Standard Engines in Formula One 11/06/2008 A few days ago, there was a little-remarked article in Formula1Sport that may throw some light upon the FIA's view of the future. The site is down at the moment, thanks to the activities of some childish hacker, so I cannot link directly to the article but the relevant portions are as follows:The FIA may be contemplating how to equalise the performance of the engines in formula one, according to reports.Renault pit, MontrealFerrari is said to have prepared best for the engine freeze, now regularly dominating the speed traps at F1 circuits, but Mercedes-Benz and BMW are also widely believed to have clearly more powerful 2.4 litre V8 units than Renault, Toyota and Honda.The Spanish newspaper Diario AS is reporting that the FIA is thinking about redressing the balance by introducing some sort of engine performance limiter in 2009, controlled via the standard ECU.This surely indicates both the weakness of the engine freeze and the determination of the FIA under Max Mosley to reduce F1 to a spec formula. As has been pointed out so often in the past, the competition between designers and engineers is an essential part of the magic of the sport and so a freeze in any area of development runs contrary to the ethos of F1.But the deed is done and we must put up with this false cost-cutting measure for the moment. What is more worrying is that the FIA seem to want every engine involved to produce the same amount of power. Where is the logic in that unless what they really want is a spec formula?Even individual engines of the same design will produce slightly different power and torque curves - this is an inexplicable fact of life that engineers have always accepted. So it should be no surprise that engines of different design vary even more in their output. Immediately prior to the introduction of the freeze there was a mad rush by all the teams to get their latest tweaks included in the engine; nobody wanted to be saddled with an underperforming power plant for the next few years.Now it seems that the FIA wants to negate its own regulation by perhaps limiting engine output through the standard ECU or freeing up certain aspects for development again. Is this not a drive towards equality gone completely insane? The very nature of F1 is that there is inequality between the cars, inevitably so since engineers have different ideas on how to get the best out of the regulations. The FIA's job is to provide a fair playing field, yes, but not to specify power outputs.There has been a tendency over recent years for the FIA to extend its powers into the realm of design, way beyond its remit. This must result in a spec series in the end and Mosley has said before that he sees that as being the future for the sport. To anyone who understands the ethos of F1, however, the idea is anathema and will create something that is not F1. We might as well upgrade GP2 to F1 status and leave it at that, if all we want is equality.It remains to be seen whether the latest political upheavals in the FIA will produce something new - either a different structure or a new president. Clearly, we can hope for no change in outlook as long as Mosley remains in charge and must rely on fate to decide whether the sport will survive in recognizable form or not. If we love the sport, however, we had better pray that something happens soon to force a re-examination of the direction chosen by the FIA.
Clive
Alianora La Canta The FIA might as well admit failure in its engine freeze - by permitting one improvement, engine expenditure will skyrocket as teams prepare in case another chance is given to "equalise" the engine performance. This is especially the case given how close to each other the engines already are due to restrictive regulations. And the paradox is that the more restrictive engine regulations are, the more it costs to get an improvement of a given size. Since all engine companies will want as much improvement as possible, it follows that being restrictive ensures high costs. So by adding complications, sub-clauses and exemptions into the mix, the FIA is contradicting its own "cost-cutting" reasoning.Either Max is determined to give Bernie the GP1 he wants (unlikely in the current psuedopolitical climate) or he's lost the thread of what he was trying to do - again. And we will pay the price (literally and figuratively) for his mistake. Date Added: 11/06/2008
Haplo The FIA might as well admit failure in almost everything F1 they do.This is mental as always, we should be running V10 turbos by now ;) Date Added: 11/06/2008
Steven Roy Hands up all those who knew that an engine freeze would not work. OK, everyone on the planet except Max you can put their hands back down again. The man is an idiot.We have a ten year engine freeze which is now a five year engine freeze but you can make modifications to overcome reliability problems even if like Ferrari you don't have any reliability problems. If your engine fails in a race you get a free engine for the next race but if your engine does not fail in the race and survives the Friday of the following race but fails on the Saturday you get a penalty for having a more reliable engine than the first guy. Spike Milligan was put in a mental hospital for writing stuff like this.Now the 10 year, five year freeze is going to thaw a little bit to create more equal engines. How is it possible to take five different makes of engine and force them to perform identically? We are going to end up with Max in a dark room with a computer turning engines up and down until he gets the result he wants. Alonso spun so we will give him an extra 1000 rpm to help him catch up. Raikkonen has a big lead so we will drop him 750rpm and switch off his 3rd and fifth gears. And this is before we get KERS and push to pass. Date Added: 11/06/2008
Haplo Bah! That kers thing should stay in the Hybrid Civics our grandmas drive! Date Added: 11/06/2008
Alianora La Canta While we're on the subject of stupid consequences of rules, I might as well add that if the first gearbox Fisichella got in Canada had failed half-an-hour of running earlier, or indeed failed at the same point in the weekend in Turkey (before the boundary for non-obvious* internal gearbox failure got pushed back from the end of Saturday practise to the end of Friday second practise), then he would not have received his five-place grid penalty for its failure.And the engine freeze is now an engine slush.* - Apparently the fact that a gearbox has failed does not constitute sufficiently obvious for the purposes of scrutineering. Nor does having a Ferrari engine help! Date Added: 11/06/2008
Pink Peril Watching the FIA at work is like watching an old Keystone Cops movie.Except far less entertaining. Date Added: 12/06/2008
Clive Hmmm, I'd say we're all pretty fed up with the FIA's handling of F1. What I don't understand is why so many people seem to think Max has done a good job. Safety is always mentioned at this point but he merely did what anyone would have done after Ayrton's death. In terms of rule-making, he has been an absolute disaster for the sport. Date Added: 12/06/2008
Steven Roy I think McLaren should fit an ejector seat in the back of their two seater and strap Max in. Let Brundle take him round th Ring and launch him into the trees somewhere.The only problem is that if he survived he would decide that the way to make racing exciting is to fit each car with four lots of ejectable ballast. As soon as you are more than 10 seconds behind the guy in front you can launch one load of ballast. Date Added: 12/06/2008
Clive Well, it's laugh or cry time, I guess, Steven. Probably best to laugh since there is nothing we can do about the situation. Date Added: 12/06/2008
Alianora La Canta This is probably completely the wrong place for this, but here goes:Happy birthday, Clive! May you and F1 Insight continue to prosper :) Date Added: 12/06/2008
Clive Thank you very much, Alianora. You don't miss a trick, do you? :) Date Added: 13/06/2008
underdog Happy Birthday Clive and thank you for bringing this blog to us. Date Added: 13/06/2008
Clive And thank you, Underdog - much appreciated. Date Added: 13/06/2008
donwatters I would be remiss if I didn't also add my best wishes for health, happiness and continued good fortune for BMW on your birthday. I've always admired Alianora for the depth of her knowledge about the more arcane aspects of F1...but to know your birthday...wow, that's really something. Date Added: 13/06/2008
Clive Thanks, Don. That Alianora is truly amazing, isn't she? I think I know how she obtained the info and am now kicking myself for not having sealed off that avenue! At my age, you try to forget birthdays... Date Added: 13/06/2008
Alianora La Canta I was thinking more in terms of you maybe seeing your birthday as an opportunity to look back on all the good you've done this year, particularly in keeping us all informed with your sensible opinions, both at F1 Insight and in other places on the internet. Date Added: 13/06/2008
Clive Flattery will get you everywhere, Alianora! :D Date Added: 13/06/2008
Steven Roy Assuming Ali's source is the same as mine it I can exclusively reveal that Clive is *0 years old. Congratulations Date Added: 13/06/2008
Clive You're right, Steven, it's the big *0 for me! But I look on the bright side - they you're only as old as you feel and by that reckoning, I'm about 28. Or 197, depending on the time of day...Thanks! :) Date Added: 13/06/2008
Steven Roy I always tell people I am 27 and have been for many years. It is amazing how many people look totally confused by that answer. As far as I am concerned age is little more than a random number. Date Added: 13/06/2008
Clive I agree that age is largely a random number except I feel that those of us who are older have earned the right to be proud of our age. I earned every one of these grey hairs, I earned these wrinkles, I even earned the aches and pains of the mornings. I hear people say, "I wish I were young again," and I think, "I don't!"Think about it - would you really want to be that silly again? To have all those mistakes still to make, all those hard lessons to be learned, all that child rearing, all that need to just like everyone else? No, what people mean is they'd like to keep their minds as they are but have a young body to carry it around in.And even that I don't want. I am not that enamoured of life that I want to have another forty years added on to my sentence. I worked hard to get this close to my final resting place and I'm damned if anyone's going to take it away from me! Give me the quiet life.. umm, okay, death, anyday.It's not that I'm not enjoying life - I am. In fact, every decade of my life I've had more fun and interest than in the preceding one. If this continues, my sixties (there, I've said it now) should be a complete gas (somewhat fitting since the sixties were my formative decade). Why on earth would I want to go back to some earlier age and have to start all over again?In many ways it is the cult of youth that has destroyed so many good things in the world. There was never anything wrong with respecting one's elders, with not having the "perfect" body shape, with not having the power and money to do exactly as we want, with not having the latest gadget to feed our need for something new; in fact, it made us better people and enabled us to become who we are now.I'll not regret any of it. I own all the foolish choices I've made, all the wrong turns I've taken, all the opportunities that I've missed, just as I own the things I did get right. And the sum total of all of that is me.I am certainly not perfect but I wouldn't change a thing about me, even the bad things. It's great being old, I tell you, and don't let all the television ads in the world tell you differently!Sorry, bit of a rant there. I'll try to be good in future... ;) Date Added: 14/06/2008
donwatters As a fellow child of the 60's, Clive, thank you so much for putting the same thoughts I've had lately into such elegant words. It's all true. Date Added: 16/06/2008
Nick Goodspeed I would like to see the ghost of Colin Chapman come back and shove the bloated F1 rulebook down Mad Max's throat.He has complicated his flexible rules to a point that he can dial in who will be champion. There is no more room for ingenuity in the sport. Penalty upon penalty upon penalty. Not a year goes by that at least one country's racing fans aren't threatened with having their race revoked unless they ante up more and more cash. F1 is out of control. Those running it don't care about the sport. They want cash and power and the trappings that come with them. Date Added: 19/06/2008
Mike M Sorry I seem to have been the only F1 Sport reader to miss wishing you Happy Birthday on the day, Clive. Belated best wishes. I am 5 years up on you and feeling pretty much the way you do, vis-a-vis life. A liver transplant in 2002 helped get me this far. No it wasn't alcohol consumption that compromised my original liver, rather it was two successive Government Health Ministers with a cavalier attitude to public safety.Now back to F1, do we cheer for Bernie in his attempts to set right Max's meddling by turning his back on FIA? I find it hard to support him in view of his greed and disdain for the needs of us, the fans. Date Added: 20/06/2008
Arnet Happy belated, Clive, and thanks for bringing your wisdom to this forum. Date Added: 20/06/2008
Clive Thanks for the good wishes, guys. Nick, I agree with you completely but, as Mike points out, we may have to hope for a Bernie victory on his war with Max. Get rid of one of them first and then maybe the other will fall too! Date Added: 20/06/2008
Nick Goodspeed Judging by the penalty to Hamilton, there would be no room for Gilles Villeneuve in today's F1. How ludicrous is it to stick the guy in a hole, then penalize him for trying to get out of it? There's got to be something more than meets the eye going on. Could Mosley be doing a payback for Ron Dennis being in the midst of the "Breakaway Series?" On the other hand the FIA would look ridiculous if McLaren were to win, or even come close to the title this year after the huge fine imposed last year. How could they justify the huge cost of things when a team can carry on with hardly a hic-up with a $100,000,000 or so less in their coffers? Nick Date Added: 23/06/2008
Mike Sorry I seem to have been the only F1 Sport reader to miss wishing you Happy Birthday on the day, Clive. Belated best wishes.I am 5 years up on you and feeling pretty much the way you do, vis-a-vis life. A Liver enzymes transplant in 2002 helped get me this far. No it wasn't alcohol consumption that compromised my original liver, rather it was two successive Government Health Ministers with a cavalier attitude to public safety.Now back to F1, do we cheer for Bernie in his attempts to set right Max's meddling by turning his back on FIA? I find it hard to support him in view of his greed and disdain for the needs of us, the fans. Date Added: 24/04/2010
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