There is no skill whatever in pressing a button.

Only in not pressing the wrong one by mistake!

http://www.motorsportmagazine.co.uk/2010/03/29/should-f1-be-a-drag-race

I can’t see the objection to a push to pass button for KERS (currently we have a move your leg to pass device in the McLaren!). The defending driver can always push his button to defend (much like the Turbo days with overboost). It becomes a paper-scissors-stone scenario where drivers don’t know how much or where the other driver is using their button.

The key thing for me would be to make it related to the performance of the car/driver and kers recovery system, not some artificial rev boost for a prescribed period of time.

KERS is fine in principle so long as it doesn’t have a push to pass button. I don’t want to see drivers gaining positions becuase they are better at pushing a button than another driver.

1) Overtaking is done in the braking zones right? Well it doesn’t have to be. Introduce the handford device (http://scarbsf1.com/HANDFORD.jpg) and get a mega slipstream. Cars currently pick up a tow on the straights only when they’re virtually on top of the car. A handford wing would make this start much further back.

2) Reintroduce KERS with complete freedom. No limited power per lap. This would stimulate development of the technologies and give more variance to the cars at different points of the lap.

There are probably a few flaws in these ideas, but I can’t see them at the moment

You know, what I think is needed is more power and less grip… Indeed perhaps the best way to see overtaking return is to free up powertrain development and restrict aero development.

Utterly. While there are some practical obstructions to having less grip (what tyre company in its right mind would willingly wish to supply a product that offered less than ideal grip and wear characteristics?), powertrain development needs a rethink. If you look at Ford’s forthcoming range of Ecotec road car engines, they are both more powerful and more efficient than their predecessors. This is where F1 needs to lead if it’s to stay relevant over the next couple of decades. To my mind KERS was a missed opportunity because the performance advantages they were permitted to offer didn’t sufficiently outweigh the disadvantages.

However didn’t much of the past angst come about because Mosley thought he knew best and tried to force through change, to the stubborn resistance of teams, engineers and indeed fans?

He did, but was thwarted at almost every turn by the stubborn resistance you mention – so many of his proposals were nixed outright or diluted.

You know, what I think is needed is more power and less grip. I miss the V10s, the V12s. We ended up with these awful V8s that helped the aerodynamics so much because Mosley wanted to cut speeds and costs, teams wouldn’t buy into it and so we ended up with a bastardised middle road.

I bet if you stuck 1000 bhp v12s into current f1 cars they would, peversely, be quite a bit slower. The weight, size, fuel requirements, would do the job aero regulations can’t.

Indeed perhaps the best way to see overtaking return is to free up powertrain development and restrict aero development.