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, Montreal
Ferrari 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.