Tidgy

looks liek renault are going as well now


BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula 1 | Renault considers Formula 1 exit

RA Dunk

Ouch! Really dont come as a surprise though after the results and the racefix scandal

The Rig

iTrader: (13)

what with toyota leaving as well

Toyota confirm Formula One exit | The Sun |Sport|Motorsport

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

i guess this is really going to annoy the people who dont like F1 in NSR.

RA Dunk

LoL, That one this morning didnt half rattle a certain person's cage!

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Still, it is a shame for F1. I hope we are left with good racing for next season. They have started to address the overtaking issue, but they do need to do a little more.

RA Dunk

Maybe the FIA were right all along with the budget cap thing, bet Mr Max (the whipping boy) Mosely is sitting with a smug look on his face just now......

ScoobyWon't

I wonder who Red Bull will use as an engine supplier?

The BBC blogs think Renault may stay on as a engine supplier only, but I'm sure all of the new teams and Williams are going to Cosworth.

Will there be anyone for Renualt to supply if they withdraw the race team?

davyboy

I'd guess Renault don't actually build the engines anyway.

I seem to remember they were called mecachrome some years ago.

davyboy

...and considering they just signed Kubica, I doubt they will go anywhere.

RA Dunk

Probably some clause in it some place saying blah blah blah leaving F1 blah blah

cster

Or was it a case of Mosely causing the loss of manufacturers from F1, to be replaced by a bunch of joke teams that won't last the whole season.
The loss of four manufacturers (if Renault go) in the space of a year shows a certain "carelessness" as Oscar might say

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

That was when the subbed out the design to another company. Renault do indeed make their own F1 engines.

**** me, a certain somebody will be rather miffed that this is in NSR again. May be it is slightly popular!

urban

iTrader: (1)

The whole sport is on a slippery slope right now.
I reckon it all started with McLaren's big scandle

Plus, its probably boring the **** off most people now too

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

I must admit, it is getting a bit silly now, but then again, what do you expect. The world is going through it's biggest recession of modern times. They are going to try and cut back on the unnecessary expenditures i.e. F1. I think it is good for the sport to be honest. At one time, most of the grid consisted of privately run teams, then the manufacturers came in and priced them out of the market. 'Shoe on other foot' comes to mind.

XRS

Good job the manufacturers didn't manage to set up their own series - it would look a bit silly now.

EddScott

Sadly Bernie is hell bent on making F1 similar to these travelling monster truck shows which pop up on the local abandoned air field near you - just more expensive.

Engine equalisation, standard gearbox, standard ECU, talks of standard aero from 2011.

Next the races will get shorter, the calender will be all year round, european races will be the minority and the icing on the cake will be the drivers dissing each other and shouting down the microphone like WWE.

Sad turn of events IMO.

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

Agreed. I feel that a lot of the recent changes came about from comments of the 'occassional' viewer that doesn't understand F1 and therefore say it is crap! They just want carnage and are not interested in the tecnical as well as physical challenges of the sport. Personally, I think there was nothing wrong with the sport when they made the last big changes back on 1998.

In theory, now that the big spenders have all but dissappeared (with the exception of Ferrari and Mclaren) surely the rules can now be relaxed to allow further technical innovation? What's the point of being an independant team if you aren't allowed to be creative?

EddScott

Bernie wants the motoring equivalent of Roller Ball - and not the good James Caan one!

fivetide

iTrader: (1)

also agree with Edd. It is basically turning into a Kart type series.

It is a shame the teams didn't set themselves up and cut the poison dwarf out of it.

5t.

urban

iTrader: (1)

The only way F1 will become properly interesting/fascinating again is when they get it so that cars can actually follow each other in slipstream thus allowing passing again.
Currently its really only dives up the inside on corners etc
Think back to the battles Schumacher and Hakkinen had

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

What has changed then to the cars since then?

The cars have less downforce, better tyres, slower engines, no traction control/launch control etc. So it should be 'easier' to follow/overtake. Funny that.
People have always had the same argument which quite frankly is getting a little old. The best driver/car combo will always win in F1. Qualifying puts equal cars around each other making it quite a task to over take. It isn't like changing lanes on the motorway for **** sake!

F1 has alway been the same and it has done pretty well for the last 60 years!

I do feel however that scrapping re-fueling next year is a mistake. This will reduce over-taking without a doubt.

urban

iTrader: (1)

Clearly aerodynamics have changed.
The cars can't follow each other now the way they used to, as soon as you get in the turbulent air then your car becomes unstable

Yes of course the fastest car/driver in theory will always win, however that not the argument.
There is little overtaking battles nowadays - that even you cannot deny

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

As I have said, they have less downforce now than what they did in 1999/2000/2001.
I do not agree that there is any less over taking now than 10 years ago.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Not sure whether you're right about downforce as the engineers have found ways to generate more downforce from smaller aerodynamic planes than 10 years ago - evolution in action.

However, downforce is not the main issue. It is the rise of the diffuser that part way deliberately creates dirty air behind the car in order to make following and hence overtaking harder.

I don't want to see the sport become like some minor series where there are 30 overtakes a lap, but equally I think it should be easier than it is. The tracks don't help on some occasions, but I can't help but feel if the FIA passed two simple aero rules we would see a huge improvement in the sport.

1) Ban on all diffusers
2) Cars may use any aero design within some physical size limitations (and not diffusers) but may generate no more than Xg of downforce at any one time (X to be defined by the FIA at a figure whereby reliance on mechanical grip becomes as important as aero grip). Simple FIA approved sensors could measure this.

This would have the added advanatage of reintroducing the opportunity for engineering excellence to come to the fore with less restrictions on aero design.

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

Pitlane Fanatic Overtaking

As you can see, overtaking hasn't really changed since 1995/6 when they actually banned a lot of the newly developed technology such as active suspension.
Yes, there was a slight dip this year compared to recent years, but we did only have 17 races this year as opposed to 18/19 that we have had for the last 5 years or so.

EddScott

See, now this I believe. If they are all so good at aerodynamics, why not put two cars into a wind tunnel and work out a rule on the designs that allows two cars to run close together.

I can quite imagine them using the aero rules to build a car that is hard to follow.

Doesn't the double diffuser do this? If that was removed would they be able to follow each other easier?

urban

iTrader: (1)

I don't agree with "slight dip"

Its been pretty boring in that respect and 2 or 3 races make no difference to what I'm saying

2 cars in wind tunnel sounds like a good idea - stop the teams "cheating" so to speak

MattW

Renault deny story

PistonHeads Headlines

EddScott

I would say its a case of see how one more year goes. I would be surprised if they are on the grid for 2011 as anything other than an engine supplier.

Hence Rubik Cubes 1 year deal.