Bob Barnard Track Engineering

So Tony Fernandes likes the new engine regulations for 2013, "F1 becomes so relevant because everybody has a 1.6 engine. And costs go down and money goes into better uses than just making a car as fast as possible so I think it is fantastic, it is a really, really great step forward." It gets worse, "I hope the next step is to make the wheels and tyres the same size as [road] cars so tyre manufacturers benefit from the safety that is learned, and engineering that can be put onto a 1.6-litre, Toyota, or Hyundai or Renault," said Fernandes. I tell you what Tony, why don't we just race Toyotas, Hyundais or Renaults, road cars that is, and be done with it? Since when has redesigning engines been "cost saving?" And the last time I looked the whole point of racing was about "making a car as fast as possible." What is it otherwise, a reliability or economy run? It is also the point of F1 that not everybody has one. And I am so tired of the "we must be relevant" BS. What is horse racing relevant to except the betting industry?

Joe Saward is back and obviously refreshed. Some nice scuttlebutt about Dr Gerhard Gribkowsky, a Director of the Bayerische Landesbank who owned the shares in F1 of the failed German Media tycoon. Too much to include here, but it seems he has a bundle of money that he will not, or cannot explain where it came from. Check out Joe's site.

It seems the Force India seats are not actually sorted yet, seems there is the problem of what to do with Liuzzi's contract. In a similar "that rumor is not correct" it seems the reported sale of Torro Rosso is not true either. How are us bloggers supposed to keep up if the stories are not being checked first?

It will be great to see some action on the Korean track after all the talk and surmising. There are still mixed messages coming out and you can read them on ESPN F1 and Autosport.com as easily as I can repeat them. There is a nice piece by a journalist on ESPN F1 about the trip and the "love" hotel, usually rented by the hour, but quite nice. The photos of the activity on the main straight remind me of a street race rather than a permanent circuit, but as long as it is ready tomorrow that's OK. I liked the quote for the organizers that "We can hardly expect to be perfect from the outset." Well yes you can actually if you know what you are doing or get the right people in to do it, which is what Tilke did in the end to get it finished. He is confident the track will stay down, and has obviously used the strongest, and most expensive, binder to lay it, but hey, it's only money.

Some of the walls look close to me and in odd spots. Liuzzi has commented on this and others say it looks like Valencia street circuit in places. As they are building a city in and around it then I guess that is what it is. It follows on Abu Dhabi where they said the moved the walls in closer, banking on the TecPro barriers to work. They may well do, but I think the drivers are a bit more cautious when the run off is less than they usually have, which results in a procession rather than a race. Did we see anyone overtake at Abu Dhabi last year?

Enough of the talk, SPEED Channel is streaming practice at 9pm EST in the US. You can work out what that is where you are, about nine hours from now. The BS stops when the rubber hits the road.

In other news, well not news, Kimi crashed again, and Hulkenburg will probably lose his ride despite a good season to Maldanado who has a wallet the size of Yamamoto's. The V8Supercars are due to race at Surfers Paradise as a replacement for IRL, shades of Long Beach when they dumped F1. V8's will be a better show, but we in the US will be unlikely to see it.

I hope Korean paving is good, in fact I hope it is the best in the world. If not we are in for a sorry weekend there. The track has released a communication that the track is 98-99% complete. That's good because the inspection is Monday. They go on to say: "The last crucial element is the top layer of surface asphalt, with other less important things likely to go unfinished."

"The inspection team may put first priority on safety and appropriateness of the race track ahead of other factors such as cleanliness and makeshift stands," Kim admitted.

Work on the final surface layer began on Tuesday(!) and will take six days -- exactly the time available until Charlie Whiting arrives at the venue direct from Suzuka.

"Before the inspection the only thing left to do is working on the surface of the track," Kim confirmed." Oh, is that all?

What has taken so long to start this? The most crucial element of any track is the surface, if it does not hold up then you have no race, ask the guys in Dallas, Montreal, Cleveland, or Spa back in 80's. Not sure why it will take six days, I have taken three on most tracks I've done, and I would have thought these guys would have arranged every ton of mix they can lay their hands on. Not that three days is going to make any difference now.

Sad to hear of the passing of Peter Warr, the Team Manager and Principal for the real Team Lotus. Responsible for guiding the team during those glory days. Let's hope the new Team Lotus, if that is what it is finally called, can match them.

Kimi has come out strongly condemning Renault for using his name in connection with a the second seat, he says he was never interested. So why did his management contact Renault? Playing games with rally teams. His name is linked to a move to Ford or the new Mini for next season. Let's hope whatever he drives he can keep on the road. So, who is driving for Renault? The silly season is back, although there are not many seats really free. It seems there will be one at Force India, but whether it is Sutil or Liuzzi we still do not know. HRT are playing games with who is driving in Japan this weekend, let alone next year. Must be great for the driver's mental preparation.

To mention mental preparation, the tension and concentration in Race Control during a race weekend is a high as the drivers. Having worked in a few, including F1, Le Mans, and MotoGP, I enjoyed the piece on how it works in today's ESPNF1 web page, check it out.

Thanks to those of you that are excited about reading my book, should I write it, which seems pretty inevitable but is a daunting task. Writing this blog every day is sometimes taxing, but at least with the book I do not have to worry about content. My main problem is what to leave out so I do not get sued!