F1 gets full engine freeze for 2008

FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE L'AUTOMOBILE

To all Team Principals currently competing in the FIA Formula One World Championship

29 July 2006

Gentlemen

A 16 July deadline for decision on any change to the current engine regulations was agreed by all the teams and everyone else present at the recent Formula One Commission meeting in Paris. At the last moment there was an offer from GPMA which held out the hope of funding on-going development of engines for independent teams based on the "Indianapolis Proposal". However, attempts to reach agreement on this have failed because some GPMA members, perhaps understandably, did not want to fund any engine supplier linked to another car manufacturer, but competition law experts advised that such a restriction could be unlawful.

As we are already a fortnight beyond the original deadline and engine suppliers most urgently need certainty, it is now clear that we must stop discussing engine regulations and focus entirely on complying with those we already have. This means that the engines used in 2008 will be those in use on 1 June 2006. If any team needs to adapt (re-tune) its engine for the 19000 rpm limit, this can be done under the 2008 rules, which provide (Appendix 6, Article 1(ii)) that a homologated engine can be

"...modified and re-delivered to the FIA after 1 June 2006, [which] the FIA is satisfied, in its absolute discretion and after full consultation with all other suppliers of engines for the Championship, could fairly and equitably be allowed to compete with other homologated engines".

We understand from those concerned that any such work is likely to be very modest, as only one team was using significantly more than 19000 rpm at the time these engines were sealed.

It is to be hoped that everyone will agree to use these engines also for 2007 and thus avoid pointless and wasteful development work for just one season, particularly as the seven different engines will be so close together in performance that a team with all the other necessary elements in place could win the World Championship with any one of them.

Having stabilised the existing engines, Formula One teams and car manufacturers seeking a power advantage in Formula One will be able to turn their attention to modern and relevant technologies. In the short term (provisionally 2009), teams will be able to recover energy generated by the engine but currently lost in heat during braking, and use that energy a second time to propel the car. This will give an advantage and the more energy the team can recover and re-use in this way, the bigger the advantage.

In the medium and longer term (provisionally 2011), we would like to discuss with the car industry a re-formulation of Formula One engine rules so that power is restricted by energy use rather than engine capacity. In this way, the engineer who can get the most power from a given amount of fuel will have the best engine. At present, it is the most power from a given capacity - a rather pointless exercise.

With energy recovery and re-use combined with power limitation by energy consumed, we will have a Formula One fully in tune with the core research of the major car companies. In addition, the spectacle will be enhanced because the energy recovery and re-use system will be used by the drivers to help overtaking.

All of this, we hope, will make it less likely that a manufacturer will leave Formula One following poor results. At present, with six manufacturers, we have the certainty that two of the world's great car companies will finish the Championship with their cars, at the very best, in 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th places. Not easy to justify when expenditure is in the hundreds of millions of dollars for each of these companies.

With the current manufacturers' support, Formula One could be positioned at the cutting edge of fuel-efficiency research and development, demonstrating environmental relevance to the world's policy makers and accelerating environmental benefits for the world's motoring consumers. Formula One is perhaps uniquely positioned to help achieve this.

Put another way, we will have a Formula One which will look and feel very much as it does today (with the welcome addition of a push-to-pass button), but as far as propelling the car is concerned, any power advantage will come from clever energy management rather than trying to run the engine faster. The car with the best energy management system will, in effect, be the car with the best engine.

I realise that it is much more comfortable just to continue in the old ways and hope everything will be all right. But that is a recipe for decline and ultimate failure. The rules now in place have been arrived at after endless discussion and consultation. They are the very best the FIA can do as a disinterested and objective regulator, with a view to ensuring the ongoing success of Formula One and the continuing participation of the world's car industry. I do hope everyone will now accept that we need certainty and closure and that the arguments about engines should now cease.

With best wishes

Yours sincerely

Max Mosley