F1 in Peril - Mosely

[Zytek_Fan]

If formula one does not act, car manufacturers could quit and the very existence of motor sport could be under threat.

That is the belief of FIA president Max Mosley, who in an interview with the newspaper Welt am Sonntag justified his tough stance on modernising the rules for the future.

Talks with the carmakers have already begun about revolutionising the rulebook for 2011, with things like biofuel-powered V6 engines on the table.

The last carmaker to pull out of F1 was Ford at the end of 2004, but Mosley insisted: "We must continue to cut the costs.

"My experience is that if one manufacturer decides it has become too expensive, another one could also say goodbye very quickly. We have to remember that the people sitting on these companies' executive boards are not necessarily F1 fans."

He admits that recent rule changes like longer-life engines and the new 'engine freeze' in 2007 had not dramatically altered the manufacturers' willingness to spend money.

"Only two of them have actually reduced their budgets," Mosley said.

"Instead of enjoying the cost savings they have continued to spend exactly the same sums, to develop maybe three or four more horse power -- and that's crazy."

Along with cost, Mosley is also desperate to make the rules of the future more road-relevant and environmentally friendly, particularly when he fears a looming world oil crisis.

Denying reports that he is considering introducing 'standard cars', Mosley did admit that the chassis rules will be changed.

He asked rhetorically: "Do you know how much carbon dioxide is blown into the air when top teams run two wind-tunnels 24 hours a day, day after day?

"We are talking about thousands of tons, and then at the end of the day the races are boring.

"And cars that use 75 litres of fuel to go 100 kilometres are no longer acceptable."

Mosley warned: "If we do not act, the very existence of formula one will be under threat. We do not live on another planet so we have to face reality."

Max just needs to keep his mouth shut...

[Ferrer]

It would be interesting if what he says really happened.

[Zytek_Fan]

It would be interesting if what he says really happened.

Rule changes aren't going to bring down costs, the teams are still going to spend as much.

If he really wants a single chassis in F1, then F1 might as well join up with Champ Car

[kingofthering]

Of course teams will spend more money, they need to develop a completely new engine. F1 was and never will be close to anything produced for the road. Also, what form of racing has been environmentally friendly? I hope these requests will stop before Formula 1 turns into WTCC. Hey, I hope those are "road-relevent" enough.

[Rockefella]

They should stop making stupid rule changes like 2 race engines, engine freezes, one tyre per race a few seasons back, and the idea of limiting aero.

Mosley and Ecclestein should just make it what it is, racing. They tried making it more cost-efficient and even for the teams, but groups like Ferrari and McLaren will do much better than the others, regardless of the amendments in the sport.

[MadMax13]

If they want to bitch about the teams spending millions to get 3 or 4 more hp then let them bring back turbos. No ones more concerned about the enviroment than me but i cant STAND people that create their own ****ing problems...

[ScionDriver]

He has some valid points but others are just kind of fantasy, that teams would actually stop spending millions, they just won't. Why not make a sort of salary cap for the teams like they do in the MLB or NFL? Why not try to be more environmentally friendly? I dont think that will happen of work but its a nice concept. As long as the races are exciting, I'm in, however I don't like the idea of the one chasis for all though.

[Zytek_Fan]

He has some valid points but others are just kind of fantasy, that teams would actually stop spending millions, they just won't. Why not make a sort of salary cap for the teams like they do in the MLB or NFL? Why not try to be more environmentally friendly? I dont think that will happen of work but its a nice concept. As long as the races are exciting, I'm in, however I don't like the idea of the one chasis for all though.

Why not just have the teams buy carbon offset credits?

[Ferrer]

Rule changes aren't going to bring down costs, the teams are still going to spend as much.

If he really wants a single chassis in F1, then F1 might as well join up with Champ Car

No, I meant the other thing he said. Stopping F1 completely.

[Coventrysucks]

If formula one does not act, car manufacturers could quit and the very existence of motor sport could be under threat.

Because F1 is the only motorsport...

I, for one, hope F1 dies off pretty quickly. I've seen more exciting paint drying competitions.

[aiasib]

Please don't ban me for language but this is just more pussification of F1 and its shame and two or three overtakes per race is embarrassing and no turbos is like putting bras on strippers at titty-bars: there's just no zing. I don't want to sound like a fanboy let M.Shumacher replace Mosely. Shumi won't let you down.

Is it just me, or do you also find yourself focusing more on the pit strategies of the teams then the actual cars lapping racing the circuit during an F1 race? The pits to me are more exciting than stealing into chicanes at 200km/h.

or am I the only one who watches F1 races anymore...

[LaSarthe]

Money $$ Money $$ Money $$ Money! Its all about the Benjamins...or whoever they hell they have on Euros...

And here we run into the question of whether or not championships are purchased or truly fought for. I tend to think that most of them in the post turbo era are, but I will not make a case for turbos as some of you have here. Is it that much more of a crowd pleaser to see quadruple digit horsepower figures? How about ground effects and 5G+ cornering loads? I don't think the driver you're cheering for will like their car very much.

There is a simple fix to all this is to adjust the points system. Budget caps, limits on testing, tyre usage are fascist. Teams should be allowed to develop, test and race as they will. However with adjusted points, they'll be dissuaded from spending those extra millions for a few extra HP or ounces of downforce. Here's how it works: cars are weighed, engines dyno'ed and some aero specs are taken. The race is run, drivers finish in their places and based on a formula (should be one for each track), adjusted points are awarded with those those three variables in consideration from all the cars on grid.

For instance, teams can make the most powerful, lightest and most aero efficient car of the whole season and win all the races but the number of points they'll actually score will be dismal. They'll lose the championship because the formula rules against them. Alternatively, the team that scales power back a little, and adds some ballast will take more points even if they don't win. The championship becomes solely dependent on driver skill and the ability of the team to "game" the others. In other words, teams that "overdevelop," or spend too lavishly their car are punished by a reduction in real value of their high place finishes while a not so fast car that still manages to do well stands to score a good points haul. May the best DRIVER (not budget) win.

[fpv_gtho]

Sorry LaSarthe, but quite simply that would never work. F1 like all motorsport is supposed to be about competition. You cant have competition by seeing who can sit around on their backside racing the shoddiest equipment simply because spending more will put them at a disadvantage.

So long as the teams have money, they'll spend it. A salary cap might restrict that somewhat, but at the "pinnacle" of motorsport it'll likely be seen as farcical by the purists. Personally i think if they were really worried about being road relevant and such, a switch back to turbo's might work, but the bio-diesel idea sounds better. Limiting the amount of fuel would work, i believe they did that for Group C sports cars. As far as on track action goes, going back to slicks with a reduction in winglets and more underbody generated downforce should give closer racing. Restricting the winglets in particular though would be hard to enforce, as you'd have to establish peculiar dimension restrictions and such.

[henk4]

La Sarthe proposition will not work. People want to be sure that the car that is in front will also be the winning car. How as a spectator, are you supposed to keep track of the result during the race when all will be decided after the race by some alchemist formulas?

[orne]

Exactly, bring back the group C formula or instead of basing it on fuel consumption you can make it based on CO2 or something else. It'd allow for different engine designs which would certainly make everything more interesting since we could have turbocharged engines or naturally aspirated.
This current engine formula is not good, it's already cutting part of the innovation by forcing the teams to use a particular engine architecture and this way the cars sound all the same and such.