Ask Gary Anderson: Could two-tier F1 really work?

Is there the possibility of two classes coming into F1, like in the 1980s with the turbo/non-turbo classes? Maybe a V6 turbo/hybrid class and a normally-aspirated V8 class for the smaller teams who can't afford the new power units?
Michele Terminello, via Facebook

I believe there is, and in reality I don't see much wrong with it, but it would need to be carefully defined.

If you kept the 'works' cars, or any team that wants to run in the top class, as they are now with the V6 turbo/hybrid, you could then create a second division using the V8/KERS package. This should have a 60kg lower weight limit, which would be about 1.8 seconds faster on average.

This would be interesting as the second division cars should be fast enough to qualify on pole, but in the race the works cars would be adding 100kg of fuel and the second division roughly 140kg, so the weight difference would create some racing action.

Who do you expect to wrap up the championship in Abu Dhabi? Lewis Hamilton is favourite, but could it be that he will want to win it with a victory too much and risk making a mistake?
Mike Taylor, via email

Pressure can do so funny things to all of us. Some thrive on it, and others crumble under it. I think Lewis has shown he can handle it.

As you say, Lewis is favourite and only has to finish second to be sure of the championship. But he is a driver who doesn't like be beaten so he will want to win the race.

There is no reason to doubt that the Mercedes will be quick, so all things being equal he and Nico should be on the front row. Then he needs to be very careful of others.

Those first few corners will be pretty exciting, and I am sure he will spend a fair amount of time looking in the mirrors to make sure he is not going to get attacked from behind. Nico Rosberg has nothing to lose, second in the championship is his so he can just drive the wheels off the car, be on pole and win the race.

From there on, it's down to where Lewis finishes, which Nico really can't do much about.

Can an open engine formula work in F1?
Domenici D'Agostino, via Facebook

Not really. We have been there in the past and have had all sorts of regulations, but in reality now it would be very expensive.

There will always be a 'best' solution, but getting there would take time and a lot of money.

The other thing is that Formula 1 should not be a 'best engine' formula. Unfortunately, we are seeing a bit of that right now, but I am sure that 99.999 per cent of viewers want close competition with the best drivers coming out on top and winning races.

Will the other engine manufacturers be able to catch Mercedes over the winter, and will they be able to make just four power units last for all 20 races in 2015?
@OppolockF1B, via Twitter

It's going to be very difficult even if the homologation rules are further relaxed to allow more changes during the season than will be permitted over the winter.

All this to-ing and fro-ing about lifting the engine freeze is also wasting a lot of time. To be ready to introduce something for 2015, if by some miracle the engine freeze is lifted, you would need to more or less be running your new engine package on the dyno now.

I don't think any of the engine companies would want to risk the financial outlay required to do that.

When it all comes down to it, very few of the teams and none of the engine manufacturers really want to work together for the best of the sport. They only see their own self-interest and what is best for them individually.

It is possible to change 48 per cent of the engine over the winter anyway, but given Mercedes will make big strides as well, it's hard to see it being caught.

What is your take on Bernie Ecclestone's comments that F1 doesn't need young fans?
@kumagab, via Twitter

What Bernie says about the sponsors involved in Formula 1 and the market they can sell into is correct. Very few 18-25-year-olds can afford a new Rolex or an AMG Mercedes.

But what he needs to remember is that even he wasn't that well off at one time in his life. So those kids that have very little right now might just end up being very wealthy people.

From my point of view Formula 1 needs to do more to bring in sponsors like Coca Cola or McDonalds - younger generation sponsors. If you can catch that younger generation now then you might just be able to hang onto them.

At the time of writing, I am in Abu Dhabi at the F1 in Schools World Finals. I have acted as chief judge for this organisation for five years.

The students involved in the teams are between 12 and 19 years old and there are 38 teams from 23 different countries and the student headcount here is around 200.

It's a relatively small number but it's a snapshot of that age group and all of them have a huge interest in Formula 1. The majority of them are very clever people and will be successful in life, which means later on they may well have money to spend.

Let them slip away, and it is very difficult to get them back.

What do you think of the idea about racing F1 and GP2 together?
Paul Theakston, via Facebook

Paul, GP2 is a stepping stone to F1 and the cars run to a completely different set of technical regulations.

We must make sure that we don't over-react to this budget situation. Something needs to be done, but make sure we don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

F1 has always been expensive. When Eddie Jordan made the commitment in Christmas 1989 to start Jordan Grand Prix, he knew he was going to be in it up to his neck, and since then it has never been any different. Teams have come and teams have gone.

What needs to be done is a control on the amount of waste. The stuff that I see coming to the track, running for five laps and then being put in the bin is shameful.

This is the area that someone needs to work on and, if done correctly, millions could be saved across the grid.

What are your three favourite F1 cars of all time, and why?
Gregory Thornhill, via Facebook

I can only comment on cars during my time in F1.

The first would be the Brabham BT44. It was a really neat little package, quick and a pleasure to work on, just as designer Gordon Murray was a pleasure to work with.

I was new in the game then and I had one of the best mentors in F1. It was working with Gordon that allowed me to understand enough to give me the confidence to go on and design various cars for my own company, and then return to F1 as a designer and technical director.

My second would be the Lotus 78. I never worked on this car but it was well ahead of its time, and to be honest started the domination of aerodynamics in car design.

To this day people are still copying things that were on that car like the small vortex generators that were mounted in the throat of the underfloor.

People now have very similar components all around the car to generate vortices, and when you think about it we never saw a Lotus 78 with anything like the aero rakes we currently see used on a Friday at F1 races.

To 'collect data', the guys responsible for this car had to scratch their heads.

Third would be the Jordan 191. Obviously, I had to include one of my cars in this! But it was a very neat and efficient little car.

The performance was not that of the big boys, but during 1991 we did make them sit up and take a look on more than one occasion.

To Andrew Green and Mark Smith, my co-designers of the 191, and all the Jordan staff at that time, thanks for everything you did. Hopefully you are, to this day, still as proud of that car as I am.

What is your view on tyre blankets? Should they stay or should they go?
Dave Fontana, via Facebook

Dave, if you just take the kilometres a team does in a year and divide that by an average budget you get something like £3000 per kilometre.

Based on most tracks being around five kilometres long, that's £15,000 per lap.

If it takes one lap extra every time you leave pits to get the tyres up to temperature and a driver leaves the pits five times per practice session, with three sessions, that's 15 times per weekend. So, £75,000 would be wasted just warming up tyres.

It doesn't take long to save enough money to cover the cost of tyre blankets.

That said, I do believe that each team has far too many. If you walk down the paddock each team will have at least 20 sets of tyres wrapped up in blankets at any one time.

During qualifying, each driver has only six sets of tyres available to them so in my book that means six sets of tyre blankets should be the maximum allowable.