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[CrazyDutchman73]

Got bored today and was reading up on the rule changes that have passed for 2010 already, and the biggest one was banning the refueling in the middle of races.
This upset me very much, I understand that Bernie is trying to cut costs, but what is the point of banning in-race refueling? There are alternatives that are much better; Limit the amount of fuel allowed for the race weekend, that would be the most effective as it forces teams to think about how much practice they will actually do. The downside to that however is then you get more Massa-Ferrari incidents in Q1 possibly, but at least they won't be alone.
Streamline the chassis materials or something like that, change things that can't be dramatically altered during the race. The great thing about refueling in a race is that it can lengthen your pit times, and alter you strategy; Banning refueling means that everyone will pit twice, and at that they will all pit at the same time almost. The season will become uneventful, as they banned in-season testing, thus just about the only change over the course of the season is the drivers ability, devaluing the crew to only altering a couple of seconds in each race. The only thing teams can change in race are the types of tires they choose to use at different times in the race.
Everyone uses almost the same amount of fuel anyways, there isn't a large margin between the lower and upper limits, so this turns out to be a minimal price cut, if any at all, that has more negative effects than any potential positives, quite possibly killing 50% of pit strategy.

What are your thoughts about the banned refueling?

[Rivelution]

I dont think it has anything to do with costs. People seem to forget (or dont know) that this isnt the first time re-fueling has been banned in F1...

[Gilles 27]

I'm all for a refueling ban as long as the teams are allowed to do what they want with tires, ie not stop for tires at all. That way people would be forced to pass on the circuit rather than wait to band in a few quick laps in free air during the pitstops. Banning refueling while still making the teams use two tire compounds per race seems completely pointless and unnecessary

[Hexagram]

I dont see the point in it, but i guess it will prevent things like what happened to Massa in Singapore last year. Thing is you will get drivers pushing how long they stay out on their tyres before pitting so I dont think everyone will pit at the same time. Also drivers will be faster near the end of the race so that can only add to the action.

Its not as bad as banning tyre changes like they did in 2005. That was just retarded.

[EwanM]

I dont think it has anything to do with costs. People seem to forget (or dont know) that this isnt the first time re-fueling has been banned in F1...

And that is often cited as the golden age to many F1 fans.

[Rivelution]

I dont think it has anything to do with costs. People seem to forget (or dont know) that this isnt the first time re-fueling has been banned in F1...

And that is often cited as the golden age to many F1 fans.

Wish I could've seen it.

[darwin dali]

It's a very good thing: the amount of fuel a driver has to play with will be limited (unless they put an extra large tank in the car, larger than anybody, but that would make the car too heavy). That means driver qualities will be more important again. The skill to drive smart, to know when to drive fast (and use more fuel) or when to take it easier (and save fuel) to make it to the end of the race. Also, heavier cars (with heavy fuel loads) will undoubtedly influence tire strategy - again, some drivers can deal with these challenges better and can use the softer (and presumably faster) tire for longer than others.
One thing I'd like to see though is the ability to change the engine and develop it to become more fuel efficient while maintaining their power output. The starting weight penalty should be incentive enough for engine manufacturers to invest money in that and this in turn would make F1 a tiny little bit greener

[CrazyDutchman73]

I agree with the concept of limiting fuel, I just believe that it can be better implemented, namely making a limit of fuel used for the weekend, and would be more interesting.

[CrazyDutchman73]

I understand that they had a refueling ban back until 1993, I'm too young to remember if that's how it had always been until then, but its a matter of fact that refueling plays a huge role in the pit strategy and adds to the sport. It makes the sport better and interesting, if you limit the role of the pit crew then whats the point of having teams or limiting teams to 2 drivers? Then the pit crew will only serve 2 purposes during a race; changing tires, and replacing the front wing (and this only happens to the bad drivers). They say they want to promote competition... the refueling increases the effect that the pit strategies have on the race, allowing teams with drivers who aren't always having their best race to come back and at least compete. We saw this somewhat this past weekend in Bahrain, Button didn't necessarily have the fastest car, but he had a far superior strategy and was much smoother in the turns. Building on that, it also allows teams to adapt to their mistakes during the weekend.

[darwin dali]

Then the pit crew will only serve 2 purposes during a race; changing tires, and replacing the front wing (and this only happens to the bad drivers).

I disagree with you on this: even the best drivers can get their noses taken off, e.g., at the start when everybody scrambles for position and cuts and weaves, etc.
Getting rid of the flawed, yet expensive fuel rig and reducing the pit crews will mean quite some savings.

[madbrad]

Certain people didn't want any more drivers to suffer the embarassment of driving off with the fuel hose attached.

[CrazyDutchman73]

they will need a rig somewhere still... gotta be able to refuel during practice, qualifying and before the race.

[darwin dali]

they will need a rig somewhere still... gotta be able to refuel during practice, qualifying and before the race.

But it can be done in 'relative' leisure compared to the race and if there's an issue it won't destroy the race.

[scotty]

I'd like to see the refuelling ban be used in conjunction with a banning of the 'fuel saving' engine setting systems - then it'd all be on the drivers to drive economically when they need too, rather than just flicking a switch and having the job done for them.

As for tyres, well, i think it'd be good if they were able to last a whole race but changes were still allowed; then we'd get some drivers stopping and bombing it round on fresh tyres to make up for the time lost in the pits... this business of using two compounds in the races does provide a good twist but it's so contradictory to the whole cost cutting idea.

[shani182]

Certain people didn't want any more drivers to suffer the embarassment of driving off with the fuel hose attached.

I found that quite hilarious.