Recently in technical Category

Revelations of Michelin's proposal to Formula One's powerbrokers makes me smile. The message is Michelin are only interested in returning to F1 if there's open competition between tyre manufacturers - but that the tyre regulations must more or less mirror exactly what Michelin are already producing for Le Mans. Fair competition? Well, if this bill is passed, more power to them.

Michelin has stipulated that if it is to supply tyres to teams the specifications must increase from 13 inch to 18 inch, like their low-profile sports car endurance tyres.

The advantages will be largely green: fewer tyres, lower manufacturing costs, greater longevity. Low-profile tyres will also have more in common with the tyres the audiences at home buy for their Mondeos. They're much more road-relevant, and there's potentially some development synergy there.

There will be a positive impact on safety, because a low-profile tyre won't bounce as far if it's ripped from its wheel tethers. They'll come up to temperature quicker, too, so no need for tyre warmers.

There's also the comedic value that cars with oversized wheels will look like those Max Power cartoons which is, to my mind, a big plus.

But the disadvantages cannot be ignored, and for these reasons I cannot see teams or the FIA agreeing to them.

Firstly, the cars will need to be completely redesigned. The bigger wheels will affect aerodynamics, suspension and put greater strain on gearboxes. We're talking a blank sheet of paper here, the costs of which would be enormous. This, at a time when most teams, the FIA, and the world at large are banging the cost-cutting drum.

Secondly, the turbulence these bigger wheels will cause will be incredible on an open-wheel car, and at a time when we're looking at ways to reduce dirty air and improve overtaking by, for example, banning diffusers next year, to consider bigger wheels is madness.

Thirdly, I understand that in addition to these technical stipulations, Michelin also want paying for the tyres and free track signage at races. Bernie has told the teams the value of this track signage will, if the teams agree to Michelin's proposals, be deducted from the end of year TV revenue share.

Who's going to agree to that when Bridgestone, for a fee (probably not so different, overall), will carry on supplying this year's spec tyres.

And this isn't meant to sound like a criticism of Michelin, who have such a rich history in motorsport, but I think we have to question the French company's commitment when everything has to be on their terms. If they're not willing to compromise, do they really care enough?

F1 is a fantastic marketing opportunity for any tyre manufacturer and while Bridgestone feel they've got the maximum value out of it that they can, Hankook, for example, could get in on the act and raise their international profile. Obviously if they were to offer a similar-spec tyre to the current one gratis, that would be very attractive.

The trouble is that it's all happened a bit late in the day. Tyres are the single biggest performance variable, and F1 needs consistent, reliable source of rubber.  Tyre development starts even earlier than the design of a new F1 car. It would have to be signed off at board-level and a whole factory would have to be readied. If Hankook were serious about coming in we'd have been getting press releases to that effect at Christmas. Instead all we get are murmurings and non-confirmations.

Kumho and Goodyear are both in financial dire straits. Continental's marketing is geared more to safety than competition. If Michelin were to come in with a Le Mans-type tyre, there's a fair chance they would be joined by Hankook and Dunlop, who also run at Le Mans. It would be very cost-effective for them.

But not for Formula One it wouldn't. And for that reason, the teams would be well advised to draw a line underneath it and re-sign with Bridgestone until another tyre manufacturer puts in a more attractive bid for their business.

With 24 cars on the grid this year, there's not enough space in the FIA garage to keep the cars under parc ferme. So a new approach has been taken to ensure teams can't tamper with their cars during lock down.

From 6:30pm Saturday, each car is zipped up in a kind of sleeping bag and remains in its own garage under the surveillance of the FIA. Each garage is fitted with 24 hour CCTV, mounted on the pit gantry.

With Formula One aiming to slash its budgets, and teams making staff redundant, there could be a few design geniuses at a loose end. Just imagine if you could get a championship-winning team to redesign your kitchen... Let's take a look at when F1's finest minds have got bored and tried their hands at something a bit different.

 

 

Fine dining

With one of his F1 Ferrari's on exhibit at New York's MOMA, ace designer John Barnard has already been accepted by the cognoscenti. Now he's developed the perfect dining table for the materially obsessed. So slim it's practically anorexic, Barnard's carbon-fibre 'surface' table spans three metres but is just 2mm thick. It's so light there's no need for coasters, but is there actually any point in a lightweight dining table? Surely carbon-fibre would be more usefully employed in high-end camping furniture. Then Barnard could add some scout badges to the three drivers titles and two constructors crowns he earned at McLaren. The table is available in both the natural unidirectional weave finish or in a walnut veneer. Oh, and it's US$50,000. Carbon with a walnut veneer? If Bentley ever enter F1, Barnard's their man.

Space race

I've long suspected that the inspiration behind McLaren's team kit and motorhome is Star Trek, and this next (starship) enterprise is even more pointy-eared. McLaren composites constructed the landing structure, hull and solar panels for the Beagle 2 space probe. However the US$120 million British project, which was designed to reveal whether life had ever existed on mars, was a failure. Communication with Beagle 2 was lost shortly after it had been released from its mother ship. And there were communications difficulties at the Australian Grand Prix this year, when the team told the media one thing and told the stewards the other.

 

Deadly diving

F1 is known as 'the piranha club', making this rather deadly gadget a paddock necessity. The Oviosub Speargun introduces F1 high-tech to the ancient practice of spear fishing. The device uses a honeycomb structure filled with hydrogen to improve balance and buoyancy when firing at watery pray. This composite material, called Cratinax, was first developed by the Renault F1 team in its suspension. If Fernando Alonso leaves for Ferrari at the end of this season, Flavio Briatore might just harpoon the Spaniard.

The greatest ever Lotus?

A Norfolk-based bicycle designer, called Mike Burrows, had an idea for a racing bike using a carbon composite monocoque. So after some initial sketches on the back of a beer mat he rang up a mate of his who worked down the road at Lotus. Lotus aptitude for composite techniques were obvious, and they ran the prototype 108 pursuit bicycle in the wind tunnel, some might say at the expense of their 107B F1 car. The result was their most successful racer since the Lotus 79 of 1978, and British cyclist Chris Boardman rode the Type 108 to victory in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, smashing the record for the 4000m. Sadly, two years later, Team Lotus got on its metaphorical bike and left F1 for good.

 

Tyre flipper

Fuji, a 34 year-old dolphin from Japan, had three-quarters of her tail amputated after suffering localized cell decay. Then Bridgestone stepped in with ten prototype prosthetic rubber fins.  Once they found one that worked it took Fuji another five months to get used to her new tail - initially it scared her. But now she's used to it she can jump again. She's a household name in Japan these days, with many celebrity swimming partners - including ex-F1 driver Takuma Sato.

 

Extra protection

While the bodies of most military vehicles are primarily built to withstand shell attacks from above, it's a fact that in recent conflicts the biggest threat for armored personnel carriers has been roadside bombs, which explode underneath the chassis. Well, if any company knows how to employ a thick skin when attacked, it's McLaren. The team has designed seats for the US Marine Corps fleet of Humvees. They're inspired by those of F1, protecting soldiers when their vehicle is thrown into the air upon detonation. And like F1, it allows medics to remove the injured still in their seat, thus minimizing the risk of spinal injury. Now McLaren just need to build a title campaign that can survive whatever the FIA throw at it.

This is Larry Page, the co-founder of Google Inc. He's worth US$12 billion, making him the sixth richest person in America, and number 26 in the world. In other words, Bernie, Vijay and Mr Mateschitz are paupers in comparison.

With Alonso's Renault in P2 today, it's clear the new Renault floor is doing the business. 

Jenson Button has responded to some cruel comments from Flavio Briatore. The Renault boss is still fuming after his diffuser appeal was denied, and has said having a team like Brawn at the front is damaging to the reputation of F1. He also said Button was a 'patacarro', an Italian phrase meaning Button is as slow as a mile-post by the side of the road.

 

Jenson says: "Unless he is at the front of F1, I am sure [he thinks] any team [being
there] hurts the credibility of F1. He also needs to remember that he
tried to employ me for this year, so... He is obviously a very angry man after the diffuser issues and he is
obviously very disappointed that they haven't produced a car that is
as competitive as ours."

Asked what the team's reaction had been to Flavio's comments, Jenson said: "Laughing, basically."

Flavio also came in for criticism this weekend from Williams CEO and all-round decent chap Adam Parr. Responding to Flavio's suggestion that Parr had unfairly accused Ferrari and Renault of running illegal cars for the last decade, Parr clarified that there had been a misunderstanding, and said: "[Flavio] is a fantastic, flamboyant character who I think doesn't necessarily always have his thumb on the details, but he is very happy to wave his arms and state his case."

A quick update from me, before I head to Shanghai in a couple of hours. I'm in Bangkok where, I'm sure you know, there has been some civil infighting - not unlike Formula One of course! Up until yesterday I was partying with friends in the beach resort of Cha-Am, where two of my gang were indirectly involved - one guy's father was a leader of the rebel 'red shirts' and another friend's father is a senior government minister whose motorcade was attacked in Pattaya last week. Fortunately, the kids are fairly neutral.

 

Bangkok was a mess today, but not due to politics. Instead, it's the Thai new year and tradition dictates that everyone throws water on each other and paints their faces with clay. Kids ride round in Tuk Tuks firing Super Soakers at innocent bystanders, like some kind of juvenile drive-by.

Back to the battle of the diffuser - F1's leaders have been gathered in Paris and there's been plenty of mudslinging. Ferrari's lawyer, Nigel Tozzi, accused Ross Brawn of "unbelievable arrogance" at refusing to accept his diffusers illegality. Unfortunately for Ferrari - and Renault, BMW, Red Bull and McLaren - it is they who will have to accept the judgment, because the FIA just announced the Court of Appeal has found them LEGAL.

 

So, the championship continues and Button still leads. Renault and McLaren are said to be bringing their own trick diffuser to China. Ferrari say there's won't be ready till Spain in two races time.

 

This is how it goes in F1 - clever teams design something clever, the others try to get it banned and, failing that, copy them.

 

Speaking of copies, I just traveled in the chavviest taxi east of Chelmsford - check out the Burberry seats.

Plenty more of that to come in Shanghai, I'm sure.

I was wondering down the paddock this afternoon when I was met head on by Sir Richard Branson. The rumours of Brawn sponsorship, therefore, were true. A press conference was held and it was all very low key - a good call as the team plays on its underdog status, and there's no better guarantee of press coverage than that.

 

In what sounds like a very rock n' roll way to do business, Sir Richard told of how a sponsorship deal was signed just four hours before he got on a plane to Australia. He said it's part one of what probably will become a two part phasing in of the Virgin brand. We don't know what that depends on - he says it isn't performance. He did say that it was all last minute and conceded that the colour scheme of the car at the moment isn't right. We were told it's not a title sponsorship deal. Yet. And they didn't tell us how long the deal is for or what money is involved - probably because they don't know themselves yet. 

Having talked of buying the team in January, when it became clear the team could save itself the opportunity of sponsorship was considered, and right up to the last moment. The extent of the partnership is still under discussion. But you can tell Branson is up for it.

 

Perhaps the most interesting thing is that Branson intends for the team to use clean fuel, and that he's been talking to Max and Bernie about supplying clean fuel to all the teams. He's been investing all the profits from his 'dirty' businesses, such as Virgin Atlantic, and says that they have developed a fuel that is as powerful as standard F1 fuels, but it doesn't omit any carbon.

 

Perfectly in line with the green agenda that the FIA has been striving for, this is great news for F1 in so many ways. What Mobil 1, Total and Shell think about it, we'll wait and see. Branson had a meeting with Norbert Haug today to discuss, in brief, how the 'Virgin' fuel will work with the Mercedes-Benz engine. This is exciting.

 

Asked what his expectations for the year are, he said: "In the sporting events I've personally been involved in I've usually failed the first year, failed again the second, but succeeded in the third". This project couldn't have got off to a better start.

 

Virgin has strong synergy with F1, particularly from a technological viewpoint. The innovations that are coming out of Virgin Galactic are astounding.

 

"Virgin loves to invest in great engineers," Sir Richard told us. "In space we have Bert Ratan building Virgin Galactic spaceships for us. Ross [Brawn] is the genius of engineering down here on earth and hopefully will prove this genius in the coming days."

 

Which brings us to qualifying...

The FIA have announced that the appeal over the diffuser row will be held at their International Court of Appeal in Paris on April 14 (my birthday!) at 10am. I will be lying on a beach in Thailand, I'm afraid. But I'll be following it, of course. Which way do you think it's going to go? The stewards and Charlie Whiting are all confident they made the right call here in Melbourne, saying the Brawn, Toyota and Williams are kosha.