SoundRacer
Really insightful reflections by you Loz on the future of racing! But at least it does not have to be a lack of sounds as exciting sound of racing is already electronically available:)
Buzzclick
You done it again Loz. As I was reading about all the tech possibilities, my mind raced ahead wondering about the track, and the next paragraph raises the question! 500kmh is fast, but even that will seem slow when seen from a distance.
I have seen an e-race and yes, it can get tedious. The whizzing and whining of the cars that are hardly able to pass each other has its limits. What we need is track technology that somehow enables overtaking over or under as well as by the sides. With cars fitted with crash avoidance radar at breakneck speeds, passing ability will be crucial. As long as the competitive edge is there, F1 has a future. The sound of these machines will also be important. Noisy tires? The faster you go, the louder they get? Like the engine of a petrol setup. Having electronic sound-transducers may get tired. Pun intended.
Gizmowiz
Just add slots and make it full scale slot car racing.....
Gizmowiz
Then add super strong super powerful magnets with a metallic raceway and have the cars 'glued' to the track so they can do loops and go at 400 mph or greater.
guzmanchinky
Excellent perspective. Let's be clear: Everything will be electric soon. But do you know what is way more fun than watching someone do something fun? Doing something fun. I get 1000x more of an adrenaline rush racing one of those electric go karts than I do watching any race. THOSE are where the action is. Lots of overtaking and strategy. Of course there is no real danger, and I fear that most people find racing exciting at least partially because of the risk, whether they admit it or not...
fb36
IMHO, to increase race cars overtaking each other, either, roads must get wider, or, the race cars must get smaller!
So, maybe, the future of car racing is Go-kart racing!? :-)
guzmanchinky
fb36 I watched a race once with well known drivers in normal cars, it was the most exciting thing I've ever seen. Maybe karts are the future. Hypercarts that can accelerate much faster than anything and pass with reckless abandon.
Daishi
@VincentWolf Magnets would be a cool idea. With powered magnets you could chose when to trade power for speed or trade it for additional grip for an overtake. It would make it more dynamic and vastly increase skill-cap. To Vince's other point if you slotted a groove on the outside position around a corner you could choose to take the inside of the corner or move to the outer part and have some mechanism like a fin drop down into the slot allowing you to carry more speed than hitting the standard apex. You could also reinforce the outside wall giving cars the option of putting on side facing tires to ride against the wall at speed. You could have a split lane on a longer path that allows cars to touch a charge plate to recharge on the go so they can chose between overtaking on the shortcut or playing the longer game with conserving power. It seems like there are actually a lot of things you could do. Formula E "Power boost" was silly but some of these ideas could serve as a way to allow spectators to make some decisions about strategy on the track and get involved. If you drive too aggressively you are stuck limping on the longer/slower inductive charge lane. With a handful of options you could do a "twitch does formula One" with some teams allowing viewer participation. The human element would give the AI cars a random element to have to account/adjust for. Human viewers would not directly control the steering but could control the strategy and decisions.
Martin Hone
Yes, slot car racing certainly springs to mind. Speed is part of racing but it is relative. Skill, daring and sound are more important. Hence MotoGP is more exciting than F1. I can't see F1 surviving the McLaren scenario. Bring back skinny tyres and get rid of the electronics and enjoy the spectacle !
nick101
Formula 1 is already extremely boring, most road racing is as well. The only racing I'll watch is motorcycle racing. Flying drones on the other hand . . !