Down Under

With the Australian GP coming up this weekend, I was reminded that in the early 1960s, racing teams used to spend a lot of the winter in New Zealand and Australia.

There wasn't really an off-season in those days, just racing in different countries. Six or eight races spread across the Antipodes over a period of a couple of months probably allowed teams like Cooper and Lotus to evaulate their new ideas. Of course, they wouldn't be able to change much being so far away from the factory, and that in itself tells us how much things have changed in forty years. No tyres to test, just bolt them on and drive. No wings or barge boards. A new engine perhaps, or a switch to injection from carburettors. A new chassis design. Those were the kind of things that were hot topics.

So I'm curious. Should F1 be about aerodynamics and tyres? Or drivers and engines? And how does traction control fit in? Personally, I'd like to see the order of priority like this:

1. Driver
2. Engine
3. Tyres
4. Traction Control
5. Aerodynmaics

Although I know that traction control is very hard to police as teams will build "intelligent engines", so that might disappear from the list. But I really want to see a skilful driver being able to make the most of his/her talent. How about you?