F1 2017 Tag

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor After a series of fraught meetings in Geneva for the Strategy Group and the F1 Commission, officials have announced that the teams have reached an agreement on some of the changes for 2017, while a full consensus has been delayed to a new April 30th deadline in order for the finer details of the plan to be ironed out. After basic decisions about the future of the sport regarding an engine cost cap for 2018, and a baffling odd change to the qualifying system, F1 bosses haveRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor With the Strategy Group and the F1 Commission both meeting today in a series of last ditch efforts to draft new rules for 2017, 2018 and beyond; a series of announcements are set to stream out of Geneva over the following days that will have massive implications for the sport. The first of these broke today with changes to the now, well established qualifying format. What replaces the tried and true system is a gimmicky scheme that surely has Bernie Ecclestone rubbing his hands with glee. QualifyingRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Last Friday representatives from all 11 Formula One teams met with Charlie Whiting at Heathrow to finalize the 2017 rule book. It was a spectacular failure and since then the countdown to come to an agreement has begun ticking. A second meeting held this week at Pirelli HQ in Milan saw Pirelli’s chairman Marco Provera and motorsport director Paul Hembery meet with FIA President Jean Todt, Bernie Ecclestone, multiple team bosses and a group of drivers including Sebastian Vettel, Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas.Read More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Formula One’s four engine manufacturer’s: Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda, have finally agreed to a season cost cap for their customer teams after months of speculation, argument and strife. The soon to be announced deal comes on the heels of two days of meeting in Geneva for the Strategy Group and the F1 Commission. The plan proposed by the engine manufacturer’s calls for a cost cap of €12,000,000 per season for each of their customer teams. It is a significant reduction compared to current costs which haveRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor The next Formula One strategy group meeting is Tuesday in Paris and details of its agenda have been revealed to the press. Chief among the items to be discussed include the proposal to introduce a budget engine in 2017 to lower costs for customer teams. The highly controversial topic came about after Ferrari exercised its veto ability when the sport tried to introduce a cost cap for engines. The proposed budget power units are expected to take up a majority of the meeting. The docket alsoRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Officials for the Nurburgring have expressed an interest to see the Grand Prix track make a return to the Formula One calendar in 2017 and have already begun talks with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone on the subject. The German Grand Prix which is usually shared between the Nurburgring and the Hockenheimring faced unprecedented financial issues earlier this year that led to the race being cancelled. No doubt Ecclestone will put undue pressure on both Hockenheim for 2016 and the Nurbrugring for 2017 to ensure that theRead More

Giorgio Piola has given F1 fans everywhere a gift with a recent animation he has created showing how a Mercedes W06 would look were it converted to the proposed 2017 F1 regulations. The side by side comparison is telling; the wider tires are wonderful, the return of a full width wing is a nice touch too. Proper bargeboards will be back and the front wings will be wider. It will look familiar, maybe still too familiar to the current machines but it is at least a step in the rightRead More

Ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, the vast majority of Formula One teams have come out against increasing tire dimensions to 18 inches. Current tire supplier Pirelli and Michelin who have recently expressed interest in F1 are both in favor of such a measure. The marketing behind their decision is simple, as road car tires have grown in diameter, having a more road relevant size will help tie in their motorsport activities with their consumer products. In putting marketing and profit measures ahead of sport, the tire manufacturers andRead More

In a rare sign of unanimous agreement, Formula One has wisely rejected the Strategy Group’s and Bernie Ecclestone’s plan of returning refuelling to the sport in 2017. Refuelling was one of the ways in which the Strategy Group planned to make F1 cars five seconds per lap faster, it was the worst of such strategies. Team Principals met with Charlie Whiting ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix and presented a unified front and concrete evidence that refuelling will not ‘improve the show.’ Aside from the obvious cost increases andRead More

Despite Bernie Ecclestone’s joke that the only thing they can agree to is when to meet, the F1 Strategy Group convenes today to plan for 2017 and beyond. Chief concerns include allowing a fifth engine this season and a fairer allotment of FIA prize money. Neither of which will be addressed because the big 5 present: Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull and Williams will not want to give up their slice of the pie or hand any concessions to their rivals. Despite Ecclestone’s vehement hatred, the V6 hybrids are setRead More