Bob Barnard Track Engineering

So the silence is broken on F1 and Sochi by someone in F1. Niki Lauda has pronounced "All those responsible have decided that we are racing there," he told German television RTL, "so in this case we have an obligation, and that extends to Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA." Sound familiar? Exactly what we heard over Bahrain. The powers that be know what they are doing and we have a contract. As I recall the Ukraine has a contract with Russia that gives it control of the Crimea. What happened to ethics, morality and humanity? Just a thought, but how many Mercedes are sold in Russia.

Even that wimp Jimmy Carter organized a boycott of the Moscow Olympics in 1980, and JFK called Khrushchev's bluff over Cuba. So what does the world do now Russia is supposed to no longer be a threat? Nothing. This is no different to Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

So Bernie has finally come out and said what most of us suspected. India has not paid up, so no GP. It had nothing to do with timing, and perhaps some to do with tax, but in the end if Bernie is not paid in advance then no GP. The Indian promoter has found out what most of us already know, you can't make money on an F1 race if you are not the Government.

NASCAR has tweaked qualifying, as predicted here. Cooling the engines is a big issue, and dealt with by running the cooling water through a separate ice filled bath once they are back in the garage. That system was not allowed during qualifying when the cars are parked out on pit lane, so after a run the cars would go back out with all the tape off the grill to run around slowly on the inside lane of the track. Not a big issue on a large oval, but a half mile? So they are now going to be able to bring a unit out to pit lane and slow laps are not allowed. Still not improving the show, but an important safety measure.

Was anyone else underwhelmed by the new qualifying session for NASCAR? Unlike F1, which this is presumably based on, starting on pole is meaningless in NASCAR, so not really any sense of excitement. The first session saw cars backing out into pit lane, blocking other drivers, and then parked at pit out, effectively blocking that. Not a good arrangement in my mind. I know they are trying to build the show at the track, but the old system was actually more exciting with one car on the track, but with the speed tracker showing us where the car was at all around the track, and the fast guys in practice going last. Let's see what NASCAR does to tweak this.

My last blog talked about the lack of spectators, and there were certainly none at PIR yesterday, but they did show up for the 500 on Sunday, on the front stretch at least, only to sit in the rain, lightning and tornado warning. See what the Weather Channel thought of their severe weather response.

http://www.weather.com/news/nascar-daytona-500-severe-weather-did-track-officials-do-enough-20140223

Not good enough from what should be our best track operator.

Is anyone else tired of this nonsense with bad tyres? One of Bernie's best ideas was the three stage knockout qualifying to make teams put cars on track. Now we have the situation where they are once again sitting in the garage during qualifying to save tires. Of course it is made worse by the domination of Red Bull and to some extent McLaren. Why not just give them one or two more sets? In the race they are still going to have to use both compounds, and gamble on a two or three or four stop race. Better still make the tires better. As the editorial in this month's Motor Sport says the current gimmicks are a band aid to cover up the basic problem with the current car specs.

Then we have Lewis Hamilton admitting in the post qualifying press conference that he will not be able to challenge the Red Bulls tomorrow as he has to look after his tyres! Great racing this is. We also have Vettel admitting his KERS did not work in Q2 & 3. Good, can you imagine how much more than the one second advantage they would have? Let's hope Mark can put on a show, otherwise it will not matter how many DRS, KERS and bad tires there are, it will be very boring.

You all know I am no fan of KERS and the whole green racing deal on the basis that racing is about efficiency anyway. It is nice to read the piece, again in Motor Sport, about the new Audi for Le Mans. Dr. Baretzky, the Audi engine Chief, puts it nicely. Talking of hybrids and why they are not planning to use it he said that at the moment the extra weight on the car would need more fuel to propel it than you are gaining from its use. "The system should pay for itself...Motor Sport should be about the truth: the more efficient, quicker, better car should win, and the rules should be made according to that. The ACO says we have to encourage this technology. Why? If this technology is a better solution, it will come. If we have to encourage it and it turns out to be the wrong route, it is a waste of energy and time." Here here.

The FIA has announced that DRS is so successful we are to get two zones of it at Canada and Valencia! Personally I never saw that Canada has a problem with overtaking with Turn 1, the hairpin and the last corner being full of action in the past. Valencia now is different, it needs all the help it can get. They have also decreed that the DRS cannot be used in the tunnel at Monaco, or Eau Rouge.  It would be a very brave, and stupid, man to try it through Eau Rouge. The tunnel might entice some to try. Why all this manipulation of where and when? If it is so good then rely on the drivers common sense and self preservation to decide when to use it. Or are we protecting the drivers from themselves?

So who watched Kimi at Charlotte? I did, and was very impressed. He kept it going in the right direction unlike some of the much more experienced drivers out there, including his team owner Kyle Bush. Kimi never saw Charlotte until Friday morning and raced there that night! He certainly was not intimidated by running in close company, and the other drivers did not seem to have a problem racing around him. Great job, not that I expected anything less. So now what, Nationwide?

Back at Barcelona we potentially have the situation where the Cosworth teams could protest the engine mapped exhaust blown diffusers. This the off and then on again ruling by the FIA, which leaves the door open as they did not say its use was legal, just that the teams had a stay of when they needed to undo it. That would be a nice mess at the end of the race wouldn't it?

As reported a few months ago the success of the greens in recent German elections has made the support for the German GP unlikely to continue past 2015, two more races at the Nurburgring as it alternates with Hockenheim so that track only loses half as much!

So Turkey turned out to be a turkey for Michael. It brought him "no big joy." Must be a German expression. Still, Mercedes say he has their complete support. I think that is what Williams said about Sam Michael about a day before he quit. In the same web site Johnny Herbert is predicting Michael will retire again at the end of the season. So take your pick. It was very strange how he was right on the pace up to the Q3 session, and then lost it.

His old mate Rubens is saying the FIA decision to allow the DRS system at Monaco is wrong. The answer is simple Rubens, don't use it. The FIA is not saying you have to use it, only that you can, and as the driver you have the choice. Talk to your mates and just agree that you won't use it, and then see who does!

Trulli picked up that the tire situation is changing qualifying. This format was put in place to make sure the punters had cars on track to watch, but now it seems teams would rather sit in the garage and conserve tires.

Poor Max Mosley lost his case in the EU Court to have the nasty media tell people before they write bad things about them so they can obtain an injunction. He is looking very bitter and twisted these days. What's he going to look like when Rupert runs F1?

D'Ambrosio is supposedly in danger of losing his drive in the Virgin as his sponsors have not paid up. I wonder why? Could it be the lack of performance of the team and lack of exposure?

So Bernie says the return of the Austrian GP is possible, and Turkey is saying talks yesterday made it 50% more likely it will stay on the calendar. Not sure if that means the price only went up 50% of what Bernie was asking or not. So who is going to miss out? Getting awfully crowded.