Came across this article the other day, in it Mark Hughes, Grand Prix editor for Motorsport Magazine talks about the mid-season rule change that is coming to Formula One from Spa onwards. We’re in for a month long break between races with the Belgian Grand Prix occurring on the 23rd August.

So what change is actually occurring? Well from the Belgian race weekend, there can be no radio communication to the driver about clutch settings once he has left the garage on the way to the grid – that’s it, that’s all. The driver’s engineer can no longer advise on the clutch bite point based on any dummy launch that has taken place – it becomes the job of the driver to work this out.

Radio and Data from the pitwall and beyond influences the race strategy.

Okay, as Mark Hughes says himself, it’s a start – it’s something that should introduce some variation in the quality of individual starts and hopefully increase the spread of possible outcomes – but is it enough? Should we work on making sure drivers are the ones in control of their races, not engineers? Will this make our racing less predictable? Will it bring back the excitement that is sometimes lacking in many of the races?

As an engineer, our job is to control as many aspects of the race situation as we can, we’re seeking consistency, the best outcome possible each time… essentially, perfection. Leaving anything we can control to chance, it’s not usually in our nature. The driver behind the wheel is one of the biggest variables we have – and anything we can do to control that variable – well, it’s one less thing we need to worry about…

This chase for perfection often takes away the outside spectacle – something we can forget when in the bubble of competition. So, what is the answer? Do we ban all but emergency communication via pit radio, what data do we restrict? Where do we draw the line?

Mark Hughes proposes a ‘radical idea’, letting the drivers take control of race strategies;

“Some would be better at it than others. Which would give engineers nightmares – because the theoretical optimised outcome could be so easily thrown away. Perfect.”

It’s one way to introduce an extra dimension, and possibly, more excitement to Formula One – though, it’s not the only possible method – it’s definitely worthy of thought and discussion.