I have read a lot of blogs this season and whilst very few could argue against the unpredictability and closeness of this season, some are starting to question the influence of the tyres. So my question is this; If the current tyre formula/design remained, would the strategies be more creative and aggressive if there was refuelling? I understand the pros and cons of the sprint era, but with the tyres being so radical could it work in the current regulations? Thoughts?
It would help McLaren because their mechanics would be under less pressure to get the wheels on so quick. It wouldn't change a lot, degradation would be slightly less due to reduced fuel loads, typically the races have been 2/3 stoppers, so they'd need to stop for fuel at roughly the same time they have to stop for tyres any way. Low degradation races, would become sprints as there would be less need to conserve tyres unless you were going for a one stopper or something. In this sense it would probably be better because there'd be more variety to the types of races we see. They won't bring back refuelling though for safety reasons, there were a few nasty incidents towards the end of the refuelling era, Massa dragging half his pit crew over in Singapore, Kovalainen setting Raikkonen on fire in Brazil I think it was.
I never liked refuelling, no one would overtake, they'd just try and put in a flier on their in lap and hope their pit crews did the job, boring as ****.
Re-fuelling would be the single biggest mistake F1 could now make. More than anything else, getting rid of this true gimmick has been a huge benefit to F1. A Grand Prix is meant to be a combination of many things, in the effort to test man and machine to their maximum. This is increased (not decreased as some misguidedly seem to think) when the evolution of the car is greater. Furthermore, the length of a Grand Prix was originally conceived on the basis of one full tank of fuel, for which two hours or 200 miles was considered to be optimum, with a potential average speed of 100 mph from full to empty. This has always required a driver to 'manage' the circumstances and evolution of his vehicle in every way. The introduction of forced (rather than optional) refuelling was the biggest single mistake F1 has made over the past two decades. It would be absolutely bonkers to consider going back to it, especially when the evidence before our eyes is that the current formula is providing for scintillating racing by comparison to those dark days. Keep refuelling for Endurance Racing or the public road. Do not even think about it as part of any formula for a Grand Prix.
