The proposed new technical direction for F1 in 2013 is apparently going to include the return of turbo 4 cylinder engines and underbody ground effects!
http://formula-one.speedtv.com/arti...echnical-changes-for-2013-formula-one-season/
How cool! I might actually watch F1 again! One bad thing: 650hp is weak for F1, the supposed "pinnacle" of racing. Let them have 900 (at least 800!) and wow the crowds. We have the boring ... "safe" tracks, can racers at least be allowed to drive powerful cars?
I'm shocked. I can't believe they are finally going to rid the sport of the stupid inverted airplane wings that have completely ruin the spectacle. Besides a short stint in 2003-2004, I haven't watched F1 since I was a little kid in the late 3.5L era. This could be very interesting, and if Tavo Hellmund had been informed that this was the direction F1 was planning, it makes since he would have wanted to build a track and host a grand prix.
The power rating is low, but it's the only thing that makes sense. They'd need to go back to the horrible tires of the 60s and 70s if they want to run 1000hp vehicles. The other option is to increase drag with Hanford devices, but that isn't going to happen with the new green racing BS. The 1.6L turbo GRE 4-banger is okay, but they are wasting a golden opportunity to set the sport apart from the new standardized 1.6L turbo engines they are going to be using to power everything from rally cars to F1 (albeit in far different states of tune). If they are going to rev limit and regulate power, I'd much rather see them run 3.0L or 3.5L N/A engines again but at reasonable rpm thresholds. The sound of a Ferrari V12 at full chat is worth its weight in gold. Very disappointing that FOTA are trying to regulate big N/A engines out of existence in order to go along with the Zeitgeist of our times.
Imo, if IRL had any brains, they'd do a deal to get these 2.4L F1 lumps into the IRL. If the whole world is moving to 1.6L turbos, the sound of an N/A engine running at high rpm will be a breath of fresh air. Many manufacturers, including Honda, have a 2.4L V8 in their repertoire. I think the IRL are talking about 550hp or some such number. If they run those kinds of hp levels, they can probably increase increase service intervals by another 50%. Maybe IRL would be smart to take a big risk and just buy the old F1 car designs? Sounds like the old cars will be useless in 2013 and some cash strapped teams might be willing to do a deal, then they can find manufacturing companies to build the cars in a cost effective manner. Imo, if Bernie were smart he'd simply buy the IRL and then move a tweaked version of 2008 F1 to the US.
Could get very interesting.
