majicmeow wrote:Hybrids are out as far as "green F1"... hybrids are only a stepping stone towards greater efficiency in the future. Not to mention the cost (environmentally) to produce hybrid components is larger than the fuel savings the hybrid brings.
The FIA must surely realize that motor sports of a caliber like Formula 1 and fuel economy/efficiency cannot go hand in hand.
If anything, F1 teams should be restricted as to how they build, produce and transport their cars. Have an environmental standard that every team has to adhere to. I mean really, what pollutes more... an F1 car or the 3-6 transport carriers each team brings to the event that travel tens of thousands of miles each?
Have a set of rules in place the limit team waste, C02 emissions from transport trucks, in plant recycling, wasted tires (put a stricter or modified tire limit back in place). If you have a crash where the chassis is left ruined, the team should be required to recycle a minimum % of that chassis. The same goes for engines. If you blow an engine, melt that baby down and use it in the next one.
Building a fuel efficient road car has been done. The companies that are involved in such tasks are already light years ahead of where F1 is in that respect. Every car manufacturer in the world knows the secret to a "green car", they just don't build them because people all want Range Rovers and Humvees.
I believe whole heartedly that a "green F1" exists at the factory and logistics level. Show the rest of the world that such a product can be produced "greener" than a Prius, greener than a Civic. Make the manufacturers step up to the plate in that respect.
The whole idea of limiting cost and producing a "green F1" are also mutually exclusive. If there is to be a gain in one area and still maintain F1 as the premier motor sport, you can only choose one. Developing these technologies is by its nature expensive. Let the teams spend as much as they want on the "green" part as long as they meet a standardized specification.
My 2¢
I agree with alot of what you are saying, and I feel you are correct in the restrictions of transports and the bio-economy of the production plants.
Where I disagree is that there is no room in F1 for revolutionary technology development. Anyone can be good at a game that has easy rules. Only TOP talent can excell in a game that has extraordinarily difficult ones.
I believe that the FIA should meet with the manufacturers and the team owners and have a brain storming session as to where automotive technology needs to head with our current energy/emissions crisis, and set the rules very strictly with the goal as the determining factor, not the subjective drama coordination that currently sets the goals.
If the teams knew that the 2010 rules stated:
1. All cars get 150L of fuel (biodiesel, ethanol, whatever) per weekend, and will decrease by 10L every year.
2. All cars must fit inside a box that is x,y,z.
3. All cars must pass strict safety requirements.
4. All materials must cost less per ounce than Gold.
5. Anything that does not directly or indirectly violate these rules is inherently legal.
Then there would be 24 cars on the grid in Melbourne ready to compete. In 15 years when the teams get ZERO fuel per weekend, there will STILL be 24 cars on grid and ready to compete... Understand what I'm getting at?
Set the goals, and allow the talent that the teams employ to overcome these obstacles. Limiting testing, mandatory tyre usage, salary caps, durable drivetrains, and other nonsensical subjective rules need to be removed.
There can be no forward advancement without forward thinking, and integrated planning. Until then, the image of F1 will be continuously tarnished, and inevitably looked down upon as how NOT to run a racing series.
My $.02
Chris
