More details are emerging about next year’s F1 rules and plans, following the Formula One Teams’ Association and the FIA’s love-in earlier this week.
Though F1 seems likely to be run next year on the current technical regulations, expect at least a couple of changes: KERS will be dropped, and there will be no refuelling.
These both need to pass a unanimous vote, but expect them to make it through.
FOTA – headed by Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo (pictured) – has yet to talk to the three confirmed new teams that will be lining up on the 2010 grid – USF1, Campos and Manor – but they will be contacted in the coming weeks to see if they want to join the group.
FOTA has said that it wants to help the new teams, easing their entry into F1 by providing technical know-how.
Renault boss Flavio Briatore will be working more closely with Bernie Ecclestone in the future, too, with a view to ‘improving the F1 show’.
What this means exactly is unclear, but the Flavmeister has always been keen to make the sport a better spectacle for fans, so it’ll be interesting to see what they come up with.
What would you like them to change?
The teams have also said that they want an independent FIA president – which would make the expected move of former Ferrari boss Jean Todt unlikely – yet Max Mosley has said they need someone strong with a good understanding of F1.
Which would make the expected move of Jean Todt more likely.
Either way, Mosley is in a huff that some members of FOTA described his rule of the FIA as dictatorial, and so the deal between the two won’t work if they don’t apologise.
So he might run for another term as president after all. Or not. Or, well, he might.
Anyone else getting a bit fed up with all this?
A spectacle, eh? How about lap-by-lap knockout racing with the last car in each lap being removed by a large spring underneath that catapults them out of the circuit and into a nearby duckpond?
I take it the cars will have to carry enough fuel to run the whole race, making economy more critical? Interesting angle on that issue.
I can’t help thinking that F1 was at its most spectacular when the teams had freedom to develop cars as they saw fit, so there was more to who you cheered on than the driver – we’ll never see another F1 car with the mindboggling presence of a Tyrrell P34
Jeez, it’s like Desperate Housewives deleted scenes. Saucer of milk, Ladies?
Although Mosley was delighted with Ferrari’s help in sticking it to McLaren in the past.
Relax Maxine, we all took Luka’s comments with a pinch of salt. Don’t ladder your tights on the way out.
Esplain this to me, why is it ok for Max to call FOTA members loonies and not ok for FOTA members to call Max a dictator. The profile of a dictator fits him perfectly, lying, blackmail, going back on his word and not knowing when to leave.
As for a better show, less politics and more racing please, no complaining just do what you are paid for.
Ne president for the FIA, well I’m available so let me know ewhre to send my resume.
hi dad
sorry fingers slipped
i want to see loads of teams for f1 in 2010 it will be great.
Yeah… I am getting a bit fed up with all this faffing around. Just get back to the racing people! After all, isn’t that why we watch F1!?
I know they aimed to make overtaking better this season but I think they should try and improve it more, Alonso & Hamilton stuck behind the BMWs most of Silverstone made it a bit sucky…
Aside from that, some of those Clarkson-Boadicea wheel spikes would maybe spice it up…
Fed up of the Max’s childish ‘You hit me so I’ll hit you back twice as hard’ behaviour. Does he really think that the spectators of this sport really care about who he is and what he does? Before he became FIA president nobody ever cared about who or what the FIA was because they did their business quietly and in the background and let the racing do the talking. I say sack Max. And even if I don’t agree on competitors (FOTA) having too much control over a sports governance I completely agree with their stance on getting Max out of there! He’s not only broke the WRC but he’s well on his way breaking F1…
On overtaking let’s get this straight: they’ve tried decreasing downforce, they’ve tried slowing cars down with grooved tyres and smaller engines. They’ve even tried to sell us the ‘engine freeze’ at some point as a way to slow down cars and improve overtaking. They’ve completely revamped everything this year, and guess what? Nothing changed. I might be wrong here, but here is a suggestion: unfreeze the engines, limit engine development by a forced profitability clause that makes it illegal for any party to supply engines to an F1 team unless they’re not making a loss. Force them to also sell their engines to anyone that wants them. Oh, and the best part: regulate how much they may sell the engines for. Simple. The best way to overtake someone is to either have a better chassis, better tyres, or better engine. Since everyone has the same tyres, and the differences in chassis are mot great enough anymore surely engines are the only realistic option?
Come on, surely this would give manufacturer teams more reason to stay involved, and give privateers the opportunity to build their own engines and supply them to other teams (if they have the engineering genius to build a great engine).
Come on guys, lets start hearing it for unfreezing the engines. Without getting the budgets boys all worked-up…
Hmm. Increasing the spectacle in F1:
Increase the number of teams on the grid to a maximum of 20 teams. Allow teams to run three car teams. This could mean up to 60 car grids. Only classify the first car of each team to finish as a point scorer in the manufacturers but allow all drivers to score in the championship. Point score drivers down to 12th position. Extra points for pole and fastest laps. Unfreeze all development on the cars but make certain parts like engine and gearbox to be open source architecture. Have three tyre manufacturers that all teams can use but let the teams at the bottom end of the manufacturers championship have first choice. Make Fridays a real free practice with no limit on drivers, engines, fuel or parts used.
Just simple ideas that will make the average F1 fan like me happy.
Rob
i’m fed up with polotics. i just want cars on the track and less green b.s. its racing not who can build the best driving shoe.
Oh and no refueling? how does that work?
Do any of us remember when people ACTUALLY raced in F1. Not just shout at each other.
If i d want to see a race, where every car is more or less the same, i d watch clio cups, or seat cups or whatever. To me, diversity made the F-1 the king, i remember being able to recognize cars by the sound of their engines. Now that this is gone,it has become boring.My Mom,(huge F-1 Fan) falls asleep everytime a race takes place.And my uncle does not even bother to watch it.Nor do i.Let the teams have their individual takes at constructing a car.They ll make faster cars, and develop stuff to make them safer.(they don t want to lose pilots, do they)? And why should refuelling be forbidden? it is mostly irrelevant, since everybody has to refuel sooner or later.Unless you make the races considerably shorter(40 laps maybe)? in which time, overtaking will be much more difficult for some cars.Even less exciting than it is now.Would anybody stay up a whole night for a race that s only 45 minutes long, and overtaking is only possible, if somebody crashes?Might as well have a whole race behind the safety car.(which could be a Toyota Prius, to make it more eco)
STOP PATRONISING AND BUTCHING F-1. RACING IS ABOUT WHO S FASTEST.
I agree with Hermann. Thye try to make all the cars as similar as possible and then wonder why theres no overtaking. The best races happen when cars have have very similar lap times but are mechanically completely different. Such as the old BTCC when Mustangs used to race against Mini’s.
And which idiot decided there should be no refueling.
@slickrubber. I know what you are saying. A huge fan myself. But you make a mistake in your reasonings:
Racing is about who’s the fastest. Correct. but F1 is UNFORTUNATELY not about racing anymore.
It’s all about the car(s).
They’re just to expensive to take the risk of a crash during overtaking.
@ tg.com can you please stop using tg.com as your user name? It’s v confusing for everyone who doesn’t know that you’re not us.
cheers.
i would really like to hear some v12 roar again… that could make it more spectacular!
I think taking out refuelling is a mistake, it adds a lot to the pit stops and qualifying. It’s been interesting to see which cars have which fuel load when the weights are published after qualifying and adds more to the uncertainty. If you have racers trying to conserve fuel in a race then they’ll back off instead of trying to overtake. Plus the safety angle is you’ve got very heavy and slow (relatively speaking) cars with a whole load of fuel that could blow up in a crash. If Flav wants to make F1 more exciting they need to keep the unpredictability, lessen downforce for overtaking and free up development.
If they want to keep the sport interesting, then banning mid-race refeuling is not the way to go. Sure it saves a lot of money, but it ruins a vital part of the race, strategy. Refeuling is what makes the race difficult, do you fill the tank and aim to qualify about 8th, or do you fuel light and aim for pole? The strategy is what makes a good team. They’re just making the sport easyier, all you have to do is drive and get a new set of tyres. It’s starting to sound like A1GP
Mosely and Flav should just have a fight. Whoever loses the least amount of blood in 3 minutes wins, and the other one quits their job and shuts up.
for me refuelling killed F1. the race used to start conservative and get more existing as it came to a climax, then once they introduced refuelling someone who’s winning early on may not really be winning coz they are on a 2 stop strategy and so they’ll be in 8th late ron despote consistent lap times.
yes its strategy but if i wanted strategy i’d watch chess.
sorry for my appauling spelling, trying to rush things again!
Watched a summery of last season, the cars looked great and the competition was immense! The changes for ‘09 were a big mistake!
At least hope the wings will go back to last yrs dims/proportions! The ‘08 cars were so much prettier and the overtaking was even better than now!
@James
If it was a summary on the Formula1 website then there is no way you could compare that to this season. Through editing, they manage to make even the most boring of races seem exciting. Look at the summary of Bahrain and you will see what I mean.
Oh right, and the topic…
Not sure where I stand on the refueling issue; that could go either way.
I strongly believe in greater freedom. Sure, bring spending back to 90’s levels. That is fine. But along with that, let the teams spend their money anyway they want, including in-season testing. Loosen up the regulations some, but not completely. Also, remove all restrictions on engine development. But as Hermann said, regulate the selling of engines to other teams.
I also like the idea of letting in all the teams that submitted applications add meaning to qualifying by forcing them to qualify for the grid spots. Keep only about 20 or so spots but have unlimited teams.
Because there’s no refuelling, the fuel tanks will have to be massive. I’d say KERS was dropped because there wouldn’t be room… and the fact it was useless. Am I right in saying the minimum weight is being raised from 605kg to 620kg? Its just something I heard.
And is there any change to the aero dimensions?
Don’t worry Wilson556, I watch races ever since ‘83, on tv or from the paddock and I know when it was good and when it was rubbish. This season is rubbish.
Ugly cars together with boring races. Can hardly be worse, 1992 and 2004 were also boring but at least the cars were lookin’ damn good! Hopefully they change the aero dimension at first!
reverse grid based on championship position this way we will get loads of over taking. Also BAN blue flags if your good enough to be leading the championship you are good enough to pass without help
What i am worried about, even more, is that Max Mosley is seeming to change his mind (again), and tries to candidate for another term of FIA Dictatorship, thus actually breaching the agreement, they made with FOTA.(because according to him)”Everybody asks me to candidate once more”
Please stop it already.This is just a pathetic attempt to gain attention.If i had to follow orders from somebody who changes his mind every other day, and does not keep his given word,I d rather sooner than later leave him alone.That is what FOTA is trying to say, and i agree with them, full stop.
STOP changing rules,cause you are making a farce out of it.Rules should be like laws,and you don t change them every 5 minutes.Stop treating the teams like you were Naomi Campbell.:P
Indicates how sick the FIA organisation seems to be.
They have a mad and shouting and frustrated president and nobody is able to make him shut up.
Looks like some African country.
strange coincidence, slickrubber, that Naomi Campbell was a recent guest. Perhaps she was giving management training.
‘Go Ingland’ perhaps she thought it was A1GP, bless.
Bring down ticket prices.
And stop getting rid of tracks the fans love. How did we have a year without Spa??
Let it die, let it end. I am bored with all this.
Pizza’s for wheels?
Jelly steering wheels?
LOL, i hope Naomi and Max get married, so both can wear T-shirts which say :”Married With A Diva”.
Serious, with somebody like that, i d never subscribe a contract. NEVER. If Max really candidates, i really see no future for the FIA.Nor for the F-1.
I dont know where Bernie s opinion is, but i bet, he s more on the reasonable side, compared to Max. I agree to roland 33. Keep the traditional tracks,which have a true F-1 History, and add the new tracks. Not exchange one for the other.
Nobody complains about how expensive Premier league football (soccer for the Americans) has become.
But with F-1, everybody is whining about the costs.Premier league sports is not affordable to every club.Why should F-1 be? The cars have always been as safe,as material allowed. If i crash on a motorway, with my car at full throttle, i ll most definitly die. But if a Formula 1 car crashes sideways with 180 mph, the driver gets out unharmed.
Cutting the development costs down, means no advancements in technology.Its like everytime a football player has a chance for a goal, and misses it,would you take away his shoes? no, you don t.You develop new shoes for him, they are custom tailored for him anyway.Or you sell an overpriced, but under delivering player because he doesn t fit the team.Since an F-1 car is more expensive to build, than a pilots Salary, its the same for F-1 teams. If a pilot shreds his car more often, than he should, get a new driver.The car is as good as the team made it.All you can do is, adjust it to the driver.If he still can t handle it, he s the wrong choice.
F-1 has always been dangerous.But people die on a tour de France too, or in powerboat races.Or in Rally sports,or even Martial Arts tournaments.The sportmen know the risk, and are willing to take it.Its their choice.
Just get on with it! Bring back V10s! Any size, any power and get back proper circuits, Brands Hatch, Zandvoort etc.
Max Mosley is clearly very ill. Sad for him and his family – someone should take him to a doctor… and quickly for his sake.
@Jamie Hibbard
why would the top gear.com editor leave comments on their own articles?
and f1, well, how about giving free regs on engines, aero and chassis but only give them x amount of fuel for the race and quali?
just like group c used to be, its green and the cars would be more interesting, just a thought
Michael Smith (topgear.com editor)…. oh wait
Are any F1 fans really surprised that Moseley has said he will be seeking another election in October I think it was just a ruse to get the FOTA to go back to F1 and do what he says. It’s about time he signed himself into a hospital and had his head examined to see if he has a brain in there
@sandra not me. he is really pissing me off and he will ruin the sport. now a days everything is polotics.
For a start, the “no refuelling” thing is frikin stupid, to some people that only like F1, (the type that just watch a few minutes of the highlights or just wait for the results on the news) the “no refuelling” idea might not seem a big deal. But to actual fans of F1 that follow it from start to finsh will know IT IS a big deal, because it takes away that beautiful site of an orchestrated pit crew doing what they do when the cars come into he pits, its an amzing thing to watch, look at Martin Brundles insight on the British Grand Prix of how a modern day pit crew works to get things sorted, well if you’ve already seen it, then I say no more.
Max & Bernie are killing F1, get them the bloody hell out of it, they dont deserve their places, get some olf F1 drivers & put them in their positions, the likes of Jackie Stewert, Damon Hill, Micheal Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen etc, anyone like that….Someone who actually knows something about F1 & actually cares.
from the article:
“Renault boss Flavio Briatore will be working more closely with Bernie Ecclestone in the future, too, with a view to ‘improving the F1 show’.”….
Note: How it says; “In the FUTURE”…Hmmm so the little money grabber Bernie the brick, seems to be staying then….
I would like to see the parc ferme rule gone after qualifying. Because I want to see the fastest man on pole not some guy who just has a different fuel strategy than the others.
I’d like to see the 1982 rules return with modern technology for next year if their looking for new rules to help with the show.
Before ‘94 there were also no fuel stops and the pit stops were even more spectacular (below 5 scnds!).
Hope they change the aero at first to give the cars a proper look again! Also Q3 should be run on low fuel indeed!
What about, the teams being able to do what they want with the bodywork, but no wings at all.
Should do it like the BTCC and add success ballast so every time you win a race, you gain extra weight.
Kuang #1 is right, give the teams more freedom – what on earth is wrong with 4WD (or to follow the Tyrrell example, 6WD!)? And wasn’t F1 rather more exciting in the days when Brabham turned up with a bloody great fan on the back to suck the car onto the road (and spit debris at those following)! This approach would actually help the smaller teams, as money can’t necessarily buy you bright ideas or ingenuity!!
So much for FOTA having the balls…
Lack of refuelling ruins racing IMHO. Near the end of a race, you get (i) people having to drive for economy rather than challenge for position (ii) last-lap lucky-dips as drivers run out of fuel.
If the teams had complete freedom then the cars would go beyond the limits of the drivers.
With ground-effect, fans, 4wd etc. cars could pull very high G-forces meaning drivers would have to wear G-suits to prevent blackouts.
Still, the Red Bull Air Race pilots manage to do it so maybe F1 should.
no refuelling sounds great it should be more driver orientated now. no more strategic pit stops!
This takes the micheal, if they cant fill up during the race evreyone is gonna be out at mile 23 or somert. I dont know how cakey mess can say it sounds great to me it sounds like a great waste of a sunday.
Cakey mess definatley has nothing to do in her life!!!
man i hope the fl puts more cars and more team members in the race and they put more money on the development of the cars engines.