No electric motors in F1 pits, Ecclestone says

From 2014 the Formula 1 race cars have to move in the pit lane just using the KERS electric motor. But Bernie Ecclestone, a self admitted climate change denier, believes it is too dangerous.

According to the regulations submitted to the FIA, the energy accumulated on the braking, shall actuate the motor during the movement of the pit lane.

"To go on the electric motor on pit lane would be dangerous, because people who are there will not hear the machine – says Bernie. – Also, the absence of sound affect the interest of viewers. Now, as soon as the GP3 race starts, where the sound of the engine is almost inaudible, the stands begin to thin out. Electric motors have no place in Formula 1. "

Renault F1 alarmed by electric pit running from 2014

Renault team boss Eric Boullier is among a number of Formula One personalities to express fears that plans to make cars run electrically in the pits from 2014 is too dangerous.

The proposal that "the car must be run in electric mode (no ignition and no fuel supply to the engine) at all times when being driven in the pit lane" was included in the governing FIA's new 2014 regulations published last week.

Other environmentally-friendly ideas were also adopted but some teams feel they were not adequately consulted on the changes by the governing body.

"The concept is intriguing but... the cars would not make noise and that could be very dangerous," Boullier told reporters at the German Grand Prix.

"I think there are aspects of the rules published by the FIA which should be looked at again."

Formula One is due to switch to a new 1.6 litre turbo V6 engine with energy recovery systems from 2014. The sport currently uses V8 units.

Boullier is also keen on an extra practice session rather than just two on a Friday from 2012 while teams continue to talk with the FIA about a return to some form of in-season testing from next year.

FIA OK new 1.6-litre V6 engine plans to be introduced in 2014

Formula 1 will officially switch to a 1.6-litre V6 engine format from 2014 after proposals finalised by the sport's stakeholders during last weekend's European Grand Prix were rubber-stamped by the FIA's World Motorsport Council on Wednesday.

According to a statement from the sport's governing body, WMSC members agreed in a fax vote to formalise the new turbo-charged engines, which will feature energy recovery units.

The statement read: "Following a fax vote by its members, the World Motor Sport Council has ratified the engine regulations recently drawn up in consultation with the main stakeholders in Formula One.

"The new power plant will be a V6 1.6 turbo unit with energy recovery systems. This new formula will come into effect as from the start of the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship season."

F1's teams and the FIA were in deadlock over the engine situation for several weeks until agreement was reached during a Formula 1 Commission meeting prior to the European Grand Prix weekend to delay introducing the regulations by a year to 2014.

The new plans also featured a change in the format from a four cylinder engine to a six cylinder unit - Ferrari having been against the former on marketing grounds. Mercedes and Cosworth had also voiced concerns about development costs. F1 technical chiefs then met in Valencia to give their formal backing to the V6, 1.6-litre plan.

The teams indicated after the Valencia gathering that they would ask for a rise in the proposed rev limit of 12,000rpm to 15,000rpm. It remains unclear whether this was included in the ratified plans. Similarly it is not known whether a request to delay the introduction of new chassis rules set for 2013 - to coincide with the new engine plan - has been successful.

Formula 1 to introduce V6 turbo with 10x more powerful KERS in 2014

The new engine regulations planned for 2014 will also see the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) output increase.

New 1.6 litre V6 turbocharged engines will be introduced as manufacturers attempt to reduce fuel consumption levels with the KERS hybrid technology also integrated. RenaultSport F1 deputy managing director (technical) Rob White told the Red Bull website that the lack of power from the engine will be partly compensated by an increase in performance ten times that of the current KERS units.

"It will be much more potent than KERS is now," White said. "In 2011 KERS is limited to 60kW power, using 400kJ of energy per lap. The equivalent numbers for [the new engine] are 120kW - so twice as much power - but more importantly, up to 4MJ (4,000kJ) will be available to the driver each lap.

"Basically it will contribute performance ten times greater than the 2011 KERS. We've become used to the cars using 60kW for a few seconds a lap. What we're talking about is twice as much power for much, much longer."

F1 to dump 4 cyl plan and move to V6 turbos with KERS in 2014

The Formula 1 Commission is set to be asked to consider switching the sport's future engines to 1.6-litre V6 turbos in a bid to end the ongoing stalemate about future regulations.

Ahead of a crunch meeting in London today to discuss engine regulations for 2013, amid disagreement between manufacturers over plans to move to 1.6-litre four-cylinder engines, it is understood that a final push has been made by the car makers to find a solution that is acceptable to all the sport's stakeholders.

Sources have revealed that those behind-the-scenes discussions between the engine manufacturers have resulted in a plan for the four-cylinder plans to be dropped and instead 1.6-litre V6s to come into force from 2014 - one year later than the current change in regulations is planned to come into force.

With the support of all the car makers, there is no reason why the teams would be against such a tweak to the engine regulations - especially as it would guarantee all the current manufacturers staying in the sport.

And crucially for the FIA and its president Jean Todt, who has been adamant that F1 has to move to more environmentally-friendly rules, the plan includes sticking to the 'green' KERS technologies that were originally planned for the four-cylinder power units.

The FIA said earlier this month that it would be willing to hold off the switch the four-cylinder engines if there was unanimous support of the competitors.

If the V6 plan is received positively by the F1 Commission then it would go to the FIA's World Motor Sport Council for approval.

Webber frustrated by KERS problems

Mark Webber fears that he may be left without KERS again in the Canadian Grand Prix - after losing the power-boost for qualifying in Montreal.

The Australian's efforts to secure pole position were wrecked by the 0.3-0.4 seconds deficit that he was forced to face after his KERS malfunctioned on Saturday in Canada.

And although the team still has time to fix the problems ahead of Sunday's race, Webber is pessimistic about what can be done.

"It is a major headache, it is just tough for the guys, they are doing everything they can, but we cannot continue [to have problems like this].

"I think we were pretty confident of getting it fixed for qualifying on the back on FP3 for me. But I drove down the pitlane and they said no KERS – I thought, 'how the hell do you know that already if I haven't even touched anything?' We tried to get it back into life for Q3 but it wasn't having any of it."

Webber says the biggest problem with Red Bull Racing's KERS is that it is so unpredictable as to when it will work or will not work – which makes it harder to find a cure to the issues it has faced.

"It is incredibly unpredictable, and it is unreliable – that is a no-brainer," he explained. "Sometimes you are going okay with it, and other times we are struggling a little bit with it. It is unpredictable.

"The consistency we have clearly got to get on top of it, because we have had weekends where it was very good, like the Turkish GP where it worked very well, but it is a challenge for us."

Audi open about propulsion systems for future Le Mans

Audi has given the clearest hint yet that its R18 will accept alternative propulsion systems, but said it will not be limited to a KERS-style hybrid power train.

They will also be closely related to production car technologies rather than the sport-specific KERS solution employed in Formula 1.

"The basic concept provides for electrification of its [the R18's] drive," said Michael Dick, Audi's director of technical development. "However, we will only incorporate it when the technology has been proven, and it will also be carried over to serial production."

Ulrich Baretzky, Audi Sport's head of engine technology, confirmed that they are looking beyond conventional hybrid systems.

"One of the reasons we decided to have a V6 engine [in the R18] was to have enough space and the maximum variability to integrate engine recovery systems of any kind or shape," Baretzky said.

"Energy is going to become more precious than it has in the past. We are going to have to change our minds completely about how to use it. This is also true for Formula 1 and it was very courageous of Jean Todt and the FIA to insist on it [in the putative 2013 engine regulations].

"People will lose interest in wasting energy, in the boring negligence of the needs of the time. It's a clear responsibility we have to the spectators and the public to use this special role we have in motorsport to showcase solutions that are also viable for them.

"I don't like to use the word 'hybrid'. I prefer to look at complete energy recovery systems which include every kind of energy efficiency technology. A brake energy recovery system like KERS is just one of them, for sure not the only one, and maybe not the best one."

LE MANS: Hope Hybrid Set For History-Making Debut

While the Panoz Q9 nearly became the first hybrid to run at Le Mans back in pre-qualifying in 1998, it appears the history books will finally be re-written this weekend when Hope Racing’s Oreca Swiss HyTech Hybrid takes to the track for Saturday’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Thirteen years after the revolutionary, but overweight “Sparky” failed to qualify for the French classic, the Swiss-based team, led by co-owners Benoit Morand and Jean-Marie Brulhart, have ticked all of the necessary boxes required to make the history-making debut, although it all came down to the wire, quite literally.

With the car having been withdrawn from the second Intercontinental Le Mans Cup round at Spa due to a vibration that affected its Flybrid-built hybrid, Hope was given until May 20 to get its car certified by the ACO, otherwise face expulsion from the the race.

In order to be certified, the Oreca 01, powered by a 2.0-liter Lehmann four-cylinder turbo, needed to complete the entire length of the Le Mans pit lane (400 meters) entirely on KERS. Sure enough, the test was scheduled for May 20, the final day in the ACO’s deadline, at the Lurcy-Levis circuit in France.

“It was almost something from the movies, the way it happened,” technical director Andrew Sayer said. “The ACO arrived at about 4 p.m. in bright sunshine, as it was for the two days. Michelin left, taking all the wet tires with them, but then a couple of dark clouds started appearing. As we’re discussing with the ACO and showing them around the system, big spots of rain started to come down.

“Obviously I was panicking. [Team co-owner Benoit Morand] runs in and says, ‘Can we go now?’ There was a motorbike track day going on at the same time, so they stopped half an hour early for us. We pushed the car out to the straight line and marked out [the distance points] with the ACO. We then did our engine charge... Steve [Zacchia] then pulled away and stalled it, the first time he did that in the last six days of testing!

“He pulled up to 60 kph, cut the engine before the first cone, ended up driving 463 meters on the KERS. Steve then started the engine back up, turned around and came back to us. We put the umbrella over him to keep him cool. By the time we connected the computer to download the data, it was raining so hard that we had to take the umbrella off Steve and push back to the garage immediately!

“Literally, five minutes after we had done the test [the rains came].. We had one shot and we did it in one shot. We couldn’t have done it again anyway because the rain was so bad!”

While it was no doubt a close call to making it into Le Mans, Sayer says the original problem, the natural vibration of the internal combustion powerplant that caused a resonance issue with the hybrid, has been alleviated by going with a different sized flywheel and modifying the engine insulation.

And with two further days of testing in the books at Magny-Cours, where all three of its drivers, Steve Zacchia, Casper Elgaard and Le Mans veteran Jan Lammers, who will be making his 22nd start at Le Mans, racked up a total of 750 kilometers, the team is hopeful of making a solid debut run.

“We’re happy with the performance of the car as it stands at the current moment,” Sayer said. “We know there’s more to come, but I think we’re definitely looking for a finish because having something that’s so new, to be able to finish the race would be amazing.”