EU calls on F1 to switch to four-cylinder, bio-fuel engines

I have not seen any technology that, at this point, can compete with the IC engine in motor sports. Why don't we wait until there is one? F1 exists to please the audience and to make money. It does both quite well. As far as the horse goes. It is still with us and racing.

 

Not just for TV show bollocks. Also for safety (keeping the speeds in check in relation to the tracks). Some of the rules are also to save on costs, but that never worked.

And again what you call bollocks is essential for the sport: No bucks, no Buck Rogers.

 

I made it clear that I was not referring to the US so why you continue to quote what's happening there as if you think the US is the entire world I don't know. Or maybe I do.

Again you are referring to what's happening in the US as if that's all that matters. There are a lot of countries that don't have fossil fuel resources and rely on imports to generate their power.

That might be what 'the long term' means for the US, it's not necessarily the same for others.

Again that's fine for you in the US. Some third world countries don't have that luxury. A landowner in the third world following your 'capitalism is a great thing' ethos finds that instead of producing food he can make more money by raising crops to sell to rich countries to make biofuel. He doesn't care that some of his countrymen are going hungry, he's getting rich and he's not going to be one of the hungry ones.

You need to be a little less parochial and think about the bigger picture.

 

Andreas,

You know I will never agree here. Money is not essential for any sport. Motorsport still happens with little money, heck I am an example as is just about every other club racer. As I have said many times the quality of racing in club events is BETTER than F1. Even though these guys have no money they give it all just to compete and win. Heck most of the time they don't even win anything, other than satisfaction.

All that sponsorship has done is remove the quality from racing and turned it in to a farce.

Yes F1 would radically change if the corporate $ providers left, but it would still continue. Obviously Bernie would immediately fnck off, because he is only involved for the $'s. Ferrari would most definitely keep racing as would many other teams, yes the cars would probably slow and yes the technology would slow too ... but out of the ashes the purity of the sport would return with drivers (now paid little if anything) would again race just to win or be the fastest that day.

Watch the "World's fastest Indian" (again) that is why we should race. Not to be famous, not to bang the grid girls and most definitely not to make money.

This is why Bernie has ruined motorsport, particularily F1, because he made team principals, etc. aware that they could make money from the sport. Before him they did alright, but were doing it for the right reasons ... now they are not, and man it shows from the teams (think Ford and Jaguar), chief engineers (think Stepney) right down to the drivers. The only guys doing it for the right reasons anymore are the poor hard working mechanics ...

Colin Chapman was a genius (and where ALL the credit should really go for awakening the financial possibilities of F1, not Bernie) but his introduction of the modern form of sponsorship should have been outlawed, instead of his brilliant twin chassis design.
Pete