FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[Denthúl]

Well, my good friends, having come back to my computer after getting my fix of a certain lovely actress, showering and preparing my packed lunch for tomorrow, I opened up 'good' old ITV's F1 site to see what else was going on in the world of Formula 1 when I stumbled across the following article which could possibly lead to us seeing some of the teams currently down on power being able to close the gap a little to Ferrari, Mercedes and BMW. Of course, the teams which would benefit most from this are Renault, Red Bull and potentially Honda, though nobody knows whether their speed (or lack thereof) is down to the car or the engine.

The FIA has revealed that steps to “equalise engine performance” across the Formula 1 field will be permitted prior to next season.

A development freeze on engines has been in force since the end of the 2006 season, meaning that core performance variables cannot be changed in the power units – although there is scope to work on such things as fuels, lubricants, airboxes and exhaust acoustics.

But it has become increasingly clear in recent months that a marked difference in performance exists between some of the units in use on the grid.

A widely publicised example has been the difference in performance evident between the Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso and Renault-powered Red Bull cars, despite both using the same chassis.

The FIA said on Tuesday following a meeting of its World Motor Sport Council that it had been “unanimously agreed” to allow teams the opportunity to take certain steps so that engine performance is closed between the most and least powerful cars in 2009, before the planned introduction of further cost-cutting measures the year after.

And while an FIA spokesman emphasised that details of the changes that teams would be allowed to make have not yet been fleshed out, it does appear that at least a partial change in the current ‘freeze’ regulations would be needed in order to close the performance gap.

The statement also confirmed that FIA president Max Mosley had been given the authority to negotiate with the new Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) about the introduction of “radical measures” to cut costs in the sport from 2010.

It reiterated that the governing body would enforce rule changes itself if it failed to reach agreement with FOTA.

Meanwhile it was also announced that FIA deputy president for sport Marco Piccinini had confirmed he would leave his position one year before the end of his current term to focus on other professional commitments.

Piccinini’s resignation takes effect from the next FIA General Assembly on November 7 2008, when his successor will be elected.

This is something that I think would really help the sport's overtaking potential, and in general the potential for closer racing, next year. Along with the new, blank canvas for aerodynamic design, the possibility of KERS being widely used and the movable front wing, this could help to close things up more. After all, what good is being able to overtake easily if your engine won't allow you to get close enough in the first place? It would also mean that we could see Renault and Red Bull really fighting for regular podiums and the occasional win.

Opinions?

[McLaren Fan]

Who was the actress?

To answer your question, however, I don't think we'll see an immediate turn around in terms of engine performance. It's clear that Ferrari and BMW are well ahead in the power stakes and that McLaren are well ahead in terms of torque and drivability, so the others will have some catching up to do. At the moment, Formula One engines are being fine-tuned and a lot of gains are to had, but there are no breakthroughs. Like I said before, I think it's time to completely re-write the engine formula. Bring back turbochargers and reduce engine capacity to 1.5 litres and begin to phase in fuel limits. That way, Formula One engines will still be very powerful and there is room for proper innovation.

[Denthúl]

Who was the actress?

To answer your question, however, I don't think we'll see an immediate turn around in terms of engine performance. It's clear that Ferrari and BMW are well ahead in the power stakes and that McLaren are well ahead in terms of torque and drivability, so the others will have some catching up to do. At the moment, Formula One engines are being fine-tuned and a lot of gains are to hand, but there are no breakthroughs. Like I said before, I think it's time to completely re-write the engine formula. Bring back turbochargers and reduce engine capacity to 1.5 litres and begin to phase in fuel limits. That way, Formula One engines will still be very powerful and there is room for proper innovation.

Jewel Staite, of course.

Yeah, I agree. But there's plenty of room for improvement at the moment. It might not be great, but if Renault could slip an extra 20 horsepower into their engine (somehow) then things would be much better. I definitely agree that turbos should be brought in, along with shorter capacity. Fuel limits are also a good idea, I hadn't really considered that, and it would perhaps help to improve fuel economy in road cars to help combat the ever-increasing fuel prices. Mid-race refuelling should be removed from the sport and that, combined with fuel limiting, would definitely put emphasis on this.