F1-Blog

10 year engine freeze

It seems that the FIA have proposed a 10 year freeze on engine designs to start from 2008.

Now I can see the point in trying to make the sport ‘greener’ and ‘cheaper’, however this is F1.

If a large manufacturer has 500million to spend in a season, HE IS GOING TO, most of the smaller teams will benefit from engine advancements, as they run manufacturers engines anyhow, so where is the problem?

The system works fine in other sports like MotoGP, where teams run engines and even chassis from factory manufacturers, these satellite teams get as much help from the factory teams as the factory teams do themselves, so why not introduce a similar system where the satellite teams are only at worst one pace behind the factory teams, and in some cases in MotoGP they are actually used as development bikes, having the advancements in engine/clutch/exhaust technology first, allowing the factory teams to run safe, while still garnering intelligence on the new parts?

Toyota Williams F1 Lives

Williams F1 have announced the much rumoured deal with Toyota for the supply of engines in 2007.

The three year deal was signed Wednesday night, and will give the team manufacturer support again after loosing the BMW engine partnership.

The team will run the same specification RVX-07/8/9 engines as the works Toyota team. Both sides of the deal are keen to stress however that this is an engine supply deal only, and not a development partnership. However with Toyota having two world class teams doing the development work things are bound to rub off.

John Howett (Toyota Motorsport President) said "We are pleased to be selected as the engine provider to Williams and look forward to establish a strong relationship with them, We look forward to both teams using each other as a comparative benchmark from which each can improve its own performance and to competing with each other at the front of the grid."

Microsoft in F1?

It's been announced that Microsoft MES has been selected as the official FIA partner for the 2008/2009/2010 standard electronic control units in the F1 engines using the Windows Mobile for Automotive platform. Now as many know, in my other 'life' I am quite a fan of MS technologies, however Microsoft really need to be on the ball on this project! F1 is watched by a massive number of viewers, and if the unit's supplied to the teams are less than perfect it will be mentioned, on live TV, the Microsoft boys really don't want to annoy the Ron Dennis and Frank Williams of this world, as even the might marketing people at MS will not be able to live that down.

The other FIA announcement is that surprise surprise, Bridgestone have been announced as the single tyre supplier to F1 for the 2008/2009/2010, and it would seem with Michelin pulling out at the end of the year the 2007 season as well (unless BF Goodrich turn up like in WRC, who are Michelin by another name, and will bizarrely be the only tyre supplier in the WRC series). 

Renaut Engine for ProDrive?

Flavio Briatore has said that the team are looking to supply another team with engines.

"We are keen to supply a second team and we have ample capacity at (engine headquarters) Viry to supply it, with homologated engines coming in, supplying a second team has to be the way to go," Flavio Said. "It would offset a lot of the cost. We would be willing to talk to anyone and the engines would be available for a very reasonable price."

So with ProDrive on the possible look out, perhaps they may talk to Renault.

Moseley perhaps making some sense shock!

Yeah, it's amazing, Max Moseley with a decent idea! I was as shocked as you.

The unofficial F1 Blog is reporting that he has decided that copying the MotoGP way of doing things is perhaps right. In MotoGP they have an engine size limit (currently 1ltr, but soon to become 800cc), and a fuel allowance limit (27ltrs, soon to become 23ltrs), but besides these two limits the manufacturers are free to do whatever they like, and generate as much horsepower as they can (between 230-270bhp in the modern bikes) they can run traction control, ABS, active suspension whatever.

Max has hinted that he would not regulate how big, and how many cylinders the cars use, he would not even limit horsepower and torque, no he would limit the amount of fuel the cars could use.

Max said “If we are going to have a high-technology Formula One then the research should be devoted to areas which contribute something to society,”