It's easy to hark back to the good old days but I am convinced that they were better for F1.
The cars now all look the same because of the rules and the safety requirements.They all use the same engine configurations.The new cost reduction measures have really crimped engine development.Teams can only develp the engines during the closed season.The spec is then frozen for the next season.Mercedes started the era of the new rules last year with the most powerful engine and this allowed them to totally dominate the season.They have apparently found more power over the closed season and the other manufacturers partic Renault have not caught up.So we have the prospect of Mercedes totally dominating again this year and the fact that they are in the first two grid positions for today's race is ominous.
One has to feel some sympathy for Honda who have only come back into F1 this year.Their engine is obviously not on the pace but they cannot even touch it for the rest of the season.Not a good state of affairs.
If the Mercedes domination continues it will be very bad for F1 and I just cannot see the other manufacturers accepting a set of rules which effectively locks in the Mercedes advantage for the next few years.
A great photo below from John C who has a knack of getting himself into the best positions wherever he goes.Taken by leaning over the armco at Monaco it shows the then reigning world champion,Alan Jones. in his Williams turning onto the main straight at the 1980 Monaco Grand Prix.Those were really the days.The cars were varied,the engines were varied-V12,V8,V6 turbos,straight 4 turbos.and they all made a sensational noise unlike today's cars.
Final thought for the day if the team's really are serious about cutting costs maybe they should cut down on the number of technicians they take to races.During qualifying yesterday in most teams the technicians were tripping over themselves there were so many of them.
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