Formula One on Vacation
The F1 circus takes what is essentially a summer vacation now with three weeks until the next GP. That does not mean that there isn’t a lot of off-track action as there always is. Let’s also discuss some of the more intense activities that are still in play…
The FOTA have a schedule and calendar in place. This new series vehicle is moving ahead aggressive as it must! There is overwhelming support for this FOTA effort but time is of the essence! It usually takes a year or more like 18 months to plan and coordinate a new racing series. However, there is already a established group of entrants that are the “who’s who” of road racing formula cars in the world!
This new FOTA series is actually the right thing to do, as these important constructors have been asking the FIA to implement many things that do not ever happen and that has revealed the FIA’s arrogance in being the sanctioning body of this great series. The constructors have asked the FIA to revisit the USA market with a race event, the most important consumer marketplace in the world currently. The USA market has been ignored and humiliated enough from F1 and deserves a rightful place of the Calendar. Canada too, deserves a spot as it has a long and glorious history of hosting F1, and closely follows Europe even with it kart structure and events. Instead, the FIA has continued to take F1 away from its natural roots in Western Europe, and has taken F1 deeply into Far Asia and the Middle East and continues to do so.
As a result of moving these races away, but still needing the European TV ratings, they have scheduled the starting of those races so late in the day that they are putting the drivers at unnecessary risk! All because of the almighty dollar, or in this case the almightier Euro!
It also makes sense because somebody has to become accountable for their actions and the FIA has proven to be as inconsistent as it has proven to be greedy. The radical rules changes that were mandated for this season have proven to be illogical. The wholesale changes to the allowable wings and aerodynamics were intended to assist in the “passing” opportunities for making it all a better show, but the vagueness of these new rules allows some teams to exploit those rules and bring unfair advantages to the grid. Then in a ruling from the FIA, these grey-area exploitations were allowed and now we see that these allowances do not allow for the ease of closer racing and daring passes as was the rule changes in spirit.
KERS or Kinetic Energy Recovery System is also a big failure as most teams are not running it any longer. This device has been an expensive idea and in theory is more interesting than it is practicality to use. It adds so much more weight to the car and weight is always a disadvantage in racing. The extra power-to-pass and the extra weigh also contribute to greater tire wear and fuel consumption, and next year there is no refueling so strategy is at a premium. It is kind of crazy that one season after the FIA has made (forced) the teams change their equipment so radically, that they have also have mandated this KERS, or “curse” to the very teams that they are now limiting to a fraction of their normal expense. And to top it off, the FIA is seriously suggesting a “two-tier” rules system that enables to lesser budgeted teams advantages that the normal teams do not get. What a damn nightmare that would be!
Oust MAX MOSLEY! Enough said, now do it!