Video – Martin Whitmarsh on FOTA

Here come the Bridgestones ...

With the exception of Monaco Grand Prix Bridgestone this season has been following the concept of leaving a gap in rubber stiffness between the two allocated tyres for each race. That means that for example drivers have had to use super soft and medium or soft and hard rather than super soft and soft or medium and hard compounds at each GP (unless the race is declared wet).

For the four races from the Hungarian Grand Prix to the Italian Grand Prix Bridgestone will allocate consecutive compound pairings for each of these races.

Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development:

“We have made the change to the tyre allocation concept based on the data we have collected from races so far this year combined with our knowledge of the tracks we visit for these races. The cars of 2009 are very different to those used last year so we have learnt a lot so far this year, and they do use their tyres differently from before.

Hungary is a circuit where the characteristics demand our softest tyres. This is also true for street courses, and we used the softest allocation earlier in the year at Monaco, and will again in Valencia. In Spa the weather temperatures can be quite cool, so the hard compound could have caused difficulties, and the super soft would have been too soft for this track, so that means the allocation of medium and soft is obvious. In Monza the hard compound would have given too big a difference between it and the soft, so we will bring the soft and the medium.”

The allocations are as follows:

Hungary – super soft and soft
Valencia – super soft and soft
Belgium – soft and medium
Monza – soft and medium

Bridgestone says the nature of these four tracks required the change in the policy but there will be many people out there believing that the whole non-consecutive tyre policy is a failure and Bridgestone may be dropping it for good. Well, we will see when the tyre allocations for the final fly away races come out.

The next GP in Germany will feature super soft and medium tyres.

Photo: F1Wolf

Bridgestone changed the tyre allocation concept, for next 4 races they say

I believe that shooting of the above video took part the day after my ride in that black Maserati around the beautiful Ascari track (you can see photos here and video here).

As seen on Top Gear – Schumacher Drink Drive Simulation

The "leader" - Robert Kubica with 6 engines in first 8 races

One of the new cost cutting rules introduced for 2009 season is limiting each driver to 8 engines per season only:

28.4 a) Each driver may use no more than eight engines during a Championship season. Should a driver use more than eight engines he will drop ten places on the starting grid at the first Event during which each additional engine is used.

With almost half a season over and first summer break upon us this is perhaps a good opportunity to look at how the drivers have been managing their engine allocations so far:

6 engines

Robert Kubica

5 engines

Fernando Alonso, Nelson Piquet, Jarno Trulli, Timo Glock, Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Kazuki Nakajima

4 engines

Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen, Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen, Nick Heidfeld, Giancarlo Fisichella, Adrian Sutil, Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello

3 engines

Sebastien Bourdais, Sebastien Buemi

Let’s also check out the engine manufacturers:

6 engines

1 x BMW

5 engines

4 x Renault, 4 x Toyota

4 engines

6 x Mercedes, 2 x Ferrari, 1 x BMW

3 engines

2 x Ferrari

It does not look too good for Robert Kubica. At this rate it won’t take long for him to start picking up grid penalties for additional engines. At the other end of the table are two Toro Rosso drivers with 3 engines only (thanks to several retirements and less engine mileage probably). Another interesting thing to see is that all four Renault powered cars used 4th engine for the first time in Turkey but chose to run fresh engines for the following race at Silverstone.

I am doing my best to keep the engine stats up to date after each race using the data from the scrutineering reports issued by FIA. If you spot any mistakes in the above please let me know (but blame FIA ). To see the race-by-race table along with other 2009 statistics please check out the 2009 Season page – click here.

Photo: F1Wolf

How they manage their engine allowances – 2009 engine stats after 8 races

Well I believe that while the big egos will keep on talking on both sides of the divide the breakaway series is dead (for now) and the preparations for 2010 Formula One season will now go full steam ahead.

Regulations

First step must be to finalize the 2010 regulations. According to the FIA/FOTA agreement the 2010 F1 season will be run to 2009 regulations as well as further regulations agreed prior to 29 April 2009 (like the refuelling ban). FOTA representatives also mentioned incorporating some of their ideas (and FOTA Global Audience Survey findings) into the regulations. They need to move quickly as it is about the time to beging work on 2010 cars …

Teams

Then there is the question of the entry list. Yes, we can see all 8 FOTA teams confirmed their 2010 entries. But there are 5 other teams that signed up expecting different regulations. OK, Williams and Force India did so only because they had no other way and they may be perfectly fine with what FOTA has been pushing through. However all three new entrants – USF1, Campos and Manor – entered under the £40m budget cap plan that is no longer there. USF1 perhaps should be fine as this team was ready for F1 long before the budget cap came about. But how about Campos and Manor ? Will whatever regulations FOTA finally comes up with be still feasible for them ?

We haven’t heard much from Campos yet, but Manor Grand Prix team principal John Booth already said that his team probably would not have signed up had he known that it would be competing to 2009 rules. Booth is still confident that his team will be on the grid but also admits that without the budget cap the situation is more complicated. It is wait and see time for Manor at the moment …

Engines

Another interesting issue to watch will be the engines. USF1, Campos and Manor declared Cosworth as their engine supplier for 2010. Prior to the peace deal however Max Mosley insisted that the Cosworth engines will have to be the 2007 20,000 rpm version as Cosworth will not be able to modify their engine in such a short time. FOTA did have a problem with this higher revving powerplant and we can assume that either Cosworth will have to adjust their V8 to 2009 regulations or the newcomers will need to select engines from Ferrari, Mercedes, Toyota, Renault or BMW. At the moment only BMW is without a customer for their engine while Mercedes engines power McLaren, Force India and Brawn GP cars. Three current teams -  Brawn GP, Toro Rosso and Red Bull are yet to announce their engine deals for 2010.

Drivers

Now when the future of F1 is (sort of) secured the teams will start looking around for drivers and drivers for teams. There are some that are connected with move to other teams (Alonso, Rosberg, Kubica), there is Kimi Raikkonen and questions about his commitment, there are also some that haven’t done that well (Piquet, Bourdais or Kovalainen). With 3 potential new entries there are however also potentially 6 extra seats on the grid next year and several names have already been  mentioned by media (di Grassi, Grosjean, Senna, Liuzzi, Klien, Davidson, Sato, Patrick, di Resta even Jacques Villeneuve). Look like interesting rumour season ahead .

Mosley, FOTA and the other 2010 F1 teams – What is next ?

See also:

My Silverstone photos – Part 1 – Paddock Club and Pitlane
My Silverstone photos – Part 2 – The F1 action

My Silverstone photos – Part 3 – Saturday and Sunday

See also:
My Silverstone photos – Part 1 – Paddock Club and Pitlane

My Silverstone photos – Part 3 – Saturday and Sunday

My Silverstone photos – Part 2 – The F1 action

See also:

My Silverstone photos – Part 1 – Paddock Club and Pitlane
My Silverstone photos – Part 2 – The F1 action

My Silverstone photos – Part 1 – Paddock Club and Pitlane

There is now three way tie at the top of the provisional standings.

Round 8 results:

27 – psychy
21 – Ozzi, Klokan, Mitch, pk_dude04, Blazena
20 – mcw3, ncngrr5, draconte, shaggy
19 – velvet demon, Kotenok, FISHEYE, daniel, Amrit
18 – bmwf1guy, F1Wolf, zblkhwk, Chobi, Rich
17 – Dank, sky, Kudlakova, dibsmjf, Aaron Mullan, Fantoci
16 – Jose Arellano, Queen Bee, Flying Dutchman, JR, James, nieuwe, Luis Miguel Sainz, brabhamburger
15 – Wil, Steve Robertson, pawelf1, Saigon56, alicotero
14 – Nic B 205
12 – Clive.Einkamerer

2009 F1Wolf’s Formula 1 Prediction Game – Standings after Round 8 (provisional):

128 – Ozzi, bmwf1guy, F1Wolf
127 – Wil
126 – Jose Arellano
125 – mcw3
124 – psychy
123 – zblkhwk
123 – Queen Bee
121 – Chobi
120 – Klokan, Flying Dutchman
118 – Mitch, velvet demon
116 – Dank, Steve Robertson, alicotero
115 – Kotenok
113 – pk_dude04, FISHEYE, sky
112 – ncngrr5, JR
110 – Blazena, Rich
109 – Kudlakova
108 – Nic B 205
107 – James, pawelf1
106 – nieuwe
105 – dibsmjf, Luis Miguel Sainz
104 – draconte, daniel
101 – alicotero
100 – Clive.Einkamerer
96 – shaggy, Aaron Mullan
95 – osama
69 – Timmie
68 – Saigon56
67 – Marinaxxx, Cruz Gonzalez
62 – Fantoci, brabhamburger
49 – Ex-race-marshal
48 – Arun Srini
40 – Monty
38 – vectra
29 – danpickles
25 – Amrit
21 – Sriram
14 – Lolol
12 – Emo
10 – Ben
8 – Rhysee, Shawn
7 – Blue42

(these are provisional standings as each player will have the worst result erased at the end of the season)

2009 Prediction Game Round 8 Results

The World Motor Sport Council met in Paris on 24 June 2009. The following decisions were taken:

FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

All currently competing teams have committed to the FIA Formula One World Championship.

There will be no alternative series or championship and the rules for 2010 onwards will be the 2009 regulations as well as further regulations agreed prior to 29 April 2009.

As part of this agreement, the teams will, within two years, reduce the costs of competing in the championship to the level of the early 1990s. The manufacturer teams have agreed to assist the new entries for 2010 by providing technical assistance.

The manufacturer teams have further agreed to the permanent and continuing role of the FIA as the sport’s governing body. They have also committed to the commercial arrangements for the FIA Formula One World Championship until 2012 and have agreed to renegotiate and extend this contract before the end of that period.

All teams will adhere to an upgraded version of the governance provisions of the 1998 Concorde Agreement.

The following teams have been accepted for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Team (Constructor)
SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO (FERRARI)
VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES (McLAREN MERCEDES)
BMW SAUBER F1 TEAM (BMW SAUBER)
RENAULT F1 TEAM (RENAULT)
PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING (TOYOTA)
SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO (STR TBA)
RED BULL RACING (RBR TBA)
AT&T WILLIAMS (WILLIAMS TOYOTA)
FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM (FORCE INDIA MERCEDES)
BRAWN GP FORMULA ONE TEAM (BRAWN TBA)
CAMPOS META TEAM (CAMPOS COSWORTH)
MANOR GRAND PRIX (MANOR COSWORTH)
TEAM US F1 (TEAM US F1 COSWORTH)

In view of this new agreement and with the prospect of a stable future for Formula One, FIA President Max Mosley has confirmed his decision not to stand for re-election in October this year.

WMSC decisions June 24, 2009 – Peace and 2010 F1 entry list