Horner whines to the FIA

[rallyfiend]

The FIA has to keep it interesting enough so that people tune in.

With a 100 year (or so) deal with FOM that ensures a fixed fee to them, does the FIA have to take an active interest in that? Isn't that Bernie's problem?

Surely the FIA should be concerned only about sporting integrity.

[Whyzars]

...You and I will probably watch formula One no matter who is dominating or how bad it is. Unfortunately, there are probably not enough diehards to sustain a sport that requires $95 million cars. If it gets real boring (like Saturday night) TV numbers will sag and the FIA will have no choice. It does not matter any more what is right or sporting ...... it's all about the money now. Actually it has always been about money but formula One has never worried about suffered fan apathy until recently.

The FIA has to keep it interesting enough so that people tune in. Otherwise there would be no point in the manufacturers being there to begin with. Formula One has gotten so complicated and so expensive that everyone is pretty much trapped.

My lasting impression of the race was the very last lap when Nico had seemingly given up and fell back a little. The Mercs circulated around in apparent formation, miles ahead and making it look ridiculously easy. It was actually significant history unfolding and a level of domination we have probably never seen before. It's hard to see this as being good for formula One, but I don't have a fair answer.

McLaren/Honda at the end of the 80's were pretty dominant but eventually other teams evolved and caught up.

The difference that I see now is that there are too many rules restricting in-season progress. I fear that we have another one team season to look forward to.

No testing, penalties if an engine blows up, restrictions on fuel flows and volumes, rev limits - for crying out loud, this is supposed to be Motorsport. They can put all the washing machine parts in they want, this is F1 and everything that involves a battery is a side show.

I'll believe that there is a finance problem in F1 teams when the caviar and champagne flows a little slower and the top teams salary bills are less than a national education budget.

Manufacturers can bleat all they want but the only engine manufacturer/team combination that matters is Ferrari. All of the others are fair weather friends that have come and gone as an F1 profile has been to their benefit.

Mercedes must receive every accolade for their incredible product but they must also see that they are not going to prove anything by squashing the other teams into dust. They have produced a mind numbingly beautiful thing - now they need to install a big parachute on its rear wing.

[Big Ben]

Someone here implied I'm not a diehard fan if I stopped watching F1 races or something like that . Maybe I'm not but my impression is that the object of my passion is gone. This is not the Formula 1 I used to like. I can't just like something no matter what it becomes just because it's called a certain way. I wont support a Man United coached by Mourinho or a Ferrari driven by a Vettel or a Formula 1 that is a (failed) show (a not very smart comedy) and not a true competition.

[denkimi]

Getting and maintaining an advantage is certainly part of racing, but it gets old when you are spending hundreds of millions of dollars and it's the other guy that has that advantage, and worse when you can't overcome it. It stops being fun when you don't even have a chance, and right now, no one has a chance against Mercedes.

Right now the problem is that no one can afford to lose. If I am Renault, I can't justify wasting that much money to get my ass handed to me every week on the world stage. If you want to keep the manufacturers involved, you have to keep them competitive, or at least give them the chance to make themselves competitive.

I certainly don't have the answer because I am also not in favor of restricting Mercedes or giving the others an artificial boost. The rules were the same for everyone going in, so it's too late to change now if you want to have a fair series.

See, the thing is, the FIA should not have written such a ridiculous set of regulations that would have allow this to happen in the first place. We never heard much griping at all over the old regulations, at least not over the engine formula. Maybe that's because it was not such a complex formula that only one company in the world could figure it out and make it work.

We need less complex and less expensive cars.

i think the biggest problem is the engine freeze.
the other manufacturers should be able to start all over again, because without using the fundamentally different design of the mercedes they will never be able to be competitive.

that, and of course the ban on testing. also a thing that makes it easier to maintain the advantage and difficult do develop new techniques.

[Jag_Warrior]

Since Horner is so worried about "the show", I have a solution for him. I only watch horse racing when the Kentucky Derby comes on. But if one horse is particularly strong at the Derby, I'll watch The Preakness. And if the strong horse wins The Preakness, I'll be sure to watch the Belmont Stakes. And judging by the TV ratings rise and fall, that's how many people are.

So here it is, Christian. If Lewis wins every pole and every race up through the British Grand Prix, people will howl and complain. But... but... but, if he goes on to win every pole and every through the Russian Grand Prix, all eyes will be focused on whether or not he can accomplish the (previously) impossible: win every pole and every race in a season. Face it, Christian... your engine sucks. It will continue to suck. Even if the FIA takes two cylinders out of the Mercedes V6, your engines will still blow up and the Mercs will still beat you. But since "the show" is what you're most concerned about, why don't you put your efforts into making sure Lewis has clear sailing and let's watch the ratings take off around October? I'm sure that I can count on you to do what's right for the sport. Come on Spice Boy, take one for the team... er, sport.

Jokes aside (though I don't expect it to happen), can you imagine the reaction of the non-racing press if Lewis went on a tear like this???!!! Heck, even people who don't know what F1 is would hear about this.

[CNR]

http://jalopnik.com/the-ten-most-ing...ver-1465111260

can find no info on f1 engine scrutineering
https://www.google.com.au/?gfe_rd=cr...ering&start=30

http://adamcooperf1.com/2014/10/04/r...es-works-team/

"Ron Dennis made it clear today that he believes that McLaren has been at a disadvantage relative to the Mercedes works team this year.

Dennis said that McLaren has not had the chance to use the new power unit to its full advantage because of a lack of access to data, and even hinted that the team had not had “the best engines.”

His words made it pretty clear that the team’s 20-season partnership with Mercedes is under strain as it edges towards its conclusion
"

[Doc Austin]

About the only way to guarantee equal access to engines is to distribute them randomly from a common pool. Otherwise the builder can/will keep the good ones for themselves.

[Hawkmoon]

There's nothing new about works teams getting better engines than customer teams. In the '90's Ferrari always supplied Sauber with an engine that was a spec or two behind those in the works cars. As far as I'm aware this was the deal that Sauber signed up for so there were no issues.

Today, I don't think this is possible. I'm sure there are rules about all teams being supplied with the same spec engine, not to mention the stupid homologation rules, so if Mercedes aren't doing this then they have some explaining to do. McLaren, Williams etc sound like they were/are paying for current spec engines from Mercedes so they'd have a right to be pissed if they weren't getting what they paid for.

[CNR]

only info I can find
traction control is currently banned in F1. How is it made illegal? Well, every single car on the grid uses the exact same ECU, so no TC can work through the central computer system. Traction control could possibly come from some kind of exotic means of engine management programming, which could limit the amount of power coming from the engine out of corners. Formula One's management, however, checks every car's engine mapping code and it's not allowed to change race by race.

[The Black Knight]

For one, I am totally fine with RBR quitting F1. I honestly believe that F1 will be no better or worse off without them. I'm also sick of listening to Horner moaning like a whiny little bitch to the FIA about Mercedes dominance because they are no longer on top. In fact, I'd be 100% on for it if collectively F1 told RBR to fuck right off. What a pack of sore losers and moany bitches. I had a lot of respect for RBR and what they achieved in the sport until last year when they started moaning about the rules just because they were no longer winning. Now I'd be happy if they were gone so we don't have to listen to them whinge anymore.

I also wonder what is it that RBR have over Bernie to say that he supports them in their plight to reel in the Mercedes teams? He had no issues when RBR were dominating for 4 years straight and now suddenly when Mercedes are dominating he supports calls for equalisation? Something reeks! Maybe Horner and Ecclestone are spooning partners?

I don't really see what people are surprised about anyway. When sweeping rule changes come in, there is always one team that comes out on top. Just look at 1998 and how dominant McLaren became. 2009 with Brawn GP. These sort of rule changes always have and always will bring about periods of domination. It's just that this time Mercedes have done the best job. It took Ferrari 3 years to reel in McLaren from the 1998 changes. If it wasn't for Schumacher being behind the wheel then it would have been a McLaren sweep. Schumacher dominated for 5 years. Periods of domination come and go in F1 but for me, last year was one of the closest fought championship battles in a long time. It was far better than watching that overrated German go on and win 9 races in a row by 30 seconds. At least now you've two top drivers challenging each other.