It's an FIA decision-making bonanza week! Will 'Team 13' ever exist? How many races will we get in 2011? And, more importantly, will Ferrari escape scot-free from the race-fixing shambles at the German grand prix? All will be revealed...
Best buddies Fernando 'n' Felipe celebrate the German grand prix (c) LAT, autosport.com
PODIUM. Ferrari -
WMSC update! Surprise, surprise ... they decided yesterday not to take any further action over the "fixed" German grand prix won by Fernando Alonso. That means that Ferrari escaped the incident with a pitiful £65,000 fine. The Ferrari defence lawyers' argument was that the team did not give "explicit" instructions to Felipe Massa, which basically admits that they did give instructions.
What can we deduce from this decision then on the handling of the "team orders" rule? As long as you don't say "let Alonso overtake you", you won't get nicked by the FIA. Easy peasy. Rules? What rules? POP says it's high time the "team orders" debacle of a rule is either scrapped, or properly enforced, and fast.
PITS. Lotus -
Lotus may be on the verge of something rather brilliant: a Renault-powered car for 2011. The team have come to an agreement with the manufacturer after unreliability issues with their current Cosworth engines have plagued the team's maiden year in Formula 1. However, all could be ruined by a looming contractual dispute with Cosworth.
Lotus must have employed some proper hacks for lawyers: they failed to include a break clause in the 3 year fixed term contract with Cosworth. Mugs. So that's either 2 more years of pants engines, or one very large cheque written out for 'Cosworth plc'.
PITS. Lewis Hamilton -
This is a sort-of Pits, a warning Pits if you like. Take note Lewis: no more crazy, reckless, boy-racer stunts, police run-ins, driving offences ... because you could be risking your superlicence! So what is a superlicence? It's the "super" racing licence required to compete in Formula 1, and drivers must have requisite experience in other series before they can be awarded one.
"the [sporting] Code will be amended to clarify that if an International Super Licence holder is involved in a serious road traffic offence recognised by a national police authority, the FIA ... may issue a warning or refer the matter to the International Disciplinary Tribunal, which may temporarily or indefinitely withdraw the competitor's International Super Licence." - FIA
You have been warned, Lewis. And readers, for your viewing pleasure, he's the moment Lewis got caught ...
PODIUM. The 2011 Season -
20 races. Yes, you heard correctly. 20 RACES! It's like your birthday, Christmas and New Year's all rolled into one ... but better. If there's one thing POP loves more than Formula 1, and that's even more Formula 1. And we have India to thank as it prepares to host its inaugural grand prix next year. It's official. 2011: bigger, better, and more numerically satisfying.
PODIUM. Cliff hangers?
'Tiresome-Tilke' and 'Tilke-drome' are just some of the monikers associated with circuit architect Hermann Tilke. In the world of Formula 1 there is apparently only one track designer. POP can smell a monopoly a mile off. Apparently though Tilke has had a talking to by none other than Bernie Ecclestone, and they have decided on a "radical" new direction for the Austin circuit:
"He [Bernie] has a good view on it. Now, we are going much more to the edge than we have some years before - in terms of elevation and the types of corner we have." - Tilke
It's a characteristically vague announcement, what else? New types of "corner"? Left? Right? POP's out of ideas. But POP does like to imagine an extreme new American circuit featuring: bare-faced cliffs, jumps, and road-block Republicans. Too far? Ok, ok ... POP will settle for a hot-dog shaped circuit. Thanks! And for anyone interested in reading more about Hermann, do check out his 'Unencyclopedia' entry: it ain't accurate, but it sure is funny.
PITS. Team 13 -
It's official: 13 is unlucky. The elusive "Team 13" mooted this year by the FIA has failed to materialise on the proposed grid for 2011. Jacques Villeneuve will have to crawl back home in disappointment after his team 'Durango' failed to impress FIA officials. Maybe record another album to vent your misery eh, Jacques?
"The team have come to an agreement with the manufacturer after unreliability issues with their current Cosworth engines have plagued the team’s maiden year in Formula 1"
Cosworth is the MOST reliable engine on the grid. It is also rumored to be the most powerful.
It is the auxiliary hydraulics that have caused the problems from another supplier.
Why don't you do some homework and maybe even read some other websites since you obviously have not gotten the story yourself.
I agree with Truth. The fact is the Cossie has served them very well this year apart from some power degredation issues earlier on in the year which have now been sorted. The fact is those CA engines are very strong and what's more impressive is that Cosworth have been out of the sport for 3 years unlike Renault (which is not as powerful and have broken a few times).
So before you start calling things 'pants', check your sources and facts please - idiot
Hi Truth -
There were reliability issues with the gearboxes and tranmissions, and Lotus approached Renault to supply these for next season. However, naturally, Renault insisted that Lotus also switch to their engines as a condition of supplying the other elements. Hope that resolves any confusion.
Yes, that is the real story. I could be snide and said you went to another website to find that, because your story does not relate any of that and tells of a completely different scenario. Not trying to be a dick, just misinformation spreads.
Maybe with Williams offering the proposed hydraulic solution, we will see less retired cars for 2011 if these teams stay with the Cosworth lump.
Thank you for the clarification. Have a great day.
Cosworth have done a grand job. nearly All of the new team unreliability has been courtesy of the xtrac gearbox (which they all use), and more specifically its hydraulics. Cosworth have only had one dead engine, and that was from a HRT, which overheated and cooked the engine (they probably forgot the coolant, or more likely don't have any in the car to save costs...)
I believe Williams make their own gearbox, which is how they've survived with the cozzies. Barrichello was 4th fastest in a speed trap on one race (possibly valencia, but can't confirm that), so the cossy has enough grunt now, and they've sorted the power loss issues
Badger always appreciates feedback!
Just as an update: it looks as though Lotus is definitely on track for Renault engines. Sorry to all those Cosworth fans out there. Watch this space ...
Some harsh reactions here to the Cosworth story ... remember Badger is about F1 being fun guys!
I am not sure I like the idea of 20 races in a season as I think it's too many. With so many points on offer, how can an individual race be important? We are going towards so many races that we will have a NASCAR-style calendar - where they had to invent a 'Chase' system to make the season more interesting...
Nonsense.
There is no drawback to more races.
Though i'd prefer to see good tracks revisited than doing the rounds on all the Tilke-drome's of the world.
It's not nonsense at all.
Leaving my selfish reasons for wanting less races ( and I do agree that we need less Tilke-dromes), what about the teams, all the people that work by travelling to the races and their families?
With F1 having it's longest ever season (and probably shortest ever off season), do we not run the risk of people burning out and so on?
I think 20 races is too much as it dilutes the product and provides less incentive to watch the races live - especially as there are other things that need doing at weekends. If we go the way of NASCAR, then we will also start to lose TV ratings for this very same reason.
So I would prefer we drop some races and like you say, only race at the proper tracks...
"With F1 having it’s longest ever season (and probably shortest ever off season), do we not run the risk of people burning out and so on?"
Ask any driver and he'll be happy to have more races, because that's the only progression that can be made. They've peaked in their career, reached Formula 1, and more races = more chances to win.
Sure the teams of engineers and mechanics may be less enthusiastic about it, but are you suggesting it won't cross the team's minds to put a system in place which relaxes certain groups of employees at certain stages in order to keep everyone fresh?
TV ratings have got nothing to do with how many races there are and everything to do with what happens during those races. If it's the same driver/team winning all the time then the casual viewers become less intererested.
I can't comment on how NASCAR has been affected either way because i see that series as pointless and not worth watching no matter what happens there. Because every race is exactly the same (excluding Sears and Watkins), no wonder they're struggling to keep viewers on board.
25 F1 races might be pushing the boundaries a bit, but 20 is fine.
Not at all. But factor in the extra cost of more races and costs start to get very high with bigger teams - hardly resource restrictions I am afraid.
That's exactly the danger too many F1 races could lead to. We could end up with races that don't mean anything and that are quickly forgotten.
Considering all of the above, I think the negatives outweigh the positives for me. However, if it turns out to be more profitable and the fans love it, then go for it - I just will pick and choose which races I see in future
They did give instructions. Thats plainly obvious to anyone with eyes and ears, but the fact is that they didn't say "Massa, move over for Alonso please". If they had said that, then there would be no argument.
I'm not sticking up for Ferrari, I'm as p****d off as everyone else, but if it can't be proven then that is just end of story. I just wonder how many more fixed races we'll have this year!