Monday 31st July 2006

Should F1 go green?

FIA chief punts enviro-friendly future

---

Can or should it be green?

Can F1 be green -- should it be?

FIA president Max Mosley evidently thinks so, as he's pushing for F1 teams to start developing greener engines -- powerplants that are more fuel efficient.

He's also said he'd like to see such technologies as regenerative braking introduced by 2009. "F1 could be positioned at the cutting edge of fuel-efficiency research and development," Mosley said.

The background to this is a three year ban on new engine developments coming in from 2008, with the aim of cutting costs.

This latest initiative sounds like F1's death sentence: if Grand Prix racing isn't about the latest and greatest in automotive technology, what's it for? It surely isn't about exciting racing any more...

[Narvanath]

Perhaps F1 racing should set a trend and start using bio-fuel...

[...raise shields...]

[Graham]

You can tell how far the governing body has lost its way by the f1 survery. The questions are unbelivable.

I dont give a stuff about the technology F1 should be fast and the racing exciting, with all the action on the track

[fidgits]

hmmm...


Motor racing...

Eco Friendly...


No wait.


Pinacle of Motor Racing.

Toyota Prius.


That doesnt work either?


Huh

Pincale of Motor Racing

technological advancements to make cars go faster


Now that works, oh but wait, didnt the FIA just ban mass dampers desgined to increase mechanical grip that allowed cars to carry more speed through the bends?

[Dr S]

First Caterham doing eco marathon, now F1 going all green. Let's hope they don't introduce a minimum 15mph speed limit for F1 as well...

[Slowlane]

Narvanath said:

Perhaps F1 racing should set a trend and start using bio-fuel...

[...raise shields...]

They should start making it intersting first its worse than watching paint dry, watch the moto GP or Nascar and see the difference between racing and just following each other around the next one a little slower

[forever_driving]

Didn't C.A.R.T used to run on methanol or alcohol?

[LongQ]

Narvanath said:

Perhaps F1 racing should set a trend and start using bio-fuel...

[...raise shields...]

I'm surprised that Max might be suggesting that, given that the claims for Bio-fuels suggest greater power output ...

With a single tyre supplier from next year perhaps they could go for run-flat tyres - or just solid rubber wheels? That have to last a season ...

With Michelin seemingly already going off the boil and the renaissance of Fiarrari on the back of some other shenanigans it may be time ignore the F1 circus altogether. Massa following Schumacher in such a servile fashion flag to flag was, despite a bit of action further down the field, not very entertaining.

I was doing some painting yesterday and times the work to watch the GP whilst the paint dried. I almost went back to watch the paint - but the room I was painting was a little warm so the telly won.

The dodgem racing which followed was more interesting viewing though quite why some experienced drivers seem unable to predict what their peers do at the start of a race is a puzzle.

[rustybin]

The two ideas seem somewhat counter productive. "Let's incentivise fuel efficiency" and "let's ban engine development". I am not an engineer but the engine might be one of the first things I would look to to achieve that. A simple change to the regs to ban refuelling and placing a limit on fuel allowance (variable per race based upon distance and reducing year on year) would seem simpler. It is already advantageous to have a more fuel effcient engine but would be even more so if you had to carry the whole load at the start of the race.

The logic for whether to do something seems to come down to a) will it make an environmental difference in itself? No. Shipping the cars around the world rather than flying them would have more of an effect. b) Will the technology be used in road cars? Maybe. But what is useful in an F1 car will be of little use in a road car and will probably be very expensive. If it is needed and will sell in a road car the manufacturers will develop it anyway. c) Will it make F1 better. No. How could it? d) Is it all PR Bllocks? Probably.

Edited by rustybin on Monday 31st July 11:41

[martaay]

haha who in their right mind wants to see a race where the winner is whoever achieved the greatest MPG... how ridiculous, surprised they arn't pushing for F1 to use friggin weasel engines

[planetdave]

Wasn't F1 much better when the cars were actually different? They're so similar now that you can't get a fag packet between them and thus no overtaking (to speak of).

A reduction in rules would be much better. For safety you could have a modular cockpit (with feet behind the front axle) but after that just limit the engine size and some dimensional restriction eg must fit into box 'z'

[manek]

planetdave said:

Wasn't F1 much better when the cars were actually different? They're so similar now that you can't get a fag packet between them and thus no overtaking (to speak of).

A reduction in rules would be much better. For safety you could have a modular cockpit (with feet behind the front axle) but after that just limit the engine size and some dimensional restriction eg must fit into box 'z'

I was reminded of that at the Silverstone Classic, where classic F1 cars were racing each other. Even those from the same year looked different, while I'd be hard-pushed to tell this year's from last year's, or the year before's...

Too many regs, all too imilar, all too dull -- and still I watch it!! Why do I do this to myself...?

[angrys3owner]

What a load of old bollox, sure they should use bio-fuels, however the stop on engine development and the half arsed way the FIA have gone about it is total garbage as is this latest suggestion.

The should be as fast as they can - stop driver aids of any kind and stick a rocket up the drivers arses to make them overtake more!

[jwyatt]

No way - I agree entirely with Tiff's piece in Autosport on this. They should limit test mileage for cost and fuel use reasons but racing is about out and out performance and the fuel used is absolutely inconsequential to global warming. If it becomes an eco-showcase freakshow I for one will stop watching.

[r988]

martaay said:

haha who in their right mind wants to see a race where the winner is whoever achieved the greatest MPG

Back in the Turbo era they weren't allowed to refuel, the Turbos had the choice of winding up the wick and running out of fuel, the NA cars were much slower but had more chance of actually finishing the race. So partly then that was a time when fuel economy was something that influenced the winner.

I don't have a problem with using alternative technology in F1 but they really need to get rid of the restrictions and let them go for broke. Give them the choice of virtually free reign in alternative fuelled engine, or more restrictive petrol engine, racing improves the breed so why not let those F1 bods use their brains for something other than finding weasel ways to get around the rules.

[dinkel]

Narvanath said:

Perhaps F1 racing should set a trend and start using bio-fuel...

[...raise shields...]

As a support act maybe . . . For next Audi's Le Mans victory

IMO oil / petrol should be spoilt to the max. The sooner the oilfields are emptied the faster we will have new forms energy and a better world-balance. I'm getting a bit sick of all this middle east and US shite.

So please drop 8 litre monster mills in and restrict to 1000 hp or 9000 rpm

[fatboy b]

Slowlane said:

Narvanath said:

Perhaps F1 racing should set a trend and start using bio-fuel...

[...raise shields...]

They should start making it intersting first its worse than watching paint dry, watch the moto GP or Nascar and see the difference between racing and just following each other around the next one a little slower

F1 is boring, but how can you say NASCAR is any better? I'd really rather watch my lawn grow than watch NASCAR.

[dinkel]

At least Nascar sounds the nuts . . . all the time . . . 'cos the cars don't dissapear out of sight

[willibetz]

Fuel efficiency has always been important in F1, due to considerations like weight and running further than your competitors. And limits on fuel tank capacity have been seen before, thinking back to the turbo era.

Future fuel regs for F1 have already been drafted which mandate the use of a proportion of bio-derived components. From the draft 2008 technical regs:

19.4.5 A minimum of 5.75% (m/m) of the fuel must comprise oxygenates derived from biological sources. The percentage that each component is considered to originate from a biological source is calculated from the relative proportion of the molecular weight contributed by the biological starting material.

19.4.6 Synthetic hydrocarbons or mixtures of synthetic hydrocarbons, which have been produced from biomass, will be considered for future inclusion into Formula One fuel, provided that a suitable analytical procedure is available to verify their biological origin.

[Fire99]

I think there are two issues here..
I think F1 could practically improve on the Eco front, 'doing its bit', by perhaps using bio-fuels.. and ditching that burn-off-fuel session which seems about the most opposite thing to the economy that you could imagine.

But yes F1 is meant to showcase technology etc but its principal purpose is to be the pinacle of Motorsport not the Pinacle of Eco Friendliness.. This isn't an episode of Tomorrows World!

I think the technology of F1 should move down a step on the priority ladder and concentrate on the No1 issue.. The boring bleedin 'Racing'...

F1 is a race..Period.. Its about time to us viewing public it looked like one..!

[u81922]

If the F1 budgets were directed into fuel efficiency and recaptured braking energy while still seeking maximum speeds and power then the technologies will develop faster and benefit street cars. I'm all for it but quite cynical about these constant rule changes.