MOTORSPORT: Formula 1's muddling madness

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Although Honda returned in 2015, Formula 1 hasn’t had a new road car manufacturer commit to the sport in 10 years – and the way it is muddling over its future it won’t have any newcomers in the next few.

Decision-making in F1 has become a bigger fiasco rather than smarter and smoother since American company Liberty Media took control of it from Bernie Ecclestone almost two years ago.

While there is occasional excitement in races and a rather epic tussle between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel for this year’s drivers’ world championship, the era of the V6 hybrids since 2014 has been far from grand.

Liberty was quick to install former team boss Ross Brawn, who had been at Ferrari and Mercedes with Michael Schumacher and in between briefly had his own team that landed Jenson Button a world title, as its motorsport director.

Brawn has had quite a lot to say in that role but is yet to produce anything of consequence.

The big hope and prospect was for a technical revamp from 2021 – and, for that to happen, decisions on future regulations needed to have been taken by now.

Brawn said last year: “The current engine is an incredible piece of engineering, but it’s not a great racing engine.

“It’s very expensive, doesn’t make any noise, has componentry that, in order to control the numbers of uses, is creating grid penalties that make a farce of F1, there are big differentials of performance between the competitors, and we are never going to get anyone else to come in and make engines. We can't leave the engine as it is.”

Brawn envisaged allowing a simpler, cheaper engine to compete against the hybrids that would have let the likes of Cosworth, Illmor, Mecachrome, Mugen and perhaps Aston Martin participate, but that idea died a quick death.

Existing manufacturers Mercedes, Ferrari (due to announce whether it is keeping Kimi Raikkonen next year or replacing him with Charles Leclerc), Renault and Honda have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in these hybrids and have been reluctant to agree to change, and are now determined to retain them.

Dieter Rencken, one of the few F1 correspondents giving this subject the attention and scrutiny it deserves, reports – on RaceFans.net – that in May unanimous agreement was reached to drop exhaust-driven energy recovery systems – what’s called the motor generator unit–heat (MGU-H) – to reduce costs and complexity.

Yet Rencken says that, as things stand now just months later, the heat energy recovery systems will be retained and fuel flow and engine speed restrictions relaxed as well.

What has become clear in recent days is that any major change to the hybrids – which late Australian Grand Prix Corporation chairman Ron Walker wanted ditched after they first ran in Melbourne in 2014 – is being put off until at least 2023.

Michael Schmidt, the well-informed German correspondent, reports that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff “has done great lobby work” to ensure retention of the existing power units.

Apart from being expensive and incredibly complex, Schmidt says the hybrids are “heavy, not good for pure racing and have not brought any positive publicity for F1 since they’ve been around”.

“If the FIA (the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, F1’s ultimate governing body) keeps that format, they become a hostage of the four current manufacturers, which might well be three or two in two years’ time, if Renault and Honda cannot catch up.

“Only one thing is guaranteed: there will never, ever be a new manufacturer joining F1 under these rules.”

Further evidence of how farcical F1 decision-making has become came this week in a statement from Michelin.

Pirelli is F1’s monopoly tyre supplier until 2019, but a tender has been issued for beyond then – calling for the supply of 13-inch tyres for 2020 and then 18-inch rubber for three years after that.

“Michelin’s recommendations for a switch to 18-inch tyres, as in Formula E (electric open-wheeler racing), have been taken up by the authorities, which we are delighted about,” said the French company.

“However, the demand for the supply of 13-inch tyres for the 2020 season alone, as well as the deterioration of performance as a part of the show, goes against our principles of efficient resource management and respect for the technology of a sustainable tyre. Michelin has therefore decided to refrain from any response to this invitation to tender.”

South Korean tyre maker Hankook is seen as the only possible rival to Pirelli for the contract beyond 2019, if indeed Pirelli wants to continue.

And, as Rencken says, after F1 teams had to design cars with wider wheels last year, the ‘halo’ head protection this year, and face tweaks calling for different front wing aerodynamics and larger fuel tanks next year – all against the backdrop of Liberty espousing a spending cap – “is it any wonder that F1 budgets spiral out of control?”

Rencken questions whether F1’s various components – engine regulations, sporting regulations and tyre supply – will ever be in sync.

“If not, the sport is destined to be forever dysfunctional,” he concludes.

Fernando Alonso, the great Spanish driver quitting F1 at the end of this year, tested an IndyCar at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama mid-week, but there was a far bigger development in the US.

Although Alonso is a Toyota sports car driver in the World Endurance Championship, apart from racing a Renault-powered McLaren in F1, the IndyCar he drove was the Honda-engined Dallara that Colombian Carlos Munoz drove in this year’s Indianapolis 500 for Andretti Autosports.

“It was a good day, a fun day,” said Alonso. “To test the IndyCar on a road course – in wet conditions, in intermediate conditions and in dry conditions – is something special. [After competing in the 2017 Indianapolis 500 on the most famous super-speedway] I love the way the car feels on a road course.”

Alonso is expected to compete in IndyCar next season in a tie-up between McLaren and Andretti, most likely with Chevrolet power.

NASCAR’s reigning champion team won’t be racing next year though.

Furniture Row Racing has announced its withdrawal from the stock car series because it hasn’t been able to replace a departing sponsor.

“The numbers just don’t add up. I would have to borrow money to continue as a competitive team,” said Barney Visser, reportedly worth more than US$200 million and operator of the only NASCAR team based west of the Mississippi River – at Denver, Colorado.

“We’ve been aggressively seeking sponsorship to replace 5-Hour Energy and to offset the rising costs of continuing a team alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) but haven’t had any success.”

Visser’s small Toyota team dominated NASCAR last year, with its driver Martin Truex Junior winning eight races, including the season finale for the title.

Truex is third this season, behind another Toyota driver Kyle Busch at the Gibbs team – where Truex will move next year – and Stewart-Haas Ford’s Kevin Harvick going into the last race of the regular season at Indianapolis this weekend before the “play-offs”.

“We climbed Mount Everest. To continue with anything less than a competitive team would not be acceptable,” said Visser, who previously bankrolled his team largely with his wealth from his home furnishings and bedding company.