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The car and driver
F1, the jewel and pinnacle of motorsports has always been about the true amalgamation of man and machine.To consistently succeed in F1 requires not only the best package (car and team), but also a talented driver who has honed his race craft to the edge. Not having either of the two might spell the difference between winning and coming second. And as most champions believe coming second equals losing.
Since the birth of F1 in the early 1950's, F1 has been about pushing the limits of both man and machine.The best drivers in the world raced fast and drove powerful cars. Names such as Juan Manuel Fangio and Alberto Ascari instantly come to mind. Back in the early days of F1, it was considered a very dangerous profession and only seasoned veterans came forward to try and tame the powerful beasts that were the F1 cars. Success was not only defined by the driver or by the car, but it was defined by the best of both. You needed a good car as well as a talented driver who could drive the car to its potential.
Technical expertise of the engineers
We can argue that F1 as profession contains some of the brightest engineers on the planet. People who are constantly pushing limits with the design of the cars to find that elusive tenth of a second to make the car faster, to challenge the drivers to drive to their limits. With the advent of the computer era, the situation has undergone a dramatic change. Earlier any breakthrough the engineers came up with had to be exhaustively tested in test cars.
With the computing power available to the top teams these days, as well as state of the art simulators, planned car updates are exhaustively tested in the virtual world to see the affect they have on the overall car and to see if the car actually improves. This has led to the scenario in which updates brought by the teams are fitted to the cars and deliver instant improvements. Also, simulations have also become so accurate that most teams already decide on the setup of the car for all the races of the year well in advance.
Ban on season testing affects drivers
On the driver side of things, there hasn't been much change, or at least not much positive change. Some may argue that F1 still receives the best young drivers possible with the intense competition in lower levels of motorsports as well as being funded from quite an early age. But we are overlooking very important aspects. One of which is the ban on season testing. The legendary Michael Schumacher was famous for being a die-hard tester. This led to him knowing the limits to which he could push his car and more importantly how hard he could push himself.
Another example is Lewis Hamilton, who almost won his first world championship during his rookie year. This almost unimaginable scenario almost came real because he had been consistently testing for Mclaren before he made his F1 debut. With the in season testing ban these days, there are less and less opportunities for F1 drivers to push themselves to redefine new limits. One can argue that they have sufficient time in the car during free practice sessions before each Grand Prix. But often, practice sessions are used to test out new car parts and find the perfect setup.
With the current golden batch of drivers almost past their prime, the new recruits who are introduced to the world of F1 have less and less time to get adjusted to the blinding speeds as well as to test their limits.
Time for F1 to embrace new technologies
These days, F1 cars have become so complicated as to rival fighter jets. Each car possesses a lot of computing power and next generation technology like brake by wire systems, in which an onboard computer assists during the braking of the car have already made their entry. There have also been rumors of ground breaking programmable suspensions which were tested by certain teams. Also, a lot of car settings are monitored live with the ability to change them as and when required from the pits at the push of a button. Teams also have data analysts working with computer models which determine the optimum strategy during a race, often taking into account real time scenarios as they unfold during the race.
This leads us to ask the question, have F1 drivers become obsolete in the modern era? One can argue so, with all the work that happens on the car in the background before and after a race, that race drivers are just an obstacle holding back the current crop of engineers to unveil cars which would be able to theoretically run faster than what the human body could sustain.
Gone are the days where F1 drivers were glamorous people living dangerous lives to the hilt. I am not saying the current crop of drivers in F1 are not talented, but that unlike in the past where a talented driver could actually out drive his car, the current generation of drivers cannot out race their cars due to the high dependency on the cars itself. So, rather than holding back to sentimental memories, maybe it is time for F1 to look to the future instead and embrace the driverless technology that is slowly making its way to big stage.
After all, F1 has always been the pinnacle of motorsport, due to its willingness to create and accept ground breaking technology. And it is about time it comes out of its stagnant phase and embraces new ideas and technology that it has always been famous for doing.
