Bob Barnard Track Engineering

If you doubt where the world is going with transport then just look at the latest Peugeot 308. A three cylinder turbo charged car which has demonstrated a fuel mileage of 99 mpg! The 308 is one of a long line of trick little cars, so no made for shopping hybrid here.

So the latest F1 cars are just where they need to be. F1 has always been about technology, and not how loud they are. They were in danger in being left behind by the WEC cars, so a move just in time. On the subject of fuel, Red Bull have yet to lodge an appeal and have until tomorrow, but you get the feeling they may not. Ferrari and Mercedes have come out supporting the FIA on the issue, and the FIA said that the meters meet their tolerance. It would be nice to know what that is. Almost any specification I have seen in my engineering life has a tolerance. Precision is for the gods not mere mortals.

Joe Saward, yes him again, said a month ago that CVC is letting us down gradually. That there is a method of drip feeding a message so that when it finally happens it is not a big shock to the system. So easing Bernie off a few boards of FOM was a first step to his going. Now we have Bernie saying that like all top sportsmen, you should go out on top. So he is thinking that this may be his last year as he will be 85 next year and has done this so long maybe he should do something else. Really? F1 is his life. So is this the next drip in the demise?

We were treated to a very good race today in Melbourne, much better than most of us expected. All the cars started, albeit three from pit lane, and some got only as far as the first corner thanks to Kobayashi. We can only surmise where Massa would have finished if not taken out after the showing of his young team mate Bottas. Indeed where Bottas may have finished if he had not fallen victim to that wide exit I have spoken of and kissed the wall and broken a wheel. Recovering to finish 7th was a great effort and must give Williams cause for hope. Hamilton and Vettel both demonstrated what a fine line there is between winning and not really starting with this complex car, and Ricciardo after a stellar performance has also found out the hard way. I hope the Stewards get out of Australia OK.

I am glad I waited to write this blog as it took 5 hours for them to decide to exclude him from the results due to exceeding the fuel flow rate. This was not hard as the race finished at 4 am my time, so back to sleep. This fuel flow rule is so complex it does not bear thinking about. How do you have a maximum flow rate of 100kg an hour when you only have 100kg for a whole race? Mercedes are reported as exceeding it in practice, but then the rule was "clarified?" Red Bull are adamant that they did not exceed it, so wait for the appeal. Whatever the outcome Daniel showed he is well worthy to succeed Mark and we can only look forward to more of the same. A very cool drive under a lot of pressure.

Magnussen the younger also showed what we can look forward to, with Jan now being referred to as "Kevin's Dad" by the Corvette team. McLaren have to be well pleased, especially if the Red Bull exclusion holds up.

Mercedes confirmed what we all expected and dominated the race. You had the feeling that Rosberg could have won this by a lot more, but did not need to. He was pulling away from Ricciardo at a second a lap at one point, and even after the safety car closed it all back up just drove off into the sunset, even with the clouds. Hamilton must be gutted, but there again looking forward to the future with positive expectations.

So winners and losers. Clearly Mercedes with Red Bull, Mclaren and Williams all there abouts, Force India with good pace, Toro Rosso not so bad. Ferrari finished both cars in the points, but struggled to really challenge. apparently both cars had electrical issues, but managed them, and Kimi clearly not happy with brake by wire. Still, something to be confident about for the future. Lotus did get both cars to start and ran for more than half the race, with Grosjean getting within 12 laps of finishing. They were ecstatic just to be out there. Marrussia had both cars finish 13th and 14th, but Bianchi lost a lot of laps. Sauber did not look good, but Sutil did the race on one stop, so still tire friendly. Caterham had a race to forget with that first corner brain fade of Kobayashi, for which he escaped punishment, and Ericson stopping with a power problem.

What no commentator, either on TV or in print has mentioned is the sheer fact that the race was run succesfully at a very good pace, and no cars ran out of fuel, despite having 33% less! So the real winner will be us. Can you imagine the impact on our fuel usage globally if we can improve efficiency by 33%! That is huge, and I'm sure that if not racing our vehicles can achieve even more. It now points the way for the foreseeable future that vehicles will be powered by multi-system power plants. Not just electric, we barely have enough of that now let alone powering all those cars, but a mix of carbon based fuels with waste energy being recovered in the form of heat and kinetic energy recovery through braking. Congratulations to the powers that be that forced this change. I must admit to being a doubter, but we have better racing and a strong path forward. Wait till Honda come on board. Congratulations too to the engine manufacturers who have unravelled this complex specification and made cars we will still enjoy to watch. And at the same time giving us purists cars that again require drivers to drive, and be seen to be doing it. 

Also not mentioned was that tires were not an issue for anyone, and there was a considerable reduction in the marbles, which allows more overtaking by itself. DRS did not seem a big factor in most overtaking, and perhaps we can do away with this gimmick.

I cannot finish without mentioning the wonderful NBC coverage. I watch Sky on the computer, but have the TV on just in case the streaming stops, which it does now and again. I do not listen to the NBC commentators of course, and if I relied on seeing the race on NBC I would probably not watch. There must be a sense in the US that viewers cannot concentrate for more than a few minutes, so we have to have lots of ad breaks, and in between cameo pieces about Ricciardo racing a jet on take off, or photos of the new noses etc, etc. Absolute nonsense.

Who can foretell the future? A lot of people are trying lately in respect of motor racing. The discussion on LinkedIn Motorsport Professionals Group rolls on, with the latest social media being the focus of much of it. Then there is the article in GP Week, "F1's Chance to Change the World," which is focused mainly on the 2013 engine regs, and the chance to be "seen" as green by sponsors.

GP Week asks, "But will a greener Formula One really help in attracting more sponsors to the sport? Harry Gibbings is the Head of Global Sponsorship at TW Steel, a Renault sponsor, and he thinks it will make sponsors less intimidated to join the sport: "From a sponsor's perspective the green ethos is important and, from my point of view with TW Steel, Renault has pushed that to great lengths, taking the technology from the F1 programme and translating it to small fuel efficient cars," explains Gibbings."

"That's not the primary reason that we're in Formula One sponsorship. Obviously we're there to get a return on investment - it hits 450 million people at each round - so from our point of view, that's the important thing. But to have positive green credentials in the future is also an important aspect of it."

So, in the end it is about raising money, as I said yesterday. As you all know I continue to question why motor racing has to be "relevant" when no other sport has to?

In the same article Martin Whitmarsh, the thinking man's team principle, says that F1 must keep the sound, or noise as some would say. I agree, and it is likely that F1 and NASCAR will always be allowed to make as much noise as they want, but what about the rest of motor sport? Much is made of fuel efficiency when "green racing" is discussed, but you know, whenever I have been at a town hall meeting over a new or existing track no one ever raises the issue of fuel efficiency, it is all about the noise generated.

As we have seen with the Croft decision in the British High Court, noise restrictions have potentially a much bigger impact on the future of racing. Unless racers in most series agree to limit their exhaust emissions their opportunity to race will become limited to tracks in the middle of nowhere that they do not want to go to. No one is saying it has to noiseless, but a serious attempt has to be made to limit it to a reasonable level of say 90dba? Either that or we will be watching electric cars with noise makers in them to sound exciting.

Then there are the enormous numbers of tires used at a race. NASCAR seems the worst offenders with new tires fitted at every pit stop, and there are a lot of those thanks to the yellow flags. It cannot be a good advert for a tire manufacturer when their tires wear out after 100 miles or less. Tony Dowe is the only person I know who has raised this issue, but think of the resources and cost. Have a look in the Michelin or Goodyear tents next time you go to a  race. We now have engines and gearbox limitations that require teams to use them for more than one race. Did the world end as we know it? Most fans would not tell the difference from the old days of qualifying specials. So how about one set for a race weekend, unless you puncture? Use the set from the race before for practice and qualifying at the next. In the sixties it was not unknown to use a set for two or three races. Then maybe we will see who can drive to manage their tires.

So, back to the future of F1 and motor racing. Are they one and the same? If F1 died as we know it, it would survive, it always has done. Whatever was the next level of racing would by right would become F1. Would F1 survive if the rest of motorsport died? Probably, we all watch major events like the Baseball World Series, Superbowl, Tour de France, Le Mans, Indy 500 etc. as the best of the sport, so I suspect F1 would survive, but where would the drivers come from, a virtual GP2?

The future of the rest of racing as a spectator sport is definitely under question, but there will always be those that wish to experience the thrill of driving fast, and yes racing their competitors, and not just in a simulator.