f1 for 2015 Turns Out Better, You Know What That Means…

Well, the 2015 F1 season has started, and we are 4 races in. The early part of the season is over, with races in Australia, China, Malasia, and Bahrain all done and dusted. While the domination of World Champ Louis Hamilton is complete, there is plenty of other stuff going on that is making 2015 into one of the better years in about half a decade. So of course, you know that means that Grandpa Simpson (aka Bernie Ecclestone) is pushing hard to change everything.

First the good. 2015 has seen the resurgence of Ferrari. Already, Sebastian Vettel has won his first race in red, and in doing so perhaps marked himself as a true champion and not just a “good car winner”. In Bahrain, his teammate Kimi Raikkonen came in a close second and perhaps would have had the win with a slightly different strategy or perhaps one or two more laps to work with. That resurgence is making this season way more enjoyable. Watching McLaren fight to get the Honda power working properly, seeing Manor Marrussia fighting for their very lives on the grid at every race, and seeing the comings and goings has made this year a really enjoyable experience. That the mid field runners are all pretty close is another good thing, giving plenty of hot racing on back through the pack.

The bad? Bernie don’t like it. He is pushing for cheaper engines, a 1000HP low downforce move to make things louder and more interesting. He has the backing of some and not others, but the fact that he keeps pushing on it and calling meetings suggests that he will get his way (yet again). The only thing to note here is that it is unlikely to be V8 engines, as there is plenty of push to stay with V6 turbo power – it’s just way more relevant to road cars. However, the push is to lower the costs of a power unit, and the best way to do that is to get rid of much of the convoluted energy recovery systems or at least make them less of an issue. It is very likely that the new package would go back to a KERS system similar to those from 2013, perhaps with a little bit of energy recovery thrown in. That was technology that was fairly cheap to implement, and the public could actually understand it.

Maybe Bernie is right in this case, but I hate it coming against the backdrop of some of the best racing in years.