Bob Barnard Track Engineering

As you may have gathered by the absence of a posting yesterday there was "nothing stirring" as they say in the Christmas poem. Very little going on except Bernie and his mate Luca exchanging pleasant shots across the bows. Luca is clearly upset about the engine changes, "Ferrari does not make a four cylinder," and about CVC and the money they take out. He is quick to reassure Bernie that it is not a criticism of him personally, in fact he would need him to lead the new order, what ever it is called. He does not see the problem if it is not "F1," presumably as long as Ferrari are in it people will know they should be watching it. Ferrari did not seem to have a problem last time we went to 1.5 liter turbo cars when they ran V6's, but I see his point, it does not relate to the road cars Ferrari make, which is what this is supposed to be about, not that I agree with it.

The boss of the Russian GP says they are not behind schedule. Good, seeing as how they only just started it is hard to see how they could be late. Especially for a race in 2014, personally I have never had more than a year to design and build a track.

Joe Saward picks up on the hypocrisy of the French Sports Minister in respect of F1 compared to the Tour de France. Not sure if it is great minds thinking alike or Joe liked my blog, either way it is correct.

Disappointing to see the Piquets involved in another scandal, this time tax evasion. Thought more of Nelson Snr. than that.

Nice to see Sir Frank Williams being honored by the BBC Sports Awards for "outstanding courage and achievement in the face of adversity." I'll second that. He threw his mate Patrick Head under the bus though. "In those days he really made the world's best racing cars." My italics. Pity about these days Patrick.

So Sir Stirling Moss thinks Michael Schumacher needs to clean up his act? Bit late now don't you think? Where have you been Stirling? He thinks the new rules on dirty driving will cramp his style. I would hope so, and why did we need a rule, the Stewards should have done something about this years ago, and maybe not just to Michael.

The media is having a field day with Montezemolo's comments about the future arrangements for F1 after the current Concorde Agreement runs out. Joe Saward again has a great piece on what he actually said, which was really no more than laying out possible alternative paths. I think it is just early maneuvering to improve the team's cut of the pie in the next go round. He likens the current regime as "like being in prison."

Looking forward to seeing the McLaren in GT3, that is getting to be the best racing with so many closely matched makes and top drivers.

The biggest motor racing story of the day seems to be Briatore selling his shares in QPR to Bernie. That's sad. You would think with all Bernie's millions QPR would be up with Chelsea by now. Maybe this is his fun and not his business.

The newly repaved Daytona track got the thumbs up from the drivers, but the combination of a new surface and a smaller restrictor plate may make for some boring races. Jamie McMurray said, "You're not really having to turn the steering wheel because the car has so much grip,"  while Jeff Burton said "You don't even think about having to lift unless you're trying to keep from wrecking. In the past it was quite a bit of throttle control to keep your car going around the racetrack." What else is left for the driver to do?

Stands for hypocrite race team, or rather their manager. HRT did not perform because of their inexperienced drivers. And who employed them? And did Klien do any better when he got in it? Kolles pointed out that Hispania had achieved impressive reliability compared to its nearest rivals. Really? I do not know the numbers but it seems to me Bruno Senna in particular often did not turn a lap. This is some impressive spin here.

Very little else going on, the who is driving what continues with not much clarity. Montezemolo is still going on about running three car teams, and Autosport has created a stir with their front cover saying the "real Lotus is back." It does not matter which team they are talking about, no it is not, and never will be. Drivers are promising to lose weight so that the extra weight of the KERS can be accommodated. I would have thought if they had weight to lose they would have done it this season.

So the FIA thinks the mechanics in F1 need to get their sleep. What next, the Le Mans 24 Hour being stopped so the mechanics can get some rest and we start again in the morning? It does not seem to matter that they keep extending the season and going to "developing" countries, with Vietnam being the latest rumor. Saturday night is already a night off due to the parc ferme rules after qualifying. What about the track staff? I know from personal experience that track staff are working very long hours both during the event and leading up to it, are they to be given a curfew? As Ferrari likes to remind us F1 is a team sport, which includes the work done at the factory and by the engineers and mechanics. Working their tail off to get a car repaired or rejigged is just as much about winning the race as the driver, let's not allow the "nanny state" to infect sport. The FIA is getting like every other "government," to make ourselves look important and necessary we have to keep making rules.

And speaking of Le Mans, I failed to point out to the French Minister of Sport that they are perfectly happy to allow Le Mans to race 24 hours with 50 cars, where is the carbon footprint reduction for them, or the Monte Carlo Rally?

Montezemolo threw Massa under the bus yesterday, he gave him a 7 out of 10 for effort, "he sent his brother to drive in the second half of the season." Maybe the FIA thought he was tired and needed a rest? Just maybe you demotivated Massa by favoring Alonso?

If we did not know before that MotoGP was turning into a circus then Paris Hilton partnering with a 125cc team confirms it. Clutching at straws?

So the only comment so far welcoming the removal of the team orders regulation is from Ferrari, and I loved the comment on ESPNF1 that "Fernando Alonso will target the winner's trophy next year after team orders returned to F1." Makes it sound like it is the only way he can win it, which should not be the case for a driver of his ability. I guess on balance I would rather have a situation like Red Bull this year and let the drivers race, but if you are going to do it then at least be subtle and smart about it.

I can't work out if the AMA's nominating Gov Arnold Schwartzenegger as their "Man of the Year" is a "tongue in cheek" swipe at him for his exhaust noise regulations or not? Can anyone fill me in on this?

Nice reprint of a story on www.lastturnclub.com by Tony Dowe on what it takes to win Le Mans. Tony is back in long distance racing at Daytona next year with a Ferrari 430 he has been building, watch for it.