Sidepodcast

I’m really enjoying some up the videos Ferrari have been putting up onto YouTube recently. While lacking in the production values of say Honda Racing TV, they do offer a unique perspective on the team. The latest video is an interview with chief designer Nikolas Tombazis.

Somehow the producers have achieved a retro vibe that’s so convincing I had to double check it hadn’t actually been filmed in the 70’s, but it’s definitely modern.

Mr. T (as only I call him) reveals some insightful information about the difficulties the team faced getting their new hollow nose through the mandatory crash test, as well as how the team are preparing for the 2009 regulations.

If you haven’t seen it already, it’s worth five minutes of your time, if only because I’m interested to hear if you think he’s drunk on duty or not?

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If the FIA ran football, so the saying goes, we’d have square balls and round pitches.

Yesterday’s announcement regarding the FIA’s revised plans for Formula One race stewards didn’t come as much of a surprise, given that grandprix.com highlighted the expected change over a week ago.

The new plan is to bring three random stewards to each race, plus Max’s right hand man, Alan Donnelly. Last year’s permanent steward Tony Scott Andrews has stepped down from his role, so the consistency that a regular face brought to the table has now been nullified.

Strangely this new structure is supposed to speed up the decision making process, although one fails to see how it could? A cynic might suggest that the introduction of Donnelly is just another way for Max to exert yet more control over the sport.

As grandprix.com points out, Donnelly isn’t exactly a model of impartiality either. His company Sovereign Strategy currently list Formula One Management Ltd as a client. It’s not hard to imagine the sport’s commercial interests being taken into consideration when looking at future rule infringements. Would last year’s embarrassing ‘cool fuel’ episode have gone as far as it did if Donnelly had any say in the matter?

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The veritable lack of Formula 1 action at the moment has allowed me to catch up with a bunch of magazines that have been lying around unread. Today I’ve been working my way through last months issue of Race Engine Technology. Don’t laugh.

Available from all good newsagents, but not to be confused with Racecar Engineering magazine mentioned recently, the November edition of Race Engine Technology has, amongst other things, some wonderful insight into the future of F1 energy recovery solutions.

I’ll have to save that for later discussion though, because today I’m mostly interested in their interview with Renault’s head engine boffin, Rob White.

The interview was conducted during the course of the British Grand Prix weekend, so even without my palpable attempts at time management, it’s still a little out of date. The detail I’m most interested in is the discussion relating to next years fuel regulations.

It came of something of a surprise to learn that next year the FIA technical regulations state that 5.75% of an F1 cars fuel must be derived from biological sources. Actually that’s oversimplifying it a little. Here’s what the 2008 Technical Regulations state:

19.4.5 A minimum of 5.75% (m/m) of the fuel must comprise oxygenates derived from biological sources. The percentage that each component is considered to originate from a biological source is calculated from the relative proportion of the molecular weight contributed by the biological starting material.

19.4.6 Synthetic hydrocarbons or mixtures of synthetic hydrocarbons, which have been produced from biomass, will be considered for future inclusion into Formula One fuel, provided that a suitable analytical procedure is available to verify their biological origin.

According to Rob, the changes specified won’t require any major work, beyond simple engine remapping.

I did a little research and discovered that Auto Industry recently reported Williams were the first team to run their car using bioethanol elements and the fuel was manufactured using sources such as crop waste. Auto Industry also report that:

The new rules are consistent with one of the latest EU directives which will require all road cars to use the same bio-content blend of fuel by 2010.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I recall this idea being introduced by the FIA back in 2005, but had assumed it was pushed back along with other energy saving rules.

I’m surprised Max and the teams aren’t making a bigger fuss about this already, maybe PR will ramp up before the start of the ‘08 season?