The tech disputes over the WEC's future

What's next in the brave new world of LMP1 in the World Endurance Championship?

The answer should by rights already be known. The evolution of the rulebook into the next decade was scheduled to be agreed last month, but instead the manufacturers are still arguing over the first step along the way.

New monocoque regulations focused on safety enhancement and including a Formula 1-spec side-impact crash test, which was originally planned for 2017, have been delayed for one season. The manufacturers agree on that, but the timing of phase two of the P1 technological revolution remains the subject of debate.

Porsche and Audi want an increase in the technological scope of regulations, introduced for last season, that limit each car's fuel allocation over each lap and place an emphasis on energy-retrieval. They are arguing for an increase in the harvested energy that can be deployed over each lap.

They say the time will be right in 2018 to increase both the amount of retrieved energy and the number of hybrid systems allowed from two to three.

Porsche and Audi are in favour of a big 2018 tech step... © XPB

Toyota, the other member of the big three P1 manufacturers, argues the financial implications of changing the chassis and hybrid rules at the same time could be devastating.

"Technology is the DNA of the WEC, and we have to make sure that we develop that value further," says Audi's head of LMP1, Christopher Reinke. "We should allow a further step to advance the technology further in 2018."

Alex Hitzinger, LMP1 technical director at sister marque Porsche, sings from the same song book.

"You can't sell the idea of a new monocoque to the public," he argues. "But a bigger hybrid system, and potentially a third system, is sexy."

Still up for discussion is how the increase in hybrid energy will be measured. The most likely scenario is that a new category will be added above today's highest eight megajoule class allowing for 10MJ to be deployed over the long lap at Le Mans.

The idea of limiting power within zones, the method used in 2012-13, doesn't appear to be entirely off the table, however.

TOYOTA OPPOSITION

...but Toyota has concerns, and is warning of an 'F1-type crisis' © XPB

Toyota isn't against upping the hybrid energy levels in the future, but it does question the timing preferred by its rivals.

"We don't see why it is a must to combine the new monocoques with bigger hybrid systems," says Toyota Motorsport technical director Pascal Vasselon, "but it is understandable that the manufacturers with more resources would want to make such a big step.

"We feel it is too early to move forward. If in Formula 1 someone suggested making another big step so soon, everyone would say they were crazy. Maybe we don't realise that an F1-type crisis for us is not so far away."

The manufacturers play a major role in writing the rulebook, just as in F1, which suggests that Toyota will be outvoted.

"I wouldn't say that it is a complete democracy, but it is true that we are isolated in our position," says Vasselon in reaction to that point.

THE RULEMAKERS' STANCE

Le Mans organiser the ACO has a major say over the rules process © LAT

The FIA and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, which jointly write the LMP1 regulations, have made it clear they want to evolve the regulations that have made P1 the leading showcase for road-relevant technology in world motorsport. Yet at the same time they are acutely aware they must keep a firm grip on costs.

That is why there are multiple working groups tasked with coming up with cost-saving measures. Those include the limitations on tyre and engine useage introduced for this season.

The ACO will not discuss what is likely to happen. President Pierre Fillon will only say that the road map setting out the future direction of the rules remains "a work in progress".

"We cannot reveal what is being discussed internally until it is settled," adds ACO sporting manager Vincent Beaumesnil. "And we are still working on it."

HOW TO INCREASE RETRIEVAL

Exactly how the manufacturers would regenerate 10MJ at Le Mans, whether it be in 2018 or at a later date, isn't entirely clear. It is likely, however, that they would use the same technology used on the cars at the moment.

"The only proven systems at the moment are kinetic-energy recovery and those driven by exhaust gases," explains Vasselon. "Other systems might be out there, but they are not proven."

THE LONG-TERM FUTURE

Speculation over a potential BMW entry into the WEC continues © LAT

What happens beyond the next rise in hybrid power will also be laid out in the road map.

BMW might have denied that it has aspirations to enter LMP1 with a car powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, but the rumours of its interest won't go away. And the ACO remains open to the idea of different power sources.

"In the longer term we are open to new fuels," says Beaumesnil. "The values of the ACO mean we need to be aware of other sources of energy."

WHAT'S NEW FOR 2016?

The big change for next season is a reduction in the amount of energy derived from conventional fuels allowed to the cars each lap. A gradual reduction in energy produced by the internal combustion engine was one of the guiding principles of the current rulebook.

An across-the-board decrease of 10MJ per lap of Le Mans, which equates to a cut of just over seven per cent, was the maximum that had been agreed with the manufacturers and the rule makers have opted to invoke this reduction.

That is in part a reaction to the increasing speed and plummeting laptimes seen this season. A need to put a stop to that, most pertinently at Le Mans, has clearly been high up on the ACO's agenda. The organiser of the 24 Hours admits it would like to see the average of the top 20 per cent laptimes of each car above 3m20s and believes opting for the maximum reduction in fuel allocation discussed will go a long way to achieving that.

"We are comfortable with this because the development of the engine has been based on this and the manufacturers always knew that we could ask for a 10MJ reduction," says Beaumesnil. "We would not go over this amount, because clearly it would require more development and more cost.

"I am not saying that we will be over 3m20s next year, but the 10MJ cut in energy is part of the strategy to achieve that. We are also discussing other ways to reduce performance in the future [beyond 2017], and there are many different parameters."

Le Mans laptimes have been getting quicker, and the ACO wants to stop that © LAT

The fuel reduction will not just slow the cars on the straights, which is crucial in the ACO's safety strategy.

"You will reduce engine power in the same proportion that you reduce fuel flow," says Vasselon. "And when you reduce engine power you have to reduce drag, and when you reduce drag, you reduce downforce. It will slow the cars in the corners, because the amount of power you have drives the aero targets."

The manufacturers agree the new rule regulations would slow the cars by approximately four seconds a lap at Le Mans, but only if applied to this year's cars. Natural development, they say, will claw back at least some of that lost time.

An increase in the size of the wheelarch vents, part of an ongoing strategy to prevent cars becoming airborne in the event of a sideways moment, will also have a small effect on lap time. Vasselon suggests expanding the vents somewhere in the region of "20 to 30 per cent" will reduce aerodynamic efficiency.

A new cap of 300kW on hybrid power at Le Mans next year will have a negligible impact on laptimes. The length of the straights at the Circuit de la Sarthe calls for less of the short, sharp boost required at the other circuits on the WEC trail. There will, however, be an effect on laptimes should the limit be extended to the rest of the series as is planned for 2017.

The move would hurt a car that deploys power at both axles, argues Toyota. So as the only manufacturer in that camp it is disputing it. Which is exactly where we came in.