What Is Wrong With Formula 1? - Part 1 - Max Mosley
Last weekend the 2009 Formula 1 season started with a fantastic race in Australia. Brawn GP who were until recently Honda F1 before Honda pulled out were first and second and Lewis Hamilton was third after starting 18th! A superb race!
However, there were controversies before and after the race that could have easily been avoided.
Firstly there was a question about the diffusers on the back of the Williams, Toyota and Brawn cars. Diffusers help the air travel under the car and can have a big impact on performance.
The differing designs were know about months ago and have developed due to the rules being somewhat ambiguous. What has happened during the Australia weekend is that several teams have made a complaint to the FIA about the faster diffusers and it has to go to the FIA appeal court in the middle of April.
If the appeal court say the diffusers are illegal then the race results for Australia and this weekends Malaysian race will be changed due to any teams running the possibly illegal component being disqualified.
This of course will not happen but it did not need to go this far. If the rules were clarified months ago there would be no need for all this. I am 100% sure that the FIA will rule the diffusers legal but it makes the sport look stupid and it need not happen. It also means that while Herr Mosley has been harping on about cost cutting for the past year the teams with the slower diffuser will now have to develop a new one to stay competitive which will cost them a lot of money.
The second controversial issue from last weekend was Jarno Trulli being given a 25 second penalty for overtaking Lewis Hamilton while the safety car was out. Trulli went off the track at a corner allowing Hamilton past. Hamilton then gave him the place back as you are not allowed to overtake under the safety car which meant that Trulli over took Hamilton, earning a penalty for doing just that. How stupid is this? There are many grey area rules like this and it really needs sorting out. It once again makes the sport look stupid.
The rules have got to this state because of the FIA (Mosley!) continuously tinkering with them. Rather than making silly changes such as a medal system for scoring he should create a definitive set of regulations. The sport is 60 years old for God' sake. There should be definitive rules!
Another example of needless change was when Mosley introduced KERS. This is essentially a battery on the car which is charged by the brakes and this energy can be used to give the car an additional 80bhp for 6 seconds. It has cost the teams on average £70 million each to develop these systems and they add practically nothing to the race. All this while Herr Mosley is saying that the teams must cut costs.
The teams have recently formed FOTA (Formula One Teams Association) and have been trying to rectify these issues. They have all agreed on a plan and have asked F1 fans all over the world what they want to see happen. They then presented the results to the FIA who promptly ignored them and decided on their own changes. This is wrong. The FIA need to listen to teams and fans as we are all far more important than they are.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Don't get me started on tyres!!!! ;-)
To summarise, the first thing wrong with Formula 1 is the FIA and more specifically Max Mosley. The rules are ambiguous and when people interpret them differently the results are variable. They seem to be ignoring what teams and fans want and seem to be working their way down some hidden agenda.
Mosley's tenure as FIA president is over this year and he says he will stand down. Unfortunately he is a born lair and I do not for a moment believe he will not run for office again. He likes the power too much.
Last weekends race was amazing and F1 is not for the scrape heap yet. How long though can it continue to be ruled by these self serving idiots before becoming permanently broken?
However, there were controversies before and after the race that could have easily been avoided.
Firstly there was a question about the diffusers on the back of the Williams, Toyota and Brawn cars. Diffusers help the air travel under the car and can have a big impact on performance.
The differing designs were know about months ago and have developed due to the rules being somewhat ambiguous. What has happened during the Australia weekend is that several teams have made a complaint to the FIA about the faster diffusers and it has to go to the FIA appeal court in the middle of April.
If the appeal court say the diffusers are illegal then the race results for Australia and this weekends Malaysian race will be changed due to any teams running the possibly illegal component being disqualified.
This of course will not happen but it did not need to go this far. If the rules were clarified months ago there would be no need for all this. I am 100% sure that the FIA will rule the diffusers legal but it makes the sport look stupid and it need not happen. It also means that while Herr Mosley has been harping on about cost cutting for the past year the teams with the slower diffuser will now have to develop a new one to stay competitive which will cost them a lot of money.
The second controversial issue from last weekend was Jarno Trulli being given a 25 second penalty for overtaking Lewis Hamilton while the safety car was out. Trulli went off the track at a corner allowing Hamilton past. Hamilton then gave him the place back as you are not allowed to overtake under the safety car which meant that Trulli over took Hamilton, earning a penalty for doing just that. How stupid is this? There are many grey area rules like this and it really needs sorting out. It once again makes the sport look stupid.
The rules have got to this state because of the FIA (Mosley!) continuously tinkering with them. Rather than making silly changes such as a medal system for scoring he should create a definitive set of regulations. The sport is 60 years old for God' sake. There should be definitive rules!
Another example of needless change was when Mosley introduced KERS. This is essentially a battery on the car which is charged by the brakes and this energy can be used to give the car an additional 80bhp for 6 seconds. It has cost the teams on average £70 million each to develop these systems and they add practically nothing to the race. All this while Herr Mosley is saying that the teams must cut costs.
The teams have recently formed FOTA (Formula One Teams Association) and have been trying to rectify these issues. They have all agreed on a plan and have asked F1 fans all over the world what they want to see happen. They then presented the results to the FIA who promptly ignored them and decided on their own changes. This is wrong. The FIA need to listen to teams and fans as we are all far more important than they are.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Don't get me started on tyres!!!! ;-)
To summarise, the first thing wrong with Formula 1 is the FIA and more specifically Max Mosley. The rules are ambiguous and when people interpret them differently the results are variable. They seem to be ignoring what teams and fans want and seem to be working their way down some hidden agenda.
Mosley's tenure as FIA president is over this year and he says he will stand down. Unfortunately he is a born lair and I do not for a moment believe he will not run for office again. He likes the power too much.
Last weekends race was amazing and F1 is not for the scrape heap yet. How long though can it continue to be ruled by these self serving idiots before becoming permanently broken?
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