Is this the end of F1?

Recapturing energy that otherwise would have be lost in previous decades of F1 through complex systems that can then be used by the driver to boost performance, isn't progress?

 

Most of us have followed F1 for ages. My first full race was Phoenix 1990. Since then many times we have been presented with new regulations. The dimise of the V12 was hard to swallow, but the 3L V10 wasn't too shabby either. I had bigger problems with the narrow cars from 1998 on. Now I think pre-1998 cars are ridiculously wide. Then there were the aero-rules that gave us cars with all sorts of wings, winglets, turning vanes, complicated barge boards, in other words, ugly. And I could even get to grips with the stepped noses.

Now we have these cars, and while I don't think they are particularly pretty (allthough the Williams and the Red Bull have camouflaged their nosecones quite nicely) and the sound is terrible, if the racing is good, all will be fine. Too bad, the racing is total rubbish.

 

Thank God there are other types of motorsport, like FIA WEC, FIA GT3/Blancpain, LeMans series, VLNs etc.

At least there you can hear the engine screaming in full throttle! What comes after? Maybe a 4cylinder turbo engine?

Alonso has given an interview saying in the beginning of the year saying: ''I've started racing in F1 with the great V10s. Later the V8s came and after couple of years their development have stopped...until this year's engine which are V6 1.6 liters TT. I hope i'm not still racing in F1 when they'll bring the 4 cylinder engines...''

 

Yep, I see the point, but I also remember nelson Piquet driving the Brabham BT52 with the four in-line BMW M12-13, which, albeit a four-pot, was nevertheless really a mean engine...

Rgds

 

My argument against the turbo V6 is that the manufacturers were forced to build these engines. I want manufacturers to be free to choose for themselves what type of engine they think they should build. And hybrid technology is nothing exotic. It's been available in production cars for years, albeit not with the same levels of performance of course. What I really want to see is innovation from the manufacturers, building stuff that doesn't exist in the "real" world with materials we've never heard of. Maybe I'm just being unrealistic.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

You guys are all missing the point of my post.

Where does F1 go from here? Because it can never "undo" the green thing now that they've started this path. Kiss V8's V10's, and V12's goodbye forever.

 

Blame Todt.

 

BTW Gordon C great posts.

 

Allow more revs, reduce the size and number of elements allowable on the wings, increase the ride height of the cars, no traction control, electronic suspensions , etc. I want more noise, power but less aero grip.

 

Economics drive F1.
Attendance and TV ratings are said to be down.
Perhaps someone will realize that more manipulations and more gimmicks aren't working.

 

Formula 1 has effectively " jumped the shark ".

 

Long ago.
Not that it seems to matter.

 

Yes.

 

I just watch FIA facebook page, people bashing them in the comments
first comment: R.I.P. Formula 1 - Where is the sound??? ;-(
another: This" is tragedi not GP !!!
my favouritte: Don't buy tickets to the events. They will have change something then.
and much more like this: Very poor engine sounds!

 

The manufacturers have not been free to choose the type of engine for 8 years or so, since a V8 was mandated. You should actually read the FIA Technical Regulations some time, you'd be surprised at how much detail is actually specified, even going back way before the V8s. Even before the 2.4 liter V8 era, there were tight engineering mechanical regulations, much more than just the displacement limit.

Extreme innovation costs too much money, the engineers had the ideas, but for cost reasons a lot of extremely exotic materials and technology was banned over the last 10+ years. They did use materials we've never heard of in the engines, and the extra millions in cost gave them incremental hp gains that were honestly negligible.

Once you unleash the exotic megadollar tech, then only 3, maybe 4 teams can afford to compete, the other teams quit, and the series dies until somebody comes along with rules that restrict the exotic megadollar tech.

 

Yes.

I'd say that was the case when they first introduced KERS too.

 

more from FIA fackbook page:
Fuel economy? Hahahaha, idiots this is a race car. Not a Convention of greenpeace

 

They waste more fuel (and produce more carbon) in the airplanes that take the equipment to Australia ad back in the first race than the cars use ALL YEAR.

 

Harsh but not far of the mark IMHO. Wow f1 is really in trouble if this is going to be the prevailing attitude.

Kinda reminds me of when Coke changed their formula--and we saw how that worked out lol.

 

well said

 

Absolutely: a study has been made on this by a group of Belgian scientists for the Spa Grand-Prix in 2007, and their conclusions was that any Formula One Grand Prix was not more dangerous, or taxing, for the environment than any international Football (or "soccer" for you guys...) match. Emissions are the same, as it is the transportation that accounts for most pollution, not the Grand Prix cars themselves.
I still got the link, but the study / report is in French...(well, in Belgian, but it is french)

Rgds

 

If they stick to this yes it's dead

 

Welcome to the new world where safety and fuel consumption are concerns.
Hemingway would be disappointed.
The forces that rule have read the writing on the wall and are addressing the reality of today.
Personally I applaud their efforts to extract as much hp out of a gallon of fuel versus extracting the most HP out of a liter of displacement. Its all the same to the best engineers.
Give them a quantity of fuel and let them go at it. In the "old" days racing development transferred to the street and I hope it does so again.
Anyone tired of fighting foreign wars over oil ?
I am.

 

Most people associated with auto racing already know this.
Unfortunately the uninformed voter does not (or doesn't care).
Its the perception that matters.
Either the sport regulates itself or governments will be only too happy to do it for them.

 

this is the future of F1
safety, low emission and quiet:
http://newcarsreviews.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/ferrari-f1-12v-electric-car.jpg