Formula 1

Formula One has been regarded as the pinnacle of motorsports and motorsports technology development. It has been around since the 1960s and the constant rule changes meant that teams enter and leave year after year. Those who have succeeded to win World Championships have stayed on, while others who have failed to achieve anything significant has gotten into financial difficulty and left the sport or sold the team to new investors.
With the current global economic climate the governing body FIA have imposed strict rules on engine development, testing and reliability. Being the pinnacle of motorsport Formula One is always looked at for technological innovations however not all the innovations are brought down to normal passenger vehicles so quickly. In the attempt to reduce spending and to keep the sport alive, the FIA has down sized engines and restricted testing and forced the teams to make their cars reliable so that they spend less on replacement engines and gearboxes. The question now is, do these so called restrictions really save money?

Teams now spend millions of dollars on simulators and computer designs to improve their cars. The development of new parts and on track testing still cost a lot of money. Having a restricted testing schedule means that the teams have no way to know the effects of their newly designed parts until the race weekend when the parts are installed during the Thursday and Friday practice sessions. The improvement attempts are guess work and winning and losing now has a lot to do with the element of luck. It is quite often that we see a team suddenly have a break through and develop a special part that enables the car to be 0.5 secs faster per lap than other cars and this means winning and losing.

In 2014 there is talk of further rule changes and with every change of rules, the teams invest even more money to develop a car that can win races. I seriously wonder how effective the so called rule changes will be when it comes to cost savings. Down sizing an engine further may consume less racing fuel but the cost of engine development and reliability surely cost a lot more than just merely saving fuel. Down sizing engines also may lead to the numbing down of the sport where the speeds are reduced and the entertainment value may also be reduced.
In comparison to the US Indy car race series where the level of competition is more even and the rules are more consistent, the entertainment value may be better as the competition is focused more on the drivers and car setup rather than the outright budget of the teams to develop cutting edge technology.

Formula One owners are now planning to float the corporation on the Singapore Stock Exchange in the very near future. This may determine the fate of the sport and its longevity.