FIA considers freeing up aero rules

Talks are currently ongoing to frame future regulations from 2011, with the FIA making it clear it wants more road-relevant energy efficient engines to be introduced.

As well as that, the FIA wants an overhaul of car regulations too. The governing body has made no secret of the fact that it believes a standard chassis would be the best way of reducing costs and improving the show.

Its stance was made clear in a letter circulated to F1 team principals earlier this month, a copy of which has been seen by autosport.com, in which FIA president Max Mosley outlined his vision for the future.

Meetings are scheduled between the FIA and the teams for after the British Grand Prix to discuss the radical plan and come up with alternative proposals if the teams are not happy.

"We believe that a standard chassis is the best solution," wrote Mosley in his letter. "The competition would then be between drivers armed with rival, fuel-efficient drive trains but otherwise in equal cars. Painted differently and with different sponsors, the cars would look as different as they do today to anyone but an expert.

"But if the teams want to continue to make individual chassis, we need some proposals which really do meet the four agreed objectives of road-relevance, safety, cost reduction and improving the show. We also need to ensure the survival of the independent teams."

Mosley acknowledges that teams are unlikely to accept plans to adopt a standard chassis, but he believes that only a radical alternative solution will be of any benefit.

And that is why he has suggested the idea of freeing up the aerodynamic regulations to allow flexi wings - which have been banned for many years in F1.

"One example of radical change would be to permit moveable aerodynamic devices," added Mosley. "Arguably, the safety problems of 40 years ago no longer exist.

"Modern Formula One technology is sufficiently mature to eliminate the risks of both passive and active aero devices. Moreover, the FIA is already confronted with ever-more sophisticated moving bodywork. Engineers appreciate that when subjected to a force, everything moves - it is just a question of how much.

"Immense time and effort is currently going into making bodywork which moves enough to enhance performance, however slightly, but not enough to excite the interest of the regulator or rival teams. This is not satisfactory; it is wasteful, expensive, ultimately pointless and contrary to sporting fairness.

"With moveable aero devices, both active and passive, designers would have an incentive to build a car which the driver could adjust to optimise performance when following another car. This would facilitate wheel-to-wheel racing.

"There are also a number of areas where active aero could be road-relevant, for example cooling systems. But part of any discussion on moveable devices would have to be how to contain the resulting increase in performance.

"In the hope of starting a useful debate on a new approach to chassis design with variable aerodynamics, we are preparing a discussion paper similar to the one on engines.

"Among other things this will look at the implications of moveable devices and any changes to engine output, which might become necessary in order to contain speeds. This paper will be circulated as soon as it is ready.

"We think it might perhaps be useful to follow it up with a discussion in the second week of July (after the British Grand Prix), at which each team would be given an opportunity to present its ideas (ideally in writing beforehand) and answer questions on future Formula One regulations, either alone or jointly with other teams."