tooo many unions and people with their hand out let alone safety issues that i will be amazed if it ever comes off... but i hope i'm wrong
Posted on 08/05/2009 7:57:45 PM PDT by Chode
This will be a general purpose thread for F1 news and pings that really don't require a thread of their own.
shit...i really wanted to go to this race next year...
New Jersey postponed until 2014
ESPN Staff
October 19, 2012
The organisers of the Grand Prix of America in New Jersey have confirmed that the inaugural race has been postponed until 2014.
Race promoter Leo Hindery Jr confirmed that more time is needed to prepare for the race, and as a result the 2013 race has been postponed. However, despite the delay, Hindery Jr was keen to stress that the race would still go ahead in the future and that the organisers retained the full support of Bernie Ecclestone.
“We are going to be racing at Port Imperial, unfortunately just not as soon as we hoped and expected,” Hindery Jr said. “We promised Governor Christie, the Towns, the sport and its international fans the best possible experience, and unfortunately we need additional time to ensure that happens.
“We remain 100% committed to the Grand Prix of America at Port Imperial and the race could have no better partner and friend than the CEO of Formula One, Bernie Ecclestone. We benefit greatly from his experience and counsel and from his support.”
Ecclestone himself said he was keen to ensure that the race still takes place a year later than originally planned.
“I remain totally committed to the Port Imperial race and its unique location and attributes, and we will continue to work closely together to realise our dream in 2014,” Ecclestone said. “As Leo says, we are still going to be racing at Port Imperial, now however in 2014.”
Earlier on Friday, Ecclestone had confirmed the news, saying it hadn’t taken the organisers too long to realise what needed to be done in order to get the race on next season.
“They’ve run out of time,” Ecclestone is quoted by Reuters. “There’s all sorts of things...and they didn’t quite think it all through. They’ve had a wake-up call but the wake-up call came too late.
“They couldn’t get everything ready in time. That’s the bottom line.”
Ecclestone had previously voiced his doubts that the street circuit would be ready in time, with the race having been handed a provisional date of June 16 on the 2013 calendar issued by the World Motor Sport Council.
http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/92259.html
tooo many unions and people with their hand out let alone safety issues that i will be amazed if it ever comes off... but i hope i'm wrong
You could come on down for Austin GP........this year!
here we go... F1 teams facing 10-fold increase in entry fees in 2013
Formula 1 teams face nearly a ten-fold increase in entry fees for next year's world championship.
Governing body the FIA has raised the fees from a standard 309,000 euros (£247,600) for all teams to a sliding scale depending on results.
All teams will pay $500,000 (£311,500). In addition, the constructors' champions will pay $6,000 (£3,738) per point, and the others $5,000 (£3,116).
That means Red Bull are likely to pay in the region of £2m next year.
Red Bull currently have 407 points. Assuming they are likely to score at least 20 points in each of the remaining three races, that would be a total of just over £2m.
The rise is slightly less than had initially been threatened when the FIA proposed the increase. Then, it was $7,000 per point for all the teams in addition to the flat-rate $500,000.
BBC Sport understands that the teams have accepted the change, although some are not especially happy about it.
However, Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn said: "We would be delighted to pay it because we would be scoring a lot of points.
"In fact, if you're a mid-range team, and considering the fact that all the extra facilities that we pay for separately at the moment are rolled into that entrance fee, I think for a lot of teams it's going to be very similar [overall].
"It's going to make more substantial difference for those teams who finish in the top three or four of the championship. I was being a bit flippant, but obviously I hope that we can have that problem next year."
The FIA says it needs to raise the fees so it can afford to continue with its role as the global motorsport authority, and the representative of motor clubs worldwide.
The organisation is also involved in road safety through such things as mandatory road-car crash tests.
So is Bernie looking to purchase a platinum plated casket for himself when he croaks?
The FIA says it needs to raise the fees so it can afford to continue with its role as the global motorsport authority, and the representative of motor clubs worldwide.
Translation: put more money in the pockets of the FIA.
BTW, anyone read the Reuters report on how the Austin residents are down on the F1 race coming to town with their loud gas-guzzling, carbon-spewing, fast cars? Someone was quoted as saying Austin is more of a Prius, electric car kind of town. I love Texas, but I don't like their cities. Rural Texas (and yes, the hill country), for me!!
it sure does look that way don't it... diamond encrusted too
Brother and i are heading out tomorrow....i’ll report on any greenies whining
F1 teams should tell bernie to drop dead and start their own organization... Ultimate Racing
hope you have a great time!!! we expect a full report, with pics... 8^)
F1: HRT not featured in the official FIA entry list of teams for 2013
Formula 1 could feature 11 teams next season after struggling Spanish-based HRT were not included on the official entry document for 2013.
The 22-car list was published by the FIA following Friday's deadline for teams to pay their entry fees.
The team was founded by Spanish ex-Formula 1 driver Adrian Campos in 2010, but have not scored a point in their three-season existence.
Last month it was announced HRT was for sale and searching for a buyer.
At the time a statement said the HRT's owners were "in talks with a number of groups interested in buying the team".
Veteran racer Pedro de la Rosa and Indian Narain Karthikeyan were HRT's drivers this season, but both finished in the bottom two of the drivers' standings.
Additionally, the team finished at the foot of the constructors' championship, having beaten Marussia in the two previous seasons.
HRT's technical director, Toni Cuquerella, tweeted: "Four years ago I suggested to a friend to make an F1 team. Today after three seasons he has written the last page of HRT."
i think i'll go puke now... http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/20640255
How Formula 1 is going green for 2014
Formula 1 enters a brave new world in 2014, embracing energy efficiency through a new engine design, changes to the cars and a fuel limit.
But the new rules, which aim to reduce fuel consumption by 35%, have so far had a bumpy ride.
A plan to switch from the current 2.4-litre V8s to 1.6-litre turbo-charged V6s is going ahead despite the vocal opposition of F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone - but not before the original plans for four-cylinder engines were revised to soothe Ferrari's objections. Likewise, a proposal to alter fundamentally the philosophy by which cars are designed was abandoned after teams said they could achieve the same efficiency gains with tweaks to the current rules, reducing both costs and the risk of the new rules being a mistake.
So, straight fours became V6s and a major change to car aerodynamics was abandoned - that was already two big changes to the original plans for a new 'green' F1.
Then, on Wednesday, F1's governing body the FIA put out a statement saying: "Changes made to bodywork design, originally aimed at reducing drag and downforce for increased efficiency, have reverted to 2012 specification."
Was this another change of tack? Was the much-vaunted 'green' F1 being abandoned? Had Ecclestone quietly won another political battle with FIA president Jean Todt?
Well, no, as it turns out.
The choice of wording was perhaps a touch misleading, but it refers to ongoing attempts to ensure the new rules meet their original targets - which were to ensure the new cars in 2014 are no more than five seconds slower than they were in 2010 as well as being much more efficient.
As the teams began work on the new designs, simulating the car layouts and projected engine performance, it began to become apparent that lap times might well be slower than had been intended. So teams were tasked with looking independently at what elements of current car design could be maintained without losing sight of the intent of the new rules to produce aerodynamic downforce with as little trade-off in drag as possible.
The FIA's initial intention had been to strip the cars of all the extraneous bits of curved bodywork that have begun to sprout in various parts of the car, on the assumption that these must be inefficient. But as the effect of these parts was investigated, it turned out they were not as pernicious as at first thought.
So, for example, 'turning vanes' - the curved bits of bodywork that sprout behind the front wheels or under the raised noses - are very efficient. That is, they produce downforce but very little drag.
Likewise, the wide front wings that were introduced as part of the last major rule change in 2009 will stay, albeit they will be a little narrower than they are now.
By contrast, some teams were campaigning to keep what is known as the lower rear beam wing - a downforce-producing device at the bottom of the rear wing where it is attached to the back of the car. But this turned out to be very 'draggy', so it will be dropped as planned.
But the key point is this - the main visual and philosophical changes that were planned for the cars in 2014 have been retained.
So how will they look?
The biggest visible change will be at the front - the high noses that have become de rigueur in recent years will be outlawed. This is fundamentally for safety reasons - high noses are considered more dangerous when they hit another car because of the increased likelihood of driver injury, and also make it more likely that a car will be launched in an impact. But it will also restrict downforce and make the cars slower.
How much lower will the noses be? In 2012, F1 cars had a maximum front nose height of 550mm above the floor of the car. In 2014, that is being reduced to 185mm - a reduction in height of 365mm.
Likewise, although the wide front wings will stay, they will be reduced in overall width from 1800mm (the same as the maximum width of the car) to 1650mm.
This will almost certainly fundamentally alter the overall aerodynamics of the cars.
Airflow over the car stems from the front wing, as the first part to hit the air. Designers are currently focused on using the ends of the wings to turn air around the outside of the front wheels. But in 2014 there will be 7cm of front wheel outside the wing, so getting the air to go around it will be that much more difficult.
This challenge will be made even harder because of new rules restricting what can be done with the front wing end-plates, the vertical bits at the outside edge of the wing.
Sebastian Vettel wins F1 title - Brazilian GP highlights
Less obviously, but also important in the context of the last couple of years, will be a new rule governing exhaust exits.
Using exhaust gases for aerodynamic effect has become a central feature of F1 car design since 2010.
In 2011, so-called exhaust-blown diffusers, where the exhausts pipes were situated on the rear floor of the car and the engine programmed to blow gases out of them at all times, gained the top teams at least a second a lap.
For 2012, these were banned, engine mapping restricted and exhaust outlets moved forwards on the car and higher up. But teams still managed to use the gases to enhance aerodynamics by directing them at the gap between the floor and the rear wheels using what is known as the 'Coanda' effect.
Red Bull's progress in this area in late September was decisive in Sebastian Vettel beating Ferrari's Fernando Alonso to the drivers' championship.
But for 2014 there will be no more 'Coanda' effect - exhausts will have to exit between 3-5cm forward of the centre line of the rear wheels and no more than 25cm from the centre line of the car. From there, it will be impossible to blow them at the edges of the floor.
Equally, the overall efficiency targets will remain the same - whereas now use of fuel is free, it will be metered from 2014. Currently, cars use about 150kg of fuel (about 195 litres) in a Grand Prix; in 2014, they will be allowed to consume no more than 100kg (130l).
In summary then, the revolution is still very much underway; it's just the fine print that has changed.
Man, I miss the sound of the V-12s and V-10s. They should just allow whatever engine size/configuration they want, maybe with some sensible displacement caps for normally aspirated/turbo engines.
yup, they're gonna kill the sport... green was NEVER in the F1 rulebook, the socialists are here to stay, next it'll be NASCAR rules to homogenize the field
By it’s very nature F1 is the antithesis of anything “green.” Someone ought to tell them to just forget the charade.
yup, like Graham Hill said... Speed takes money, how fast do you want to go???
These guys make me laugh more than hair lipped singer. This is the biggest of the big leagues and the reason we all watch it is because they are the fastest and most sophisticated of the road racing automobiles. Trying to keep costs down, give me a break. Either pay the piper go the F home.
Same with Indy cars.
And jeese, stock cars ya gotta have 15 of them for a 1 driver team. 4 at any time to race and 11 in the body shop, all in constant rotation.
I went to a seminar on Friday by Dr. John Melvin (probably the top crash safety guy stateside) at the IMIS show.
The driving position change is definitely a good thing for safety.
The green stuff sounds like BS.
FWIW a lot of the Nascar guys are going to 9 point seatbelts.
shakes head... what's next ethanol???
i have absolutely NO problem with the safety stuff, specially the high stepped nose sh!t... McLaren never never needed that crap to go fast, it's the GREEN bullsh!t i have a problem with!
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