Could a chicane at Silverstone actually help with the energy deployment mess, not just be a gimmick?
(Used AI to help clean up grammar/formatting on this, but the take is mine)
Sorry if this has already been done to death somewhere in the sub, I looked around and didn’t see a dedicated thread, figured it’s better as its own post than a buried comment nobody sees.
So Max and Lewis are both saying this weekend could be rough because of the power unit limitations, and I can’t stop thinking about one idea: what if they just stuck a chicane somewhere, Hangar Straight, or maybe right after Copse before Maggotts, purely to force more braking so the batteries can actually recharge?
Why I think it’s not as crazy as it sounds:
Silverstone’s whole identity is high speed corners taken flat out. But right now the cars are already losing serious speed mid corner because they’re out of battery. So that “flat out” character is already broken under these regs anyway. A chicane isn’t ruining the track’s soul, it’s just admitting what’s already happening out there.
Counterarguments, and why I still land on chicane:
“You’d be wrecking one of the most iconic sections in F1”
Yeah, Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel is untouchable in theory. But if cars are already crawling through there because they’ve got no juice, the iconic version is already gone in practice even if it looks the same on the track map.“This is a band-aid, just fix the actual regs”**
Probably true long term. But rule changes take years. A track tweak could be tested way sooner as a stopgap while they sort the real fix.“Chicanes are always hated, drivers and fans both”
Also true, most chicanes exist purely to slow cars down for safety (old Monza vibes). But one placed specifically to create a real braking zone for regen is different, it could actually add a strategic layer around energy management instead of just being a speed bump.
- “Why Silverstone specifically, other tracks have this too”
Fair, but Silverstone’s combo of long straights into sustained high speed corners with almost no braking makes it a worse case than most.
Anyway, curious what people who actually understand the energy deployment side think. Real fix or am I missing something obvious here?
This post got removed from main F1 subreddit without any indication. So I’m posting here…