. Teams would have more choice over the tires they use, and mid-race refueling would be brought back. The new rules are far from official, but they have serious potential to jack up the excitement of racing. Not only could they drop lap times by five to six seconds, they could recommit to the sport's emphasis on strategy.

Complications

F1 is chess on wheels. Drivers don't need to win races through amazing passes on the track (though those certainly help). Instead, computers and strategists are constantly crunching numbers (lap times, fuel loads, weather, what other teams are doing) to find tiny spaces where they can make big gains. When do you switch from dry to wet tires when it's not clear what the weather is going to do in the next 5 minutes? How do you time your pit stop so your return to the track doesn't put you in the middle of a crowd, where your speed is limited?

Picking apart tire and race tactics is as exciting to F1 fans as debating nickel and dime defenses is for NFL lovers. The proposed rule changes would add variables to those debates, making them richer and more engrossing for the audience.

One of the most intriguing changes is a return to mid-race refueling, which was eliminated in 2010 over cost and safety concerns. Giant refueling rigs are really expensive to haul around when your season counts 20 races in 20 countries, and soaring cost is a problem for the sport in general. The risks that come with putting flammable gasoline in racing cars as fast as possible are pretty clear. At the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, Felipe Massa drove his Ferrari away from a pit stop with the fuel hose still attached (no injuries resulted, but it cost him his lead, and arguably the world championship). These are valid considerations, but the need to run an entire race on a single tank of fuel has created its own problems.

For one, it makes the cars extremely heavy in the beginning stages of the race. In a sport where weight changes are measured by the gram, adding dozens of pounds of (theoretically) unnecessary fuel can slow the cars down significantly. This, combined with the fact that the current crop of Pirelli racing slicks are specifically designed to wear quickly (and thus necessitate more frequent pit stops), means that after the initial sprint from the start line, it turns into a procession, with limited passing and cars driving way below their max speed to conserve fuel, for at least the first third of the race, until it's time for the first pit stop. Now, teams don't have to think about when to refuel, or how much petrol to put in the tank at any given time. If refueling was added back in, there would still be an overall limit on fuel usage per race.

Opinions differ on the idea of bringing back refueling. Massa, now driving for Williams, told Sky Sports that racing now is "a lot slower compared to how it was with the refueling. I’m sure the race will be more interesting and nicer for the driving—more sprint racing." He also said he wasn't fazed by the safety concerns.

Red Bull's Horner isn't convinced. "We got rid of refueling for a reason," he told Sky. "You just timed the pit stop, you either went shorter or longer [in a stint], and that dictated your strategy." In effect, Horner says refueling just changed how long drivers would stay on the track in between pit stops.

Going Faster

The strategy group is also considering allowing teams to choose which tire compounds they wish to use. Currently, tiremaker Pirelli nominates two dry racing compounds per weekend, out of four total possibilities. More choices would unlock more potential choices, as some teams are gentler on their tires than others are.

The Strategy Group also wants to make the cars faster—and maybe more appealing to fans who don't enjoy the minutiae of tactics. It's looking to increase the engine rev limit, effectively making the cars more powerful. Allowing aerodynamic changes, wider tires (which can deliver more engine power to the tarmac), and reducing the weight of the cars would all help. Horner suggests allowing more downforce to be added to the cars, something that has been reduced in recent years in the name of safety and to slow the cars (adding downforce allows cars to go faster by keeping them better grounded).

The rule changes have to progress through several more bodies before becoming official, and it's likely that some or all will be killed off by the bureaucratic process. Still, it's progress in the right direction.