[FAQ] Frequently asked questions to rec.autos.sport.f1.moderated - Part 1 of 2 This FAQ is posted approximately twice a month. (The subject should be the same; if you do not want to retrieve it, kill the subject.) Between postings you can find a reasonably current copy at http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~mjackson/rasf1m.html. For more information about the operation of this newsgroup see the rec.autos.sport.f1.moderated website at http://www.rasf1m.net/. *NOTE* The FAQ has been split into two parts to avoid it being too long for some people's rules. This FAQ originated on rec.autos.sport.f1, where it was ably maintained through mid-2001 by Stephen M Baines. Special thanks to him, and thanks also to the following people who, amongst others, have had contributions culled to make the FAQ: Kim Andrews, Paul B, Sven Baumer, David Betts, Sergiusz Boron, Alessio Bragadini, Lord Tim Brent, Stênio F. Campos, Simon "Bumble Bee Boy" Cossar, Andrew Cosstick, Emma Crawley, GD, BF Dehay, Doug Farrow, Pete Fenelon, Ken Fletcher, Mark J Frusciante, Tony Gartshore, Alan Gauton, GD, Thomas Gmuer, Lutz Goerke, Paul Harman, Ian Hill, Mark Jackson, Jak, Alan Jones, Brian Lawrence, Jeff "Eskimo Joe", Olav K. Malmin, Julie Miles, Ciro Pabón, Dave Parker, Jon Petersson, Barry Posner, Rob, Duncan Rollo, Rui Pedro Mendes Salgueiro, Martin Schmidt, Peter Scoular, Johan V, Mike Whooley, Paul Winalski. Apologies to anyone whose name was missed - it's not deliberate! The FAQ may not have answers to everything you need - it is just a collection of *frequently* asked questions and their answers, not the answers to everything ;-) Corrections and additions are especially welcome. I do try to keep up with the newsgroup, but to make sure of something being considered for the FAQ mail me at mjackson@alumni.caltech.edu. The FAQ is divided into several sections. This introduction (Part 1) 1. Rules, regulations and governing body (Part 1) 2. The teams and cars (Part 1) 3. The drivers (Part 2) 4. The races (Part 2) 5. The circuits (Part 2) 6. Television (Part 2) 7. Sponsors (Part 2) 8. Manufacturers (Part 2) 9. Technical stuff (Part 2) 10. Miscellaneous (Part 2) 1. Rules, Regulations and Governing Body ======================================== Q: Who is the governing body of Formula 1? A: The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), headquartered in Paris (F), whose president is Jean Todt, recently elected to replace Max Mosley. In 1904 various national motor clubs organized the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR) to run international motor sport (reserving control of national events for themselves). The AIACR first issued an international sporting calendar and regulations in 1908, and in 1922 formed a Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI) to formalize the oversignt of Grand Prix and other forms of international racing. The term Formula 1 came into use in 1947, when the AIACR reorganized itself as the FIA. The World Championship of Drivers was begun in 1950. Q: Where can I find the regulations to Formula 1? A: The FIA's web site has the technical and sporting regulations; see http://www.fia.com/sport/Regulations/f1regs.html. Q: What were the main changes for 2012? A: Location of the engine exhaust exits has been restricted to eliminate, or at least greatly restrict the effectiveness of, "blown" diffusers. Restrictions on off-throttle engine behavior also discourage teams from exploiting this effect. The "one-move" rule about defending against overtaking has been clarified: having made a move off-line the defending driver must leave at least one car-width at the opposite edge of the track when returning to the racing line. Maximum race duration is now either 2 hours of actual running or 4 hours including time under a red flag, whichever comes first. Lapped cars will generally be permitted to unlap themselves before the end of a safety car period. One 3-day in-season testing session will be permitted. Q. Are further changes planned? A. On 20 July 2011 the FIA published new technical regulations for 2014, featuring: - V6 1.6 liter engines with direct fuel injection (to 500 bar) and a single turbo, with fuel flow restricted to no more than 100kg/h and a 15000 RPM limit. - Energy recovery permitted from exhaust heat (by coupling a generator to the turbo shaft) in addition to the present KERS (kinetic) system. Each recovery system is limited to 2MJ/lap and power from the storage unit is limited to 4MJ/lap. At least some energy recovery system will be mandatory as movement in the pit lane will be limited to electrical power only. - Reduction of front wing width to 1650mm - Minimum weight increased to 660kg. - Operable onboard starters required. . - Mandatory 8-speed gearboxes with ratios fixed for the season. A single in-season adjustment is permitted in 2014 if necessary. Q: What is the Concorde Agreement? A: The original Concorde Agreement (so-called because it was signed at the FIA headquarters on the Place de la Concorde in Paris) was between the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) and the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA). FISA, reorganized from the old CSI by Jean-Marie Balestre after he became its chair, was the arm of the FIA involved in sanctioning motor sport and had direct sanctioning responsibility for F1. FOCA was, as its name implies, an organization representing most of the F1 teams (but not all of them--Tyrrell and, I think, Ferrari were not FOCA members). Its president was Bernie Ecclestone, then owner of the Brabham F1 team. Through the 1970s the FIA had gradually allowed FOCA to take a greater hand in the financial, promotional, and organizational aspects of the F1 Championship. By 1980 FOCA was organizing the races and the FIA's role was limited to rules-making and officiating. When Balestre took over as head of the CSI he set about trying to get control of F1 back from FOCA. FOCA baulked at some of Balestre's proposed rule changes, particularly the ones limiting ground effects, and a very ugly dispute ensued that threatened to split the sport. (One race was boycotted by the FOCA teams; another, organized by FOCA, was excluded from that year's Championship.) The sponsors and manufacturers (engines, tires, fuel) had the last say and forced both sides to hammer out the Concorde Agreement, which covers the whole financial and organizational side of F1 racing, rules stability, collection and distribution of monies, etc. FISA is no longer, its duties now being performed by the FIA's World Motor Sports Council (WMSC). FOCA has evolved into Bernie's complex of companies; see "Who owns F1," below. Since the original Concorde Agreement there have been several revisions to it. In recent years the CA has required unanimous consent from the teams (almost impossible to obtain) or a couple of years' notice in order to change the regulations. The three-party version (FIA, Bernie, the F1 teams) signed in 1998 expired at the end of 2007. In mid-January 2005 the FIA, Ferrari, and Bernie announced the signing of a revised Concorde Agreement, giving signatory teams a larger share of revenues, effective 2008-2012. (It emerged in May 2009 that Ferrari was also given a veto over changes in FIA regulations.) Williams also apparently signed, but the remaining teams did not. At a meeting in late July 2008 with Bernie and CVC's managing partner the teams agreed to form the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) to work on regulations and commercial arrangements with the FIA and FOM (see "Who owns F1?"). Negotiations over cost- cutting measures and other provisions were remarkable for their difficulty - some teams announcing a breakaway series at one point - but ultimately a final document, binding through 2012, was signed by all parties. Negotiations . . . Q: Where can I see the Concorde Agreement? A: You can't. It's secret, although some of its known or suspected provisions are described in this FAQ. Q: What is FOTA? A: The Formula One Teams Association was formed in 2008 to present a united front in negotiations over the renewal of the Concorde Agreement. Q: How much do the teams get for winning races? A: The FIA isn't supposed to get involved in money, which is controlled by Bernie and is detailed in the (secret) Concorde Agreement. Some of the distribution has been based on historical performance and length of participation in F1, provisions of particular benefit to Ferrari. The 2009 Concorde Agreement apparently mandates the payment of revenues withheld by Bernie during the years no signed agreement was in place. While the teams' share has been increased from 33% to 50% the need of CVC for income to pay interest on loans (see next question) continues to be a sore point; getting a larger share of revenues is a stated objective of FOTA. Q: Who owns F1? A: The FIA owns Formula 1, but has licensed the commercial rights through 2110 (yes, into the next century) to a complex of companies effectively controlled by Bernie Ecclestone. The actual structure is Byzantine; in discussing the original setup /The Economist/ used the words "complex tax-avoidance scheme" and things are no more straightforward today. A few years ago Bernie sold 75% of the rights for a very large sum, while retaining a 25% stake as well as effective control through arcane directorship arrangements. Due to financial difficulties ownership of this 75% passed through the hands of German media companies EM.TV and Kirch and, following the latter's default, to three creditor banks. The banks were unhappy with the return on their unwilling investment and lack of the control that usually comes with 75% ownership; legal actions followed. In November 2005 Ecclestone and the British private equity firm CVC Capital Partners agreed to form a new company, Alpha Prema, which was to reunite the banks' and Ecclestone's holdings, with Ecclestone continuing as chief executive of the F1 group. Subsequently the purchase was refinanced with a large loan from the Royal Bank of Scotland and equity positions taken by other investment firms; some additional related properties were merged in at the same time. In 2011 all F1-related commercial rights (including those held by Formula One Administration and Formula One Management) were merged into yet another new company, Formula One World Championship Ltd. This is owned by SLEC Holdings, which is owned by Alpha Prema UK Ltd. (partially through Speed Investments Ltd.), which is owned by Alpha D2 Ltd., which is owned by Delta 3 (UK) Ltd., which is owned by Delta 2 (Lux) Sarl of Luxembourg, which is owned by Alpha Topco Ltd. (Jersey), which is owned by Delta Topco Ltd. (Jersey). Ownership of the last is divided among: * CVC funds (about 63%) * LBI Group (Lehman Brothers, about 15%) * Bambino Holdings (Ecclestone family, about 9%) * Bernie Ecclestone (about 5%) * JP Morgan Whitefriars (about 3%) * Churchill Capital (less than 1%) * assorted managers and financial advisors (about 4%) It is thought that CVC has been discussing winding up its F1 investment by selling to another interested party. 2. The teams and cars ===================== Q: When was the last time a privateer won a race? A: The last privateer to win a GP was either Jo Siffert in the Walker Lotus-Ford at Brands Hatch in 1968, or Jackie Stewart in the Tyrrell March-Ford in Spain in 1970. (Although Tyrrell bought both chassis and engine that season some feel that the support he was receiving from Ford, Elf, and Goodyear place him at least among the semi-works ranks. It's a judgement call, there being no official body empowered to bless privateership.) There has never been a privateer World Champion. Moss came closest in the Rob Walker-entered Cooper in 1959 when he finished third. Walker was the first privateer entrant to win a World Championship Grand Prix with Moss in a Cooper-Climax, in the 1958 Argentine Grand Prix. Q: Who owns which team? A: Caterham - [formerly Lotus] Believed to be the Tune Group (Tony Fernandes), the Malaysian Naza Group, and Litespeed UK. Ferrari - Piero Lardi Ferrari 10% and the FIAT Group 90%, the latter having repurchased the 5% previously held by the government-owned Mubadala Development Co. of Abu Dhabi. Force India - Orange India Holdings Sarl, whose owners in turn are: team principal Vijay Mallya 42.5%, sports promoter Sahara India Pariwar 42.5%, and the Dutch Mol family 15% (as of mid-October 2011). It is rumored that the entry of Sahara is the first step in an eventual buyout. HRT - The Hispania Group - "HRT" was short for Hispania Racing F1 team - and others. In July 2011 Thesan Capital, another Spanish investment group, took majority ownership of Hispania from businessman José Ramón Carabante. Lotus - [formerly Renault] Luxembourg-based Genii Capital completed a buyout of Renault in late 2010. (The engine operation at Viry-Chatillon remains in Renault's hands.) Group Lotus (which is mostly held by the Malaysian car manufacturer Proton) became the title sponsor in 2011 and holds options to purchase an interest in the team. Marussia - [formerly Virgin] John Booth, Lloyds TSB Development Capital, Nick Wirth, and apparently the Virgin Group, and others - the team's ownership structure is complex, perhaps for tax reasons. Late in 2010 the Russian sportscar manufacturer Marussia Motors took a major shareholding and became title sponsor in 2011. McLaren - TAG McLaren is 50% owned by the Bahrain holding company Mumtalakat and 25% each by Ron Dennis and TAG Group S.A. (Mansouer Ojjeh). Mercedes GP - Daimler AG (60%) and Aabar Investments PJS (40%). Red Bull - Dietrich Mateschitz's Red Bull energy drink company. Sauber - Peter Sauber 2/3, Monisha Kaltenborn (CEO of the Sauber Group) 1/3. Scuderia Toro Rosso - Dietrich Mateschitz's Red Bull energy drink company. Reports that the team is for sale recur frequently, and recent financial arrangements with Abu Dhabi- based investment funds suggest that an eventual buyout may be planned. Williams - Frank Williams somewhat more than 50%, Patrick Head 9%, Austrian businessman Christian "Toto" Wolff about 15%, Adam Parr, Sam Michael, and Alex Burns around 1% each. A public stock flotation of around 24%, most of it from Head's former holding, accounts for the rest. Q. What changes to team lineups are expected for 2012? A. None, save the name changes noted above. The current regulations permit a 13th team, but no enrollment period for 2012 was offered. Q: Who will be supplying engines to which team in 2012? A: Caterham - Renault [C] Ferrari - Ferrari [F] Force India - Mercedes [C] HRT - Cosworth [C] Lotus - Renault [C] Marussia - Cosworth [C] McLaren - Mercedes [C] Mercedes - Mercedes [F] Red Bull - Renault [C] Sauber - Ferrari [C] STR - Ferrari [C] Williams - Renault [C] [F] Factory [C] Customer Q. How much does each team spend per year? A. Estimates are all that are available, and of course they vary. Here are some total figures (for 10 teams, in millions of US dollars): Year Total Source ======================== 2003 2141 /F1 Racing/ 2004 2493 /F1 Racing/ 2005 2815 /F1 Racing/ 2008 3028 /Motor Sport/ 2009 2716 /Motor Sport/ Efforts to reduce costs have ramped up in the last year or two - indeed the FIA's proposal of less restrictive technical rules for teams agreeing to run under a cost cap was the major issue that nearly led to a breakaway series (see "What are the main changes for 2010?" above). The new Concorde Agreement (see above) is understood to be accompanied by a "resource restriction" document by which the teams accept somewhat flexible limits on staffing and budgets. The three new teams in 2010 (Lotus, HRT, Virgin) originally entered as cost-capped teams and probably have significantly smaller budgets available than most of the outfits that ran in 2009. A new resource restriction agreement running from 2011 through 2017 was agreed to in principle by FOTA members midway through 2010, but at apparently was never finalized; cost control remains a matter of contention among the teams. Q: Is it true that there was a 6-wheel F1 car that won a race? A: The Tyrrell project 34 had small, 10 inch diameter front wheels that could be completely hidden behind the front cowling then in common use on F1 cars. This removed the front wheels from the airstream and thus reduced drag significantly, resulting in the car going faster. The problem was that the tiny front wheels didn't provide enough surface area for proper braking. The way around this was to use 4 front wheels instead of the usual 2. The car was pretty successful in its first year and actually won at Anderstorp (Swedish Grand Prix 1976) for Jody Scheckter, with Depailler second. It was less successful in 1977 because the more complicated 4-wheel front suspension assembly added a lot of weight, and Goodyear wasn't keeping up on tire development of the 10" tires. Tyrrell went back to a conventional, 4-wheel car the next year. Pictures at http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/tyrp34.htm and http://www.evil-photographer.com/cars/tyrrell/P34/P34.htm. March also made some experiments with a 6 wheel car in 1977. The 2-4-0 (from rail locomotive terminology) sought increased traction by having a second set of rear wheels behind the first. Design and construction were very informal, development nonexistent (most running was done with only one set of rear wheels driven to avoid cracking the inadequate gearbox casing), and the car never competed; a successor machine did win several British hillclimbs in 1979 with Roy Lane at the wheel. Williams produced a 6-wheel variant of their FW08 in 1982, of similar layout to the March. The idea this time was to extend the area under the car available to venturi tunnels and to allow the rear wing to be mounted further back on the car. Cars were built and tested, but right about the time that they were ready to race the FIA came out with new regulations restricting F1 cars to 4 wheels mounted on 2 axles, so it never raced for the FIA World Championship. The cars still exist and have appeared in several historic races. Photo at http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/images/large/689-1.jpg. Q: Is it true about a "fan car"? A: The Brabham BT46B, which Niki Lauda drove to victory in the 1978 Swedish GP. This was an idea borrowed from Jim Hall's Chaparral CanAm cars. The idea was to put skirts on the sidepods to seal the undercar area, then to mount an extractor fan at the back to remove the air under the car, thus sucking it down onto the track. To get around the "moveable areodynamic device" ban, Brabham claimed that the fan was there to help cool the engine. Whilst this wasn't false, it wasn't the full reason behind the fan; the car actually squatted down onto the track if you blipped the throttle while it was stationary. But its biggest problem was that it was very successful, so all the other teams protested. There was also one legitimate safety concern--the fan tended to pick up debris from the track and blow it into the face of a driver following closely. In any event, the car was very soon banned by the FIA because the fan was ruled to be an aerodynamic aid not in a fixed position relative to the sprung part of the car. Q: Why were Tyrrell thrown out of the 1984 championship? A: This is from Autocourse: "In the afterglow of 1984's chase-the-McLaren story, the FISA-versus-Tyrrell affair still rankles as being as distasteful as it was ill-considered. Whether or not Tyrrell was plying his 012 cars with lead ballast during a late-race pit stop or - and this is more far-fetched - mixing additive to the water injected into the engine to ward off piston and valvegear failures has become a moot case. What is more relevant is not only the way that FISA conducted his trial - for example, introducing fresh evidence at an appeal hearing and barring Tyrrell from approaching expert witnesses who had analysed water samples for FISA - but also the severity of the fine. If Andrea de Cesaris and Niki Lauda have their practice times discounted on the days at Dijon and Dallas where the Ligier was found to be running with an empty fire extinguisher bottle and the McLaren declared to have a rear wing 2mm too wide, then excluding Tyrrell from the World Championship for infringements committed during Martin Brundle's gutsy drive to second in Detroit ranks as a kneejerk reaction of an inappropriate magnitude. But the decision was final, costing Tyrrell his FOCA membership and USD 1,000,000 in concessionary travel arrangements to transcontinental races. Underlying the season had been the backstage arguments over the proposed 195-litre fuel capacity maximum intended for 1985: to stick at the current 220-litre allowance required team unanimity - and Ken Tyrrell was the only dissenting voice. Naturally, after he was barred from the Championship, so 220 litres became a fixed part of the '85 technical regulations, neatly, tidily and with no outward fuss." Q: Who won the constructors championship in the year....? A: 2011 Red Bull (A) 2010 Red Bull (A) 2009 Brawn (GB) 2008 Ferrari (I) 2007 Ferrari (I) 2006 Renault (F) 2005 Renault (F) 2004 Ferrari (I) 2003 Ferrari (I) 2002 Ferrari (I) 2001 Ferrari (I) 2000 Ferrari (I) 1999 Ferrari (I) 1998 McLaren (GB) 1997 Williams (GB) 1996 Williams (GB) 1995 Benetton (GB) 1994 Williams (GB) 1993 Williams (GB) 1992 Williams (GB) 1991 McLaren (GB) 1990 McLaren (GB) 1989 McLaren (GB) 1988 McLaren (GB) 1987 Williams (GB) 1986 Williams (GB) 1985 McLaren (GB) 1984 McLaren (GB) 1983 Ferrari (I) 1982 Ferrari (I) 1981 Williams (GB) 1980 Williams (GB) 1979 Ferrari (I) 1978 Lotus (GB) 1977 Ferrari (I) 1976 Ferrari (I) 1975 Ferrari (I) 1974 McLaren (GB) 1973 Lotus (GB) 1972 Lotus (GB) 1971 Tyrrell (GB) 1970 Lotus (GB) 1969 Matra (F) 1968 Lotus (GB) 1967 Brabham (GB) 1966 Brabham (GB) 1965 Lotus (GB) 1964 Ferrari (I) 1963 Lotus (GB) 1962 BRM (GB) 1961 Ferrari (I) 1960 Cooper (GB) 1959 Cooper (GB) 1958 Vanwall (GB) (The Constructors Championship originated in 1958.) -- Mark Jackson - http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~mjackson