18/05/2007
NEWS STORY
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In a move which is clearly aimed at emphasising his determination to see Formula One go green, but seemingly at odds with his other mission, to reduce costs, FIA president Max Mosley has admitted that he wants to see the regulations changed from the current 2.4 litre V8 format, to 2.2-litre turbocharged V6s running on biofuel and developing 100 horsepower less than present.
According to The Guardian, Mosley admits to his own personal 'myearthdream' in the forthcoming edition of F1 Racing magazine.
While max engine revs are currently restricted to 19,000, under the 'new rules' they would be reduced to a maximum of 10,000, which would therefore make the new generation of F1 cars far less noisy than their contemporary rivals. Engines would be required to last for five races, though cars would be allowed to have traction control and four-wheel drive. Mosley is also pushing ahead with the 'power-boost' device.
Although this will drive up costs, certainly in the short term, Mosley argues that in the long-term this will not only benefit mankind - by saving the planet - but also the manufacturers, as they will be developing green technology which can be put to everyday use.
"We are in active discussions with the major manufacturers to ensure that in future, research and development relevant only to F1 will be discouraged," says the Englishman, "whereas that which has relevance to road-car development will be encouraged.
"We understand that such an approach has broad support from the competing manufacturers and we will work closely with them to ensure that, in particular, the new environmentally relevant technologies that many of them are developing are made our priority."
Eager to assure fans that the sport will not be damaged by the bid to become more 'earth friendly', Mosley adds: "Whilst aiming to achieve these goals we will ensure that the sporting spectacle of F1 remains the same or is even improved by the new developments."
The proposals have been submitted to the manufacturers by Mosley and Burkhard Göschel, chairman of the Formula One Manufacturers' Advisory Commission. They were drawn up in a document produced by the FIA's own technical consultants, Peter Wright and Tony Purnell. Also involved were engine technology specialists Ricardo, who last week were appointed advisers to the sport's governing body.
The teams and manufacturers now have to consider the proposals, with the clock already ticking, not merely for F1 but the planet.
"McLaren's view is not yet fully formed," said the Woking team's chief executive, Martin Whitmarsh, according to The Guardian. "I think you would have to say that, on the face of it, these are very laudable propositions. However, I think we have been going through a period of much change in Formula One, what with sealed engines in 2007, new electronic systems in 2008, energy recovery systems in 2009 and then more sweeping changes from 2011.
"Change is always very expensive in F1. We understand that the sport must evolve, but we are concerned about cost."
Meanwhile, an FIA source told Pitpass: "We have two objectives with the 2011 proposals. One as you identify is to introduce greener more energy efficient technologies, the second, and the two are linked, is to drive down costs.
"The proposals we've distributed are based on six months of discussion with the manufacturers. What we are trying to do is to align their R&D programmes with their F1 programmes. In that way the money they spend on F1 will have a direct relevance to their core business and be fundamental to the development of new products."