Bob Barnard Track Engineering

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 France cannot have an F1 GP again until F1 reduces its carbon footprint. What hypocrisy? Lets look at the Tour de France, 21 days around France with each team having numerous cars, buses, service trucks, media motorcycles and helicopters, not to mention the set up crews. OK, it is a bicycle race, but my bet is it uses more gasoline than F1 does all season, and all in France. Let's not even talk about how much gas is used for spectators to get to soccer matches, or the energy used for night matches. The most telling line came from France’s new sports minister Chantal Jouanno who, when asked what can be done to revive the country’s F1 race,  told the L’Equipe sports daily: "We need to know if the French motor sport federation (FFSA) is able to bear the cost of a grand prix." There lies the real problem, no government money for Bernie. Maybe Alain is right, they are "auto-phobic."

Sad to hear of the death of Tom Walkinshaw, let us remember his achievements and not the end with Arrows.

So VW is considering an F1 engine now the rules have changed, maybe I am wrong about the new engine, nah. I was thinking about how it will sound, very important for most of us fans. They were loud back in the eighties, but a turbo usually quietens engines, one of the complaints about the old CART cars, and if the new F1 engines are limited to 12,000 rpm and a turbo then this could be quite a different animal than we are used to.

It seems I am not alone in questioning the Korean GP's award of the Promoter's Trophy, several journalists who attended have very different views.

Speaking of views, Jacques Villeneuve likes most of the new rules in F1, thinks they have got most right, but is concerned that the movable rear wing is "too artificial." This raises a question, what do we think F1 is or should be? Is it sport, business or entertainment? It is all three of course, but where is the balance? Do we introduce artificial things to make it more entertaining? Tires that do not last and mix up the results have been mooted, we have KERS, but is that really any different than "push to pass" that fair ground addition to IRL because no one can pass? Now we have drivers at 200 mph trying to manipulate a KERS button and/or the movable rear wing, and how are we the poor spectator supposed to keep up with who is doing what to whom, and does it matter if it is not his driving skill doing it? It has all the makings of becoming a video game with the ability to manipulate buttons faster than the other guy being the measure of performance.

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.

So the World Council approved the new engine and a raft of other changes which sound less cutting edge and more like historic racing. No team orders, so back to pre 2002, and presumably teams can do almost anything except go back to changing drivers during the race as long as no one notices. 1.6 liter turbo engines with revs limited to 12,000 rpm, they could almost go back to using valve springs. Movable rear wings as we had in the sixties, except they can only be used when the car behind is within one second, is that on both cars? An odd rule change is the reintroduction of intermediate tires for 2011. I thought we had intermediate tires this year? A clean up of the under body rules to outlaw the double diffuser, but as we know you cannot "unlearn" something, so I am sure the boys are already working on that one. Oh yes, and the gearboxes have to last longer and the number of engines per year are reduced, so we are on an endurance/fuel conservation schedule, with biomass additives for 2012. Why not make one set of tires last a race weekend while you are at it, or are they still nervous there will be no overtaking and have to have pit stops? Why not just leave it to the teams to choose whether to start on a hard compound and not pit, or a soft one and gamble on making the time up? That is how all this started anyway when Gordon Murray I think it was worked out he could build a smaller, lighter, car and refuel and still make up the time.

At the awards ceremony the Korean GP received the Promoters Award! What for, giving away more tickets than anyone else has achieved, just finishing the track before the Friday of the race? That now devalues anyone else who has won it.

On a brighter note the new Audi R18 looks stunning, like the Peugeot but more menacing. Not sure how the driver sees over those front wheel arches though. I like the way they have incorporated the mandated rear fin, does not look like an add-on like some I've seen. So do we think that is the color it will race in?

Interesting that the FIA approved the F3 International Trophy at a time when the regular series are struggling to gain enough entries to keep going. The Trophy includes Macau and Pau, two great street races, but not ones that all the competitors choose to do, one estimate is that will cost an extra $100,000, or was that Pounds. It includes the Masters at Zandvoort, and the Korean F3 race which was cancelled this year. Why not just run one F3 series so we have enough cars on the grid. They all go to each others countries after all. F3 is a great series and needs to survive, but not sure this is the way to do it. Barry Bland, the promoter of Macau, is the new FIA single seat chief, so no surprise this got approved.

I saw a piece today that said Mark Blundell and Martin Brundle, say that a few times fast, are teaming up for next months Daytona 24 hour! That's pretty scary, time goes by so fast. We have just finished this season and we are talking about next month's races. I know it is late in January so it is closer to two months, but still. Only 90 days to the Bahrain F1 GP.

F1 news still centers on drivers and teams with HRT reported in big trouble following the falling out with Toyota. Seems Toyota wants paying, how rude of them. So no new chassis, no drivers, no money, but a Cosworth engine, presuming they have paid them. Petrov is being told to move to England near the team and improve his English, that will improve his consistency apparently. I suppose being around the team can keep an eye on him, but not sure really how it improves his consistency. Hulkenburg is being tipped to fill one seat at Force India, let's hope so, he is good enough to stay in F1, unlike some.

Interesting that Mazda is setting up a scholarship to help young drivers step up from Star Mazda to Indy Lights and then Indy Car. They have a big motorsport image here in the US so this is part of that, but what about a Mazda engine in Indy Car?

Alain Prost regrets the Renault sale of it shares in the F1 Team and believes that France has become "auto-phobic." It would appear so with no French F1 GP, but what about Le Mans, Peugeot and Citroen in WRC? Vergne is on the brink of an F1 drive and Renault are still producing engines for F1 and reviving the young driver program that was so successful in the past. So things are no quite as gloomy as Alain would see them.

The "green" engine rules are due to be approved by the FIA World Council today, and it seems it is Jean Todt who has pushed this through against the protests of the engine manufacturers. I was never quite sure why we went away from turbo cars in the first place. I know the power was getting out of control, but presumably that is being addressed now, so why not then? In an Autosport piece about how this green engine will be better for the sport David Tucker, director at sports agency KTB, told Brand Republic: "The potential rule change will allow F1 to appeal to a wider potential sponsor audience, and demonstrate to fans F1 is still at the cutting edge of technology." Seeing as how we had 1.5 liter turbo engines in the eighties I'm not sure how cutting edge this is. Turbo cars running around in some sort of efficiency run may appeal to would be "seen to be green" sponsors, but what about the F1 fans? If Tucker is talking about all the energy recovery systems, we did not need a new engine to do that, just ask Williams and Porsche. It seems we are headed to a world engine of 1.6 liters, turbo charged, with fuel monitoring in F1, Touring Cars and presumably sports and rally cars. Where is the "cutting edge" in that? All looks like "Spec Racing" to me. Common ECU, common chassis in BTCC and V8Supercars, where is this all going? Tony Dowe said the other day, go back to big block V8's that will run a season and put them in F5000 and Can-Am style cars. Cheap, fun and people want to watch.