Todt: F1 Return to V8 Engines Will Never Happen

Legislators are thinking about banning IC engines everywhere, not only in towns, to clean the air, or the problem will not stop. Don't forget that in Europe, most countries have a big density of population.

 

I get it but the arguement here is that several million people in a certain area are contributing to the problem as opposed to the rural (10,000 or 100,000 people) that are NOT contributing to the problem....there needs to be a compromise or an option for those people in rural areas whether its in Europe or in different parts of the the globe....OR is this just for Europe then....cuz I can see that model here in the U.S. like Los Angeles or New York but in other parts of the U.S....its vast and wide open and not as congested or smog ridden....I just don't think EVERYONE in the globe needs to conform to an all electric vehicle....just in those areas where air quality in the PPM is at an all time high.

 

Jesus christ you only read what you want sometimes don't you?

 

The countries concerned (Norway and Germany) think about a blanket ban on IC engine, and I can understand why.
There will always be people sneaky enough to register in the countryside to circumvent the legislation and use IC vehicles because they like them, etc...
Also, if there is no alternative, the automotive market will move swiftly and align on the only option. Carmakers will realise that they have the whole market, not just pockets of it. Electric cars are expensive now, because it's a niche market; if they were produced in millions, they would become cheaper - economy of scale.
I really don't see why there would be an argument to use IC vehicles in rural areas, if there are suitable alternative counterparts, such as electric trucks, electric tractors, etc...

If this goes through, the rest of the European Union will follow very quickly; that's 27 countries. That will be such a chunk of the world market that not outside car maker will be able to sell in Europe if it doesn't offer electric cars, trucks, etc... China will follow, because they become worried about pollution and want to turn their car production to electric; they are actually investing in German and Swedish firms to acquire the electric technology and already own or partly own several European car companies.

 

Todt seems to be the shadow of the man he used to be. Utterly useless now.

 

If only fans worldwide can boycott attending or watching races for one month....he will probably know who is the important stakeholder here.

 

The important stakeholders in F1 are not the fans, but the sponsors.

 

Power plants using fossil fuels for electric cars are no better than I/C engines, in fact worse. Sun and wind will never supply enough capacity. Hydrogen is too hard to process. Nuclear, if done correctly is a real possibility, politically not popular. I believe batteries are too limited and hazardous. Countries can outlaw I/C engines, but they will back pedal when it doesn't work. Mankind and the earth will adapt and survive anyway, unless catastrophic meteor or volcano. Easier to survive warming than ice age!!

 

Concur. My buddy worked for Westinghouse nuclear actually. Unfortunately, most of the business dried up after the issue in Japan.

 

That's silly. The sponsors only spend money because of the fans watching. No fans. No sponsors.

 

Bingo.

Besides, which sponsors? Mclaren without sponsors. Manor without sponsors (and gone). Haas sponsor themselves, save for a small sticker of Richard Mille.

Sponsors are not willing to invest in F1 currently, and haven't really since the hybrid era. Cost have gone (massively) up, fans watching has gone (significantly) down. Why invest in that?!

 

Todt has been so disappointing

 

Fantastic post!

Nailed it

 

There is a reason America is the preeminent world power and no one else is even close, and it isn't copying what other people do.

Regardless, you being you, I'm sure the prospect of noiseless electric race cars makes you absolutely giddy. The rest of the motorsports world wants loud engines back. The drivers do. The team bosses do. The FANS do. It's well documented at this point. Please stop trying to act like a few "fringe" people want loud engines back, because you couldn't be more wrong.

 

+1

 

You can bury your head in the sand, for all I care.

 

My son actually worked as engineer at one of Westinghouse nuclear plans in Sweden until a few years ago. Now, he is adviser for one of the Chinese energy companies. His wife worked for the Swedish government energy ministry. Now she works in the energy think tank of the European Union in Brussels. This is how I have some limited information about future energy programmes and environmental discussions behind close doors and the likely orientation Europe will take about fossil fuels, renewable energy and so on, which Joe Public doesn't even suspect.

 

Burying my head in the sand with regard to what? That somehow the United States is missing the boat and will be left behind in the electric car age? LOL, yeah that's not happening.

Anyway, we're talking about F1 here, not the future of civilization. Do you have any response to my statement that drivers, team managers, fans, etc. want loud engines back? Your disdain for loud exciting engines is well-documented but don't confuse your exceedingly minority position on the matter for what most involved with the sport want.

 

Impressive. Next time you speak with your daughter-in-law can you please ask how much global environmental impact there would be for 20 x V12 F1 engines running every two weeks ? I'm sure Bas can provide fuel economy details for reference.

 

The bottom line is that fans want fast, high revving exotic powerplants, not hybrids. The engine manufacturers want something relevant to what they actually sell.

I say sign up Cosworth to build V10s for customers while Ferrari supplies themselves with V10s and maybe another team.

Done.

 

Without manufacturers F1 will become as pathetic as CART.

Manufacturers use F1 to test their engineers and develop complex systems. It is not about marketing that much and definitely not about making money.
Pete

 

When CART was CART, it was far from pathetic. When it became Champ Car, it had a problem. But that's probably a subject for a different thread.

 

I know myself and others that go to the races, the sound, the roar or scream of multiple cylinder racing engines really is a thrill. Ford just announced they have no interest in formula cars or getting involved with Indy car engines. Has no relation to there production cars. So why all this talk about hybrid F1 benefiting production cars? Also mentioned in Autoweek about hydrogen, far far from being feasible, cheap, and green! IMHO I/C going to be around for a while. bring back the screaming F1 engines.

 

We need an F1 boss that is in favor of high revving NA V10s and is able to convince the teams, especially the engine builders, to go along with this approach. F1 cars can still have relevance to street cars for the manufacturers even if the engines are not totally relevant. The materials, manufacturing techniques, engineering, etc. used in F1 can still have meaningful influence on the manufacturers street car offerings even with dissimilar engine types and designs. Granted the engine is the heart of the car but I personally don't see why F1, the pinnacle of motorsports, needs to focus so much on green tech.

Although, I think it's going to be much harder to convince manufacturers of this approach now that they are embracing hybrid tech for their hypercar street cars. Not to mention the fact that MB is building its own hypercar with a powerplant derived directly from its current F1 car. Unfortunately, I don't see F1 going back to higher revving V8s, V10s, or V12s, especially great sounding NA engines, as they (both F1 and the manufacturers) would certainly see this as a step backwards at this point in time.

 

Although I loathe NASCAR, they seem to be thriving with antiquity under the bonnet. They have support from GM, Ford and Toyota.