Full List of cost cuts for 2009+

[WhiteBlue]

I do not see significant points for criticism in the letter. I very much approve with a championship based on intellectual capabilities and with a financial level playing field. After all we are talking about a sport.

So what is wrong with the plan to shift power from the ICE to KERS & HERS? I am surprised that the FIA is so openly supporting the Williams solution of an electric flywheel but I guess they know what they do. The technology is fascinating.

It is clearly the responsibility of the FIA to keep a suitable number of competitors on the F1 grid. Hopefully the cooperation they got in December last year will continue into 2009 for the 2010 design.

[xpensive]

What surprises me a little, is to see a reference made to Cosworth as an engine supplier again, with some sort of dead-line for commitments to be made by interested teams.
I thought that option was gone somehow, but I might have confused things?

[donskar]

What surprises me a little, is to see a reference made to Cosworth as an engine supplier again, with some sort of dead-line for commitments to be made by interested teams.
I thought that option was gone somehow, but I might have confused things?

Your post calls to mind a wonderful quote (Henry James?):
"Knowledge of ambiguity is not ambiguous knowledge."

Or: If you are completely baffled by Spanky and Hugestones machinations, then you are probably a very intelligent man.

[donskar]

A disturbing sidelight on this whole "cost-cutting" charade: I think a major motivator is the Spanky/Hugestone desire to keep the teams so busy cutting costs that they will be distracted from a major issue -- more equitable revenue sharing.

Consider this from Grandprix.com:

Mosley wants the teams to be able to survive with funds from the commercial rights holder. At the moment the teams get only 50% of the money raised by the sale of commercial rights, with the rest disappearing off to financiers and offshore trust funds.

IF the teams got, say, 70% or 75% of the revenues, how serious would be their need to cut costs? I certainly do not know, but it seems safe to assume that more equitable revenue sharing could go a long way toward reducing this scramble to create a spec-like F1.

AGAIN: Yes, cost must be reined in, but revenues must also be shared more equitably.

[WhiteBlue]

It is easy to analyse that revenues must be distributed in a fairer way. It is much more difficult to implement such a change. Bernie has contracts with most players that reflect the revenue split and unless they walk away from the championship and set up an alternative series there is little leverage to pressure him into a rehash.

[xpensive]

In either way, all this dramatic talk of a deserate need for immediate cost-cuts all rings pretty hollow, when you consider that FIA is giving incentives for individual team multi-million spending on the KERS-gimmick.

A gimmick? Yes indeed, when 400 kJ a lap of energy stored is about one percent of the mechanical energy produced by the F1 engine over the same lap.

[WhiteBlue]

That is not a very convincing point. We know that KERS potential has been deliberately limited in order to have a smooth technology transition without upsetting the old apple cart. That is a political exercise and one has to ask who benefits.

Those who talk against KERS do not look at the wider picture. There is no alternative to embracing the efficiency agenda for F1. All the big sponsor's continuity including the automotive companies (except Ferrari) depends on a positive outlook of F1 contributing to solving the problem of life after peek oil.

[xpensive]

Oh I think it is a very convincing point WB, for the teams who are facing individual multi-million EUR investments in the middle of a terrible world economic recession, when at the same time all they hear from the FIA is the need for cost-cutting.

However, reason will surely prevail and the gimmick will be standardized, supplied by BMW of course, for 2010.

[Conceptual]

What I loved, was at the end of Moseley's last letter where he says that the FIA are prepared to recognize a break away formula if the teams desire to leave F1.

THAT would be the best thing that they could possibly do to be honest. How many years of zero income will it take for Bernie to sell the commercial rights to the F1 name to the FOTA?

I dunno, but it alsmost seemed that Max was baiting Bernie, especially after all that has transpired and was said about the sex scandal.

Who knows, but for Max to put it in there, there must be a legitimate possibility if he felt the need to cover that ground in his letter.

[mx_tifoso]

...for Max to put it in there...

No pun intended right...

[WhiteBlue]

...However, reason will surely prevail and the gimmick will be standardized, supplied by BMW of course, for 2010.

There are two things that people must do. Do the right thing and do things right. KERS is undoubtedly the right thing. The real problem is to do it right. They should not have limited it so severely and I suspect that Ferrari had their hand in that. They certainly benefit. And usually you do not go wrong when you follow the money trail. Before you call KERS a costly Gimmick take a look at the stuff that really has cost a ton of money over the years. Like wasting Billions on aerodynamic development that nobody will ever use again because it applies to completely arbitrary configurations that changed year on year. Same goes for more Billions invested in ever higher reving engines which will never have an application other than a maximum of 24 cars annually. This is what I call a gimmick. If Williams can get the Flywheel Generator/Motor to work this will be an engineering break through on par with inventing electronic fuel injection or turbo charging.

[xpensive]

No argument there WB, the dependency on aerodynamic nonsense, with a 3-shift full-scale windtunnel, sometimes two, to develop ghoulish tack-ons is an even more meaningless money-burner. So are of course 19 000 Rpm, two-race engines, but at least someone is trying to limit such senseless spending.

But as you can tell by the new pics of the Ferrari, resourceful engineers are already trying to find ways to bend the rules.