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To: Chode; al_c; arbitrary.squid; arderkrag; atc23; Bad~Rodeo; Betis70; biff; bobby.223; bobt7818; ...

Formula 1 bosses have agreed to reduce the cost of engines for customer teams.

Two days of talks have resulted in a deal to cut prices as well as ensure the whole grid is supplied, sources at governing body the FIA said.

In return for lower prices, it was agreed F1 would stick with the existing V6 turbo hybrid engines until at least 2020.

Details are still being finalised, with the intention for the new regulations to come into force in 2018.

Four engine manufactures - Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda - supply the power units for the 11 teams on the grid.

In a further measure to help reduce costs, it has been agreed that drivers will be limited to three gearboxes per season - down from the current limit of five.

The lower price at which engines will be sold in the future has not been made public at this stage.

The FIA was aiming at a figure in the region of £7.9m to £9.5m, down from the current cost of around £13.8m to £17.7m, and it is believed this target has been reached.

The agreement also brings an end to the threat of the introduction of a cheaper alternative engine, sources say.

This was rejected by teams last autumn after being proposed by F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and FIA president Jean Todt following a failure to agree a cap on the cost of customer engines.

However, the possibility of Todt and Ecclestone enforcing a change remained - at least in theory - after the FIA voted last month to give them power to make necessary changes to keep costs under control.

Insiders say this was in reality an empty threat as teams would have taken legal action had anything been introducing outside the agreed rule-making protocol, which is written into the teams’ contracts.

The push for an alternative engine followed the crisis Red Bull found itself in last season.

The team’s factory relationship with Renault came to an end in 2015 amid acrimony on both sides and they were unable to secure a supply from rivals Mercedes, Ferrari and Honda.

Red Bull have a stop-gap solution for 2016, using a Renault engine badged with the name of a sponsor to de-emphasise the partnership in a year that sees the French car manufacturer return as a team owner in its own right after buying Lotus.

But Red Bull’s deal is only for one year, and the former champions still have to secure an engine supply for 2017.

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Formula 1 chiefs are to again discuss the potential return of refuelling.

The idea was proposed then dismissed last year, but could be introduced as early as 2017 if it receives support in Monday’s F1 strategy group meeting.

Key figures in F1 are keen to find ways of making the sport more exciting.

The strategy group - made up of F1 commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone, FIA president Jean Todt and the six leading teams - will also discuss rule changes for engines and chassis.

Jean Todt, president of F1 governing body FIA said: “We (will) re-address (the subject of) is it right not to have refuelling?”

Refuelling was banned at the end of 2009 on cost and safety grounds.

Teams conducted an extensive investigation last season into the effects of a return of refuelling and concluded it would have a negative effect on the sport’s spectacle.

They looked at data that showed the 1994 to 2009 period - when refuelling was part of F1 - had the fewest number of on-track overtaking manoeuvres since 1980.

However, as the sport wrestles with ways of arresting what is perceived to be a decline in appeal, the idea has been floated again.

Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne has long been a fan of refuelling, as has Ecclestone, who was unavailable for comment.

One senior insider said: “Anything that could produce unpredictability is good. The racing couldn’t be any more boring than it is sometimes. Everything is too clinical.

“The teams are so clever that we end up with races that are entirely predictable from the outset.”

However, another leading figure said: “It’s just another boomerang. Many things are canned and then reappear on the agenda. I wouldn’t read too much into it. It’s nonsense.”

The FIA and teams are already in the process of trying to finalise a new set of rules for 2017 to make cars faster and more dramatic looking.

However, these have hit a hitch after tyre supplier Pirelli told the teams it would need to run its tyres with much higher pressures if aerodynamic downforce was increased as much as was being planned, which would mean diminishing returns from the increase in car performance.

This has led the FIA to water down its plans to speed up the cars.

Research is currently being undertaken on a revised set of plans that:

drops changes to the bodywork and underfloor;
retains new-shape front and rear wings;
increases the track - the width between the wheels - so cars are 2000mm wide rather than 1800mm.

The strategy group will also discuss proposals from engine manufacturers, who were charged by Todt and Ecclestone with making power-units cheaper, more simple, more noisy and more available.

The target was to reduce the price of an engine for a customer team to €10m (£7.9m) from the current level of €18-23m.

Formula One cars could be up to 25 percent noisier this season, said Williams technical head Pat Symonds.


2,100 posted on 01/24/2016 3:18:38 PM PST by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -w- NO Pity for the LAZY - Luke, 22:36)
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To: Chode
Thanks, Chode; interesting and informative.

Regarding making engines more noisy? Fine, but what I miss it the ultra-high-pitched high-rev whine, not just the volume.

Hopefully F-1 knows this.

.

2,101 posted on 01/24/2016 4:58:49 PM PST by Seaplaner (Never give in. Never give in. Never...except for convictions of honour and good sense. W. Churchill)
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To: Chode
limited to three gearboxes per season

If they're hybrids...why do they need a gearbox at all?

2,102 posted on 01/24/2016 5:31:05 PM PST by ROCKLOBSTER (Celebrate "Republicans Freed the Slaves Month")
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