At a time many fear for the direction Formula One is heading, one of the agreements reached at this week's meeting of the Strategy Group appears to encapsulate much of what is wrong with the sport at present.

Last year, as is the norm, the teams disagreed on a number of devices that appeared on the cars over the course of the year, most notably the so-called shark fin.

McLaren, which has made no secret of its need for new sponsors, argued that the fin obscured a large portion of the rear wing, widely seen as 'prime real estate' in terms of logos.

While many were keen to retain the fin, for aerodynamic reasons, the device was scrapped for this year, though there is talk of it returning in 2019.

This week's meeting of the Strategy Group saw the teams agree on a number of changes to bodywork design for 2019, all with the intention of optimising said sponsorship 'real estate' for the teams as opposed to improving the racing.

In addition to bargeboards being lower, thereby allowing better visibility of the side of the cars, there will be a mandatory space at the top of the rear wing endplates in order that sponsors logos are not compromised by aero devices such as louvres.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the revelation that overtaking in 2017 was around 50% down on 2016, the proposal that the front wings be simplified - but in order to make them more attractive to sponsors - was dismissed as the aerodynamic impact would be too great to justify on non-technical grounds.

This is in a week Pirelli's Mario Isola is said to have claimed that the sport needs more mechanical grip and less reliance on aero, something that most F1 fans have been saying for 20-plus years.

The mind boggles.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by mickl, 22/01/2018 19:24

"There is a fundamental problem with making the cars rely more on mechnical grip, etc as the fans are wanting. It would in all likelihood make the F1 cars slower than the currentGP2/F2/whatever they're called now formula. It would make it even more of a farce than it is now. They would have to downgrade F2 cars to slow them down as well. Then they would also have to do the same to all subsequent formulas that are ranked below. It would affect every formula that run under FIA regs which would have knock on effects of cost and time for everyone."

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2. Posted by Tony Soprano, 22/01/2018 15:05

"I read the comments that precede this one (comments that I agree with) and wonder why the myopic people who run F1 can't seem to read. The fans know what's wrong with F1 and have been saying so on this website for years. I can understand Bernie the Dinosaur not paying attention because he never cared about the fans (I recall him being quoted once as saying that the fans don't matter) but the new guys who are supposedly all about social media and improving "the show" aren't listening at all.

The fact is that there is no show! Getting rid of the fin in order to provide better visibility for the rear wing ain't gonna help attract sponsors willing to pay the big money for that "prime real estate" on the wing when the problem with visibility isn't the fin (which I hate by the way) but, rather, the lack of enough eyeballs looking at the wing. Maybe the clowns running F1 now don't get it but sponsors do. Sponsors want their name to be seen. Sponsors understand from fan comments (as opposed to the that ginned-up TV viewing figures that Liberty has been touting) that fewer people are interesting in seeing F1. Sponsors aren't going to pay "whatever" to put their names on rear wings when no one cares to look at that wind.

So here's part of the solution:

To John Malone:

1) get rid of the clowns who you hired to run F1 despite Carey and Bratches having zero experience with motorsports

2) start paying attention to the fans and insist on making the sport more simple - less aero grip, A LOT LESS - a simpler engine formula that would attract independent manufacturers like Cosworth, dump KERS and let FE develop "road-relevant" electrics, a budget cap like they have in so many other sports which would include not just car development but also driver salaries. In essence, make the driver more important in whether a car wins or loses. Separate the real drivers from the pretenders who have some rich guy backing his/her career.

3) stop going to countries that have no history in motorsports, countries where Bernie's lust for gold failed - India, South Korea, Turkey etc. Vietnam?!?!? You've got to be kidding!

4) stop charging extortionist sanctioning fees from promoters. Why circuits that keep losing money with F1 haven't dropped F1 is a mystery to me. The promoters are (presumably) in "business". I don't know of any business that stay in business very long when all it does is lose money, (are you listening Tesla?)

There are a lot of other things that could be done to bring back the fans. What I'm suggesting is merely a start. But I guess until John Malone starts reading the comments from fans on this and similar F1 websites, we're all going to have to put up with the slow demise of F1. Time to check if my cable provider (USA) includes a channel that covers MotoGP

"

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3. Posted by Greg, 22/01/2018 10:13

"Time to go back to a simpler formula and concentrate on he mechanics of the car and driver skill. Cut down on the extensive expensive front wings and rear wings. Make the car not so reliant on the aero."

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4. Posted by Tweek, 22/01/2018 5:14

"The time has come for a return to a wingless formula. "

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5. Posted by ryanhellyer, 22/01/2018 2:21

"Most F1 fans have been wanting more mechanical grip and less aero grip for a lot more than 20 years ;)"

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6. Posted by Uffen, 21/01/2018 23:59

"They can't manage to do it to help with racing, but to help with money... hey, let's get on with it!"

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7. Posted by VC10-1103, 21/01/2018 22:29

"This really confirms F1 is now an advertising business and not the the sport I grew up with in the late '60's & '70's."

Bodywork changes for 2019 put sponsors before racing

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