Max Mosley is doing everything in his power to cut the costs of Formula One.  This is a great idea, especially since there are two missing teams missing from the grid.  He’s thinking outside the box and I think he’s looking in the wrong direction.  Instead, he should be looking in the box; specifically, the teams themselves.  From what I gather, Mr. Mosley is proposing a single engine for the F1 teams.  This would, in essence, relieve the costs of engine development and potentially save the teams several millions of dollars.  There’s a drawback to this point though.  It’s already being done!  There is an open-wheeled event out there called A1.  Therefore making a universal engine for all the teams would take away from the development and identity of what is Formula One.

Taking a closer look at the teams may actually reveal how the costs are getting spent.  I think that Peter Winsor from SPEED TV hit the nail on the head when he proposed that the teams need to look at the trailers that they are bringing in and how extravagant they really are.  Now, I understand that these bring in a lot of business for the teams.  However, rather than spending several millions of dollars (or British Pounds or Euros) hauling in all these trailers, have standardized buildings for the teams.  The teams would own these buildings and would have the rights to “rent” it out to other visiting teams when the buildings are not in use.  This could be an area where, over time, the buildings would pay for themselves and potentially pay for themselves.  There would be strict policies though to control the types of upgrades they’d be allowed to do with the buildings.  That would be left up to the owner(s) of the race track facility.

Quit making so many changes!  Making changes are good for the sport, but it can be a burden for the teams.  Every time there’s a rule change, especially when it comes to the development of the car (via the aerodynamics, the engine, the gearbox, safety, etc.) it costs the team money… lots of money.  So when a rule change happens, they (the governing body of the FIA) need to interview several teams to find out the implications that those rules will have, from a financial standpoint.  It was brought up on SPEED TV that with the engine freeze, that McLaren had removed Engine Developers and replaced them with Engine Reliability Engineers.  By doing that change alone, cost McLaren several millions of dollars.

Think “green.”  Ah yes, the environment.  Formula One is the epitome of technology.  They should be the trend setters and they have some of the brightest minds on the planet that can develop such technologies.  With systems such as the KERS, tire improvements, exhaust recovery systems and heat/energy transfers in the works, F1 is heading in the right direction.  Now we just need to keep heading that way with using bio-fuels and/or other alternative fuels.

Formula One has the potential to stay at the top of motorsport.  However, the FIA have to be careful on the approach of cutting costs without sacrificing the integrity of the sport.  Making less rule changes and inquiring within what teams can cut costs on; along with the implementation of Green Technologies it could help with the future of the Formula One teams and any new potential teams.

After watching the 2008 Formula 1 race in Belgum, I have never been more upset with the Finn, Kimi Raikkonen.  However, I can’t say that I blame him for spinning out and crashing into the wall… we was trying to get his lead back.  I know that he was in a “win it or crash trying” but it almost seem like reverting back to what a rookie would do.  It just didn’t seem like Kimi was driving the car in the closing laps of the race.

As for Louis Hamilton, I’m not sure how to feel about the pass.  It was clear that he shorted the chicane and that he slowed down to let Kimi by.  It was also clear that he didn’t immediately give up the position, even though it was before the next corner.  He did slow down just barley enough to take the slipstream of Kimi’s car.  If it wasn’t for that move in itself, I believe that Kimi would have gone on to win the race.

That being said, I do think that there is a solution to this.  We’ve seen this in Grand Turismo 4 and Grand Turismo 5 Prologue.  The five-second penalty.  When a shortcut has occurred I believe that there should be a button installed that would allow for a five-second slowdown.  This means that the driver must hit the button, which will immediately prevent the revs from going over a specified RPM for five seconds.  The driver would be allowed to remain on the driving line though and a blue cluster of LEDs would be on the back of the car to inform other drivers that the five-second penalty has been initiated for that car.  I feel if something like this would have been in place, then Hamilton would have not as much time and could have had a shot for the lead or worst be placed in second, rather than the third place the stewards had penalized him with.  I feel that the stewards were right in their decision.  A penalty should have been assessed.  I’m just not sure if it was the right penalty.  If anything one should be assessed for the next race (Monza) for this next week.

As things have played out though, I’m still a Kimi fan and always will be!  Go-Kimi-Go!

Motorsports in general are always pushing the envelope in speed, technology, aerodynamics and efficiency.  It is what sets the performance trend of today’s racecars into tomorrow’s street cars.  Some prime examples of thing like this would be paddle shifting, short throw shifting, quicker steering racks, and so on.  However, with all this technology fuel has improved but it’s not “green”.  Motorsports has always set the example to the automotive industry yet this is an area where the normal street car is out performing the race car.

Let’s look at Formula 1.  I love this sport.  I love the speed; I love the technology; I love everything about it (with the exception of some personalities).  They really do push the envelope in all directions.  Fuel efficiency along with engine life spans have improved, but they are less to be desired.  I know that any major change in any motorsport will take time.  However, it looks like the FIA have just put a freeze on any engine changes for the next several years (ten years seems to be the current duration). 

“Thinking Green” was a trend that has gone through it’s ins and outs over the past several years.  However; lately it has moved from becoming a trend and into a lifestyle.  There are some motorsport manufacturers that have actually taken the initiative to incorporate this into their cars and maintain their competitiveness.  A great example of such would be Audi and the Le Mans series cars.  The R8 LM car was a car that ran on normal race fuels but then they changed over to the R10 LM car and incorporated diesel fuels.  The great thing about this is that the cars were able to travel farther with less emissions and maintain there speed if not got faster.  What’s more, is that they are also more quiet than the previous car and other competitors.  This is an added bonus but it’s “thinking green” on a different level.

Don’t get me wrong about the technology surrounding “Green” has improved within the automotive industry.  Even Ferrari (one of the most prestigious racing manufacturers on the planet) have recently unveiled a “Green” concept car at a 2008 auto show.  Manufacturers are doing their part, however, it’s the motorsports officials that are falling behind an ever growing “Green” world.