Spare Parts (F1 odds and ends)

I agree .

Merc etc may be pissed off , but how long do they HONESTLY intend to stay ?

The powers that be MUST look at the long term future of the sport .

 

Good post that, shows the discrepancies between the two sides. It will be interesting to see how it moves forward but it looks like typical negotiations. The ICE will remain the same in principle but it’s arguably the easiest and cheapest component. I hadn’t considered the turbo redesign or the fuel impact.

 

He added: "It portrays it in a way of this is how we're going forward and none of the current OEMs (car manufacturers in F1) was particularly impressed."

I bet I can guess what the other teams think ( and prospective new teams )

 

This will either be a watershed moment in the future of F1 , or a damp squib .. I bet on the latter ( Sadly ) .

 

Williams take, but they do have the strongest unit at quite a cost effective supply price.

 

Moving forward requires a step with one foot whilst the other remains still. What we have here is one foot moving forward whilst the other moves backwards: a recipe for instability and confusion which would then require a corrective measure, and even then, we've not so much moved forward as corrected a stumble.

For existing participants, 'cutting costs' simply does not happen if major redesign is required, even if it removes expensive technologies; but worse still, removing technologies which already improve efficiency would be a major backward step from almost any perspective, save perhaps that of a new entrant. It is the wrong way to go. Although initially expensive, the MGU-H has been a major technological breakthrough in the automotive world, significantly increasing efficiency, making a car more economical and at the same time making it more powerful and lighter (with a secondary benefit to fuel consumption). MGU-H is a 'win win win' situation. Yes, the technology has been expensive to develop. But as always, costs come down dramatically as the technology becomes better understood. The hardest, most expensive work has already been done. Any new teams will find it far cheaper than the pioneers who already occupy the grid.

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Although hushed-up whenever possible (especially in the paddock), F1 has a far simpler solution at its disposal, albeit fraught with politics: if you really want to help smaller teams and potential newcomers, even out the prize money and remove the ridiculous 'historical payment' situation we still have, courtesy of its inventor and primary beneficiary: Ferrari. –And if they come back with the predictable and repetitive threat to leave, simply bid them an equally hollow "Farewell my old friend" ('cos we'll cope without you and you need F1 more than F1 needs you. Goodbye!). With its new owners, F1 has never had a better moment to address its most farcical, perennial problem.

 

I'll just keep adding.

Mercedes, Renault: F1 risks needless arms race with new engines
Renault and Mercedes believe Formula 1 risks opening up a needless spending arms race and having a less competitive grid with the new engine regulations that have been proposed for 2021.

 

I believe a budget cap will come in and I would be happy with that. Equal footing for everyone. Manufacturers would watch their cost price too.

 

It's only fair that they match the cost cap to even out the field. Like Ferrari and Red Bull can spend $200m. Mercedes $150m. Sauber £3.60.

You know, fair, like the money is now

 

to be fair they have been in F1 as an engine supplier for 23 years, and I can see their point.
They've just had to design the most complicated power unit for F1, enforced on them by very specific rules, they get to use it for 6 years then it's scrapped, will they even recover the original costs of design? will they have to pump in another 1/2b into R&D for new power units, only to see them be scrapped at the earliest opportunity?

I'd charge Ericsson a damned sight more than £3.60

 

I'm not sure what they intend to achieve with these engine regs other than another potentially shuffle of the pack for a number of years before having to rethink and shuffle again. By the time they come in we may be back to a point where we have much slimmer gaps when it somes to engine performance alone. The problem has been (in my opinion at least) engine manufacturers have been held back in their development of these units, especially in the early days and it's been tough to level the field.

We need some consistency, incremental changes, a leveling of the financial playing field and some changes to the current aero regs to try bring the pack closer together.

 

The more I think of it the more stupid it seems to ban technology that billions had been spent on R&D.

It would probably make sense to publish the designs of area that the FIA want to reduce costs in and try and standardise the design in these areas. That would hopefully level the performance and make it accessible for new engine developers.

 

Poor timing for Ferrari's regular "toys out of the Pram" moment. F1 is in fairly decent health right now. The midfield and backmarkers seem to be more financially stable than of late, and there's several proposals for new teams or manufacturer's floating around. F1 is in a better position to call their bluff than in recent years.

In terms of engine rules, I think the FIA either needed a much cheaper formula, or to stay close to the current regulations. Instead they're suggesting an equally complex engine, starting from scratch. It's the worst of both worlds.

I can understand the desire to standardise some parts in order to allow other engine manufacturer's to make the ICE and source the rest, but this is the wrong way to do it. I'd rather they keep the engine formula the same, but force Mercedes, Honda, Renault and Ferrari to publish the exact technical specs, software and dimensions of all the ancillary devices around the ICE, plus mandating that incoming suppliers can buy the MGU-H, MGU-K, control electronics, batteries, etc from one supplier at a fixed price. That way Aston Martin, or whoever, "only" have to design the ICE, to fit dimensions that will marry up to the "Renault" energy systems. If all the engine manufacturers can see what clever things the others are doing on the hybrid side, that might help narrow the performance range too.

Fully integrated manufacturer engines will maintain a competitive advantage over the ICE-only suppliers, as it should be really, but it would open up some cheaper options on the grid, giving teams more freedom and hopefully narrow the range of engine performances. Mercedes have already hit a phenomenal engine efficiency, they surely can't get that much more out to maintain such a lead??

 

Oh Ferrari. See my previous post. You are so predictable. Even though I disagree with some of the proposals, you are always a spanner in the works of anything remotely aimed at encouraging others.

Make my day. Please carry out your threat.
Please, please PLEASE!

 

Please don't. I do like a red car... But don't be dicks about it either.

 

Yep saw that coming.

 

Until they give the "Just for turning up" money out equally the FIA can't claim that any rule change is for cost saving reasons. If they cared about the little man they wouldn't give them a $100m disadvantage year on year.