Gary Anderson: Is a Formula 1 breakaway the answer?

Instead of constantly search for new cost-cutting ideas, why do F1 teams not consider a breakaway series again? Would getting rid of CVC and Bernie Ecclestone not make the sport sustain itself and pay for cutting-edge innovation, attract more modern media exposure and allow for a better (from a fan's perspective) calendar?
Sasha Selipanov, via Facebook

Sasha, I've been around F1 for a long time and I have seen it transform from a racing event that few knew about to what it is today.

As a matter of fact, in 1973 the first time I went to Monaco working for Bernie's Brabham team I drove there in a Ford Transit van and open trailer with an F1 car on the back!

When I became more involved in the management side of things from 1990 onwards, I went to quite a few FOCA meetings and the complaint was always the same, that Bernie was taking too much money.

But Bernie has done a huge amount for F1 over many years and I genuinely believe the money the teams get through his organisation is vastly more than they would get from any breakaway series. The teams just would not work together to organise this sort of thing because everyone is out for themselves.

A more equal distribution of funds can be done right now. But why don't the big teams like Ferrari and Red Bull give the small squads like Marussia and Sauber some financial help?

The answer is that they are too greedy. Can you imagine what it would be like if it were a teams' breakaway series?

Do manufacturers that don't participate in F1 benefit from technology transfer, and how much tech is actually transferable to production cars?
Dion Barnes, via Twitter

Dion, most car manufacturers collaborate in one way or another. Some share engines, gearboxes and even chassis floorpans as working like this is much more cost effective.

But with the F1 power unit package, I doubt there would be much technology transfer between manufacturers. I can't see Mercedes working too closely with BMW, for example, on a system that is so intricate.

But I'm certain that a group of engineers at BMW will have studied the new F1 regulations and even carried out some in-depth modelling to see how they would have reacted if they had still been involved in F1.

It would then compare that to how the participating engine manufacturers have packaged the new unit and its performance. From that, it could see where BMW might have stood had it still been involved.

As far as technology is concerned, there is very little direct transfer. But F1 and the budgets concerned allow engineers to dream up new ideas and systems.

After they get diluted to make them cost effective, the ideas, not the components, are transferable.

Would Williams have won in Austria with a better reaction to the Mercedes pitstop strategy?
@Maxton_MS, via Twitter

The reality is that the two Mercedes are faster than anyone else at the moment. So I genuinely believe that the two Williams cars came away from Austria with the best result possible.

That said, if you're able to hang onto another car's gearbox just that little bit closer, then anything is possible. You can force the other driver into a mistake, like the one Nico Rosberg had at Turn 1.

You only need this to happen a couple of times and suddenly a win can be on the cards. But taking into account result relative to competitiveness, Williams came away smiling with third and fourth.

How much do teams change their brakes from track to track?
Larry C, via Twitter

The circuit requirements define the brake requirements.

These carbon brakes work well at somewhere between 350C and 700C. If they're too cold you have no stopping power, and if they're too hot they start to wear dramatically. When you see black dust coming out of the wheels under braking, it's time to do something about it.

The brake disc is limited by the regulations to a maximum thickness of 28mm, so for hard-braking circuits like Montreal the teams will fit this thickness of disc.

But the thicker the disc, the more difficult it is to get up to a working temperature. So for lighter braking circuits like Silverstone, teams will fit discs with a thickness of around 22mm.

On any circuit, it's about controlling the temperatures within that window. If that is not done correctly you can run into problems anywhere.

What do the drivers enjoy more, a supremely fast planted car, or one with not much grip and too much power?
@EmmbrookKarting, via Twitter

It's not necessarily the grip level that drivers prefer. It's more about the challenge of high-speed corners with a car that has a good and consistent balance that they can feel.

This then allows them to challenge themselves to go faster every lap. Corners like Copse and the Becketts complex at Silverstone are good examples.

Cars with inconsistent grip levels or poor balance just mean that the driver has to go slower or they'll be in the gravel trap.

As far as less grip and too much power is concerned, if it was the same for everyone then most drivers would have fun. But the cars would need a major redesign to achieve this.

With so many drivers struggling with braking this season and with the issues that teams like Force India and Mercedes faced in Canada, should the regulations be revised for standard-sized (bigger) callipers for safety reasons?
Ubaid Parkar, via Facebook

The rules actually say the normal braking system has to be adequate if there is an electrical system problem.

If the teams fitted - as they did last year - more or less the same system on the rear of the car as they have on the front, then there would be no problems; but everyone tries to push the limits.

So to save weight they have fitted a smaller rear system as the ERS harvesting offers a decent percentage of the required rear braking.

The problem Mercedes suffered in Canada was not with the brakes as such, it was with the lack of ERS harvesting.

As for Sergio Perez and his brake problem, yes it probably led to him and Felipe Massa being on the same piece of track, but in reality the crash was a just a racing accident between two drivers going for the same piece of road.

What was the most memorable weekend of your career? Not just a race, a whole weekend, involving late-night parties!
Gyimesi Brigitta, via Twitter

That's a really difficult question! I suppose I have been very lucky over my career and had a few great weekends, but I'm afraid they would mainly involve the racing as I have never really been into the late-night parties.

I think setting up Jordan, and as a small team getting everything together and competing with the big boys at our first grand prix weekend in Phoenix in 1991, is one of the highlights. You only realise the size of the task when you get there and see the other teams you are up against.

The end result was not what we had hoped for, with Andrea de Cesaris failing to pre-qualify thanks to a problem and Bertrand Gachot not finishing, but we had showed we were potentially a solid performer and that we had a baseline to build from.

More than that, we'd been accepted by people and teams that had been involved in F1 for many years. We did have a little party on the Sunday night, but I think we were all a bit too tired to go much later than 10pm!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

What are your memories of Andrea de Cesaris, and how was Jordan able to turn a wild man into reliable points scorer?
Andrew Potter, via Twitter

Andrew, my memories of Andrea are good. He was exactly what we needed at the time.

I must admit, when Eddie Jordan told me he was talking to Andrea about the drive, I thought both of them were mad. But in Andrea's case, I was wrong. As far as the other one is concerned, I think the jury is still out!

We needed someone with experience so he very quickly became an integral part of our team. We knew nothing about F1 so we used his knowledge and I genuinely believe that was one of the things that matured him and made him feel more responsible.

He was and still is a character and we had some enjoyable times in 1991.

That said, I did have a small disagreement with him in Barcelona and held him by the throat against the garage wall about a foot in the air. However, we soon kissed and made up.

Imagine what the papers would say if we got a shot of Paddy Lowe with Lewis Hamilton by the throat...