Reflections on Rule Changes 01/05/2009 In the wake of the voluntary budget cap for 2010 announced by the FIA, several changes to the regulations have been added and these are summarized in a useful Pitpass article today. As I have pointed out already and Keith Collantine mentions in a recent article in F1 Fanatic, these new regulations make the choice of an uncapped budget completely unworkable for a team that wants to win races.Renault pit garage at nightThere are some changes made that, even taken alone, give the capped teams a winning advantage over those still subject to today's restrictions. The removal of the 18,000 rpm limit on engines immediately gives additional power that would probably be sufficient to overcome restricted cars; doubling the boost available through KERS adds yet further to this power advantage. Add the aerodynamic tweaks and unlimited testing permitted for the capped teams and there is just no contest.So the manufacturer teams are not being presented with a viable alternative to the budget cap and we can forget all this talk of a two-tier formula. No team in its right mind is going to take the option of spending loads of money on a car that cannot compete with the unrestricted cars around it. The FIA may talk glibly about equality between the two options but it is talk only and cannot be achieved in practice.The real problem is the figure decided upon for the cap; 40 million sterling may be enough for a small team to build a competitive car, as demonstrated by Williams and Force India, but it is expecting too much of the manufacturers to trim their budgets so drastically and so quickly. FOTA may be muttering about a two-tier system being unacceptable but what they really mean is that half of their members do not think they can get spending down sufficiently in so short a time period.Inevitably, this will result in a war between FOTA and the FIA over the amount of the budget cap. Ferrari has already fired the first shot in the form of a letter to the FIA protesting the imposition without consultation and Max Mosley has answered with an equally belligerent response.There are some fears that differing views amongst FOTA members may cause a split in the organization but I think the teams now recognize the need for a united front to be presented to the FIA. They have already achieved much and it would be against everyone's interests to be entirely selfish in their attitude to the new regulations. Just as the big teams do not relish the expense and complication of setting up a rival series, the smaller teams must know that a championship without Ferrari and McLaren would be devalued to the point of worthlessness.It seems to me, therefore, that FOTA must thrash out a reasonable figure for a budget cap acceptable to all its members and then present its proposal to the FIA. Judging by Mosley's previous tactics in such matters, this is pretty much what he is angling for and agreement will be reached in the end - provided that FOTA remains united, of course.The fly in the ointment remains Bernie Ecclestone and his CVC employers. While the FIA and FOTA establish battle lines, Bernie has escalated the war over payments and is now threatening to withold money due to the teams unless they commit to a new Concorde Agreement. It seems that the talk of F1 teams actually making a profit through the budget cap is a bit premature and they may have to accept whatever they can get from the paymasters of the sport.Meanwhile the actual racing continues to enthrall millions around the world. F1 is still a hugely popular sport in spite of the almost continual political fights and we must hope that, in their struggles, the various powers do not destroy the goose that laid the golden egg. As they jostle for power and money, it is easy for them to lose sight of the point of it all, the survival of F1 as the pinnacle of motor sport. Let us hope that the best interests of F1 will be served in the end and that we can look forward to many more years of excellence in competition as a result.
Clive
Peter Boyle Let's see. The teams have to spend less moneyto gain R&D headroom. Anyone elsethink this is a good recipe for compromising safety? Date Added: 01/05/2009
Steven Roy I really hop the teams decide to have a breakaway championship. I am sure Bernie's back up plan is to move all his media and circuit deals over to a breakaway championship and cut out Max and CVC Date Added: 01/05/2009
Nick Goodspeed If the two teams that have been the great majority of the show over the last decade will only be spending 1/8 of what they had been spending, isn't it only fair that those watching should be charged 1/8 the previous entry fee? Date Added: 02/05/2009
Clive Peter: It will be interesting to see how the conflicting aims of safety and development function under a budget cap. Maybe the FIA will allow safety improvements to be outside the budget. Date Added: 02/05/2009
Clive Steven: Well, it would be a huge undertaking to create a breakaway series and the teams would have to be united in the drive towards it. If Max turns out to be inflexible over the amount of the cap, however, it could be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Date Added: 02/05/2009
Clive Nick: Hah, good point! Now try to convince Bernie... ;) Date Added: 02/05/2009
Nick Goodspeed I wonder how far Ferrari is prepared to go to push back against the "voluntary" budget cap and I wonder what sort of backbone we can expect from McLaren on the same issue, now that Ron Dennis "The Menace" has stepped back? Date Added: 02/05/2009
Clive Nick: I can't see Ferrari going as far as to withdraw from F1 but they will undoubtedly try to use FOTA to batter some sense into the FIA. It will then be a matter of keeping the smaller teams happy while the fight goes on. Expect the cap to remain but at a considerably higher ceiling.McLaren will probably keep quiet whenever possible but will maintain ranks with FOTA. They must be as against the level of the cap as Ferrari is but will be hesitant to appear as the bad boy yet again in the eyes of the FIA. Date Added: 02/05/2009
Lonny Perhaps it would be best if F1 just died. For example if several of the bigger teams withdrew what would be left? Maybe then something better would emerge for the ashes. Something that eliminated Max and Bernie and brought in people who cared about the tracks, fans and others who are currently being ignored Date Added: 03/05/2009
Björn Svensson Ohh, the anger of Ferrari, i'm trembling.Why can't they just keep their speaking on a reasonable level, why do they always have to get down to the level of childs playing in a sandbox.I can understand that they wight not be ready to level down their investments as much as proposed, since the whole company revolves around F1-racing. Not being able to have an unlimited amount of people and resources might hamper the progress of the cars, and the other rules in affect might do the job to make F1 grind to a halt.What good is unlimited revs if the engines are to last for 6 races next season? Please don't forget why the maximum revs was imposed to start with. It was because we had engines blow up every second race or so.Instead i would like to see the revs dropped down to the level of street sportscars. Around ten or twelve thousand should be sufficient. The better way to go with the rules must be to allow more freedon to the teams, and maybe allow both turbocharged and compressors-charged engines. And to set the weight of the cars to around 800 kilos. I would also have the cars to run on 100% ethanol.If it is enginering Max want in F1, then he must stop immediately to tinker around with what the teams are allowed to do and not to do. Just set a budgetcap and let the teams roam free.And i don't think that the new cap with it's restrictions is that much of an advantage, even with the unrestricted amount of training and the movable wings. Training also costs money, and with all the enginering going into building and maintaining the new cars, there's not going to be much funding left for other expences. Date Added: 03/05/2009
Clive Lonny: You may be right, although there were be an interim period with no decent racing at all. The withdrawal symptoms would be horrendous... Date Added: 03/05/2009
Clive Björn: Mosley sets the ground rules for arguments in F1 and he seems to like these childish squabbles. Luca just knows how to do it too. ;)I think Gerrari objects so much to the level of the budget cap because they fear they would not be able to compete if unable to spend more money whenever they were in trouble. They have found it difficult at times to compete with the "garagistas" even with their financial advantage so trying to stay competitive on an equal amount of money might be impossible for them.The maximum revs were limited in an attempt to slow the cars, not to increase reliability. In fact, there have been more Ferrari engine failures since the rev limits were imposed than in the decade before that. Engines like the Cosworth were getting to 20,000 rpm reliably and consistently so there should be no problem in just freeing them to do the same again. And the fact that the capped teams would have no restriction on number of engines used per season would again assist towards reliability.Okay, there is a cost involved in all this, but teams are going to have to buy a certain number of engines each year regardless of which option they take. And pre-rev limit engines were reliable enough for only eight or ten being needed per season. The engine costs are not covered by the cap anyway so a team could spend considerably on engines during the year without it affecting their budget.There are teams already who spend little more than the budget cap proposed and who compete quite effectively. Be assured that they could build some very fast cars for the money allowed were they given technical freedom. We might have a return to complete Williams domination, for instance, so experienced are they in getting the most from their money. Big teams used to throwing money at any problems would suffer severely from the restraint of a limited budget but would be unable to make their extra financial muscle count if they took the uncapped option. It's fine having loads of cash but not much good if you can't spend it on making your car better. Date Added: 03/05/2009
Nick Goodspeed I would love to see the rpms drop. The voices of the cars of F1 have gone from a throaty roar to banshee shriek since I start going to races. I had a record of Mercedes-Benz racing cars from the 30s to the 50s. Music!!! :-) Date Added: 03/05/2009
Clive I know what you mean, Nick, but I kinda like the scream of a modern F1 engine. Perhaps it is my preference for smaller engines that always run at higher revs than the big ones. So I will miss that high-pitched howl if they do take the recs down much lower than they are now. Date Added: 03/05/2009
Björn Svensson I'm sorry for writing such an illinformed comment Clive, i just found out that the enginecostws would not be included in the budgetcap.Maybe i should have followed some of the links you provided in the original posting. Any how, i agree with Nick that i would prefer the engines to have aroar instead of the high pitched howl ot todays engines. Just listen to the MotoGP-bikes and Superbikes, since they got from 2stroke to 4stroke engines the sound of their machines have definitely become much more enticing.Or we could compare to the cars in the ALMS-series, WHAT A SOUND!And, yes Clive, i know of the methods of Max Mosely when it comes to proposing new rules. But i can never see why not Ferrari learn this as well. Every year it,s the same. Max proposing, Ferrari screaming their heads off, and at the end some of the other teams comes with a compromise and the finished product lands somewhere between the both. Date Added: 03/05/2009
Clive Well, I also like the sound of a big engine at lower revs - was just thinking that the modern engine is a distinctive sound in its own right, the sound of high technology!I sometimes wonder why the teams don't become wise to Mosley's tactics but I suppose they have to go through the steps of the dance to achieve what they want. You're right though - it's childish. Date Added: 03/05/2009
Nick Goodspeed How about the best of both worlds?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZMPDCNyQxE(Turn up the Volume) Date Added: 04/05/2009
Clive Yes, of course I respond to such a marvellous sound. The engines of each period in F1 have their distinctive sounds and all are deeply affecting and memorable. I just happen to like the ear-piercing scream of a modern engine at its peak revs as much as I like the sounds of yesteryear. Date Added: 04/05/2009
Clive Try these for size:Modern Renault V8 at SilverstoneCosworth V8 2.4l at 20,000 rpm The sound is muted by the test bed exhaust arrangements, unfortunately, but it does at least prove what I was saying about the Cosworth engine! Date Added: 04/05/2009
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