Ferrari is happy with F1′s engine formula for the future.
The FIA had earlier announced controversial four-cylinder engines for 2013, but in the face of opposition from teams and engine makers has now agreed to let the sport be powered by 1.6 litre V6s in 2014 and beyond.

Ferrari, whose founder Enzo Ferrari’s main passion was big engines and horse power, had been the most staunchly opposed to the four-cylinder plan.

But after the FIA rubber-stamped the V6 compromise this week, team boss Stefano Domenicali said: “This decision is good for the sport.

“We now have the necessary time to prepare for this new project,” he is quoted by the German news agency SID.

It is believed Renault and Cosworth are also happy.

“It is good that the compromise reached has been confirmed by the World Motor Sport Council,” agreed Mercedes-Benz’s Norbert Haug.

Officials have played down reports Valencia is set to be the only Spanish host of formula one.
Currently, both the port city as well as Barcelona host annual grands prix, but Bernie Ecclestone said recently that each country should have only a single race.

On Tuesday, Cadena SER and Radio Valencia reported that Valencia will be the only Spanish race from 2012.

It is believed representatives of the Circuit de Catalunya attended last weekend’s Valencia event and told Ecclestone they want to pay a lower annual race fee in future.

At the same time, the Spanish radio reports said Valencia is willing to pay EUR 20 million per year and wants an earlier date in the European race season.

“At the last World Motor Sport Council the 2012 calendar was ratified and Barcelona was assigned a date,” Spanish motor racing president Carlos Gracia said.

“I think the two races can coexist perfectly.”

Circuit de Catalunya director Salvador Servia, meanwhile, told Marca sports newspaper that the latest reports about Barcelona losing its place are “invented”.

“Spain has just held two successful grands prix. Everything else I would hope are just rumours,” he said on Onda Cero radio.

“I think someone has said ‘I want this to happen’ and so somebody else said ‘This is going to happen’. For next year they have already set the dates,” added Servia.

Bernie Ecclestone has organised a meeting of the F1 Commission in an attempt to formally scuttle the proposed engine rules for 2013.
That is the claim of the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport, revealing that the meeting will take place on Wednesday.

The report said F1 chief executive Ecclestone, a staunch critic of the proposed rules, believes FIA president Jean Todt improperly introduced the four-cylinder turbos by bypassing the official bodies including the F1 Commission.

Despite Renault’s apparent threat to quit F1 over the controversy, Ecclestone is understood to have attempted to overturn the rules with a recent vote of the World Motor Sport Council.

The rules narrowly survived and Wednesday’s F1 Commission is his ‘plan B’ according to Auto Motor und Sport, with the 80-year-old also not ruling out a legal challenge.

The 2011 Bahrain grand prix saga came to a conclusion on Wednesday when the FIA confirmed Sakhir will not host a race later this season.

Without actually mentioning the troubled island Kingdom, the governing body said a fax vote of the World Motor Sport Council had ratified the calendar that was “originally proposed” for the 2011 world championship.

The FIA said the vote was “unanimous”, even though the same word was used for the recent reinstatement of the Bahrain race for 30 October.

However, India will now host its inaugural grand prix on its original 30 October weekend, with the season ending a month later rather than in mid December.

Bernie Ecclestone revealed to the Independent newspaper that Bahraini officials travelled to Montreal last weekend to urge the F1 chief executive to consider rescheduling the race for 30 October, or 4 or 11 December.

“I told them that I thought withdrawing was the easiest way to handle the situation,” he said.

Bahrain will however be involved with the 30 October race this year, with the Sakhir circuit’s medical team tasked with training and assisting its Indian counterparts, according to the Gulf Daily News.

The key to calling off the rescheduled 2011 Bahrain grand prix is held by Bernie Ecclestone.
That was the claim of the FIA on Friday, after F1 chief executive Ecclestone confirmed the Sakhir race is “not on” and the circuit admitted it will not host the race in October.

Official confirmation from the sport’s governing body, however, is still missing, with the FIA website showing Bahrain deleted from the calendar despite the recent World Motor Sport Council decision and India – originally with the October 30 date – now unlisted as “to be announced”.

“In the light of the statement by the Bahrain International Circuit, we are now waiting for the commercial rights holder (Ecclestone) to suggest a new calendar to the World Motor Sport Council,” a FIA spokesman is quoted by Reuters.

The Mercedes is the loudest formula one car in 2011.

That is the finding of the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, after testing the volume of this year’s field trackside in Monaco just over a week ago.

The silver W02 registered 127.8 decibels, which is louder than the average human pain threshold, and nearly as loud as a military jet aircraft take-off with afterburner at 50 feet.

The Renault comes next at 127.5 decibels, followed by McLaren-Mercedes (127.3) and Renault-powered Red Bull (127.1).

The quietest F1 car this year is the Cosworth-powered Virgin, at 125.9 decibels.

Bernie Ecclestone has cited the awesome sound of the current crop of F1 cars as his main objection to the proposed four-cylinder turbo rules for 2013.

The FIA last Friday acknowledged that the 2013 debut could be delayed.

“In consultation with the main stakeholders, and following the outcome of this consultation, a fax vote by the World Motor Sport Council could be considered by 30 June latest to redefine the implementation date”, the governing body said after its Barcelona meeting.

All signs point to ‘yes’ on Friday after the FIA sat in Barcelona to deliberate a new date for the 2011 Bahrain grand prix.
Amid logistical and political concerns up and down the pitlane, a Bahraini government official ‘Tweeted’ that the World Motor Sport Council is in the process of rubber-stamping a new date for a race this year in the troubled island Kingdom.

“FIA finalising date now,” said Sheikh Fawaz al-Khalifa, head of the information affairs authority.

The news is not yet official but Bernie Ecclestone denied as he arrived in Spain in the morning that the decision will be about the $40 million race fee.

“Nothing to do with money at all. Nothing, in any shape or form,” the 80-year-old told Reuters.

Bahrain is the buzzword in F1 circles at present, on the eve of the FIA’s decision about the resinstatement of the troubled island Kingdom’s 2011 race.
Indian motor racing chief Vicky Chandhok, the father of Lotus reserve driver Karun, stirred the nest on Thursday by suggesting India is keen to move its scheduled inaugural date to make way for the Bahrain rescheduling.

“The weather would be great,” he told PTI news agency, referring to the controversial December 11 date that has been proposed.

Bahrain has embarked on a charm offensive ahead of the FIA’s Friday meeting of the World Motor Sport Council; the deadline for the race’s possible rescheduling.

The move is unpopular in F1 circles but Bernie Ecclestone is keen given the reported $40 million race fee on offer.

“Let’s bring Bahrain formula one back. Together we can,” read signposts in Bahrain’s capital Manama on Thursday.

The Bahrain International Circuit did not return two phone calls.

On the eve of the decisive World Motor Sport Council meeting, Bahrain looked unlikely to return to the 2011 formula one calendar.
Martial law in the troubled island Kingdom ended on Wednesday, just two days before F1′s governing body sits in Barcelona to consider a new race date for the postponed season opener.

Bahrain officials insist they are now ready to host a grand prix, but F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone had warned in Monaco that the event will only take place “If there’s peace”.

As the state of emergency ended on Wednesday, reports suggested there is still turmoil on the streets of Bahrain.

Al Jazeera television said police used tear gas against continuing protesters, arresting and injuring several of them.

“With the end of the emergency situation, the security should not be here but they still are,” said an eyewitness.

Reuters said the interior ministry denied the reports, while the Bahrain Shura Council’s deputy president Jamal Fakhro insisted formula one can return.

“The end of the national security law and announcement of dialogue are both positive. It will be a shame if anyone is negative about it,” he said.

“Bahrain will welcome formula one, and any other event. There’s nothing wrong with that because life is back to normal now and it will be excellent to have it back.”

A key FIA official has admitted the opinions of the formula one teams will be considered when the fate of the 2011 Bahrain grand prix is discussed this week.

It is during Barcelona’s World Motor Sport Council meeting on Friday that the FIA body will either rubber-stamp a new date for the postponed event or cancel it completely for this year.

Martial law in the troubled island Kingdom expires on Wednesday, but the teams are expressing concerns about the fact a 2011 race rescheduling would push out their calendars to an unprecedentedly late December finale.

Some team bosses have made their feelings clear, including Mercedes principal Ross Brawn who said a December finale is “totally unacceptable”.

“On Friday, we will need to determine whether teams are against (Bahrain), who is against it, why they are against it — we have some very strong decisions to make,” FIA vice president and United Arab Emirates automobile federation president Mohammed ben Sulayem told The National.

A dispute that threatens the 2011 running of the Australian grand prix appeared to escalate on Friday.

24 hours ago, event promoter Ron Walker said he had travelled to Abu Dhabi for talks with Bernie Ecclestone because the national sanctioning body CAMS was threatening to pull next March’s race.

Walker said CAMS is a monopoly whose annual fees – $500,000 – are too high, and said an external organiser, like the organisers of the British grand prix, could be bought in to oversee the 2011 race at Albert Park.

But CAMS hit back on Friday by saying “only” it “has the experience, people and processes to safely organise” the race in Australia.

“This is an issue about safety and not fees and we do not believe the Australian formula one grand prix can be run safely without the high degree of professional and safety expertise that CAMS can deliver,” read a statement.

A deadline for the dispute is next Friday, when the World Motor Sport Council could be asked to remove Melbourne from the 2011 calendar.

Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC) chairman Ron Walker has dashed to Abu Dhabi as a dispute threatens to race Melbourne off the 2011 calendar.

He said the country’s official motor racing body, the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS), is demanding $800,000 in fees to sanction the Albert Park event.

If the AGPC does not pay, CAMS is threatening to recommend to the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council that Australia be deleted from next year’s schedule, said Walker.

He said the situation follows the state Victorian government’s request that the organisation of the event be put to tender due to CAMS being “a monopoly”.

“We will not sign a new contract with CAMS unless they modernise their management and reduce their prices,” Walker is quoted by the AAP news agency.

He has travelled to Abu Dhabi for emergency talks with Bernie Ecclestone, who has said CAMS could be retained as the sanctioning body while another organiser – for example the organiser of the British grand prix – is appointed to run the 2011 race.

But CAMS “have said ‘you (must) re-hire us on our terms or we will apply to the FIA to have you removed from the calendar’,” Walker revealed.

The F1 team currently known as Lotus might forgo its official Concorde Agreement prize-money for finishing the 2010 championship in tenth place if it is forced to enter next season with a completely different name.

That is the claim of the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat, amid the highly convoluted dispute involving Tony Fernandes’ team and the entirely separate Group Lotus.

Also separate is David Hunt, the brother of 1976 world champion James Hunt who for years has separately held the Team Lotus brand.

He recently sold it to Fernandes, whose naming license courtesy of Proton-owned Group Lotus had been revoked. The affair is now the subject of proceedings in the British High Court.

In an interview with journalist Peter Windsor, Hunt is quoted as admitting he is “infuriated” with Group Lotus.

“I believe they are counting on it never reaching the court hearing and a ‘Malaysian settlement’ resolving ‘ownership’ of Team Lotus in their favour,” he said.

But Hunt also said there are now “difficulties” between himself and Fernandes’ group, who have “threatened legal action”.

A fascinating side-note is that Group Lotus is looking to enter F1 in collaboration with Renault, with a title sponsorship that could result in the team being renamed Lotus-Renault.

But, now with a customer engine deal with Renault in place, Fernandes also wants his team to be called Lotus-Renault in 2011.

It is a fascinating stand-off, particularly in view of the fact that F1′s Swiss based team had to go on calling itself BMW-Sauber this year long after the departure of the German carmaker.

There is therefore likely to be great interest surrounding forthcoming meetings of the F1 Commission and World Motor Sport Council, regarding the application of team names for the 2011 season.

Hunt hopes Fernandes’ side wins the day.

“I certainly hope they don’t give in and I’m comforted that Tony has confirmed to me again over the past few days that they will fight it all the way in court,” he said.

He suggested that one possible resolution is to take back ownership of ‘Team Lotus’, deal with the Group Lotus legal action himself, and simply issue a naming license to Fernandes.

“That would free him up to focus on delivering results on track and the fans would see the true DNA of Colin Chapman’s F1 legacy on the grid next year whilst I sort out the legal side,” said Hunt.

Renault and Cosworth have written a letter to the FIA as F1 struggles to find agreement over a new engine formula for 2013.

The FIA is pushing hard for turbocharged 4 cylinder engines with exhaust-heat KERS capabilities to replace the current normally-aspirated V8s, and aiming to rubber-stamp the rules at the World Motor Sport Council in December.

Superficially, the engine makers support the sport’s ‘green’ direction but are concerned about initial costs and then a development arms race.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that the Renault and Cosworth-powered teams last week signed a letter to the FIA pointing out the weaknesses of the proposed new rules.

They want tight limits on things including minimum weights for pistons and conrods and the entire engine unit.

“If the new engine formula becomes an arms race in turbochargers and cylinder heads, then an independent engine manufacturer will have no chance,” said Cosworth’s Mark Gallagher.

Renault team boss Eric Boullier said the French supplier will support new rules “within certain cost limits”.

“Our market in production cars is for four cylinders with a hybrid. For that reason we are not unhappy with that engine format (for F1).

“But it is about how the rules are defined. The less clear they are, the more expensive it becomes,” he insisted.

It is hoped that a cost-effective and modern engine formula might entice new suppliers, including the recently departed Honda and Toyota, into F1.

But Ross Brawn, still with contacts within Honda, said: “They’re not planning to return.”

Max Mosley believes a title for Fernando Alonso with less than seven points ahead would be dangerous for Formula 1
If Fernando Alonso the world title this year did not win more than seven points ahead, then it would devalue the Formula 1, says the former FIA president Max Mosley. Thus the British refers to the change of place, the Ferrari at Hockenheim has been implemented, as Felipe Massa Alonso had to leave the victory. Although the team was then a penalty of $ 100,000 due to team orders, but there were other sanctions, although Mosley before the hearing before the World Motor Sport Council had meant there had to be penalized.

“I have a feeling that at least the extra points scored by Alonso overtaking Massa should be withdrawn,” Mosley told the BBC repeated now. “This is the absolute minimum, because if Alonso for some reason the World Cup less than the seven-point lead would gain, he has brought there, would devalue the World Cup. But this is a personal view ..”