F1 Follies: Part Deux

Eight F1 teams have broken ranks with the organizing body (the FIA) and have announced that they will run a competing series next year.

At which tracks? ; -)

That was the problem CART had when the IRL split from it. The IRL was more than a mere breakaway - it also took with it THE race, the Indy 500.

The new F1 (it will have to be called something else) will have an assortment of tracks (heck, maybe even one or two races in the US) and name drivers at their disposal. They won't have one key race probably - the Grand Prix of Monaco, and they won't have the legitimacy of a recognized sanctioning body.

Regardless, they will have the manufacturers support, the key technical people, and the 'name' drivers. The 'legitimate' F1 will have to make do with scratch entries and pick-up teams (those who currently have little or no chance of fielding a competitive entry).

So let's welcome the 'World of Outlaws' version of F1. (The cars probably won't look like this though. ; -)

Formula 1 at the Brink

The FIA's Formula 1 (F1) is supposed to the premier motorsport series in the world. However the recent controversy over spending caps (of which the better teams are adamantly against) may unravel the bonds between the constructors and the organizers. The back and forth at the moment is in regards to 'conditional' entries for the 2010 season. It's a dance that mere mortals may find difficult to follow (substitute 'boring' for 'difficult'. ; -)

It's happened before, both in F1 in the 1980s and in American open wheel racing in the 1990s. The prior split in F1 didn't result in as damaging a fracture as the CART/IRL split in the US. But the issues at hand could very well be as bad for F1 as the previous US split.

Personally, I'd like to see F1 lose its 'parade-like' aspects. There is little racing/passing in F1 at the top of the field. The aerodynamics preclude that. From a fan's perspective, I'd like to see them lose more aero grip (restrict the chassis configurations) and place a weight penalty on engine displacement/cylinder-count. Hopefully you'll end up with some screaming 4 cylinder turbocharged cars dicing for the lead on a week-in, week-out basis.

Update to F1 Follies

The disputed diffusers are pronounced legal by the FIA (International Federation of the Automobile, the governing body for motorsports) Court of Appeals. That means a number of teams have to scramble to catch up.

And quite possibly this season may be over already, with the Brawn team having a HUGE advantage, since restrictions on testing may preclude anyone from being able to incorporate new aerodynamics at the rear of the car. Keep in mind that change to the rear diffuser will necessitate changes to the aerodynamics in the front.

F1 Follies

We are two races into the F1 season and the winner of both races, Brawn, may be stripped of those wins if a ruling on the legality of their rear diffuser goes against them.

Then, if that weren't enough silliness to deal with, there is talk that the current F1 Champion, Lewis Hamilton, and the team he drives for, McLaren-Mercedes, may face more penalties and potentially be tossed from the lineup for the rest of the season. That coming from an incident at the end of the Australian GP where Lewis Hamilton's veracity under questioning regarding the incident was found wanting.

NASCAR used to be the arbitrary, over-officious, types but I think the F1 folks are taking them to school. ;-)

Read more @ http://www.pitpass.com/

Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration

Blasphemy! Here in the Bible belt substituting watching an auto race for going to church? But Formula 1 beckons. The opening race of the season was held in Australia this weekend and a bunch of us gather on Sunday mornings during the F1 season and watch the races together.

The Australian Grand Prix is already in the books as I'm writing this, but I've been good and not gone out to discover who won. We'll have breakfast, settle into the couch and start giving each other a hard time watching what could be 'the world turned upside down'. (Not only because the race is in Australia but because qualifying found the usual suspects absent from the top of the grid, this could be a very interesting season.)

More to come. But here's a snap from the last F1 race held at Indianapolis in 2007. The current World Champion, Lewis Hamilton, works his magic in the McLaren-Mercedes.