FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[McLaren Fan]

From F1 Live:

Max Mosley said he would like to see each Formula One team use the same engine.

The FIA President told the French sports daily L'Equipe that the move to a common engine would put a lid on costs and also make F1 teams' research more road-relevant.

Mosley, calling teams' current spending on technology "irrational," also said Wednesday he is in favour of the introduction of standard suspensions and gearboxes.

F1 teams are currently in the midst of a mandatory 'freeze' on engine development, with some like Renault complaining that they have fallen behind as their rivals sidestep the spirit of the rules.

"It is not conceivable that we are penalised for another three years," said team boss Flavio Briatore, who is campaigning for a remedy to the situation.

"We will discuss it in FOTA and look for a solution," he confirmed to the Spanish sports daily Marca.

© CAPSIS International
Source: GMM

[billindenver]

Mosley has his head in his arse.

A common engine....in Formula 1? Sure, lets just rename the season....we could call it Formula Mazda or Formula Ford. Hey, lets let amateur drivers run as well....we could have the entire thing regulated by SCCA too.

What a rediculous joke of a suggestion. That guy should be taken out back and horsewhipped...again. He clearly has no idea what Formula 1 is supposed to represent. Let me put it this way, if they did what he suggests I am quite certain I am not the only F1 fanatic who would completely ignore F1 in the future. I can watch (and compete in) sealed motor series right here at home.

[bud]

i actually agree with bill in denver for once

[Frosty]

Mosley needs to die and go to hell

[Jabberwocky]

A common engine, lets say goodbye to Ferrari, BMW, Honda, Toyota, Mercedes, Renault.

OK not all of them will leave I suppose, whoever wins the contract would stay

[scotty]

This may actually be a situation where the amount of manufacturer teams in F1 may save us... i can't see them all agreeing to use another manufacturer's engine in their car, it wouldn't be very good for business!

[bud]

might be a good thing actually, the manufacturers will ditch the FIA and start their own thang!

FOTA will not let this proposal happen! imagine a Ferrari Renault or a Honda Ferrari.

not only is it making manufacturers clash but all the subsidiary sponsorships as well

[Denthúl]

They should just lift the engine freeze...

[McLaren Fan]

They should just lift the engine freeze...

The reason why Mosley is suggesting that team use the same engine is because of the costs. Indeed, this is the reason why the engine freeze was introduced in the first place. I, however, don't agree with Mosley's proposal to have a standard engine in Formula One. In fact, I couldn't believe what I was reading. Costs have to be cut in the sport, but this is not one of the ways it should be done. Formula One still must be Formula One. The engine freeze was a stupid, knee-jerk and ill-thought through idea about how to curb spending in Formula One and make things more competitive. The whole thing has completely backfired, for Ferrari have increased their engine horsepower by an unholy amount and Mercedes and BMW have made a lot of gains as well, and these teams are spending millions on researching ways to do this through the loopholes in the regulations. Now we have a situation whereby some teams have developed their engines more than others, or have developed them in different ways, and some teams still cannot afford to develop their engines. At least with engines being developed, the teams knew where they stood. Mosley's idea that Formula One engines has progressed as far as possible under the current era of regulations is garbage.

For me, the solution is pretty simple (like it was in reducing the importance of aerodynamic grip), but the FIA are always several years behind in figuring out these things. Formula One needs to be environmentally friendly according the greenhouse gas brigade, but, in my opinion, it should improve in this area in order to preserve what fossil fuels we have left and to reduce the West's reliance on oil due to its fluctuating price etc. Therefore, the FIA should change the regulations and make it that the engines have to more environmentally friendly. For instance, the exhaust gases and heat the engine produces could be turned into something useful; turbocharging could be handy for this, or used to reduce the amount of fuel used to produce the same engine power. The list goes on, but the FIA get it wrong, don't receive the message until years after everybody else has or simply don't come up with the ideas soon enough. I should bloody run the FIA. I'm sure I could do a better damn job of i than Mosley.

[Denthúl]

They should just lift the engine freeze...

The reason why Mosley is suggesting that team use the same engine is because of the costs. Indeed, this is the reason why the engine freeze was introduced in the first place. I, however, don't agree with Mosley's proposal to have a standard engine in Formula One. In fact, I couldn't believe what I was reading. Costs have to be cut in the sport, but this is not one of the ways it should be done. Formula One still must be Formula One. The engine freeze was a stupid, knee-jerk and ill-thought through idea about how to curb spending in Formula One and make things more competitive. The whole thing has completely backfired, for Ferrari have increased their engine horsepower by an unholy amount and Mercedes and BMW have made a lot of gains as well, and these teams are spending millions on researching ways to do this through the loopholes in the regulations. Now we have a situation whereby some teams have developed their engines more than others, or have developed them in different ways, and some teams still cannot afford to develop their engines. At least with engines being developed, the teams knew where they stood. Mosley's idea that Formula One engines has progressed as far as possible under the current era of regulations is garbage.

For me, the solution is pretty simple (like it was in reducing the importance of aerodynamic grip), but the FIA are always several years behind in figuring out these things. Formula One needs to be environmentally friendly according the greenhouse gas brigade, but, in my opinion, it should improve in this area in order to preserve what fossil fuels we have left and to reduce the West's reliance on oil due to its fluctuating price etc. Therefore, the FIA should change the regulations and make it that the engines have to more environmentally friendly. For instance, the exhaust gases and heat the engine produces could be turned into something useful; turbocharging could be handy for this, or used to reduce the amount of fuel used to produce the same engine power. The list goes on, but the FIA get it wrong, don't receive the message until years after everybody else has or simply don't come up with the ideas soon enough. I should bloody run the FIA. I'm damn could do a better job than Mosley.

Lifting the engine freeze but imposing an engine budget cap would be a far better solution, since it doesn't then potentially ruin a team's chances of being a top competitor for five consecutive years.

[7UpJordan]

Mosley's taking the coward's way out of solving the budget issues. He should grow some balls, put down his whip and do it properly with the budget cap. It can't be that hard, just look at the teams' expenditures and analyse what can be cut down and then decide on a figure.

[McLaren Fan]

Lifting the engine freeze but imposing an engine budget cap would be a far better solution, since it doesn't then potentially ruin a team's chances of being a top competitor for five consecutive years.

You've just me made think of another problem we now have. If the engine freeze was abolished tomorrow, there would be big differences in the engines for another couple of seasons. Ferrari, for instance, are well ahead of Renault at the minute, so the latter would have a hell of a lot of work to do to get where Ferrari are now. Meanwhile, Ferrari would be extending their engine advantages.

Also, how do you work out what you can and can't spend on your engines. If you say to a big-budget team you can only spend ten million pounds on engine development this season, they will use the money to develop other aspects of the car.

[Denthúl]

Lifting the engine freeze but imposing an engine budget cap would be a far better solution, since it doesn't then potentially ruin a team's chances of being a top competitor for five consecutive years.

You've just me made think of another problem we now have. If the engine freeze was abolished tomorrow, there would be big differences in the engines for another couple of seasons. Ferrari, for instance, are well ahead of Renault at the minute, so the latter would have a hell of a lot of work to do to get where Ferrari are now. Meanwhile, Ferrari would be extending their engine advantages.

Also, how do you work out what you can and can't spend on your engines. If you say to a big-budget team you can only spend ten million pounds on engine development this season, they will use the money to develop other aspects of the car.

It would be in line with other budget capping measures, of course. If you were to give teams a budget of, say, £75m per year, of which they can spend so much on engine development, so much on aerodynamics, gearboxes, brake components, hydraulic system development etc. then it would work. But of course, capping only a single aspect would be pointless.

I think that the possibility of these differences between the engines for a couple of seasons would be worth it, seeing as we're going to have that anyway due to the current freeze. But I think development would allow fluctuations in performance - Ferrari might build a duff engine and Toyota build something blindingly fast, but the next year that could again be reversed.

[bud]

turbo's................... the FIA could control boost!

[McLaren Fan]

How about just saying to the teams you can spend 75 million? That way, we might get to see a few more innovations and design philosophies.